Ian Gaynair had to rush out of that ceremony to make it to a very special meeting in Belize City. At 11:30, UDP Lake-I Representative Mark King was having a small ceremony to hand over a lease for a parcel of land in Lake Independence. The background to this is that a few weeks ago, news came out that Gaynair, who scored the only goal for Belize in the Gold Cup, had lost the lease on a parcel of land he'd gotten in Lake-I in 2006. Fingers were immediately pointed at his current area representative Mark King, who denied any involvement in that. It turns out that Gaynair's lease had lapsed some time before, and even as he was working the land – a woman from Corozal had gotten the lease, and was in process to get a title. That story has the usual convolutions of land transactions gone wrong, but King stepped up to make things right. Today he handed Gaynair a new lease for a new parcel. 7news was there-
Hon. Mark King - Area Representative
"I found out about Mr. Gaynair's case via KREM when they allegedly trying to indicate that I was the area rep, when I wasn't - as a matter of fact it was Cordel Hyde who was the elected area rep when this land was seen to be taken away, they should have known of it. What I particularly did is that I immediately contacted the land department, found out the situation and I don't talk too much - I will get the action going. I was very sad to know that they were using Mr. Gaynair as a political football in this thing - he's a national player and he should be respected and out of that I found the dignity to go to the Land's Department and find out the situation and ensure that under my land program - that he got back a piece of land."
Reporter
"How is it that you lost your land in the first place?"
Ian Gaynar - Recipient of Leased Land
"Well because it was a lease land and maybe because I was immature with dealing with lands. I wasn't aware that I supposed to have paid my land tax annually - all I was doing was developing the land and I wasn't aware of it."
Hon. Mark King
"The lease was cancelled, of course upon the lease regulations that are there - breach of the lease regulations and it was then given to some lady up north and then it was transferred from that lady who gave it to another person. I was trying to get back the same parcel of land, as a matter of fact I went as far as going on the ground to see that parcel of land and there was no way I could have gotten it back. I had to try my best to come up with another piece of land for Mr. Gaynair in the division."
Jules Vasquez
"So what he has now is not what he knows as his original piece - it's in the same area?"
Hon. Mark King
"It's in the same surrounding in the Lake Independence, however it is not the piece because that has already been applied for title and it cannot be revoked by the protocols of the Land's Department."
Jules Vasquez
"Now he's at the lease situation which is always a tenuous situation and once you don't have a lease you have clear and irrevocable title. Will you work and try to get him the title?"
Hon. Mark King
"Actually the process has already begun, I have already applied for the purchase letter for Mr. Gaynair - because of what he went through, I believe as a National player he should be given this land at no cost so I will bear the cost for him and he will given title unto this land so that nobody can take away our National Player's land."
Ian Gaynair
"Well I feel so good because this is all I wanted and I think that he really came through and he's a man of his word and told me he was going to call me two weeks ago and told me he was going to make sure that I get back a land and now today the man has made me feel good with this. This will be a title; it won't be just a lease land so nobody can take it away from me."
Gaynair is a public officer at the Vital Statistics Office.
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