Yemeri Grove, It's a multi-ethnic village in the Toledo district that is on the verge of a confrontation with its neighboring Maya village, Laguna.
It's a confrontation that would result from tensions of land ownership and tenure, land that the villagers claim is the last in Toledo available to Belizeans who are not Mayas.
The situation was addressed by G.O.B 6 days ago when Minister of Indigenous affairs Dolores Balderamos Garcia issued a letter to the Toledo Alcalde Association and The Maya Leaders Alliance cautioning against, quote: "expansionist positions being adopted by Mayan villages" while explaining to them the the boundaries of certain villages have, quote: "not yet been definitively set."
Today Cherisse Halsall traveled south to hear from both sets of villagers about what's really going on at the disputed boundary between Yemeri Grove and Laguna.
Here's what she learned when she spoke to Yemeri Grove chairman Herald Usher:
Harold Usher, Chairman, Yemeri Grove
"This is the what is actually, our traditional border line with the village over here that should be Laguna Village, what you can see over there is that Laguna people, um, they are just intruding, they are marking out plots of land and they are putting pegs as if it's the government surveys or licensed surveyors doing it. Now, what we are feeling in Yemeri Grove is that we have our youths. We have the need also to put a center, a hurricane shelter because the village does not have, we want to put a possible, what you would say, state of the art football field and the thing is that these people because of the court order, they believe that they have the power to demarcate and just walk into any village under the instruction of their leader. And we have been seeking assistance from the government ever since. I am saying this is for years. I have finally, in the last week, had an audience with the Hon. Dolores Balderamos and she admits that the leader of the MLA and the MLA crowd does not have the authority to walk into any village and demarcate village boundaries because as you can see we are way up in this village and Laguna, they are telling us now that the boundaries should be way out. As, far as I am concerned where the leader lives, Ms. Coc she lives in Yemeri Grove, everybody knows that she lives in Yemeri Grove, even the people from Laguna will tell you that she lives in Yemeri Grove. So, now you came into my village, you were granted a portion of land to live on by my village and then now you are telling us that because you live there, you have the power now to change the boundaries and there is no way, no way villagers of Yemeri Grove and the village council will stand fo that, we will not and we want to say that outright, the will not happen."
But while one chairman says that, the other Laguna's Sebastian Itch, says he's confused about where this conflict could be coming from, since as far as he's concerned Laguna's boundaries have been set since the 50's.
Here's his initial take on the issue and the call he's making for a peaceful resolution to any problems.
Sebastian Itch, Chairman, Laguna
"We know where our lands are, we have been using our lands from when it was established in 1959 that was when we came to exist by two families and since then we have established more or less our boundaries, where we work, we occupy and we use our lands, so there is where we are working, we are extending, we are developing. So I don't see where Yemeri Grove is claiming that we are encroaching on their lands but if that is the case then they might need to show us where is their lands and let's see, let's dialogue and we can see where we can meet because if they are claiming for land that is not occupied by them that is for Laguna, so I don't see how they are claiming on our land."
"Well, We have established boundaries from way back by our past leaders and they clear these boundary lines on a yearly basis and that is where we stand right now, we will not go beyond that because we respect people, we respect that other people need to live as well on the other side and that is where we lie. We have our boundaries but that has been established by past leaders and it's not by me it is by the community and that has been in existence ever since."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Can you give me an idea of the range of that land. I know there is some contention around the area where Ms. Monica Coc has her house, in your opinion is Ms. Monica's house in Laguna or in Yemeri Grove?"
Sebastian Itch, Chairman, Laguna
"No, that is in Laguna's land. That is in Laguna's land, as far as we know our land extends all the way up to the highway to the junction of Laguna. Yes, that is as far as we know."
"I don't, I don't understand where the confusion is but I guess I can say maybe it's because Yemeri grove is getting bigger, we have other young people coming up and they need space, so that is where they see the need for land and now they are claiming for our land. We can dialogue, that is what we want, we can dialogue and let's see how we can solve these issues, because one side claiming and the other side counter claiming, we will never meet anywhere."
There's more from these villages tomorrow when we take you back down south and give you a look at the land that's being cleared, not by villagers of either community but allegedly by Toledo West representative Oscar Requena.
