Chief Justice tells GOB to give Sam Bruce his land
samuel bruce
They say money is the root of all evil, but in Belize land is just as problematic as the greenbacks. That is perhaps why there were two cases in court today that had to do with government taking away land from private owners and in both instances GOB lost. The first was a ruling in the case brought by Samuel Bruce who sued the government for four point four acres of land in Benque Viejo Town. It’s a portion of Bruce’s nine acre property, which he had intended to convert into a multi-purpose facility for the community. But in the midst of the development, government issued a stop order with the intent of giving the portion of land to Mount Carmel Primary School. Bruce complied and ceased work on the plot, but took out an injunction to stop the government takeover. And while GOB’s attorneys have argued that using the land for an educational facility is good enough reason, Bruce’s representative Attorney Said Musa, has argued that his client was never approached to have the land purchased from him and that the school was given another eight lots nearby to expand on in 2002. But in his ruling, Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh noted that those lots were conveniently abandoned right around the time when GOB made an attempt on Bruce’s property. He also pointed out that the expansion would put the school right in Bruce’s backyard and cut his properly almost in half. As for the government’s reasoning that the land was being acquired for public use, well Mount Carmel is not a government school. With all that said, the CJ granted Bruce a declaration that the attempted acquisition was an error of law and reasoning. Both Bruce and his attorney were pleased with what Musa calls a landmark ruling.
Said Musa, Attorney for Samuel Bruce
said musa
“I’m particularly happy for my client, that he has been able to keep his land, and the decision of the court that the acquisition as carried out by the Minister of Natural Resources was an error of law, arbitrary and unreasonable. The court has fully vindicated my client’s claim that the government should never have acquired these lands in the first place because in the circumstances it wasn’t necessary.”
Delahnie Bain
“What was the basis of the Government’s defense?”
Said Musa
“The government’s defense is that once the Minister puts a declaration in the gazette that the land is acquired for a public purpose, that is it and that’s the end of the matter. But of course, as the CJ pointed out, our Constitution protects the rights of all citizens from arbitrary deprivation of property. This judgment today is I think, a landmark decision in protecting the rights of citizens to private property.”
Samuel Bruce, Won Land Case Against GOB
“It’s been a lot of stress for myself, my family and for the community of Benque. Hopefully we can recover from this and get back to work on the development projects that I plan to do and hopefully we’ll work together in peace, all the community and the government and this is a finished issue.”
Along with his property, Bruce was awarded five thousand dollars in court costs. The portion of land in question was valued at over one point two million dollars.
Only time will show you that Bruce does not have the best interest of the community at heart. Channel 5, why don’t you continue following up on the story a year or two from now so you may be able to show your viewers what kind of crap Bruce tries to pass as a community project. Don’t just show a victory for Said Musa. The UDP has not lost either. It is Benque Viejo del Carmen that has surely lost big on this one… Pity.
Only time will show what a terrible mistake it was to award that piece of land to Samuel Bruce. Channel 5, you should continue to follow up this story for the next year or two so you may be able to show your viewers what kind of crap Mr. Bruce will try to pass as a community project. Don’t only show Mr. Said Musa’s victory. Don’t think either that this is a loss for the UDP, ’cause it’s not. They are only playing politics, just like the PUP. This is a major loss for the community of Benque Viejo del Carmen… pity. It is also too bad that the Chief Justice doesn’t know what Mr. Bruce is really all about either. But the Benqueños know this infamous creature very well.
i bet he didnot pay government thet amount for the land. the only reason musa and borrow are in Belize is the sell out the belizeans land to the highest bidder and thats mustily foreigners
to all foreigners land for sale in bz. just come give a small donation to the locals and of course my cut and u can get any peace of land u want. dont worry i am the boss around her and the belizean will not ask questions come and get rich off the poor. i have oil too if u like. of course for the right price for me. i need some couple millions belize is a good place too come and invest ur money just dont come and get married here hill this place is not good enough for me to have gotten married here. so come to belize with money and ask for dean
I beg to differ with all the above posters. This is a good thing for all Belizean’s despite the fact that the landowner in this case is a foreigner.
Imagine you work hard to make a lil money and buy yourself some land, lets say you were so industrious that you managed to buy ten acres of land and out of nowhere some communist minded prick decides to take away your land and give it to a private entity.
If you believe that people who work hard to buy properties should be stripped of those properties and the properties be given to you because you do not have chances are you need to start working harder.
I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, on the contrary I was born in poverty but with hard work and lots of sacrifices I have managed to carve myself a fair share of the pie and do not believe in the people of Belize going around begging for handouts from the government. Neither should private schools should be begging government for handouts, cause handouts to the underachievers simply means that we the hard working industrious Belizean’s must pay more taxes just to feed bottom feeders.
you think musa and barrow are enemies…i bet they are good friends and have a competition to see who can rip off the most of us poor belizeans…aye dios mio..its gets harder and harder to believe in government…
I don’t know Mr. Bruce and what his intentions are, but I am happy to know that there is some recourse when Government sets their eye on your property and decide to just bully it away from you using any erroneous reasons that they choose. It is not easy to be a land owner you pay for land with hard earned money, develop it with blood, sweat, and tears and because someone wants it they can just take it and not reimburse you for it’s value. Belize needs to stop teaching their children how to thief and taking something for nothing when it does not belong to you is just plain THEFT. Remember Ministers….CHILDREN ARE WATCHING YOU AND YOUR BEHAVIOR!!!!!
