UDP Land Giveaway

The Belize Times has in its possession a file containing one hundred and eighty-seven (187) documents from out of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Those documents provide evidence of very questionable land transactions involving UDP cronies and persons with influence within the UDP. Certainly they paint a very different picture of Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, who with halo firmly in place stood in front of the nation in the House of Representatives and spoke of the transparency, integrity, accountability and good governance under his watch.

During that very session of pontification, Vega claimed, and his Prime Minister has echoed, that he could go to the line to protect Belize’s patrimony and no remaining caye land would be given away and reserved land would be protected at the point of a sword if necessary. But from the documents we have seen, that has certainly not been the case.

With the very first document presented below, Vega is proven a liar. In 2008, just months after entering office and right around the time he gave that speech about protecting Belize’s patrimony at all costs, Vega approved the survey of 6.7 acres of land, valuable caye land, located on Northeast Sapodilla Caye in the Sapodilla Range in the Toledo District. The lucky recipients of that land were known UDP crony Lindsey Garbutt and former UDP Secretary General Kenworth Tillett. Not only is the 6.7 acres part of a caye, but it is also land lying within an area designated as a marine reserve. So what do you say now, Minister Vega.

And there’s much more. The second document shows why Clear the Land Castro is now more commonly referred to as Grab the Land Castro. The untidy Minister of State has been given permission to survey 25 acres of land in the Millers Bight/Petville Area of the Orange Walk District. Add this to 100 roadside acres on the Northern Highway and other parcels all over
Belize Rural North which were granted to Castro after the UDP took office, and you can see why the Minister of State is one of the new wealthy elite in Belize.

These two documents are not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Gaspar Vega has professed to be a saint beyond reproach while presiding over a ministry which is acknowledged as the most corrupt it has ever been. And while gifting prime land to friends and cronies, Vega has also taken victimization to another level by seizing land from poor Belizeans because of political malice. In Corozal more than 200 parcels of land have been taken away from villagers, simply because they support the People’s United Party.

Join us next week as the Belize Times brings you more evidence of the land expo underway at the Ministry of Natural Resources.

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