But while Maya villages cannot claim communal land rights on privately owned land, what about land in other villages that do not have owners? According to the minister, the government is responsible for placing a limit on what can be claimed by each Maya village that accepts communal land ownership. She said the goal will always be to accommodate everyone who lives in Toledo.
Dolores Balderamos, Minister of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs
"I would have to say that if a village boundary, say between Laguna and Yemeri Grove, is established and Laguna wish to have the communal land ownership, well that is what will be process but remember though that on the other side, on the Yemeri side, it is still national land, if it is not owned by a private individual, but this is where we have to recognize that we will have to do some compromise, not everybody may be perfectly happy with what is coming out at the end of the day but we have to protect the rights of all Belizeans. Yes, we have two indigenous groups, I recognize basically two indigenous groups in the country, the Garifuna people, and during this month we're celebrating all the Garifuna culture, and then of course we have the Maya people, but I think, let me say what is sort of the final point I would like to make. I'd like to say that despite what some of the proponents are trying to say, that all of this land is for us, it was taken away from us by the colonial masters and the colonial administration, the government of today will have to make sure that we set a limit to what is claimed. Say for example that if you claim one kilometer from the center of your village going out, that claim doesn't necessarily mean that it will be accepted by the government, because the government will have to keep some land for other people who are not Maya. So these are the issues we are dealing with because it's unfortunate that there has been an attempt by certain proponents, I won't call any names, but there has been an attempt by certain proponents to sort of promulgate this idea that they own the whole Toledo district and that could never be so. Again, there is one Belize and we have to make sure we can accommodate everybody that lives here."
