Property owner builds a wall across boulevard in Belmopan

Black Immigrant Daily News

Belmopan area representative, Hon. Oscar Mira, says the road is just one of the many parts of the city that were de-reserved and sold off below market price during the previous administration.

by Khaila Gentle

BELMOPAN, Thurs. Oct. 6, 2022

Residents of Belmopan who are used to driving down Philip Goldson Boulevard have made a shocking discovery over the past few weeks: the boulevard is no longer passable, due to a large brick wall that was constructed across its entire width. According to Belmopan area representative, Hon. Oscar Mira, the wall was placed at that location because that section of the boulevard is no longer public property—it was de-reserved and sold, far below its market value, under the previous administration of then-Mayor Khalid Belisle and his city council.

The City of Belmopan is a planned city, and as such has planned roads that were positioned to ensure proper circulation of traffic as the city’s population grows. In 2019, however, reports surfaced that some of the city’s land which had been reserved for the construction of roads, including what was to become Philip Goldson Boulevard, had been surveyed and parceled off by Belisle’s council. According to one report by PLUS News, the lands had been reserved for future use since 1996.

The recent development of the brick wall across the boulevard has caused frustration for the city’s area representative and its current city council, just as it has for many of the city’s residents.

“This, as a boulevard, was supposed to connect with George Price Boulevard. Now, here we are—a part of the boulevard being de-reserved and sold off as lots. Most of the people that bought land on this boulevard paid below market value, far below market value,” Hon. Oscar Mira said.

Who is the property owner who expanded their private property across a road often traversed by the residents of Belmopan? According to Hon, Mira, former UDP Health Minister, Pablo Marin, holds the title to that piece of land. Marin, however, is not the only person who was reportedly sold a lot on the boulevard. Leading up to the 2020 General Elections, the boulevard was divided into 28 parcels of land and sold.

The divvying up of public land was not isolated to the Philip Goldson Boulevard, According to Hon. Mira, almost half of Almond Boulevard, located on the other side of the city, had been de-reserved and sold off as lots as well. The sold lots, Hon. Mira said, were a part of the previous administration’s “consistent efforts…to sell off anything that they could have found in Belmopan that was available”—a move that Hon. Oscar Mira has called “incomprehensible.”

Despite Mira’s frustration, along with that of the city’s residents, there is not much that the current administration can do, since, most, if not all, of the parceled land already has title owners.

“We have discussed, and I have discussed with the Minister of Lands, and I have discussed with the current administration at City Council. It is very difficult. As you know, titles were issued very, very quickly; as soon as they de-reserved and they sold these lands. Now, if you have a title, it is costly to get it back, very very costly,” he said.

Additionally, a main water pipe, belonging to the Belize Water Services Limited, runs directly under the boulevard, meaning that now, it runs under private property.

This is not the only issue that Belmopan’s area representative, and City Council, have had to contend with as a result of the selling of public land. Earlier this year, on June 7, reports that a portion of the Isidoro Beaton Stadium had been sold off to a businessman began to surface. That piece of land, which was once used for parking, has now been turned into a carwash.

“There are many other examples around Belmopan that we can look at. And as we go along, we find out more,” Hon. Mira said.

The selling of the de-reserved pieces of land, says Mira, is going to cost the city of Belmopan, certainly, much more than what the previous city council had sold the land for.

“Once you have a title, it is very difficult. We do have to respect the title. We do have to respect the idea that once you are a property owner, you have certain rights,” he said.

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