The San Jose Succotz community awoke on Saturday morning and discovered to their dismay that one of the oldest trees in the village had been hacked down by BEL without any warning or notice. In outrage the community spontaneously staged a tire fire protest later on that night.
Emotions are high, but a mighty tree has been brought low, and so Jomarie Lanza headed West this morning where she learned more about the history of the tree and its importance to the village:
Village legend has it that from as far back as the 1900's, when the first group of settlers came to San Jose Succotz, and began to develop the community, this historical Succotz tree has stood at the entrance of the village, serving as a namesake, a meet up point, a bus stop, and often a place of shelter from the rain and shade from the sweltering sun for villagers.
But on Monday, the beloved tree was threatened and severed in half to make way for the installation of new power lines in the village. And while some may see this as beneficial for the community, others are outraged by the lack of proper consultations between BEL and the village, given the scarcity of legendary Succotz trees along the Mopan River. While there is still no definitive evidence on how old this tree may be, after speaking with several villagers the best estimate we've gotten is that the landmark is well over 250 years old.
We received a vivid recount from Acuzena Galvez, a resident of Clarissa Falls who told us that she remembers traveling to the village as a young girl on her horse, and would leave her mare to graze beneath its branches.
Acuzena Galvez, Succotz Resident
"To get here the road was not pretty like it is now. People. Complaining about the ugly road but in my days we had ugly road, it was just a little path and a canopy of trees and my transportation was a horse. So we would come along the river and that was the road for all the people of the village of calla creek they would come up this way and the only shop that existed here was Mr Faustino Chan. And right here where we are there use to be a place for, I can't remember the man's name anymore but they used to sell Masa. They had a corn mill place so if we if we were lazy and didn't want to make Masa at Clarissa when we run out we could run here and buy masa and I could go to Faustino Chan to buy sugar and flour because we were self sufficient, we had everything else but we didn't have the sugar or the flour so we could come here and do that and sometimes my mom would say well go and buy such and such a thing so I would come on the horse and I would tie my horse right there at that Succotz tree because it was just out of the village and we didn't have enough big enough trees to the my horse where he would be safe so I would tie my horse and walk up here get my masa and go to the store then I would jump on my horse and go right back. And that Succotz tree was kind of like a meeting place. People from the village would come and say we will meet by the Succotz tree because that was like a monument like a place of meeting."
"To me it's kind of very sad to know that it won't be there anymore but maybe we can still salvage it. I even was beginning to think yesterday that maybe if they had big machinery they could put it on the other side of the street but my concern would be maybe that it would die. I know that people need development but how much development do we need."
Our oldest account came from 83 year old Don Elfego Panti, who recalls that when they first began to install electricity in the village, they had taken down another tree, but the community managed to stop the electricity company before they could remove any others. He says he is appalled at the lack of consultation this time around before they began to hack down one their oldest trees.
Don Elfego Panti, Succotz Resident
"I think the intention was to cut down the trunk but fortunately they left the trunk to survive, but they cut the major branches. When it is the season of the fruits it is loaded with the Succotz apples, and thats it so let's just hope it will come back out and sprout. To plant and grow that tree it would probably take hundreds of years. The Mayan people worshiped those trees in the old days. The fruits were food, not only that but there were dozens of those trees around the area. So they preserved the trees, the ancestors, way before I was born they preserved those trees. It was fairly common throughout the area, especially during the rivers age a few were growing there, big trees. They were all over and we had this idea and vision to protect and save those trees because of its name. our village name derives from the Succotz tree, San Jose Succotz, San Jose comes before because he is the patron, the saint of the village religiously speaking. so thats why its San Jose Succotz."
"I don't know exactly what's the role of the electricity people to come and try cut down the tree I know that they need to run the line but they should gave come and discuss it with the village council but as i mentioned before I believe that they think they are too powerful and they think that they can do whatever they want so i dont think thats fair in every village and every town whenever they want to come with delicate things to install they should discuss with the leaders to see what ideas they have and how we can preserve it so they can't just come and do whatever they want."
Upon learning that the monument was significantly altered, the villagers responded in protest, setting tires on fire and creating a road block later on that night. One resident told us that he believes it is a valid response, and the only way they can get a message across to ensure that something like this does not happen again.
Ricardo Williams, Succotz Resident
"What happened is that this company that is doing the road work is trying to cross the tension wires and the electrical wires to this side of the road and so they sent their workers ahead of time so they came and ripped down this tree very early in the morning. And this tree is part of the name of this village San Jose Succotz because Succotz is the name of the fruit there on the tree but the name in English is monkey apple so in Spanish they call it Succotz. So the company sent their men and chopped the tree very early in the morning. So people got mad the villagers and they came down here in the nighttime, early night time and they made a protest and they brought wheels and gasoline and they started a fire out here and it's on the highway so its blocking the traffic so police came and got these guys to stop the protest."
Jo-
"You think they have a right to get mad?"
Ricardo Williams, Succotz Resident
"Of course they have a right, it's their village because they were born here, but if there was a need to knock down the tree I don't see why. but if its your village and they come and they knock down your grandfather you would get mad right, but it's a very historical tree here in the village, and the people were mad that's why they were protesting."
In a release this evening BEL apologizes to the community, quote, "for any grievances caused by the recent clearing of trees in the area…..The relocation of the power line in the area is necessary to facilitate the road rehabilitation project on the George Price Highway led by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing (MIDH).
BEL's statement adds, quote, "BEL acknowledges the legitimate concerns that have arisen due to these activities. At this time, our team is gathering the facts and meeting with community leaders to find a solution that respects the environment and is beneficial to all stakeholders involved."
