In June of 2011, we told you about the mass removal of the squatters off the area which was called Chetumal Street South. It was to make way for the building of a road which would join the Western Highway with Belama's Chetumal Street.
Since then, it has now become known as the Lake I Boulevard, and as we showed you the Government turned it into a pro-poor initiative where the contractors used 200+ Belize City men to spread the loads of sand by hand to provide employment while building the road.
The project is fast approaching the area of the road where a new bridge will be built, but there's just one problem. There have been squatters living in the area, and now, they are being told that they need to move to make way for the development.
It's reminiscent of the situation which happened in 2011, and so Daniel Ortiz visited with a few of those families being forced off the land. Here's what he found out:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
These family continued to look on, helplessly, as the loads of sand kept coming in today. It is inching closer and closer to their homes, ominously, as the government's project threatens to overrun - or even push their houses down.
It's been happening like that for weeks where the Government's pro-poor initiative to build the Lake I Boulevard to a new bridge which will connect the Western Highway to Chetumal Boulevard in the Belama area, is slowly encroaching on the only piece of space these families call home.
Make no mistake. These people aren't delusional; they know very well that they have been squatting for years. They just have nowhere to go, and they say their meager income just doesn't allow for them to pay rent and raise their families.
Alirio Zavala - Being Pushed Out
"They are telling me every day that I have to move my house from this spot to another spot, but they don't give me a piece of land to where I can move. I got no problem moving my house but I need a spot because I have like 8 years living in this house. I don't want to pay any rent because everything is expensive and I get a small salary. If they give me a piece of land I will move. I will not disturb them from doing their job, but I need a piece of land. I don't spend time in my house; I only live working and working. My house is only for my wife and my kids."
Daniel Ortiz
"How many kids do you have sir?"
Alirio Zavala - Being Pushed Out
"3 kids; one is at school and this one and the twin."
Karen Henriquez - Being Pushed Off Land
"The situation is that we are told we need to move and they are filling the lands with us inside."
Jorge Velasquez - Being Pushed Out
"My kids go to high school; my son is 15 years old. He is in 3rd form, my daughter is in standard 4 and they have to get their education because I don't have high school diploma, but I want my kids to have it, so I have to work hard and squat on a land so that I don't take my money to pay rent but to pay for their education."
Daniel Ortiz
"Let's say for example whoever comes and move you off this piece of land, where will your family go?"
Alirio Zavala - Being Pushed Out
"I don't know because I have nowhere to go. I will be homeless."
Karen Henriquez - Being Pushed Off Land
"I have nowhere to go; I am homeless if they take me out of this house."
Desperation brought them to this area, and though they live a difficult life of uncertainty, they believe they deserve peace of mind
Alirio Zavala - Being Pushed Out
"I have 8 years living in this place and they say that a house claim a land after 5 years. I know that every Belizean got the right to get a piece of land. If I go to the Lands Department I never get anything. I could go many times there and they would tell me the same thing "there is no land," so they force the Belizeans to go and chop down a piece land that belongs to the government."
Karen Henriquez - Being Pushed Off Land
"I want to say to all the Belizeans - some of them are with us and some of them are against us (to the squatters I am speaking). I want to say sorry to those who are against us and I want to say sorry to the government because we came here and we squat and we know that it is wrong and against the law to do that but we needed it. We don't have the money to pay rent. We are persons that you can call the lower class that we work every day, but as we work and we get our money it is for our food and our kids."
The workers spreading the sand tell us that a total of 20 houses will have to be removed to make way for the sand.
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