It is just under three-quarters of an acre of prime property in downtown San Ignacio and the town council claims big brother in Belmopan stole it and then sold it. The land in question is 0.62 acre lot located on Savannah street in downtown San Ignacio which is currently being used as a parking area for small bus operators. But San Ignacio and Santa Elena Mayor Alfonso Cruz says the Cayo North area representative Ainslie Leslie recently sold the land without consent of the town council. If you are wondering why the fuss about 0.62 of an acre, Mayor Cruz says this isn't the first this has happened but more importantly, he says it will create a logistical nightmare for bus passengers, bus drivers, and for residents in an already congested downtown San Ignacio.
Alfonso Cruz, Mayor San Ignacio and Santa Elena Towns
"It is the only land we have to allocate to our different bus drivers, we have no more land. As you can see the area is already congested with traffic and we try to find ways to alleviate the congestion of traffic and if they sold this land, where will our bus drivers go to park? So we are trying to call on the Minister of Natural Resources to do something about this because its not only here. We had a problem about a week ago whereby we understood that a piece of the Macal Park was already sold to an Estevan Hill and we consulted Mr. Hector Silva to tell them and other people about this and they were willing to come together with us and talk to the Prime Minister to see if they can get back the money to the people who bought that piece of land so that we can return that land to the town council."
Keith Swift,
Has it already been sold?
Alfonso Cruz,
"Yes because they showed us the title of the land. In fact they went there and they began knocking down the fence and it was when I heard about it that I and other councilors went there to stop it. I mean the Macal Park is a park, it belong to the people and we don't these people to be selling this land."
Keith Swift,
What were your plans for this land?
Alfonso Cruz,
"Well the land, we have it reserved like I mentioned for the local our drivers because we have no other place to allocate them so we use it. So if they have already sold this land, they are giving us problems because where will we put these people."
Cruz says they plan to meet with the Minister of Natural Resources J Johnny Briceno about the issue and if that fails the bus operators are prepared to take their protest to the doorsteps of Prime Minister Said Musa. Cayo North area rep Ainslie Leslie was out of office when we checked today and unavailable for comment. We did speak to CEO in the Ministry of Natural Resources Patricia Mendoza who says she was unaware of the sale but promised to look into it.
