In last night’s news, we spoke with Director of Archaeology Dr. John Morris. He was discussing the latest Supreme Court ruling between the now famous Franks Eddy Village neighbors, Bradley Paumen and Michael Modiri.

The two have been locked in both criminal and civil trials over their land issues. Additionally, there’s a sinister criminal element as Paumen is accused of abetment to murder for allegedly orchestrating a plot to kill Modiri and 3 other persons, and the Supreme Court has ruled that the Government improperly acquired Modiri’s land, which they claimed was for a public purpose. 

Paumen has built a road on a piece of Modiri’s land, and he uses it to ferry his guests to the Dark Night Cave Tubing Tours, a venture in which he partners with NICH. The court says that he has trespassed, and is continuing to trespass on the land. And, in all our conversations with the Government Representatives, they tell us that both Paumen and Modiri are land locked in Franks Eddy - the suggestion being that the trespass is unavoidable.

The acquisition of Modiri’s land was supposed to have resolved it, and now that the court has reversed that acquisition, the problem persists.

Well, today, Michael Modiri called us to say that Paumen actually doesn’t have to trespass on his land – and he’s only doing it for convenience. He sent us a map to show how it would work. He says that Paumen has existing roads which he can use to get his guests from the cruise ships in Belize City. One of them is through the Coastal Road, and another is through St. Margaret’s Village. Modiri asserts that the reason that Paumen choose to trespass on his land is because these modified routes to the Dark Knight Tours would force him to take a 30 mile detour through the Coastal Road, or an even longer route through St. Margaret’s. 

Modiri also clarifies that his and Paumen’s land, seen here in the map, are indeed close together. You can see it in this mess of demarcation. He says that the entrance, and most of the Dark Knight Cave system sits on Paumen’s land, and the exit is right near his land. He says that the way Paumen currently has his operation set up, Paumen’s guests trespass on another piece of his land so that they can board the bus after floating down the River, which flows through the caves. He says that if Paumen really wants, he can make adjustments so that those guests don’t trespass, but he claims that the inconvenience that would cause, has dissuaded Paumen from making the change.