3 weeks ago
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Concerns over the private ownership of the Placencia Point are mounting and alarms are being sounded, particularly by the village council and tourism stakeholders. The Placencia Point, for decades, has been the traditional venue for village gatherings and festivals. Today, however, that portion of the peninsula is now under private ownership. Love News understands that the prime property has been sold to a foreign company, Jonesboro Limited. According to the village council they have been lobbying to get the title of this parcel since 2013. Those calls, however, went unheard, and in 2022 the land was sold to a private investor. Fast forward today, and the council is insisting that there was an error in the boundary markers, and that a reacquisition needs to be done for public purpose.
Jaleeza Roberts, Love News: For over half a century, Placenta Point has been more than just a beach. It’s been a celebration ground and a shoreline sanctuary woven into the very fabric of this coastal village. But today, what was once considered sacred public land is at the centre of a legal and emotional tug-of-war between a village council that claims heritage and stewardship and a private company holding a legal title. This land that was used openly and uncontested has recently come under threat. A corporate title transfer now casts a shadow over what many believe belongs to the people. The Placencia Village Council, PVC, sounded the alarm in a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources, Cordell Hyde, warning that delays in the land’s reacquisition could lead to irreversible loss. Love News spoke with chairman of Placencia Village, Warren Garbutt, who explained that this isn’t about the land it’s about generations of cultural identity and village prosperity.
Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council: “The public good in this case, I believe, is obvious to all Belizeans. There’s many different groups of people, government entities, private entities that use that beach for private functions, for their enjoyment. So the beach is there for that. It’s really for the public. This is not a beach where the village charges people to go out there and use. When we have functions to dispose of garbage, there are minimal little fees that we charge, but the beach is there for all Belizeans to enjoy. The cost seems to be a bit prohibitive at this point but that I don’t think is for the property owners to decide. That is something I believe that the courts should decide. The government, I believe, has done their due diligence in seeking the proper valuation of the property and there is absolutely no way that that these people would put the price on it that the government cannot pay.”
Jaleeza Roberts, Love News: Official records show the land designated as parcel 2010 was quietly sold and new owner Jones Burrow Limited now claims title the land the council never thought could be bought. In fact conflicted surveys tell a more complex story. A 1987 legal miscalculation identified in a 2019 title search may have incorrectly included a 1.8 acre stretch of shoreline. New re-surveys suggest a portion, approximately 0.387 acres, was never legally part of the title land. For over a decade, the PVC submitted letters, surveys, and formal requests to the Ministry of Natural Resources asking for recognition of the land as public property. According to the vice chairperson, Brice Dial, she doesn’t quite understand what the hold back of the government reacquisition is, as during the last meeting, the CEO and Minister of the Lands Department reassured them that it would be resolved.
Brice Dial, Vice Chairperson, Placencia Village Council: “We don’t understand why they’re dropping the ball and it just doesn’t make sense because where do we go as a village? What do we do with our events? You know, where do people go to socialize and for recreation? So, you know, we’re not gonna take the answer that “oh, it’s lost, the lady already has her title.” Like that is not an excuse for us because it shouldn’t have come to this in the first place. Because the village council had been trying to get this land since 2013. You know, Ms. Ilsa sent us communication that they had sent as th village council and I asked her if they ever received anything back from the government at the time and she said, no, there was never any response to any of these letters and it was probably about eight different letters that the PVC sent to either the CEO or the minister or even the prime minister at the time and not one written response.”
Jaleeza Roberts, Love News: Placencia Point had been one of the last unaffected accessible pieces of coast line in the area. The land remains in limbo. While legal titles support one claim, historical use and moral authority support another. The question Belize must now face is whether or not laws should override legacy. This issue highlights a broader issue across Belize. Expats and offshore companies are acquiring prime coastal land due to their access to deeper funding and quicker legal access than many locals can afford. Village chairman explained that despite the privatization what they are requesting back is still minimal.
Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council: “The issue is that especially people that are moving to Belize do not respect some of the building practices of building so close to the beach. And we’re faced with serious erosion at the moment because of several different issues, manmade and nature. In a village, we have very little autonomy. Everything happens in Belmopan. Building permits, you want to build in Placencia you get your building permits at the Central Building Authority in Belmopan. The council, most of the time, isn’t even aware of buildings, construction. We’re not even aware when properties are resold. So there’s little influence that we have on the type of development. We’re getting really good word that some of these will change with the introduction of the land use policy. Villages will have more say in terms of the development and the use of their land spaces. It’s really for us to put together our local policies and hopefully they can be passed into laws by laws that whoever builds will have to abide by those regulations. But at the moment, because of our lack of autonomy there’s very little that we can do besides lobbying government for us to have more say. We’re asking the government to reacquire, to complete the process of reacquiring that small strip of land. It’s 0.38th of an acre.”
Jaleeza Roberts, Love News: This is not necessarily a story of development, rather one of displacement. With the Placencia Lobster Fest 2025 being a little over two weeks away, the venue remains up in the air foreshadowing the possibility of it not happening. For now, the PVC awaits the results of a meeting tomorrow before they make any further decisions. Jaleesa Roberts, Love News.
A demonstration on the issue took place this evening at around four thirty.
English (US) ·