Trejo: I Own the Land, and I Can Prove It

We spoke by phone with Miguel Angel Trejo, who says he’s the rightful owner of the property now under intense scrutiny. Trejo didn’t just come with claims, he came with receipts: photographs, videos, and legal documents that he says prove his ownership. But that’s not all. Trejo told us he’s worried about his safety, especially after he says that the area representative offered him ten acres of land, on one condition: that he walks away from his own. And in a bold claim, he recounted a violent encounter involving Stoney Ferguson, who allegedly attacked his motorcycle with a machete. Trejo showed us a police report and documents indicating that Stoney’s mother later paid for the damage.

 

On the Phone: Miguel Angel Trejo, Pomona Resident

“On the eighth of April I was told that Stoney had come back again. I went to check, and they told me that he had arrived with a man that looked like a tourist, and he was showing him the place around, but Stoney claimed that the place was his and that no one could say anything to him.  I told him I was going to speak with Mr. Rodwell to explain what was going on, I said to Mr. Rodwell “I’ve been living there for twenty years and now your son has come in aggressively insulting us and telling us to leave” he already brought six men to clean here. Mr. Rodwell told me that he was going to check it out himself and ask them to leave because he hadn’t sent anyone there.  Two days later the police came to my home in the cave and asked me what was going on I told them Mr. Rodwell son came aggressively with a machete demanding that we leave “I don’t want any trouble I’m just here to work we have our chickens, sheep and pigs I’m just trying to make a living.” The police then asked if they could come in to take a look and when they did Stoney was also there. Mr. Rodwell is offering me ten acres of land in exchange to evacuate the property where I am currently living now but when I went to see him to see if he would give me the ten acres, he told me it was no longer ten acres that he was willing to give to me. What he did is that he damaged my motorcycle with a machete and I filed a police report, and I also requested court action because it was an act of abuse toward me, he wanted to kill me. I charged him seven hundred and fifty dollars for damage caused to my motorcycle and he did pay me the seven hundred and fifty dollars at the police station, and I requested a receipt.”

As the property dispute draws increasing attention, we reached out to Stann Creek Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson to get his side of the story. But when we contacted him by phone, he declined to comment, telling us simply that he does not wish to be involved.