This was a very good rulling. There is a way to go about things like this and it seems like the lands department does not understand the process.
They need to stop this kind of behavior! The guys in Sand Hill at Bakers Ranch I hope they prevail also!
Seems like every action in Belize is done outside of the law; no matter if it is the cop, the GOB or the criminals, everyone seems to operate outside of the law.
We all know that Musa is no saint either because when they were at the helm there were many bad move on their part too. It is good that Belizeans are standing up for their rights.
By the way “little boy” land is always sold to the highest bidder! Belizeans want land and they deserve to have a piece to call their own but they need to develop the land; don’t just build a shanti on it because the entire country will for every be a shanti town if this continues.
So glad to see Justice step in and put some of the chancy pols in their place. Irrespective of your political affiliation most will agree our governments have been ripping off land from Belize residents for too long now.
I suggest the first three posters need to get their facts straight, because this helps them!
This is a good ruling: now every Belizean will have the upper hand in court, and GOB will need to prove their actions of taking property from land owners are legitimate acquisitions. This is not a UDP or PUP thing this ruling helps protect everyone from corrupt practices, and victimization. What Mr. Bruce plans to do with his property is not the issue, If you investigate this story from the beginning Mr. Bruce purchased his land from a private Belizean 20 years ago. I wish Mr. Bruce luck with his venture, and thank him for having the courage to stand up for OUR rights.
By the way: if you take a trip to Benque and investigate you will see all the available land that Mount Carmel already owns and pays no taxes, it make you wonder why GOB (area rep) even considered giving them anymore, think about it a private institution, a registered business, that pays no property taxes and is the largest land owner in Benque already?
Justice has been served, i hope these greedy polticians will learn and stop this victimizing practice of arbritraryily hijacking peoples private land on the pretense of using it for a public purpose. Pity They will not be the ones compensating Mr Bruce and Mr Coye out of their own pockets instead of us taxpayers. Maybe we should advocate for the introduction of a law whereby any politician proven to have taken away somebodys land because of a political or personal agenda should be made to pay for it out of his pocket.
proven to have taken away somebodys land because of a political or personal agenda
Aiai if you guys would only know who da samuel bruce, he have this land for over 20 year and now that the present government want the land for the school children he start to bleat blah blah, all of a sudden he realize he want to do something for the community after twenty years, Imagine that and BOOM jump in the jackass,to defend this no good man samuel bruce who is a very prejudice person around benque, he very much dislike mestizos an he knows what i talking about cause we had our quarrel a few years ago, now he di try play like if he so good, bs. he and the jackass without tail dey up to something, everytime you see a dead man wake up , be careful and stand on your guard.
Bruce only like dem peopel who kiss his a.., cause he whit he think he better than w belizeans, fi true, believe what I di tell you.
CEO, which Belizeans? Those who can afford a big time lawyer? Those who already have enough and need not anymore?
We have to look at those who are growing up those who soon will be needing to make exorbitant loans just to by a small piece of what rightfully belongs to them. In no other country but Belize- Capitalist country, can a rich man screw the children from a school. No matter whether it is a private school, it is a school that caters to the community. Imagine if it would be SJC? Do you think that would be ok?
No matter how you put it those in both political mafias are there for their self interest not for the people. If Musa or Borrow would have some decency they would make sure that all the land is distributed EQUALLY. Under the Said Musa mafia, the cronies made away with huge tracts of land only to be sold to richer people at incredibly inflated prices. Just ask the Boss in San Pedro -students! How many acres, islands have been sold…land that could have been used for the benefit of th community and its residents…now lie in foreign hands never to return again!
Belizeans it is time for a REVOLUTION!!!! It is time to change the system, a system that protects and caters to the criminials with the be big bank accounts and the guayabera wearing crooks!
PATRIA O MUERTE!!!!
We need to go the socialist way the real way for social justice. Land belongs to those who need it and toil it. So many Belizeans toil in land that is not theirs. You call this social justice?
Belizeans, wake up and stop watching a lot of TV. This is an important decision and good for private owners. Being a foreigner does not matter. it’s not his fault he owns all that land. It’s our fault as voters because we keep electing prostitutes in red and blue to lead us and they allow these kinds of things to happen.
I’m glad it was bruce. He had the money to take the govt to court. Most poor people who own their property don’t have the money to take govt to court when they take away our little private plots. The constitution protects us from arbitrary deprivation of property but both red and blue govts keep doing it. Know why, the poor private land owners don’t have the money like Bruce to sue. if more people take the govt to court, they will stop doing this with private land owners, especially the hardworking Belizeans. then they will stop doing it with leases.
Belize will never change and poor Belizean will keep on suffering because of the stupid decision that our so called leaders are making. There are many local people that cannot get a piece of land and no one will fight for them but if a foreigner comes and have a little money they will. Belize will forever be poor unless our leaders get wise and start to make wise decision. For the public: Do you know how many foreigners are rich today because of Belize? They come here and bribe our government by telling them that they are rich and offer them a little bit of nothing and our government gives them what they want and they just get rich from there. Belize politicians need to get wise and stop playing the fool.