Department of Local Government Responds to Town Boundary Dispute in the West

The Department of Local Government is resuming activities to complete a municipal boundaries delineation exercise that began in 2012. According to a government release, seven of the nine municipalities are currently engaged in a process for the re-delineation of their respective municipal jurisdictions. The release says that clearly defining the boundaries of each municipality is important for local governance, because it provides the limits for municipal services, collection of revenue, municipal elections, and general governance. But, as we reported earlier this week, this exercise is causing quite a stir between the residents of Benque Viejo del Carmen and Succotz Village. While the Benque Viejo Town Council has laid out its proposed re-delineation under the exercise, a number of residents from Succotz contend that those boundary lines fall within their lands. Well, according to the same government release, following two meetings in 2022 between representatives from the leadership of both communities, it was agreed that the proposed delineation would be revisited and re-proposed. The release goes on to say that a subsequent meeting of the parties is yet to be convened to validate the revised proposition. We will continue to follow.