7 News Belize

Land Clash With Compol and Villager
posted (June 22, 2018)
Tonight, there is a high-profile land dispute that continues play out in the Village of Lemonal, in the Belize River Valley. It involves the wife of the Commissioner of Police and a retired police officer who earns a living from pig farming.

Tony Anthony, a lifelong resident of Lemonal, says that for almost 2 decades now, he's been working a half acre of land where he has assorted plants and a pigpen. He says he applied for title to own the land, a push which has not yet seen any measurable success.

Enter Sharon Mae Whylie - Banner, the wife of Police Commissioner Allen Whylie, who asserts that she has title to this very same land that Anthony has been occupying. She insists that it belongs to her, and that Anthony has been squatting on it. Things came to a head earlier this week when police arrived to keep the peace. Because of their proximity to the ComPol and his wife, Anthony believes that there is an obvious police bias, and that the officers are being used to unfairly keep him off this land that he has invested on.

He spoke with 7News today and here's how he explained the dispute from his perspective:

Tony Anthony- Pig farm Owner, Land Dispute
"I feel like I am getting chanced big time. Why? Because the person who is chancing me is the Commissioner of Police and he is using his power. Right now, at this time that we are speaking, he has police men doing all of the job, with gun at their side. So, my hands are down, I can't do anything, I can't stop anyone right now because he is too big for me. I believe I am getting chance. This piece of place I applied for three years ago. I also went to Belmopan when I heard the threats to Mr. Vallejos and he told me that they can't get that. The paper that they have is bogus, it is not good and the commissioner of lands must know a paper when it is good. For 13 years now I am into the haul project. The first private partner who started us in this business is Sif. He comes in 2007 when the PUP administration was in. So, it happens that we never get the pigs until UDP get into power. So, Mr. Castro was the area representative in the constituency. So, we managed to get the pigs, Sif built two pens. My neighbor, I encouraged him to build a pen with me on the same lot. So, they came out of the project but I stayed in the project and on those two pens, I put on 7 and I do 10 more; construction cement, I buy new boards from the nearby lumber yard- Samuels Lumber Yard, I get zink, nails, labor, sand, I paid $1000 for the gravel. Man, I spent a lot of money on that place and I got 27 pigs right now, to be exact, ready to sell, and I have two pregnant and I have a big boar. I also got coconut tree that I am selling coconut. Man, I have some beautiful coconut that full two glasses. So, I sell coconut and I sell the pigs and I work this place hard with my labor. So, I am losing big time. I really want someone stand up for me too, man, like the Prime Minister or someone like that. I don't actually have title, like they say, but I apply for the place. I feel angry, man."

But, Sharon Mae Whylie asserts that she has rights to this same property, and that she has a title document for it. Yesterday, our colleagues at Krem News spoke with her in Lemonal, at the site of the piece of land in question, and here's her strong assertion that her ownership of this land is indisputable:

Sharon Mae Whylie- The wife of ComPol
"From since 2008 I have applied for that piece of land and I got it from the PUP government. And since 2015 I got my title for it. I have no problem with people that want to come cross into my place. I don't have a problem with it. They are the ones who are making the problem for something that does not belong to them because I don't even know if they have papers for their own property, not mine."

Reporter
"You guys are relatives? That's what they admit."

Sharon Mae Whylie
"Yes."

Reporter
"They were living on that piece of land for how long ago?"

Sharon Mae Whylie
"They weren't living on that piece of land. As you can see, you can take pictures; do you see where the house is? That is not where the house is. See where the land begins? Right from there all the way across there. That land was for older heads of people but they don't apply for the land. What happened is that Lemonal people like to squat on lands and don't apply for their land papers. They don't have any papers."

Reporter
"So, in this case, you are saying, as I had been questioning them, you bested them in this situation, meaning that you jumped on application before they did."

Sharon Mae Whylie
"No, no, no, it is not for them. They want to apply for the same piece of land that I have, the land is not for them. It was for a different family but not for them. They want to apply for another piece of land, not for this land. This land is not for them."

Reporter
"But the commissioner's presence..."

Sharon Mae Whylie
"Yes, well, he is my husband."

Reporter
"But people would say that he should be on the job, not here."

Sharon Mae Whylie
"Well that is why he is the commissioner of police, he tells them what to do."

Reporter
"How would you want to see this situation resolved? It seems it is a court matter."

Sharon Mae Whylie
"This cannot be no court matter. I have my title for my piece of land and they don't have any. This cannot be a court matter. I am not claiming the house, I am not claiming anything that concerns them. I am just claiming my piece of place that is only bush that I just push down. I am not claiming anything for them."

Reporter
"However, they are saying that the piece where the pig pen is, which is close to where their house is, that that is for them and that you guys are claiming that as well."

Sharon Mae Whylie
"No, no, no, as far as I am concerned, I got it from the chairman here in Lemonal, that that hogs pen is for them. I don't know who built the hog pen but that hog pen was built for the chairman and his wife to raise hogs in but they don't raise hogs anymore, so, it is not for them. Even the hog pen is not for them."

At this time, there is no clear indication of which direction this dispute is going to go, and so, we'll keep following it, and update you accordingly.

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