John Briceño Says Land Transactions Legal!

John Briceño

Briceño vehemently defended the lawful purchase of the properties, despite the fire sale prices at which they were bought.

John Briceño, Party Leader, P.U.P.

“Those are lands that we bought from individuals in Progresso.  You know when you buy a lease, it was abandoned cane lands and we bought those leases from the Lino family and so then eventually we applied for the land and then that is how we managed to get the land.  But it’s not land that the government gave us directly; we bought it from somebody, the rights to that land.”

Reporter

“Cheaply, because the allegation was that it was bought cheaply.”

John Briceño

“What was done is that when we paid the government, that was the price that it was going.  That was the ongoing price.  Now if you were to ask me, listen.  When I was in government, we issued over sixty-five thousand titles and leases, one of the finest records that any minister has ever had in the history of Belize.  It’s a proud record that I have and we have many people, I could have stood up in the house and named many of the ministers and even family members of the prime minister, but I am not going to go down that road.  Now have some people that are supporters of the party took advantage of the system, you know, because they are supporters? Yes, it happened.”