San Pedranos Turn Out for Lands Clinic

The Department of Lands and Surveys is hosting the first ever mobile land clinic, in San Pedro Town to provide administrative assistance to islanders experiencing problems with their land documents. The anticipated event started today and will continue into Friday with an effort to address the concerns of residents who have been unable to acquire land or whose land documents have been delayed. Minister of Natural Resources Cordel Hyde and his team were on hand at the Angel Nuñez Auditorium on the island and residents lined up.

Mirta Marin

Mirta Marin, San Pedro Resident

“I am waiting for this for long and I never expect that I could get it today. I have travelled like two times to Belmopan and I haven’t done nothing because they told me that my land was on hold. Just last night my sister-in-law called me and said I can come here and bring my…because I only had the paper to pay my purchase price. And my common-law husband offered to come four o’clock in the morning to make line. Thanks God we did it, and I get it and I thankful with everybody for helping me.”

Voice of: San Pedro Resident

“I want to inquire and be sure of what’s happening with the lands, especially the lands up north; I think about five miles north.  I’ve had my lot since 2015 and I have been paying. My lease has been approved and we’re making payments and we have applied for purchase price and we have been waiting for over a year and half or two. So we want to make sure that these papers are still legit because we see newcomers coming around and they just recently in March and April, received lands and it is impossible that the lots around us be given to these newcomers when I know these lots were given six to seven years ago. So a lot of my neighbours seem to have confusion whether their lands are still theirs or not. For example, I have a friend; her land just appeared in someone else’s name and she’s been paying up to date. So I really just think that it is very helpful that they are out here and give us the opportunity to check on our lands here instead of having to travel.”

Cordel Hyde

Cordel Hyde, Minister of Natural Resources

“We are going to do this for five years, not just when elections, but repeatedly and that way taking the department to the people would help somewhat with the long lines that we find at Belmopan. But also it is about streamlining what we do.  In September, we are going to get a streamline versus of land folio which is going to make the application process much easier, gonna make us able to provide leases and permission for surveys and purchase approvals in the shortest possible times – in days or weeks – but that is dependent also on us moving down a tremendous backlog that we’ve had.”