TAA Denounces New Draft Maya Customary Land Policy
A draft Maya Customary Land Policy was introduced in early December, to provide a framework for the development and implementation of affirmative measures to be taken by the Government of Belize in fulfilling the Consent Order mandated by the Caribbean Court of Justice. The policy also provides a guide to inform the necessary changes and indicate the primary approach to recognize and protect the rights that make up the Maya Customary Land Tenure. On January fifth, the Toledo Alcaldes Association received a copy of that twenty-one page document and, after perusing the policy, firmly denounces government’s course of action. Earlier today, News Five spoke with Cristina Coc, a spokesperson for the TAA, on the latest developments regarding the controversial policy.
On the phone: Cristina Coc
On the phone: Cristina Coc, Spokesperson, TAA
“We certainly denounce the proposal of this new policy. One, because it now deviates from what was originally consulted on so it’s now adding new things that we were not consulted on and, in particular, we are concerned about 0.75 to 1.8 miles from the center of the village is what is being recognized. That really threatens our lives given that the way we use land goes beyond that very small circle that is being considered. I mean our farm, some of our homes are left unprotected, our farms, the areas we gather, the areas we harvest, we hunt, we fish, we practice our spirituality. All of this poses a threat to our lives and to our land tenure system and so, certainly, we denounce this proposed new draft of a policy and as we stated, we just received this new draft Friday of last week and we certainly sharing this draft with our communities our leaders and essentially it is the community that will collectively take a stand to continue to denounce this policy.”
Isani Cayetano
“How did government come up with that particular distance from the center of each community? How was that arrived upon?”
Cristina Coc
“That’s the same question I have, Isani, and that’s a question you will have to pose to the government. I don’t have the answer for that question. I am as surprised as you are and have the very same question of how they have arrived at that formula.”
