And from banking back to Maya affairs, tonight, our information is that circumstances are ripening for there to be yet another showdown between the state and the Mayas.
This time, the issue is situated in Jalacte Village, which is well-known for that unregulated cross-border interaction between Belize and the neighboring Guatemalan village of Santa Cruz. It is also one of the 39 Mayan Villages in the south.
For an entire year now, the Ministry of Agriculture has set up an operation with their partners, namely BAHA, and the United States Department of Agriculture. The Government has built an Agricultural Outreach Station, to provide better extension services and assistance to farmers living in the area. Next, BAHA and the U-S-D-A built a Medfly Inspection Center. That is to ensure that the medfly, or the Mediterranean fruit fly - which has devastated the agricultural industry in other parts of the world - does not get a strong foothold in Belize and wreak havoc on the fruit and vegetable farmers in the south.
So, the two facilities, plus the road widening infrastructure to accommodate it, cost just over a million dollars. These two facilities, and the Government presence out in Jalacte, were well-intentioned but, it appears to have caused the Mayan farming villagers in the area some inconvenience. They've approached the Government - albeit at the very late stage - to complain about this, and today, the program officer of the Maya Leaders Alliance explained why they take issue with the presence in the area:
Pablo Mis, Program Coordinator, MLA
"The position of Jalacte is very simple. It is similar to all the 39 communities, that is that each of these 39 communities are property owners. Which means that nobody including myself cannot just go onto any piece of their community land and do as I pleased. I think that essentially is what has happened in the case of Jalacte. Where a learning center is being established and the community was never properly consulted. They never gave their consent and now they are saying that we will not be a part of condoning injustices against us. In light of this decision then, I would want to preempt that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Government of Belize would respond to the pleas to the community and that is please sit with us, let's work this out and lets move forward with the development of our communities, of Belize in a manner that really responds to this desires and aspirations of all of Belize, including the Maya communities and including Jalacte. If again, proper attention is not given to the situation at Jalacte, the Maya people can be blamed again for standing to defend their rights, their property."
This evening, the Agricultural Ministry CEO, Jose Alpuche, told us via phone that he and the other Government officials are really not looking to cause any confrontation with the Maya of Jalacte. He stressed that consultation on the Agricultural Outreach Station started back in 2013, when they went discussing it with residents from Jalacte, and the neighboring San Vicente Village. Alpuche also pointed out to us that these facilities were built on an abandoned quarry on a small piece of land. So, he does not see how the farmers are inconvenienced because nobody's agricultural land was taken away from them. He told us finally that he is hoping to resolve what he believes is a "gross misunderstanding on their part".
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