The Harmonyville project jumped out the blocks with nothing but goodwill, but since then there have been some public difficulties as the president of the Belize Grassroots Youth Empowerment Association has been justifiably accused of nepotism in land distribution.
So now, he's taken a public backseat as another possibly controversial development has arisen. The association says it will cost 327 thousand dollars to survey the 1,322 acre tract of land. To cover that third of a million dollar cost, each of the 800 land owners is being asked to pay four hundred dollars.
It's not a king's ransom, but for a project targeting the poor and disadvantaged - four hundred dollars might prove difficult to come up with. It has to be paid in full by the end of august and Vice President David Barnett said they will do their best to work with their people.
David Barnett, Vice President - BGYEA
"It rounds off to like $400 per person which is very cheap to survey an acre of land."
Jules Vasquez
"So now each lot holder or each person on the list is being asked to pay $400 for their one acre?"
David Barnett
"Yeah, that's what we are trying to get accomplish right now to move ahead. I know of lots given away, the survey for just lots are like $200. We are talking a whole acre of land for $400 which is equivalent to 8 house lots. When you look at it, it's like $50 a house lot. It's a acre of land we are dealing with so $400 is a very small figure. We realize that $400 might be steep, we know things hard right now, so we broke it down into 2 parts, if they can come up with the first half of the money at the end of July and at the end of August the other $200. A huge number of people have already come in and pay their money. What we are doing right now, that's why we came to the media so that everybody could know because it's not everybody's address that we have."
Jules Vasquez
"You may have a few who say I can't pay that, I can't handle that or have whatever issues they may with it. Does BGYEA have a response to them?"
David Barnett
"Well it's a sacrifice, this is the response, and you have to know what you want out of life and what you need to do get it. Nothing is for free."
Jules Vasquez
"For those who flatly refuse to pay, will you all just move on and say on to the next one?"
David Barnett
"If you flatly refuse to pay that mean you flatly refuse a piece of land. It's plain as that."
Those wishing to inquire about their status can visit the BGYEA office at #42 Forest Drive or call them at 626-6168.
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