And, finally tonight, the Minister of Indigenous Affairs gave us a housekeeping update on the ongoing compliance process for the Communal Land Rights consent order.
There are regular hearings with the Caribbean Court of Justice where both sides try to refine the mechanism for implementation of the consent order.
Balderamos Garcia gave us an update:
Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Minister of Human development "Yesterday there was what we call a compliance hearing. It is done virtually because it is with the Caribbean Court of Justice judges who sit in Trinidad. And basically the hearing went very well. Apparently there is good process that is being made, and we are hoping to finalize the Maya land policy and then move towards hiring a draftsperson for the legislation. And I believe the judges did say that we are making good progress. Now that does not mean that in the Maya Lands case, the proponents or the people who are claiming can get everything that they want there has to be a balance. There must be a balance. The idea government suggested, proposing that there be a circular area where we don't have to prove that you don't actually live there because your houses are there. Apparently that was a lot of opposition. So we said okay we won't use the circular proposal anymore, but what we are saying is if you wish to have communal land when the legislation is passed, then you have to show that you have lived there for a certain period of time and we are working on the threshold. What the government has proposed is you would have to use an occupation for at least 30 years. It is sort of what we call a prescriptive title. If You are on a piece of land for 30 years and no one moves you then you can claim either like squatters rights or long possession."
We will keep following the case - as we have from 2016.
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"Yesterday there was what we call a compliance hearing. It is done virtually because it is with the Caribbean Court of Justice judges who sit in Trinidad. And basically the hearing went very well. Apparently there is good process that is being made, and we are hoping to finalize the Maya land policy and then move towards hiring a draftsperson for the legislation. And I believe the judges did say that we are making good progress. Now that does not mean that in the Maya Lands case, the proponents or the people who are claiming can get everything that they want there has to be a balance. There must be a balance. The idea government suggested, proposing that there be a circular area where we don't have to prove that you don't actually live there because your houses are there. Apparently that was a lot of opposition. So we said okay we won't use the circular proposal anymore, but what we are saying is if you wish to have communal land when the legislation is passed, then you have to show that you have lived there for a certain period of time and we are working on the threshold. What the government has proposed is you would have to use an occupation for at least 30 years. It is sort of what we call a prescriptive title. If You are on a piece of land for 30 years and no one moves you then you can claim either like squatters rights or long possession."