Former Belmopan Mayor Stands Behind Decision to Repurpose City Lands

When we asked former Mayor Belisle about the questionable transfer of public lands under his leadership, and the blemish the accusations have left on his legacy as mayor, he reiterated that he would not apologize for what he believes is, quote, a progressive and aggressive approach to developing the City of Belmopan, unquote. Belisle explained that he had no issue with revising the use of certain portions of land in the city for the purpose of creating employment for its residents.

Khalid Belisle

Khalid Belisle, Former Mayor, Belmopan City Council

“I would never apologize, like I said, for pushing development in the City of Belmopan. I suppose you can accuse me of my vision being a very progressive one, and in that respect having been very aggressive in terms of trying to push development. The truth is that on a weekly basis while I was at City Hall, I would see no less than two dozen people who were looking for employment. I came to understand fairly quickly that neither local government nor even the national government is capable of sustaining, or meeting that demand for employment in the City at this time. So, it must fall to the private sector to be able to do so. And, many private sector interests at this point in time in Belize still require a physical space to be able to conduct business. Of course COVID has kind of changed that equation and so many people are moving to the realm of virtual commerce. But, the fact is you can’t get away from the need for physical space for commercial activities. So, if it means that we needed to revise the use of certain portions of land in the City of Belmopan such that we will be able to use it to have that thriving local economy, then like I said, I am certainly prepared to live with that and not about to apologize for having done so.”