Tonight, Maya Center Village's waterboard has a new chairman, but his appointment is raising eyebrows because he's the brother of the current village chairman.
It's an appointment that today provoked a protest in the usually tranquil village, because according to residents, they don't want to end up like other villages where the finances of the waterboard fall so low that they aren't even able to afford the fuel to pump water into homes.
But, for his part, the new waterboard chairman appointed by the Minister of local government says that the community shouldn't be so quick to judge. Here's both sides from Stann Creek:
The last time 7News visited Maya Center village it was because Will and Kate were here sampling chocolate and making nice with the villagers who'd come out to see them.
But this morning when we returned to the village it was for a very different reason. This time this group of Maya Center villagers say their fighting to maintain accountability in their waterboard and they are particularly opposed to G.O.B's choice for the new waterboard chairman.
And this morning a former Village council chairman told us that the history of the village waterboard has been less than spotless.
Gregorio Chun, Former Village Council Chairman
"I've seen the past two waterboards under my leadership and we have lost quite a lot of money, people's money and at one point we or I enforced that the missing funds be re-paid which we got. The second one got away from me, you know there was a change in the party in government and so that just went down, you know, down the drain."
"Some of those members are becoming the new appointed members and the names of the new appointee we are familiar with them. I simply don't trust these names or individuals."
"We do not support the change of the current waterboard because in the by-laws it says in there that the life of the waterboard is the life of the village council. So, unless there is a valid reason why this board or members of the board are being removed then we have to have good evidence that shows us that yes this person should resign or should be removed but that was not the case."
According to these villagers it's just the opposite, with the current board having doubled revenue and kept a tight lid on access tp its accounts.
Fransisco Pop, Villager, Maya Center
"So, now they are running properly. I saw the financial report, I saw the bank statement and many of the villagers saw the bank statement. They are from, when they took over it was for 13,000 now to 28,000 dollars. So automatically they have doubled that amount of money in the account and things are running properly but the issue started from what I got know is that there is a conflict between the village council member especially the chairman with the waterboard because funds are not being released easily, there is a formal way of requesting cash from the waterboard by writing a formal report, not a report but a letter requesting funds to help the school or the cleaning of the football field or things like those but they don't want to get into that. They just want, give me some of the funds, and spending it without proper accounting."
And if the board is as excellent as they say, why would they be removed or shuffled without the villagers' input?
Benedicto Choc, Chairman, Current Waterboard
"Well apparently or apparently, they should have consulted the community, I believe that they have not consulted the community but they rather just went and appointed people who as you can clearly see on the board where the chairman hasn't conducted any meeting or tried to consult these villagers, maybe they are villagers who are interested too."
And once the protest was over we found the current board's Vice-Chairman Orlando Bolon who's recently been bumped up to the top job. He showed us his appointment letter and told us that once he'd gotten the nod from Minister of local government Oscar Requena, he couldn't do anything else but accept.
Cherisse Halsall:
"And what do you have to say about the conflict of interest part that if you are on this waterboard and your brother is the chairman that you guys could get into some kind of business?"
Orlando Bolon, Recently appointed Waterboard Chairman
"Ok before I say that that question asked is like it doesn't make sense, so you are telling me they can predict what is coming, the future?"
"It's not in the law that a brother and a brother can't be the leaders, how would Belize have that law? If you sit and study your law there is nothing against the law that I am going against, it's not in the law that brothers and brothers can't be leaders, that is a blessing."
And while that may come off just a bit overconfident - says that his drive to head the waterboard now comes partly from frustration with the way things were being done and a desire to help his brother help the village.
Orlando Bolon, Former Vice-Chairman/ Current Chairman, Waterboard
"If they are saying that we will take money, I am the Vice-Chairman of this water board right here and the RCD knows well how I talk to them but what happened, why I started to get pissed of is that the maintenance man had to come to me every time, I need my pay, I need my pay, so I call for the chairman of the waterboard and I ask where he is, there's no answer, his wife answers and says he's not around. Ok, good so then I go personally get the cheque and give him. The next side maintenance man will come with no gas to chop I want to do the lawn but how will I do it no gas. I say talk to the chairman and let's try to negotiate something with him. No answer, they do thier own thing when they feel like, noh. As a board sometimes we decide something and we don't know when it changes for example the repayment of the waterboard office, which was holdback and it was approved by the board. The board needs to approve what has to be approved."
"I don't think why they were protesting is a big issue but they have their voice."
The 7 member Waterboard usually serves a term of 3 years which should be concurrent with the life of the village council - which villagers note is not being adhered to in this case.
