Tiny Boston Village - with a population of fewer than 130 people, it's the first community you will meet on the old Northern Highway if you're coming from the city. And even though it spans 6 and half miles - you might not even know you've passed it. But those few miles cover a broad expanse of forest - and that entire area of the northern Belize District has long been under pressure from loggers. But, one mennonite outfit crossed the line when they got a license for nearby Lucky Strike and ended up logging in Boston. The showdown between the loggers, the authorities and the village council started playing out yesterday evening. And 7news was there early this morning:
This morning, Chairman of Boston Village Nickoli Alvarado stood in a clearing amongst over 100 logs that he said had been cut without a permit from within his village boundary.
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"We are seeing a lot of illegal logs that have been taken out of Boston and permits were given for Lucky Strike and they use it as an advantage to get into the Salt Creek Estate through Boston Village, but they tried it under the wrong chairman watch."
Yesterday he confronted the Mennonite logger leading the extraction:
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"I said you're out of the GPS. I said you guys think you are smart, you do this every year. Every year they do it to get in to Salt Creek Estate, but this year it's not going to happen."
And to make sure it didn't, Chairman Alvarado went for the police - which led to a surprising outcome.
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"3 police came, the truck was already inside the road ready to go. The police told them cease and desist. Mennonites jump on the phone, made a call to somebody in Orange Walk, start talking in German. After which a person answered the phone, so he handed the phone to the police officer and the name Minister Mai is on the phone. I didnt have any surprise because he is the agriculture minister, but what surprised was who spoke when they handed the officer the phone."
"The guy on the phone said this is officer such and such, the other person on the phone said this is Kareem Musa. I said what, Kareem Musa? why is he getting involved with this."
"Kareem Musa told the officer stand down, he will deal with it. So I told the officer to tell him I want to talk to him. The officer said boss, somebody wants to talk to you, so he gave me the phone and I said Mr. Kareem, I am very surprised at you, these logs are illegally bein cut in Boston and brought out from Salt Creek to here. I said what these officers are doing is the right thing - 3 of them are here getting bitten by mosquitoes - you have no right to stop the officers from doing their job."
Musa told us he gave no stand down directive - he says it is a civil dispute which the police had no part in settling. That, he says, is a matter for the Forestry Department.
Jose Mai told us that he got the call from a constituent - who has the logging license - and that he happened to be with the minister who is on a national tour of police stations and he simply handed him the phone.
Whatever the case, the police came today, and so did the Forestry Department:
Efrain Leal, Boston Villager
"Well the only reason why the authorities are actually out here today is because we mention we are calling Jules Vasquez. You know when they say Jules everybody jump, I mean they dance too, because me personally called all of them. They said they will send Mr. Armstrong, this one and that one and every time I call nobody shows up. This is happening like over a month now. I call the hotline and nobody shows up."
Jules Vasquez
"Up to now they have shown no interest in this."
Efrain Leal, Boston Villager
"But now we say Jules and he is here before I wake."
Chairman Alvarado says he too had been following up repeatedly with Forestry:
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"You can see it, we have malady, 4-5 inches, Mahogany 5-5.5 inches are getting cut. I mean come on, I reported this to Mr. Novelo 5 times."
Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Novelo at Forestry."
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"Other villagers reported it to Belmopan 4 times already. Mr. Novelo came out here, oh all is good. So I don't know what he is getting from this "all is good". I don't know where he sees all is good."
But today, under the glare of media scrutiny - it was not all good. And with the Forestry Department leading the way into the interior today - we followed in a rugged UTV into the forest clearing - down the road that the loggers use. We went deeper and deeper to this cleaning known as the Bakadeer. And from there into new, freshly cut trails - again for the purpose of extraction of logs - a sprawling footprint of plunder. Everywhere we could see freshly cut stumps of all sizes and types, mahogany, sapodilla, ma-lady, poisonwood, Santa Maria - they had all been cut and the freshly pushed out jungle road just kept going deeper and deeper.
Efrain Leal - an experienced bushman - was our driver:
Efrain Leal, Boston Villager
"Well, what we found was we find a lot of logs that were being cut all under size because according to what I know from forestry it have to be at least 19 inches on the head. Some of these logs some are 22 some are 24 inches. Most of these logs are very small and they're just poachers coming into the village of Boston cutting out everything they find, everything that looks like a log they cut. I mean it's anything even your mamie tree anything they find it cut out."
And, as chairman Alvarado showed him and us - all this was within his village boundary - not within the authorized concession area.
And so, today in the face of plain and overwhelming evidence, the Forestry officer had seen enough - and started crowfooting logs.
He stamped over 50 logs and will go back on Monday to continue the investigation. Until then the logs cannot be moved. A welcomed development, but maybe a little too late?:
Jules Vasquez
"Is this the same for his officer who came before?"
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"Yes sir, same one that came before."
Jules Vasquez
"And when he came before, he said?"
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"Everything good."
But to make everything good for these proud Boston villagers - they would have to get the logs back:
Jules Vasquez
"So now these logs won't leave here without?"
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"See my green car parked over there. It will stay right there until they get confiscated. No logs will leave from here and we are tired of this. Mandate is that the forestry department will confiscate it, but I already know when the forestry confiscate it; they are in bed with these Mennonites, so they will still give it back to the Mennonites and the village won't benefit anything from it. So let the village hold these logs and sell them to make something to benefit for the village."
Efrain Leal, Boston Villager
"Sell the log and hand it over to the Area Rep and I tell the Area Rep you know what, build a committee center for the village. Donate it towards some blocks and build something."
And while it may not have water - for this village - coming up on 75 years since it was established - they take great pride in their natural environment - which is being increasingly despoiled and diminished:
Efrain Leal, Boston Villager
"Most of our animal especially the gibnut and parrot are living off the seeds of these trees. They come in and take all the trees so when you the villager come in build something like a hog pen, there are no trees."
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"I am very pleased to say that my area rep honorable Marconi Leal Jr came here this morning with us and he says whatever he has to do he will do - and if he have to arrest them he will arrest them."
Jules Vasquez
"What makes you really emotional about it?"
Nickoli Alvarado, Chairman - Boston Village
"Well the thing is fu we kids. We will not have this for our kids - it's gone, the animals - these guys cleared almost over a thousand trees. This is just a little bit that they cut since Monday probably or last week Friday. So imagine - 3 months they are been doing this to the forest here in Boston."
So while they can't get the forest back - it will be left to see who gets these trees or who benefits from them - but Boston will be watching.
We spoke to the Deputy Chief Forest Officer John Pinelo who told us that the logger - whose name he wouldn't share - had a legitimate license for 247 acres that expired on the 15th June - and was extended to July 31st, along with everyone else's, to accommodate for rains.
He says that when he went there this morning - the Forestry Officer found that the operation had not stopped on July 31st as it should have. He also found that the logger had jumped out of his boundaries, and was extracting timber from unauthorized areas. As for charges or fines - he said the investigation will continue on Monday - and so those are still pending. He says no logs can be moved from the area and if the logger wants to move his equipment, it would have to go to the police station.
Pinelo also noted the observation many made out there today that a good number of the logs had no Forestry Department stamp as is required for all lawfully extracted timber.
