But one thing Honorable Finnegan had no need to be circumspect about is the land dilemma faced by businessman Israel Pi Marin. As we've told you, Marin is a victim of title theft: he and Rosella Zabaneh held the title for Bikini Caye in Southern Belize. But in May when he went to check on his property he saw that a new landowner had made some changes to the place. When he checked the records, he found that land scammers had fraudulently transferred his land and sold it to Kings Company for thirty five thousand dollars, about 7% of the 580 thousand dollars price tag he was selling it for on a real estate website.
Finnegan says indeed property owners should be protected but insisted that there is a telling background to the Pi Marin story:…
Hon. Michael Finnegan
"My government does not support what is taking place in robbing people of their land and those people have every right to be protected by us. On the other hand Mr. Pi Marin must let you and the public know that it was in 2005 that he had gotten 1/2 acre of land at Bikini Caye and he had gotten the 1/2 acre of land for a mere $2,400.00. God Jules, how can anybody get a piece of land like 1/2 acre of land that it surrounded by beach - this is a little island like St. Kitts by itself and you give Pi Marin it and you sell him for $2,400. That is like you are robbing the nation. His own conscience if he had any should not allow him to have taken the land. That is the reason some members of the chambers of Commerce cannot
get along and why they will make a lot of vote in the chamber and vote against this government. It is because I will say publicly and I don't care - it is because the scheme and the "meggage" and the morass that they could have run under the former government - they cannot run under Barrow administration and those people will never support the United Democratic Party or a Manuel Esquivel administration nor a Dean Barrow administration because neither Dean Barrow or neither Manuel Esquivel will run shady deals or hanky-panky with them. So those people will never be supportive government. Right now they are praying for the UDP to lose."
Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Marin in his defense has said that he invested over a hundred thousand dollars to fix up that island. It was just a patch of mangrove when he got it."
Hon. Michael Finnegan
"Jules, Jesus is coming but when? You never told him that, Jesus is coming but when."
Jules Vasquez
"At the same time you will accept that these things happen. It might be happening right now under your government that they have sweetheart arrangement."
Hon. Michael Finnegan
"Let me tell you this. Our Minister of Lands cannot give away to anybody more than 5 acres of land. Any land that is given to any person or any company that exceed 5 acres that matter got to come to Cabinet."
Marin is the Chamber's vice President of its Service's Counsel. For his part Marin said when he bought the island it was a small patch of mangrove which he developed and he only paid what the ministry of lands billed him to pay.
He adds that the real present issue is about fraud and corruption and he says the government is trying to take it in a different direction by trying to discredit him for paying what was the purchase price. He says he just bought some land in San Pedro at comparable prices.
