For two months, 12 planters blocked off the 3 streets leading to the Hangar area in Belize City. That's St Edward Street, St.John and St Luke Street. But this past Saturday, those planters were removed after a disgruntled resident filed a suit against the City Council for improperly closing the street. According to the law, if the council wants to close off a particular street, it must be gazetted 4 times, and residents should have the opportunity to give the council their input on the proposal. That wasn't done in this case and the council conceded - so far.
But there are reports that there is a larger issue with the seafront property - particularly that the closure is part of an attempted land grab and that's why it was blocked off. When asked, the City Council cited a petition that was brought to them in 2022 that was signed by the residents who live near the area.
Those residents have issued a joint statement to clear up allegations of any suspect motives for the petition. According to the statement, their concerns stem from years of safety, environmental and quality-of-life issues. It says, quote, "These have included frequent disturbances such as loud music, drug use, public intoxication, littering (including broken bottles and used condoms), blocked driveways, vehicle collisions into residents' fences, robberies by knife, illegal gun activity and murder." End quote.
They also add that they fear that due to severe coastal erosion and rising sea levels, within the next 5 to 7 years, the sea will ultimately cover that area and reach their front gates.
That's why after a rejected proposal from the City Council in 2022, they made a request to the Lands Department to subdivide and acquire the land to privately invest in the reconstruction of the seawall and manage the area. However, that was not approved. A statement from Natural Resources today says an application was made but it was, quote, "instantaneously deemed to be a nonstarter and never made it for consideration by the Land Utilization Authority.
The area of land which was the subject of the said application is owned by the Government of Belize there are no applications with the Ministry for lease or purchase of the said area of land." End quote.
So, that's the end of that but the residents say though their request from the Lands Department was rejected, they still remain committed to working with them and the city council to protect the area.
And so while it will remain public land - will it remain open to the public - reports say that depending on the feedback from the public the city plans to bring back the planters and close the area to vehicles.
