Dion Zabaneh has been making the news for weeks now - for filling up his mother, Primrose Gabourel's lot, parcel 4670 in the Buttonwood Bay Area. The lot - 1.3 acres of it. - happens to be in the sea - and it is land which Zabaneh says he is reclaiming.
But, from Saturday January 19th to Friday January 25th - Zabaneh continued to fill, in defiance of a stop order from the Department of the Environment.
And that's why today 76 year old Primrose Gabourel 43 year old Dion Zabaneh, had to appear before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford - represented by their attorney Emil Arguelles. The Department of the Environment has charged them for failure to obtain environmental clearance prior to development activity; failure to comply with an enforcement notice, that is, a stop order; hindering or obstructing an officer in the conduct of his duties and proceeding with a project without complying with environmental clearance.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges - and Arguelles submitted that they should not have been arraigned on the charges because the charges were not put properly before the court. He said that they two Justices of the Peace who had signed the summons were not eligible to do so because they were from Belmopan and it was out of their jurisdiction. Arguelles also said that based on his experience as a Crown Counsel, a magistrate should have signed the summons. The matter has been adjourned until February 6 - and both Zabaneh and Arguelles declined comment outside the courtroom.
We asked the legal counsel for the ministry of Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development Jevon Hulse if the Department of the Environment was sufficiently vigilant in monitoring the development over the past 13 years:...
Jules Vasquez
"The fact that you all haven't gone out there. 13 years have elapsed and your department has not gone out there until it has raised after the man put almost one hundred thousand dollars in fill out there."
Jevon Hulse, Legal Consel - Min. of Environment
"Again, you will look at the issues in so far as man power. The department of the environment would have responded when they became aware that something was happening. As you rightly pointed out the activity was stopped in 2006. From that point onward nothing happened. Until apparently there was a decision made in the Supreme Court and more recently, approximately I would say 2-3 weeks ago when actual development activity commence again and at that point the department responded."
Jules Vasquez
"I won't get into adjudication at this state. What we have are the optics. We have here on camera we have seen Mr. Zabaneh assault, insult your environmental officers. What does that mean for the department and how important is that matter?"
Jevon Hulse
"That is what we are dealing with before the court, because you have a situation where persons feel they are above the law."
We'll be there when the case resumes on February 6th.
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