Minister Mark King gives back land to Jaguar, Ian Gaynair
Ian Gaynair
Less than two weeks ago celebrated Belize Jaguar defensive star Ian ‘Yellow’ Gaynair discovered that he had been stripped of his piece of the jewel. Years ago, Gaynair had been given a parcel of land in Lake Independence. It was swampland, so gradually he had been having it filled. But that land was taken away by government because Gaynair had fallen behind on his taxes. Area Representative of Lake Independence Mark King bristled when approached on the matter, stating that land is the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources and he had nothing to do with it. Maybe he had nothing to do with the land being taken away, but King apparently has some strings in the Ministry. Today, Gaynair was presented with his lease papers for a new parcel of land…and he was also presented with a commitment by King that the land will be filled to his satisfaction.
Ian Gaynair, Received Land from Mark King
“I met up to Mark King at UDP Headquarters where he presented me with my land papers which is the lease to a new land, a nice land and what he will do is he will ensure that I get the title. He will pay for the land so I have the title and don’t have to get in this mix-up again and having somebody take away my land or something like that so it will be owned by me.”
Mike Rudon
“Is it something that he contacted you after the media brought it to attention?”
Ian Gaynair
“Two weeks ago he called me and me and him talked about it and he told me to just give him a little time and he will make sure that he finds a land for me. And yesterday he called me and told me that he got a land for me and he wanted to present it to me today. And he said that he will make sure that I feel satisfied and he will make sure that my land is filled just the way I had it or even better. So he told me to just give him a little time and he will continue to work on it so he can make sure I’m satisfied at the end of the day.”
Mike Rudon
“Yeah I was going to ask you about the filling because I know you had put in a lot of investment in the old piece of land.”
Ian Gaynair
“Well all he told me was to give him the receipts that I paid to fill it. So my mom has that and I will get that from her and give it to him and he said he will deal with it. He said I don’t have to do anything…just leave it to him to make sure that I have a nice piece of land and can build my house.”
There has been no further word from King on the matter of the reversible apology. When the issue of the land surfaced on Krem Radio, King threatened to take immediate legal action unless he was offered a full reversible apology. As far as we’ve been told, nobody has been able to figure out exactly what a ‘reversible apology’ is.
Hmm..
You are one lucky young man who starred in international games. Thanks to the news, and your status you got an irreversible return of your land, unlike the thousands, whose lands were quitar.
It is amazing what a little bad publicity will do. I am happy for this young man. I pray that he would get a chance to play for some professional team and do well.
Losing land because of back taxes is nothing new. But this is a different case: He gave back to his country and stood up for what is correct. He needs help now. These are the people we need to help and encourage. A good move! PS: have they even paid these guys yet for their valliant effort?
No….losing land because it was given to you by another party in government is nothing new. It’s called political victimization. Losing land because of back taxes, is because someone more connected to current party in government, expressed interest in your land or a minister decide to give it to a crony, or family member etc. However this was a unique case, because Ian Gaynair spent on developing the land, and anyone who visit the property could see that. The truth is that someone had more privilege than Gaynair, because the land was given to him or her, and she or he made some bucks by selling it. The person had no interest in the land, which was given to him or her on a platter, OTHER THAN FINANCIAL GAIN!
No minister will sign an approval for transfer if you are not from that constituency, but if your are WELL CONNECTED TO THE UDP HIERARCHY then you have no problem. All transfers is signed by the minister of that particular constituency to show approval.
The minister from the constituency, from which you are applying for a lot must sign the approval form. For him to sign he has to know that you are will connected to hierarchy of the party, especially if you are not from that area. An ordinary person from the north could never ever get a lot in Belize city!
If we were to take away everybody’s because of failure to pay the tax on time. Almost every successful development you see would not have existed because at some stage those land would have been taken away. The only lands that would not have been taken away are those where people are doing illegal things and creaming off the top, or only the successful business men/women would have been getting all the land, because they can afford to pay the taxes all the time. We nearly all fall on hard times, but no one contemplated taking away our land, and when things got better for us, we build, developed our land and pay all our back taxes. Some of us who are not normal, are able to get land which they sell for a fortune, and get again and again, because they are well connected. IT’S NOT RIGHT! As long as you are a Belizean, you should be entitled to a piece of land, and under no means should this land be taken away from you, unless you decide to give it up.
There are some people, who are given land which should not have been given to them. The community complain, and pressure is brought on the government for the land to be return to government. Despite the fact that they receive these land for a pittance, did no development, already have more land in different places, they ask… that if they are to return the land it has to be at market value. That is robbery, because in some places like Placencia, San Pedro, market value could be a difference between paying a thousand dollars for it, and asking for half a million dollars if it has to be returned. NOT RIGHT!