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That opportunity finally presented itself today in Cayo where we asked Dr. John Morris about the case. Here's what he had to say:

Dr. John Morris, Director, Institute of Archeology
"For the last 5-6 years we've been having discussions with the village of Santa Cruz, because the archaeological of Uxbenka encompasses about 5 sq. Kilometers. That means that the village itself actually sits within the proposed archaeological reserve and so over the last couple of years we've been having discussions with the village to demarcate a boundary, so that we can create an archaeological reserve via the statutory instrument that we normally do."

"Now, you have a gentleman who comes in. I believe that he is married or has a common-law-wife in the village and he decided that he will build a house, a wooden structure on top of one of the mounds within the area that we had proposed as the boundary for the archeological reserve. The village wrote us, we made some attempts to get in touch with Mr. Myles. He was never there, we were only able to get in touch with his father-in-law and the woman and we expressed that you should not build in these areas here; that you need to move your structures from here. Then he proceeded to bulldoze a road up the side of a platform."

Daniel Ortiz
"Is it established that he destroyed this monument and that he should not have been there?"

Dr. John Morris
"Yes, it is established. Within the laws of Belize, especially the National Institute of Culture and History Act, you cannot build on top of a Maya mound. Sometimes these things happen inadvertently, but when we come out there, you have to move the structure. I don't know what possessed the gentleman to keep on building and to bulldoze the road. I recently came from a NICH board meeting yesterday and I was given the instruction to proceed with the notice of eviction."

Daniel Ortiz
"Is there any criminal sanctions that can be brought against Mr. Myles? Because we were picking sentiment from the Mayans that they've been criminal sanctioned with the unlawful imprisonment charge, but nothing has been done to Mr. Myles. Will any action be taken?"

Dr. John Morris
"Definitely, just like the case with the Noh Mul, the destruction of the mound…it is in court right now. Mr. Denny Grijalva has had to attend several court sessions. The same way, we have all intentions. We will give him a letter of eviction from the area and then we are finishing up our assessment of the damage that he has done to the platform of the ancient Maya building and when we are finished with that we are going to serve him with court papers for the destruction of a monument based on the laws of Belize."

Daniel Ortiz
"One of the things that the Mayans have brought to the attention of the press is that they made repeated attempts to deal with the state, try to get them to intervene at the best possible time. Their sentiment is that they were neglected. Do you agree or do you concede that the National Institute of Archaeology and History did not do enough to intervene in this particular situation?"

Dr. John Morris
"No, I don't agree. We've had discussions with them, we've had consultations. In fact the bulk of the villagers work for the Institute of Archaeology on a project we have there which was on going at the time. I think what transpired in this particular case is that, there are other issues that are involved, that has really nothing to do with whether or not you build on a Maya mound. And if you build on a Maya mound, it takes a while for us to prepare the damage report. It takes a while for us to draft up the eviction notices. These are not things that you do overnight, because it's going to be a legal matter, so you have to make sure that you craft these things in the right way."

This evening, the Toledo Alcalde's Association released a statement reminding that the Santa Cruz 13 will be going back to the Punta Gorda Magistrate's Court on next week Tuesday. The association is asking that everyone is treated equally under the law, including the Maya.

The statement say's quote: "Once more, the Alcaldes from the Maya villages and the Maya people remain resolute in their position to stand with the women, men and children of Santa Cruz in calling upon the Prime Minister and government authorities to offer all Belizeans, including the Maya people, full protection of their rights and to be treated with justice and respect." End Quote.

As you heard in our interview, Dr. Morris says that the Institute of Archaeology has already established the fact that Rupert Myles did destroy a portion of Uxbenka. Well, it turns out that this Mayan monument is a big deal, and NICH had grand plans to turn it into another reserve like Caracol, Altun Ha and others that are national treasures. Tune in on next week Monday's newscast, where we'll reveal the intensive planning that they had for Uxbenka.