Beverly Castillo – she’s the former deputy in the Ministry of Natural Resources turned political aspirant in Belize Rural Central. She’s been making headlines right from the get-go, but it’s probably not the kind of headlines she prefers at the launch of her political career. The issue is a prime piece of land in Belama at the corner of Albert Hoy and Chetumal Street. Just before she left office, C.E.O. Castillo allegedly had the lease on the property cancelled and then secured title to it for her mother and son. It’s an allegation which is not exactly unheard of in the political scheme of things, especially when the Lands Department is involved. The woman who holds the long-time lease on the property is Bernadette Pickwoad, a Belizean living in the US who had already driven piles on the land. She objected most strenuously and the matter went to court in late December. An injunction was granted, since Castillo’s mother and son had also commenced construction. That injunction is in effect, but today all parties were in Court, since Castillo, her mother and her son applied for the injunction to be struck down. News Five spoke to attorney for Bernadette Pickwoad Audrey Matura this afternoon as she left the courtroom.
Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Attorney for Bernadette Pickwoad
Audrey Matura-Shepherd
“Arguments were heard before the court, all the defendants, form the ministry as well as the private individuals have applied to have the injunction discharged. That’s a normal thing, if there is an injunction you will try to get it removed. We have applied to have it continued. What we have this evening was the chief justice hearing the arguments for or against, us saying why it should remain, them saying why it shouldn’t remain. He has not given his decision whether to discharge it or not, but the order today is that it remains in effect until the twenty-eight of January which is next week Tuesday, at which time he will give his decision.”
Mike Rudon
“Could you give us the arguments in a nutshell?”
Audrey Matura-Shepherd
“Well basically the argument from the government is that look, this person has breached the terms of their lease, therefore they are not entitled to any benefit. They also said that there is a remedy that she can get other than getting back her land, she can get money. They also felt that there was material non-disclosure, that she should have disclosed that Maud Williams and Marvin Castillo already had title. Our response to that is that one, whether and this is strictly the law, whether you are in breach of something or not, the law puts a mechanism to ensure that you are rightly heard.”
Bernard Pickwoad
Bernard Pickwoad, Brother of Bernadette Pickwoad
“Definitely it’s not a good feeling for us to have to go to this level to seek the justice that we think is due to us. It is definitely a cost to us that we think we should not have to incur, at the end of the day even the ministry has granted that they made an error in not following the procedure of law. The best way for them to have corrected that, given the interest that my sister have had in this land for more than thirty years versus two months that the defendants have, I think it is clear cut that they should have just corrected that error and just have given them another option.”
Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin will hand down his decision next week Tuesday. Reliable sources say that Beverly Castillo et al are also in the process of asking that the entire matter, including the pending court case, be struck out.
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