Company Paid Princely Sum for Placencia Land Blocking Their Property
Even as the Prime Minister was announcing the resignation from Cabinet of Gaspar Vega, additional information was surfacing about land deals that stink to high heaven. The following has to be the mother of all land deals. In April 2012, one point six acres of land was transferred by the former Minister Gaspar Vega to Ron J. Limited of number ten Albert Street, Belize City. For the parcel of land in north Placencia, Ron J. Limited paid a measly six thousand five hundred and forty dollars. But within two years, the government wanted to acquire the land back and reached agreement with Ron Nagendran. In August 2013, the title to Nagendran was cancelled with Lands Officer, Ethel Gladden, saying it was issued in error. The ministry then proceeded with compensation. In an agreement on July fourteenth, 2015, the government agreed to a price tag of one million dollars – that’s a million dollars for land acquired initially for six thousand five hundred plus dollars. An initial twenty-five thousand dollars is cited as first instalment and the balance to be paid in instalments of twenty thousand. But why? We are following the paper trail and will have more of this on Tuesday. This afternoon both the PM and Minister Retreage were asked about this transaction. This is what they had to say:
Vanessa Retreage
Vanessa Retreage, Minister of Natural Resources
“Mike I will say that the Ron J Limited is one of the companies that is on the current list of compensation payments. I have not examined the contents of that file as yet, but it is currently on the compensation list. So whether it was transferred and it’s public, private; I don’t know because I have not looked, but it currently sits on the compensation list. I have actually instructed that, as the C.E.O. said, payments seized until we have had an opportunity to look at all these matters.”
Reporter
“Prime Minister in terms of that situation, are you familiar with any of the peripheral information, allegations of kickbacks; that sort of thing?”
Dean Barrow
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Sorry…”
Reporter
“In relation to the Ron J….”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“I don’t even know who is Ron J. That a company you said? I don’t know. The current minister has told you that she is familiar with the name and that that name is on the compensation list. I don’t know sir; I’m not at the Ministry of Lands and I don’t deal with compensation. I explained to your colleague early, we transfer the annual allocation and that’s the last we have to do with it. So I don’t know.”
