When the new government came into office – one of the first things the Lands Department did was put a caution on 57 lots in the Caribbean Shores area. The lots are behind the University of Belize’s city campus and formerly university property – which were sold to a group called Cheop Enterprises for development. But each lot was agreed to be sold for just $4,000 - a special arrangement worked out between Lands Minister and Caribbean Shores Area Representative Joe Coye just a month before the election.
When government changed that special arrangement came under scrutiny and letters of caution were issued to at least 10 persons who had gotten titles for lots in that area. Cheop Enterprises and the title-holders who had been cautioned took government to court – arguing that the cautions were arbitrary, an abuse of power and amounted to what the lawyers called public law irrationality. Arguments were heard at the start of this month and the Chief Justice issued a closely reasoned 39 page judgement today.
He found that the case of the ten titleholders as presented by their attorney Godfrey Smith was fatally flawed and dismissed it on all points. Those titleholders now have to make an appeal to the Registrar of Lands to challenge the cautions which were placed by the Commissioner of Lands. After that, they may end up before the court again.
And while we wait on that, we note that in his decision, Conteh included affidavits from Talbert Brackett the Acting Registrar of Lands and Noreen Fairweather, the Lands Commissioner which told of the questionable behavior of then Ministers Joe Coye and Florencio Marin on January 8th 2008. The affidavits go to some length to detail the Ministers’ coercive actions, allegedly demanding the issuance of titles to those lands on that day and after 5:00 p.m.
Conteh noted that, “the picture that emerges from this evidence is one of alarm, especially for the proper conduct of public affairs by Government officials in the face of what would seem to be importunate pressure from…the ‘political directorate’, in particular ministers of government.” He continues, “from this un-contradicted or refuted evidence concerning the issuance of these land certificates, the rhetorical question can be asked: who in fact abused power…”
And while that wraps up that one rather succinctly – as we said the applicants now have to go to the Registrar to ask that those cautions be lifted.
