Thurstons ready to battle it out with GOB to stop land takeover
The Thurstons, Byron and Armead, owners of Baker’s Ranch, a sprawling homestead in Sand Hill Village are today in jeopardy of losing two hundred acres of real estate to village expansion. They have been fighting the takeover of their land since last year and it appears that this will soon come to be. The Thurstons have held the land since 1974 and now say the acquisition of their land by the government is politically motivated. News Five’s Isani Cayetano was at Baker’s Ranch today and has this report.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
According to the couple, the area representative Edmund Castro has already put in motion the acquisition of the property. While the Thurstons have in the past donated parcels of land for use to build schools, churches, a community center and a police station in the village they are outraged that government has proceeded to gazette the transaction without formally discussing the matter with them.
Byron Thurston, Owner, Baker’s Ranch
byron thurston
“I didn’t come here to do anything except retire. I’m an old military man and I came here for a home and I found a place here that was, as far as I’m concerned, was wonderful. This was all bush when I bought it. That house was a little old one-room house when I bought this place.”
Thurston bought the two thousand acre range in the early seventies and in its heyday it was used to graze cattle for the growing meat industry. Today the retiree has his eyes set on a massive development project that should see the employment of several thousand Belizeans. Attorney Arthur Saldivar says the land reclamation will severely hinder that process.
Arthur Saldivar, Attorney, Thurston Family
“They have had offers after offers and presently there are persons coming in and who have come in to look at whether or not they would be willing to proceed in the development of the land. This is not something that is simply talked about, but many thousands of dollars have been invested to produce the documents necessary to have investors be confident as to the financial projections and the overall profitability of the venture.”
That undertaking, say the Thurstons, is potentially in the area of forty-eight million dollars and losing that amount of property might deter investors from participating in the project.
armead thurston
Armead Thurston, Owner, Baker’s Ranch
“If we have a problem with government pertaining to lands reacquisition I believe that we will lose that particular business where investors come in and want to do business with any particular person in Belize because of the stigma of not doing it the right way. And I believe that it will be a really terrible thing to have parties in agreement to wanting to buy something and turn around and have government involved in taking away our property.”
The acreage was recently re-measured and the Thurstons saw a significant increase of twenty-one thousand dollars in property tax.
Arthur Saldivar
“In that reassessment Baker’s Ranch was subjected to a huge increase in the amount of taxes that it was required to pay. Now what appears to have been a problem is that where we are standing, which is a part of Baker’s Ranch was never taken into consideration or we haven’t been able to see where that was taken into consideration in the overall assessment of the tax rate.”
Beyond the spike in property tax, however, is the removal of access to the highway once the land in question has been reclaimed.
Byron Thurston
“The biggest problem is if they take any frontage off this alone I have no entry for the rest of the land and I can’t sell houses. I got a group of people who will put seventeen thousand people to work and that would bring into this country about forty million dollars and I just don’t understand how in the world they could take two hundred acres of land and lose seventeen thousand jobs because the corporation that’s coming in here has a lot of money and they can build beautiful homes.”
The Thurstons allege that the land reclamation is being done to secure votes for or make good on a campaign promise made by the Belize Rural North area representative. In the absence of dialogue, the Thurstons are considering legal action to cease the reacquisition of Baker’s Ranch which they say extends from the Belize River to the seafront a few miles away. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
my name is george suka usher armead i am with you guys all the way i go to belize every year i have a house in maxboro when i go to belize i always ask people about you meadie my best friend was your brother oscar logan it was three of you guys elsa greta and you and oscar i will be in belize in may all the people should bhind you guys this not right see you soon george
good luck
Someone please explain to me how the government can take land that you own outright if you bought and paid for land how can the government just decide to take some. Did I miss a part of the details in this story????
@SO DISAPPOINTED: It is called theft. That is how you arbitrarily take land that people have paid for away from them. Thuggish behavior from this government should come as no surprise.
The government is outright chancy. They have no respect for people’s rights. God nuh like ugly, better will come.
I bet its only VICTIMISATION” as always what more can we expect from the UDP gov’t.since last election before they were elected they promised to” quitar” lands{mr dean barrow}…so many land is their why go and take away the Thurstons one? come on shuks it pissis me off to just here TAKE WAY LANDS”. IT makes me sick I, can imajine how many thousands of Belizeans are going tru this, tek them to court ! thatz what they deserve,we can see that when the UDP came in power they cancelled lots over at Consejo Shores[TOOK AWAY ILLEGALLY} from its rightful owners and they were taken to court[MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES} The Hon Gaspar VEGA”. and the UDP was ordered to return the LANDS”. And the bad thing is that it was resold to their cronies like mr gaspar vega’s daughter,minister pablo marin,mr derick gillett from orange walk,and many other UDP cronies,and thats going on all around the country,- we have enough with the crime situation,unemployment,robberies,nepotism,KILLA VAT,corrupt transport officers,to now have to handle all the UDP VIRUS”.
EMINENT DOMAIN: (Common law systems) Is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen’s private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen’s rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner’s consent. The property is taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties who will devote it to public or civic use or, in some cases, economic development. The most common uses of property taken by eminent domain are for public utilities, highways, however it may also be taken for reasons of public safety, the government body offer to purchase the property before resorting to the use of eminent domain.
The exercise of eminent domain is not limited to real property. Governments may also condemn personal property, such as supplies for the military in wartime or franchises. Governments can even condemn intangible property such as contract rights, patents, trade secrets, and copyrights. Even sports teams may be seized by eminent domain.
Knowledge is POWER!
Wow this no fair you guys should seek other Belizeans in this situation and creat a major lawsuit against whosoever is behind this, there should be arbitration and more negotiation, not even the govt can not give away what is not theirs, this is embezzlement and not only theft.
I feel the Thurstons agony. I wish the GOB would go after the oil something that would benefit all the people, not a minority, which no doubt will be given in exchange for votes.
hey Byrin and Meadi. Been a long time since I was there with you. I am with you all the way for what that is worth. You have a great ranch and is’t a sham for them to take any of it away from you.
Hey Byron! Holy Crop Man! I was looking to show my youngest son the ranch that Gene sent me to in 1976, can’t believe your still there! Way to go, don’t let the gov take any of that ranch. Is Paul still in Belize City? Gene died about 20 yrs ago I think, I keep thinking about coming back down with some of my kids and show them the place. Glad to see your still hanging on.
Good luck,
Mike Langford
Law of Eminent Domain is one of those powers granted in a democracy to provide for the good of the general public with payment of fair market value for the property seized. Now ,government just doesn’t seize the land. government consults with the owners and demonstrate how government development is better economically than the owners. I don’t see that here. What I see is grab the land Castro just grabbing without thinking because he has the green light with assurances that ninth amendment will pass. there is no decency nor rationality from this Barrow Regime. All their actions are shrouded in deception, corruption, and theft. As a Us citizen , the owner must seek the help of the USA Embassy to seek legal redress and fair market value plus punitive damages for duress. I hope this doesn’t scare off investors in San Pedro and would -be-investors. Things are getting worser and worser. Be careful grab and clear the land Castro. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
The Thurstons HAVE GIVEN MUCH TO THE VILLAGE OF SAND HILL.
ANY “LAND GRAB” BY THE GOVERNMENT MUST BE COMPENSATED WITH THE MARKET PRICE OF THE PARCELS TAKEN.
EVERY BELIZEAN NEEDS A COPY OF THE CONSTITUTION!!!!!!