CC Land Distribution - 06/08/02 09:11 PM
There is an on-going heated debate island-wise regarding Ms. Arceo's
decision to advertise the village lands (village inheritance) to the general
public for sale on Love FM radio. These are but my two cents worth:
Caye Caulker lands are very limited. Great care should be taken in
distributing this precious resource. The public lands are considered the
island's inheritance and should be treated as such. They should be
distributed on the advice of the villagers through open and transparent
dialogue and not by political party cronies.
The collective value of the island's (community) lands, which are now
fawning speculative greed fueled by the Area Representative's obvious desire
to recklessly dispose of the island's inheritance, are so because of the
collective sacrifices of generations of island families. It is an
incredible insult to communities everywhere the way the distribution of our
island lands are being handled.
It is a crying shame for Patty Arceo or any government (local, island or
countrywide) to even WANT to hand out the local island lands (collective
island inheritance) to anyone but local village people when the needs of the
existing local islanders are far from being met. Take care of the local
islanders first (100%), and then whatever is left can (maybe) be shared
elsewhere.
Each community should also feel free to take the same approach and take care
of its own first.
In any community, there are private lands listed for sale to those not from
a particular community, but interested in becomming land owners in a
community other than that in which they live. Let the private market take
care of that. Leave the village (community) lands to the villagers
(communities) to best distribute as they see fit, please.
decision to advertise the village lands (village inheritance) to the general
public for sale on Love FM radio. These are but my two cents worth:
Caye Caulker lands are very limited. Great care should be taken in
distributing this precious resource. The public lands are considered the
island's inheritance and should be treated as such. They should be
distributed on the advice of the villagers through open and transparent
dialogue and not by political party cronies.
The collective value of the island's (community) lands, which are now
fawning speculative greed fueled by the Area Representative's obvious desire
to recklessly dispose of the island's inheritance, are so because of the
collective sacrifices of generations of island families. It is an
incredible insult to communities everywhere the way the distribution of our
island lands are being handled.
It is a crying shame for Patty Arceo or any government (local, island or
countrywide) to even WANT to hand out the local island lands (collective
island inheritance) to anyone but local village people when the needs of the
existing local islanders are far from being met. Take care of the local
islanders first (100%), and then whatever is left can (maybe) be shared
elsewhere.
Each community should also feel free to take the same approach and take care
of its own first.
In any community, there are private lands listed for sale to those not from
a particular community, but interested in becomming land owners in a
community other than that in which they live. Let the private market take
care of that. Leave the village (community) lands to the villagers
(communities) to best distribute as they see fit, please.