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Prime Minister Dean Barrow makes parliamentary statement on Santa Cruz issue

By on June 26, 2015

 

Dean Barrow

Dean Barrow

Belmopan, Belize. Friday, June 26, 2015. Prime Minister Dean Barrow today made a statement in the House of Representatives regarding the incident in Santa Cruz village, Toledo, on Saturday, June 20 in which villager Rupert Myles was detained, handcuffed and tied up with rope, purportedly as the leaders of the community were seeking to enforce an eviction.

The villagers of Santa Cruz are claiming that Mr. Myles is illegally occupying land in the village and that he did not get permission too take up residence in the village.

The Honorable the Prime Minister started his statement to the House of Representatives by asserting that while government accepts the Consent Judgement of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the Maya Land Rights case, that the  judgement did not supercede the Constitution and laws of Belize.

“It did not transfer sovereignty over any part of national territory from the government to any particular group,” said the Prime Minister.

In continuing, the Prime Minister said that the Consent Judgement “did not create a State within a State.”

myles_smRegarding the specifics of what transpired on Saturday, June 20 in Santa Cruz village, the Prime Minister said that under the laws of Belize, any person wishing to enforce land rights and remove persons wrongfully occupying land must obtain an eviction order from the courts.

That being done, then, the Prime Minister said, it is only under a Court Order that the bailiffs, marshals and agents of the courts, including the police may use reasonable force to carry out that Court Order.

The Prime Minister stated that there was no Court Order in the Santa Cruz matter, “therefore no one, and especially not any civilian had any right to use any force to dispossess Mr. Myles.”

The Prime Minister also reiterated that “no Alcalde system, no custom or practice, no cultural remit can supercede the laws of this country.”

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