Prime Minister signs agreement with Toledo Maya
From colonial times the relationship between the government of Belize and its Mayan citizens has been an uneasy one. Today the administration of Prime Minister Said Musa took a step, which at least begins to resolve the matter and looks for solutions to the problems of land tenure and economic development of the south. News 5’s Jose Sanchez was in Punta Gorda today where he spoke to the Prime Minister and Maya spokesman Greg Ch’oc. The occasion was the signing of a ten point agreement.
Gregory Ch’oc, President of the Ketchi Council
“It’s the government’s recognition that the Maya people have a right to the land and resources in southern Belize, particularly around their communities and the immediate environment. The larger framework will determine how we proceed to provide titles or ownership of these lands and resources to the communities and how they will benefit, not only economically, but spiritually, socially, culturally, from the resources. I think you’re all aware that the Mayan people are pretty much a forest dependent people and as such their livelihood depends on it. It is important that we safe guard this.”
Jose Sanchez
“There have been disagreements between the Mayan community and the government in the past. Do you believe that this agreement will stick?”
Gregory Ch’oc
“Well, like I said, I think the true meaning of this agreement will only result in and fruition if the government and the Mayan leaders are committed to ensuring that we anchor these programmes that we will be developing in the real world of Mayan communities.”
Jose Sanchez
“Exactly what has the government put to this Ten Points agreement?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“We signed in effect a partnership agreement between the government of Belize and the various Maya organisations, the leaders of the organisations, the Toledo Maya Cultural Council the Ketchi Council, the Alcalde Association and the Village Council Leaders and the Maya Women’s Group. This is an agreement that we have worked on together, we have had many meetings in which we realised that the time had come for us to… if we are to carry out this regional development plan for Toledo, it’s important to involve the people and their leaders at every stage of the development. So what this document is doing, is setting out a framework for us to work together to ensure that we have meaningful development here in Toledo that will benefit the people, it will ensure that the people who want the titles to their lands, their leases, who for years have been waiting for this, we will try and speed up that process now, so they can get their leases and their titles. Those who want to retain communal lands around their villages; we will respect that as well. There is enough land to satisfy both demands if you like, but it has to be done in an organised fashion and we have to make sure there is an equitable distribution of this land.”
Gregory Ch’oc
“The Ten Point didn’t happen overnight. We exhausted local and national, remedies to have our claims and our rights to land recognised. When that did not happen, we pursued and international lobbying effort which I believe contributed to the government to recognise the importance of engaging or farming a partnership with the people, particularly the Mayan people of southern Belize.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Respecting the cultural heritage of the Maya People. They feel over the years, very slighted with the way they have been treated. To give and example, we talk about a Mundo Maya Tourism Project, when many of them say “But how can it be a Maya world, Mundo Maya when we are not involved, they’re only using our name?” We have to make sure that when we have these tourist projects, we involve the Maya people that they too participate. It’s not to create exclusivity, as was pointed out today. It’s not to give a special treatment to the Maya, but really to give them equal opportunity.”
Jose Sanchez
“That brings the point that some people or some critics may say that by making this deal specifically with an ethnic group such as the Maya, that it won’t give leeway to other agreements with perhaps the Garifunas or other ethnic groups within the country.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Well this was the attitude adopted by the last administration, they refuse to do any special agreement with any group in Belize to say that we were favouring one group with the other. I don’t see it that way. I see the Maya-Belizeans… you can look around and realise that here in Toledo there is a lot of poverty, there is a lot of backwardness, these people have to be brought up to speed, they have to be brought fully into the money economy of Belize and the only way to do that is through affirmative action; there is no other way. I see this as a kind of affirmative action, but also an affirmation of the government that we want to work with the people in bringing about development, because that is the only meaningful development, when the people are involved from the ground up.”
Jose Sanchez
“You did mention individual rights to land. I understand that the Mayan people in the past had wanted the land in Toledo for Mayans only. Does this mean that individual Mayans will be able to own land?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Yes. The concept of just having a whole section of Belize put aside and just say that this is a Maya homeland is not what this document is about. We do not subscribe to that and this is where we had to sit down and discuss this with the Maya leaders, that we felt you cannot balkanize, you cannot separate any part of Belize, because Belize belongs to all the Belizean people and any Belizean is entitled to come and live here in Toledo, whether it be Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo. Similarly, any Maya is entitled to live in any part of Belize.”
Jose Sanchez
“Do you believe this agreement will stick in the long run?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“It will require a lot of hard work, but I am committed to ensuring that it works. There is nothing worse than having a broken agreement; that is worse that having no agreement at all. We have signed an agreement today and I am committed and my government is committed to ensure that we carry it out with good faith.”
Gregory Ch’oc
“I’m optimistic I guess. I’m optimistic.”
Within the next four months, the Mayan leaders and government expect to develop administrative measures and target dates for the implementation of the program.
