Mayor of Belmopan Khalid Belisle says there's nothing wrong with the parcels of land created out of the buffer zone on Queen Elizabeth II Boulevard. He says the area in question was not actually designed to be a buffer, but to form a part of the Boulevard itself.
But when it was paved and cement walkway was constructed on both shoulders, there was an unused portion of road reserve between the sidewalk and the adjoining properties.
He says the unused area became overgrown and when the council was assisting HelpAge which owns one of the adjacent parcels to build their parking lot, the Engineering department saw the empty land with just grass growing on it. They went to the Ministry of Natural Resources which advised them how to de-reserve and converted into new parcels.
The sale of some of the parcels for a mere one thousand dollars each is being done at what the commissioner of lands says is a standardized social rate for cities. Observers note that the purchasers - do not exactly fit a socially needy profile and that it smacks of insider trading.
Notably, the Belmopan city council also plans to de-reserve Philip Goldson Boulevard which has a road reserve span 180 feet wide - too expensive to pave. So they will redesign the road reserve to put an 80 foot wide road in place, leaving a 100 foot wide strip of land running almost the entire length of the boulevard which will also be converted to parcels.
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