And while Jalacte took its issue to court, about 30 miles away, the village of Crique Sarco is dealing with its own land dilemma. The residents are concerned about an investor who has begun logging in the village - which is communal land.
But that investor, Gary Seawell, is working on a private estate, so the question is, who has rights to that 2,000 acres of land?
Well today we got an update from the Chief Forest Officer, Wilbur Sabido, who said that the issue is currently being discussed between his ministry and the Ministry of Indigenous People's Affairs.
Wilbur Sabido, Chief Forest Officer
'As the forest department we were very responsible in terms of carrying out our due diligence in making sure that whoever we needed to consult were consulted. However, there was a breakdown at the very end in terms of the license being issued and so the matter unfortunately evolved to the point where we received a request from the Crique Sarco community to withdraw the license which we did respond in terms of imposing a cease and desist on the license holder until such a time when we could reconvene and along with the commissioner of indigenous peoples Mr. Greg Choc and the other relevant ministries we could decide how it is that we can now move forward, not only with this particular situation but other similar situations that we know will come up in the future."
Jules Vasquez, reporter
"Isn't the principle quite clear that if it was a preexisting, a private estate before the consent order from the CCJ. Shouldn't it then be remain the rights for it remain with the estate owners and within the purview of the government of Belize?"
Wilbur Sabido, Chief Forest Officer
"I think you said it right. It's a complicated matter that essentially not only involves the private land owner but also the communities and seeing how it is that we could have that preverbal balance in terms of the property owners rights and as well the communal rights handed down through the CCJ ruling and of course here comes the regulatory agency the government of Belize as another key partner. As it is I think what is the freeform consent framework that needs to be ironed out, agreed to and instituted as the mechanism that would guide us in terms of engagement and in decision making and that in and of itself is a ongoing process."
While the ministries figure out this situation, Seawell was given a cease and desist order.
