5 days ago
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The Ministry of Indigenous Affairs continued its engagement on Maya customary land rights today with the second National Consultation and Information-Sharing Session in Punta Gorda Town. The session was led by Minister of Indigenous Affairs Dr. Louis Zabaneh and Toledo West Area Representative Oscar Requena. The consultation brought together residents and other stakeholders to discuss the ongoing process for implementing the Caribbean Court of Justice’s 2015 Consent Order on Maya customary land tenure. Dr. Zabaneh said the Government is also exploring the possibility of extending similar consultations to Belize’s other five districts, allowing the wider public to better understand and participate in the process.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs: “So already what we have is a draft legislation that was based on a policy approved by the cabinet on how we would want to implement the CCJ consent order of 2015. It now goes through a review panel where we have membership from the government on the panel, from the MLA /TAA and from private land owners. Input goes into that then that goes back to the cabinet. The cabinet then with a draft bill goes to the National Assembly and we then go through the National Assembly process, the committee process, and then we have a law. But that needs to be well informed by the views of our people.”
Reporter: They didn’t leave out the MLA and TAA, your comments on their cooperation?
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs: “Well, we are very happy to have them back along the table. They had temporarily stepped aside and solicited the view of the CCJ. The CCJ came back to them and asked them to continue with the process and know they are back together and that’s how it should be in my view because that will now allow us to move forward as we have planned in our roadmap. So it’s very nice to have them back around the table.”
Participants were also presented with draft legislation developed from the Government’s policy framework for implementing the CCJ order. According to Dr. Zabaneh, the policy remains under revision as feedback from communities and stakeholders is gathered and reviewed.
Toledo West Area Representative Oscar Requena said today’s session was intended to provide information while, more importantly, hearing directly from the people whose communities are most closely connected to the Maya land-rights process. He explained that the consultation also gave participants an opportunity to examine and comment on the proposed legislation.
Oscar Requena, Toledo West Area Representative: “It really is to build consensus as a people. It is very important that we listen to the various perspectives, the various representatives and their organizations that they represent. And at the end of the day we have to build consensus on the way forward. There is no doubt that we all recognize that as Maya we have rights to our land. The process now is to be able to identify, demarcate and safeguard these lands. This is the process that the government is going through and today we took it another step by engaging the residents of the Toledo District and the wider audience of Belizeans because this process or this event was carried live on air so it afforded an opportunity for Belizeans to be able to see what is happening.”
The Government says the consultation process is intended to help develop an implementation framework that respects the CCJ ruling, responds to the concerns of affected communities and provides greater clarity surrounding Maya customary land rights in southern Belize.
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