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And out of all the roles minister Zabaneh has to juggle, it's his Indigenous portfolio which requires a significant amount of attention. He says that he has already started to meet with key representatives and has agreed to meet with the office Indigenous Peoples Affairs in Punta Gorda every 2 months:
Dr Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Indigenous Constitutional and Religious Affairs And Transport
"So yesterday we met at our office Indigenous Peoples Affairs in Puerto Gorda, with the Toledo alcalde. This association, and also, with Mr Miss, who is the, the president of the Julian Cho society. And it was a very good meeting. I'm grateful that Minister Dr Osmond Martinez and Minister Oscar Requena were also there. Of course, all of this is occurring within their constituencies, and they have a lot at stake. But I started out, I think I learned quite a bit about the true power of genuine collaboration when I worked with, along with the BNTU and along with members of the various churches, for managements of, of schools. And that's the same approach that I'm taking with the people, the communities in Toledo. We're not enemies, we are all Belizeans and we must come together and find common ground. They recognise that they're within a country called Belize. And we recognise that they're indigenous to this part of the world. We recognise that there's also a 2015 ruling by the CCJ, and it is for us now to work as a team to find the path forward and that is how we approached it yesterday. And I, and I believe all of us there felt that it was a very good meeting and that certain things that we were able to share in that atmosphere I think set a stage for which we know that whatever compromises need to be made, that at least we're making it among friends, we're making it among people who genuinely want the best interests of the Maya people in being in Toledo and, of course, considering the interest of Belizeans across the country."
The CCJ has given GOB a timeline until October of this year to implement the consent order that originated 10 years ago.