Independent Commission to Tackle Village Boundary Disputes in Southern Belize

Discussions over long-standing village boundary disputes are expected to take center stage in several southern communities later this month, following the appointment of an Independent Commission by the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development and Local Government. The commission was officially established under the Village Council Act and has been tasked with mediating boundary disagreements between adjoining villages across the country.  According to the ministry, the commission’s role is to conduct due diligence, gather public input, and make recommendations to the minister responsible for local government in an effort to resolve disputes between neighboring villages.  Director of Local Government, Clifford King, explained why the commission was necessary, what its mandate will involve, and the timeline for consultations and recommendations.

Clifford King, Director of Local Government: “What the Village Council Act provides for is that where villages, where adjoining villages have disputes over what they would define as their boundary the minister has the power to appoint an independent commission to mediate that process and then to make recommendation to the minister about where the boundary line should be drawn for these respective villages. Now having jurisdiction and having clear jurisdiction is an important governance tool if you’re going to administrate and you’re going to govern a locality you must know what is the extent of that jurisdiction. And unfortunately in Belize we don’t have a lot of problems, we hear every now and again a little flare up in the south, maybe big flare up in destinations of some people and maybe a little squabble here and there between villages about where their boundaries lie. Our job here as part of our mandate at this ministry is to help to define these things. In the case of where we are right now with these four villages we’ve been trying for several years for these adjoining villages, Placencia, Seine Bight, Hopkins and Sittee River to agree on where their boundaries lie. And so to facilitate that the ministry established the commission, we put together a terms of reference, we established the standing orders for the commission and now we have begun to implement and that’s where we actually are now.”

As part of the consultation process, public meetings are scheduled for Placencia Village on May 15; Seine Bight Village on May 16; Hopkins Village on May 29, and Sittee River Village on May 13. The six-member commission is being chaired by the Chief Magistrate and includes representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Attorney General’s Ministry, the Elections and Boundaries Department, the National Association of Village Councils, and the private sector.