Land for sale… Archaeological site?
Our lead story tonight involves the controversial sale of a parcel of land in San Pedro Town that over the years has been used as a park. The purported sale has raised the ire of many who reside in the area and points to a questionable land transaction involving what is believed to be an archaeological site in San Pedro Town. But there are more questions than answers.
The sign on this piece of land is marked for sale and a cell number posted right below – is really that of the land owner, Roland Thompson. What is raising eyebrows are several things. The mounds that are clearly visibly on it are believed to be the remains of Mayan temples that once stood there since several broken pieces of ancient pottery were discovered on the land during subdivision of the area back in 1998. The then Area Representative, Patty Arceo, put up a fence around the land and built palapas and tables following a verbal agreement with the then Town Council headed by Mayor Alberto Nunez. That agreement was that the area would be respected as a green area and future park, and eventually it would become a heritage site. An application to acquire the land under the San Pedro Town Council was made between 1999 and 2000 but nothing in writing was ever signed and municipal and national governments changed. Somewhere along the line it appeared that the land got into private hands. Today Thompson, the man who answered the cell number displayed on the “For Sale” sign confirmed he was selling the land, and was tired of the media bothering him about the issue and hung up the phone. One island newspaper has quoted the one hundred and fifty by sixty-foot wide property with a sale price of a hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Our knowledge of the law governing archaeological sites is that no development can take place if the department does not have a part in it. If investigations show that the land is of national importance, the department can appropriate it and all antique objects discovered on it must be declared to the department. If the land is legitimately in private hands now, then the owner or owners cannot keep artifacts derived from it without the written consent of the Archaeological department. News Five tried to contact the current Area Representative, Manuel Heredia, but he was incommunicado all day. We do understand however, that he intends to take the matter to Cabinet and that he will seek to have the land converted to a park, after he sits down with the owner. Mayor Elsa Paz was also out of office today.
