Sherene Garbutt Fights Back as 22 Acres in Independence Go Protected

Tonight, we’re back on the story of the land dispute involving the Ministry of Natural Resources and Independence resident Sherene Garbutt. On Friday, we heard from Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde, who confirmed that twenty-two acres in Independence will be handed back to the ministry and designated as a protected area. But today, Garbutt told News Five she’s not backing down. She says she won’t accept any land outside the village, and she’s questioning why those twenty-two acres were singled out, when there’s a hundred-acre stretch right above it with the same natural features. News Five’s Paul Lopez has more.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

When Independence Village resident Sherene Garbutt went public with her land troubles, it caught the attention of Natural Resources Minister Cordel Hyde. On Friday, Hyde admitted something surprising, Garbutt’s lease application for twenty-two acres never even made it to his desk. Yet, he signed off on a purchase application from Orange Walk resident Charles Price, submitted long after Garbutt’s. Hyde says Price has agreed to return the land, but it’s not going back to Garbutt.

 

Cordel Hyde, Minister of Natural Resources

“It is swampy land surrounded by some bigger parcels of land owned by some big land owners. But it is deep swamp. So, I have said to our people, we should not have issued that permission to survey in the first place, because it is swampy land and we should not have issued the purchase price in the second place. So on account of that, we have reached out to Mr. Price and said to him please bring back the tittle and transfer the land back to government. He has agreed to do that.”

 

Minister Hyde says the government plans to turn that land into a protected area. So, where does that leave Sherene Garbutt? She told News Five, quote, ‘Swap or not, I want it back. I don’t want any land outside the village.’ But how did Charles Price’s application for those twenty-two acres land on the minister’s desk before Garbutt’s, when Price submitted his paperwork more than a year later?

 

Cordel Hyde

“Because we have opened up things where anybody could go apply for a land often times without an area rep recommendation, we encourage people to just apply and it moves up the chain and we are able to make a determination. It reaches my desk as to who gets it, who has a better plan, who is the first time land owner, who I deem, based on a number of things, is deserving. Unfortunately, that is not what presented to me. The two files were not presented to me to make a determination as to who is fitting to get the land. Only one file was presented to me and so that person benefited from getting that tittle. Some people may say well oh people are connected and that kind of stuff. I don’t think you can say because someone is related to someone who works for a minister or someone is related to someone who works for the ruling party or in the public service that they cant get a piece of land, you know.”

 

A sketch showing the GPS coordinates for those twenty-two acres reveals something else. Just above that parcel, entry number 11696, one hundred acres, already has a name attached to it. So now, Sherene Garbutt is asking the obvious question: Why is the land she’s fighting for being singled out as a protected area, when the larger piece right next to it shares the same natural features?

 

Cordel Hyde

“The challenges is keeping up, the volume is just a lot. So mistakes will be made. Errors will be made. So this is not the first mistake that was made. Often times we are able to solve it before it goes too far, we are able to work it out so that everybody is satisfied. We have a willingness to help people. We have a commitment to help people. Unfortunately, the matter got stuck and for months the language and communication between Ms Garbutt and our ministry personnel was not the best. So they did not make much headway unfortunately. So, we are here.”

 

Garbutt isn’t budging. She says she won’t accept any land outside her community and now she’s threatening to take the ministry to court. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.