Belize City woman and brother getting evicted from Belama

A Belize City woman and her brother are being evicted from the Belama Phase Four area. Maria Valle says she and her brother were given adjacent lots on which to build their houses, but now that her house is fully constructed, she’s been told by Minister of Works, Anthony “Boots” Martinez, that they both have to move. The house owner says that Martinez used intimidating tactics on her but cannot come up with any supporting evidence that the land, which was given to her by area Rep Francis Fonseca, belongs to anyone else. Valle told News Five that she is in a quagmire because she and her children have nowhere else to go.

Maria Valle

Maria Valle

“This morning, Mr. Boots Martinez visited me right here and told us that den yah lots have owners already. But we get to find out from our Area Rep that dehn empty right now so dats why we decide fi build on it. Now he just come afta when di house done build, he come and tell we dat we have to move or else he wah mek police come chase we out from there and take out all we stuff dehn. We mi kinda worry so that’s why we call the media. But we noh want that cause I noh have nowhere to go. I have kids and everything done deh yah. I done do all my expense and I got my lee stuff them and how can I move again when I done spend my lee money there. So I kinda deh ina wah jam. I don’t know what fi do.”

Delahnie Bain

“And y’all checked before you came to build here?”

Maria Valle

“Well actually we checked with fi we area rep, Francis, and he said to make us go ahead and as we done build, we can go to Belmopan to get our leased lot. So that is what we were going to do. But then I noh know weh we wah do right now—to go ahead, to come off. We just kinda lost. So that’s why we call the media and see if anything could happen or anything wah happen to we because how can we move again? It’s hard. They have to give we wah time or locate we other place or something like that. But I noh know what we wah do.”

Delahnie Bain

“How long have you been here or how long ago did you start building actually?”

Maria Valle

“In last week we start. But they waited till we build the lee house and then tell us we have to move. Why didn’t they come from the beginning? Then we neva mi wa put no house or nothing. Now we deh yah and they tell us we wah have to move, but how we wah move?  It’s hard.”

Delahnie Bain

“You are mentioning that the people from the land’s department were out here this morning but they didn’t really provide any proof?”

Maria Valle

“No they had a book and they said that this is for certain person and this one dah fi certain person. Even with the land where my ma is situated—that is the wrong number and that she belongs on the other land. And now how will she move if she is settled down there already. But they tell me and my brother that we have to move but then we have fi we house small and that we have to move no matter what or else they will call police also. But they neva show we nothing. They just tell we certain person deh yah and certain person deh yah and we have to move.”

The single mother also questions why the Minister of Works would be interfering in the area.