“Hotbed of corruption” back under microscope; prospective government unveils ambitious plans to reform Lands Department

Published by BBNTEAM at February 27, 2025

Posted: Thursday, February 27, 2025. 4:14 am CST.

By Aaron Humes: Prime Minister John Briceño has outlined the People’s United Party (PUP) government’s strategy, if they are re-elected, to tackle corruption and inefficiencies within the Ministry of Natural Resources, particularly the Lands Department. Recalling the pointed critique from former Prime Minister Dean Barrow in 2013 of the Department as a “hotbed of corruption”, Briceño emphasized the need for reform as he laid out a three-pronged approach designed to modernize land management in Belize.

The need for reform is highlighted by the killings in succession of Ricardo Borja, Darren “Dalla Coin” Taylor and just this past weekend, Boris Mannsfeld; the first and third cases remain under investigation by police.

One of the cornerstone initiatives is the digitization of the land registry. Briceño explained that creating a digital record system would significantly reduce the potential for fraudulent activity by providing a clear digital imprint of transactions. “Once we can digitize that, it slows down the issue of fraudulent transactions, making it difficult for discrepancies to occur,” he noted.

The Prime Minister also addressed the urgent need to reform the land taxation system. He revealed that Belize has an estimated one hundred million dollars in land tax that remain uncollected, with current recovery rates only reaching ten to twenty percent. The plan includes a partnership between the Lands Department and the Belize Tax Service to enhance collection efficiency through modernization.

Briceño has plans to introduce legislation to regulate the real estate sector, an initiative he initially began in 2007 but was unable to complete due to lack of support from the previous government. Deputy Prime Minister and Natural Resources Minister Cordel Hyde took it on but the legislation was not ready for Parliament before the general elections were called, and the Prime Minister allowed that it would be a “priority” for his new government if elected.

With these developments, the PUP government aims to restore public trust in the lands management system, ensuring that all transactions are handled with integrity and efficiency as they move forward in cleaning up the legacy of corruption in the Lands Department.

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