Land Dispute in Camalote, One Family is Divided Over a Father’s Legacy

There is a bitter land dispute among two families in Camalote Village which has seen a seventy-five-year-old resident and his older sibling at odds with each other for several years.  Albert Hoare has been occupying a piece of property in that western community for many years.  It was left behind by his deceased father over two decades ago.  But tonight, he is not on good terms with his sister whom he claims has gone to great trouble to sabotage the ownership of the land.  Despite all efforts to rectify the matter with the Lands Department and the Ministry of Natural Resources, Hoare’s attempts have been futile.  The elderly man and his children are fearful that the subsequent fallout within the Hoare family can result in bloodshed.

Albert Hoare

Albert Hoare, Camalote Resident

“Me and my next sister Rose, the youngest one, we went to Lands Department to make an application that we can secure this land ina we brothers and sisters name and settle the thing. When we gone down so, we make we application, we find out that some kind of crookedness start to work in there with she, fi she children and without the rest of brothers and sisters them. so what we did was make an application, see that it get into the computer, paid wi five dollars stamp and everything…run on, run on, run on. I say make I go check this thing because this thing di take too long. So when I gone in there, I talk to the girl downstairs and she tell me Mister Hoare, the application dismiss from the computer. I say no; something wrong somewhere. Now I make the application nine days ahead of them. They find themselves that a cancelation come from the Honorable Gaspar Vega because they violate dehn rights right there on the land…she and the children them. And a matter of fact the Lands Act di say that the children noh have no claim there; it has to be between brothers and sisters. But she noh want it that way; she wanted herself and ih children dehn and stole the next brothers and sisters out and that can’t work so. Mister Hernandez, the Deputy Commissioner—he noh deh deh right now—he say Mister Hoare I could fix this thing fi yo right now but people come in here and noh tell me the truth. So like ih kinda fraid fi do that without the proper identification. So ih say come to Registry dah Belize City, file in for your father death certificate so that we could prove that the man dead. Well I gone there and the next sister come that we get this out with a declaration paper, signed by wah JP, stamp and everything. And then this thing with all ah the brothers and sister names on it and that dah weh I do. And when I ker that ina the Lands Department dah then the revolution bruk out…some stoppage deh all ova di place.”