7 News Belize

More Vega-Vice?
posted (July 28, 2017)
Tonight, the family of the disgraced former Lands Minister, Gaspar Vega, is back in the news after a trove of documents from the Lands Department was leaked to the press. We've been poring over the 118 documents for the past few days, and, our preliminary examination suggests a pattern that raises eyebrows.

Taken in isolation, each of land cases all appear above board, but as a collective, the suggest that land ownership was being funneled to members of the Vega family.

So, here's how it works. There are a number of recurring names of private citizens who keep showing up in the documents. It appears that between 2014 and 2015, when Gaspar Vega was the Minister in charge, these persons went in to the Lands Department and applied to purchase parcels of land in the Spanish Creek area of along the Belize River. They were then granted the option to buy the land, which they did, for a few thousand dollars. The land documents say that within a few months, these new land owners then sell their title to 2 members of the Vega family.

Other documents say the same thing was done with Ramsey Caye, which is in the Belize District, but a few miles south of Belize City. Again, people went in applied to buy different parcels of land on Ramsey Caye. They were granted permission and paid several thousand dollars. A few months later, the land was transferred over to these same members of the Vega family.

On Tuesday, when the press had the opportunity to speak with the Prime Minister, he was asked about these new revelations. Here's what he had to say:

Reporter
"Land documents keep coming out in relation a land grab by the Vega family. These are being put out..."

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"You have to show me those documents. I don't know what you are talking about, so I'm not going to comment on something that I have not even seen."

But, as we told you, looking at them on an individual basis, they have every appearance of legitimate business transactions. Back in 2012, when we first started hearing of members of the Vega family amassing huge tracts of land, we questioned Gaspar Vega about it. He said that his family works hard, and is successful - and that basically entitles them to it. Here's how he explained it then:

FILE: August 2, 2012
Hon. Gaspar Vega
"My family are the biggest cane farmers in San Estevan. San Estevan is the biggest sugar cane branch in the whole country. My family doesn't sit down and gossip around the corners. We work ever since. We are a productive family. That's why we are successful - we work hard you know Jules - my family, I have like Cosme Hernandez delivered more than 2,000 tons of cane. You know how much land have to be cultivated for you to deliver that amount of cane and I am talking about one member. This is what people must understand and he did not start to produce that type of cane 2 years ago since I became minister of lands and I think that is what the people must try and acquire the proper information. You are a cane farmer that delivered 3,000 tons of cane - more or less how much acres of land you need to develop - 300-400 acres."

"So how come now that they realize that they this now it's me who gave it to them."

Jules Vasquez
"Would you accept the characterization that - this is what the PUP said; normal people have to wait in line, have to jump through hoops for years to get a piece of land."

Hon. Gaspar Vega
"Jules I am not a normal person in Belize. I work much harder than a lot of other people."

Jules Vasquez
"Yes but your family should be normal people."

Hon. Gaspar Vega
"My family is as hard working as me."

Jules Vasquez
"But they are getting preferential treatment."

Hon. Gaspar Vega
"They are not getting preferential treatment from me. They've been able to do this ever since Jules. It's not now that they acquiring it. That's what I am trying to tell you. He is not a cane farmer of 2,000 plus tons of cane today. He has been a cane farmer. Every single Hernandez in San Estevan is a cane farmer and they are the biggest cane farmers of that village ever since, not since in the last 2 or 4 years."

Vega was forced to resign from Cabinet after the scandal involving his son getting a huge public payment for land compensation was exposed.

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