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Three weeks ago a bus filled with youths from Belize City rolled into the immigrant community of Rhaburn Ridge on the Northern Highway, causing unease and stirring controversy. The youths were from CYDP which teamed up with Belize Rural North Area Representative Edmund Castro to make farmers out of the ghetto youths. The Hon. Castro located 80 acres inside his division, near Rhaburn Ridge. The plan was to lease an acre each to 80 youths but the problem is that there are people already squatting on those lands. And so Rhaburn Ridge residents fear that Castro will have to clear them off the land. Castro says that won’t happen and that the fear may be rooted in racism. Sounded like a ripe controversy to us and 7NEWS went north to Rhaburn Ridge to investigate.

Keith Swift Reporting,
This morning Seferino Garcia took 7NEWS on a walk through what might appear to be just bush. But to Seferino, this isn’t bush – this is his farm. For 9 years he’s been growing and reaping a variety of fruits such as coconuts and guava from this 6 acre plot of land in Rhaburn Ridge.

Seferino Garcia, Government wants to take him land
“We’ve been working here for 8 years and now the government wants to give it to other people coming from outside…all of these plants that we have planted are trees that can give you fruit for later. I have coconut, golden plum, guava tree, and kinnep trees and I have cashew, lime trees, and lots of plants that will bear fruits in awhile.”

But Garcia fears he won’t be around to reap those fruits because he believes Edmund Castro wants to clear him and 10 other farmers off the land that they have tilled and toiled on.

Seferino Garcia,
“They said they will give these people one acre to make a pool to feed fish and that is good but they should give them a next spot because here we’ve already worked here so they shouldn’t give it to other people who are just coming from outside because that means we worked for nothing out here.”

And as sympathetic as you may want to feel for Garcia, he admits he has no papers for the land – no title, not even a lease. He is a squatter.

Seferino Garcia,
“The PUP government helped us to get this land for the poor people living over here. They told us we can work on all of this land without papers and maybe in the future we can take out the papers.”

Hon. Edmund Castro, Minister of State in Ministry of Works
“There is no intention to remove anybody from Rhaburn Ridge. The whole purpose is to subdivide the land, plan the community. No more again in Belize Rural North we will have people just squatting all over the place without a proper plan.”

And Castro says that plan will include CYDP affiliated youths – whether Rhaburn Ridge residents like it or not.

Hon. Edmund Castro,
“The squatters will then fall in line. The land will be subdivided into one acre parcels. So once a person is squatting and he or she needs a piece of land then they are welcome to get one of the one acres parcels of land.”

Keith Swift,
Some people in the community say they don’t want these people in their community, they are two different cultures and they don’t want these people from Belize City in their community.

Hon. Edmund Castro,
“I really don’t like touching into that simply because if they are saying they don’t want those people, they are saying they don’t want me because I am black just like the rest of people who need a piece of land. So all we are doing is planning the community and we will not tolerate racism because some people from Belize do not look like some of the people from Rhaburn Ridge, we can’t tolerate that nonsense.”

Keith Swift,
You believe racism is behind this?

Hon. Edmund Castro,
“Well ‘deh people from Belize City’ – dah who they are referring to because they look black like me, that doesn’t make sense.”

Keith Swift,
Will those who don’t have titles be able to keep their land, will they be moved?

Hon. Edmund Castro,
“None at all. The government of Belize is hell bent in making each and every Belizean get a piece of land.”

And until they get their piece of land, Seferino and his son Noel plan to continue doing what they have been doing for 9 years – working the land they have – chopping grass and walking through what looks like bush to us but is a bounty of promise to them.

Domingo Vasquez, a resident of Rhaburn Ridge told us this evening that their fears aren’t rooted in racism. They know well what it’ll mean because he alleges that on their first trip to the community –the CYDP youths raided the villagers’ fruit trees. There was no way to confirm this; we’re just passing on what they are saying. Again, the residents really have no firm legal backing because they are squatters and are not even a village. There are only 200 residents in Rhaburn Ridge. We’ll keep following the story.