And a press release from a new group named the Toledo Private and Lease Landowners state that while they're relieved to learn Canti is safe, they also find the media interviews and social media posts by those representing the MLA, the TAA, and the JCS irresponsible. The release says that these, quote, appear deliberately aimed at inciting panic and violence within the community… Recklessly tarnishing Belize's international reputation by falsely framing the nation as unsafe for Indigenous leaders is entirely unacceptable." End quote.
They added that these organizations must acknowledge that not all Belizeans share their aspiration of collective land ownership. The TPLL added, quote, "These organizations cannot publicly claim that private and leasehold lands must be respected, while simultaneously justifying the unauthorized surveying and issuing of "land certificates" on those very properties." End quote.
The release continue by putting the responsibility of implementing the CCJ consent order on the government, blaming them for what they call an escalating crisis.
And, this evening the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management called on the government to, quote "fulfill its legal duty to consult the Maya communities in Southern Belize on the development of the Maya Customary Land Tenure legislation." They say, quote, "a Maya land tenure policy was drafted without the input of Maya communities…that third-party landowners have had access to the draft legislation while Maya communities have yet to be consulted speaks volumes about the deep imbalance of power that continues to define this process." End quote.
