7 News Belize

Petillo’s Land List
posted (June 15, 2010)
Since March we've been following the saga of the land at mile 42. You'll recall that the Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association, known as "BIGYEA" made public its intent to squat on the privately owned land for community development. Government then agreed to acquire the land but for agricultural purposes. Still, "BIGYEA" pressed on with its plans, and eventually the group won out; the Prime Minister agreed to allow them to develop a residential and agricultural community and decide who will get to lease 800 one acre tracts of land. Government cooperated by opening the rolls of land ownership and allowing them to screen their list of 3,800 persons to see which of those applicants already owned property - as first time landowners would be given preference.Well, that process has been completed and the list of 800 has been finalized. A celebratory Nigel Petillo and other members of their executive stopped by today to share the news about the place called Harmonyville and answer the tough questions.

Nigel Petillo, President BGYEA
"We are so happy. Harmonyvile is a reality, it's becoming a reality. We have the 800 names list."

Jules Vasquez
"So how did you select which 800 persons would be eligible?"

Nigel Petillo
"Starting from number one Jules, we notice let's say the first name is Juan Carlos, we check Juan Carlos name with the Government system information that was made possible to us to see if Juan Carlos have other land in his name because we are trying to make sure that these land goes to first time land owners. So when we saw that Juan Carlos have a land already we put him off on the side for now to make way for a new land owner, somebody that can build a house, a family."

Jules Vasquez
"So these 800 are first time land owners?"

Nigel Petillo
"First time land owners."

David Barnett, Vice President - BGYEA
"The truth of the matter is that the people who firstly went out there that were in the struggle and fight when the others were just saying that we won't get this thing, when some realize that we will get this thing they try jump onboard."

Nigel Petillo
"No feel no way, don't develop any hard feelings. Keep in mind, feel happy that another Belizean, another new land recipient is getting a land. That is the type of mentality that we want to put in our Belizean people. Don't be hating on the situation because you probably never go your one. We are starting from number one going down the list. If you were number 801 you probably are not there or maybe you are here too because some people in the 800 got drop off too."

Jules Vasquez
"You have an immigrant family somewhere around this area if my reckoning is correct. Appears to be an immigrant family who has some acres already developed and he has his cattle and others things he appears to have had some farming going on. What will happen to this individual?"

Nigel Petillo
"We are saying today that you don't have to go, you don't have to move from the land. Instead of that 20 acres or those 40 acres that you were farming roughly claimed to be yours, we are telling you that you will get an acre of land. The government has agreed to this. You won't get a 50 by 100 feet house lot. We make it ok for you to get an acre of land. Those people know that that land wasn't theirs. Can I go to Guatemala or even Africa and chop down an acre of land or even 40 acres of land and say that is for me? No, Jules. So we as Belizeans too we need to protect our land."

Jules Vasquez
"Maybe at the same time the man has been naturalized."

Nigel Petillo
"Does that mean the land is his? The land isn't his."

Jules Vasquez
"Have you broken this news to him?"

Nigel Petillo
"From the first time we went there, we explained to them that we are the have-nots we have been forced to leave our community in Belmopan especially in search of land because the similar situation that is happening out there has happened in our Belmopan, Las Flores, Salvapan, Maya Mopan and not to say that I am not with those people. Those are my friends and colleagues we went to school together but I am just saying that our parents have standby and allow that to happen; now there is no land for us in Belmopan and we had to search for land. We have a plan already: Harmonyville, we have our 800 possible land recipients who will probably be 800 families. So it's the planning of a community it's the way forward for the poor people for the under serve Belizeans."

Jules Vasquez
"Do you all have the intuitional capacity to move forward with this and plan a large community?"

Eluth Hall, Treasurer - BGYEA
"Well first also remember too that in the media they also call us land grabbers and incompetent bunch of guys and we are here to say look we have a proposed plan here already on the way to being approved by government. We have our five year strategic plan. So we are here to show that we are an organizer."

Nigel Petillo
"We have our proposal put together for our surveying and infrastructure. The government has made it clear to us that things are bad 'no money noh deh.' We don't want to be dependent of government either or dependent of nobody to say that we owe anything to anybody. I want to be bold enough to say that we will be visiting the embassies especially the Venezuela Embassy who have shown concern and interest in our project so far. This is a way of social reform. The end result is to put together a module community. We look at communities like Hattieville, Roaring Creek, Mahogany Height no planning. I mean if they did plan it, who plan it? Who approve it? Those things are failing those communities have nothing in place when it comes to education employment opportunities. As you can see our plan have commercial layout, industrial layout, residential layout."

Jules Vasquez
"Yeah but all those places had some nice plans too. You should have seen the plan for Mahogany Heights, that was spectacular."

Nigel Petillo
"Well, Bra, when you see it as spectacular, I am seeing termites right now."

Jules Vasquez
"I'm saying! It all starts with a nice plan. What you have here is a nice plan. You see what I am saying?"

David Barnett
"But that is when you did not get the people involved. That is when you have some people on top the try set the pace but when you see like people really from the lower class get together I mean with nothing. Like every day I tell my friends, we already spent over a hundred thousand dollars, you might laugh and say ' how did you do that?' But at the end of the day 100 of us spend $1,000.00 dollars, I mean its reality and we can do a lot if we just work together and we will show them something. "

According to Petillo, the lease papers should be ready within the next two weeks. They are having their next major meeting on the 27th of June at the site of the community. He says that those three thousand persons who were left out of this first apportioning of land will be kept on the list and be included into future considerations. As for the list. how do you know if you're on it or not? Well, it will be part published in the papers this week and it will be fully listed at the meeting on the 27th.

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