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Maduro commits to
projects in reclaimed zones
By IXCHEL GRANADA
TEGUCIGALPA — The President of the Republic, Ricardo Maduro, in an
agreement with the leadership of the Farmworkers Union (UCM), has
committed to a series of projects that were solicited by the UCM. These
projects are targeted to benefit populations along the border with El
Salvador whose jurisdiction has been under dispute. The zone was
recently conferred to Honduras by the International Court of Justice in
The Hague whose ruling was announced September 11, 1992.
The UCM petition consisted of a long list of suggestions including the
need to resolve problems among the health, education and infrastructure
sectors pertaining to the zone in question. The UCM also emphasized the
importance of a legal process, which would delimit lands in contention.
These are the needs which should be addressed immediately and which will
be formally resolved in upcoming congressional sessions.
According to the UCM the Maduro administration should have clear
intentions to focus on these underrepresented communities which have in
previous administrations been abandoned and overlooked. The country
should seek to practice it’s sovereignty in these areas which have
received little to no support from government institutions.
As an example, up to this point public schools in the area are without
classrooms and without the most basic of teaching resources; desks,
blackboards etc. The instructors in this region continue to rent out a
space for the classroom from a local landowner.
Once the government provides the basic needs, the UCM insists that the
administration must follow through on its role as the provider of basic
public needs.
Among the suggestions was a proposal for the creation of a Treasury that
the community can rely on for access to finances for their agricultural
reactivation program.
The most urgent of needs listed is that there be financing to reactive
agriculture and that the government creates and assures special funds in
the form of a Treasury to give credit to the communities who were
affected or benefited by the Hague ruling. Most of these communities
have no legal titles or public documents, which will permit access to
credit and facilitate community growth and development.
The petition also points out the need for paved roads, the lack of which
is a primary obstacle in connecting rural communities to public services
and creating access to markets for agricultural products.
President Maduro, and cabinet heads assured UCM leadership that the
proposal would receive their prompt attention
Barranco community fights disease, indifference and a new airport
By Wendy Griffin
The Garifuna community of Barranco Blanco was hard hit by Hurricane
Mitch in 1998. Located on the point of land between Puerto Castilla and
Trujillo, only three out of 18 families have been able to return to live
there since Mitch. One of these, a woman over 65, is living in abandoned
school house with no doors, no windows and a piece of plastic catching
the rain that comes in through the roof, since her house was destroyed.
In addition to Hurricane Mitch, the community was hit with the
destruction of their principal crop—coconuts. One farmer said she used
to bring 500 coconuts twice a week to sell in Trujillo. Due to Lethal
Yellowing Disease which has killed most of the Honduran coconut trees,
no coconuts at all are produced in Barranco now. The farmers do not
produce enough either to rebuild their houses nor to pay transportation
to the area.
Due to the help of several NGO’s including the Garifuna Emergency
Committee (Comité de Emergencia Garífuna de Honduras), the environmental
organization responsible for the nearby Guaymoreto Lagoon FUCAGUA, the
Catholic church’s social arm CARITAS, and CIDH (Independent Center for
the Development of Honduras) the agriculture is slowly returning to
Barranco. Thirty five families are working in the area, traveling from
the town of Trujillo. FHIS (The Honduran Fund for Social Investment, a
government agency) has provided funding for local residents to build an
eco-tourism project in the area.
Suddenly farmers are worried that the rebuilding of their community
could be halted by the actions of the Empresa Nacional Portuaria (the
National Port Company), a semi-autonomous agency that manages the port
of Castilla.
The Garifunas of the Community of Cristales and Rio Negro in Trujillo
have land title to over 2,000 hectares of land in Barranco dating from
the government of Luis Bogran in 1898. However, in the mid-1970’s the
Garifuna neighborhoods of Cristales and Rio Negro were militarized by
General Alvarez Martinez, the head of the Armed Forces reports Victor
Garcia, the former president of the Cristales and Rio Negro Community.
In addition to owning Barranco, these Garifunas owned La Puntilla, where
the military wanted to rebuild/expand Puerto Castilla Port and the Naval
Base. Until that time Garifunas raised coconuts at La Puntilla.
The Garifunas were forced to abandon La Puntilla and, under a reported
atmosphere of coercion, signed a document to transfer La Puntilla in
exchange for two schools, paving the streets of Cristales, building two
story community centers for Cristales and Rio Negro, the rebuilding of
dance salons for the Garifuna dance clubs Los Tigres and Masapanes, and
to hire fifty percent Garifunas at the Portuaria.
At the last minute in addition to La Puntilla, Barranco, Mal Paso and
Los Cuartos were added to the transfer document. The government never
completed its part and the land ownership of these communities has
remained in legal limbo with the Garifunas continuing their agriculture
in the last three communities. According to lawyer Lino Sambula, the
agreement was breached by the failure to comply with the terms on the
part of the government. In addition, there is an agreement under
government of Mayor Salgado, explicitly turning control of the area back
over to the community.
Every few years some new development project is proposed for these
lands. The most recent is a Venezuelan developed a master tourism plan
for the Bay of Trujillo. On the lands where the Garifunas have been
carefully planting yucca (manioc), plantains, orange trees, hard wood
trees and thousands of special disease resistant coconuts, the
government has proposed to build a new international airport for
Trujillo.
Currently Trujillo has a small airport which occasionally receives small
planes from La Ceiba. There is no regular service and few tourists visit
Trujillo, thought not because of the lack of air service. What
frightened residents is that the port has recently begun to survey the
land for this airport, according to workers on the project.
When the Venezuelan plan was presented to community leaders, the
representative of OFRANEH, a national Garifuna organization, objected.
He was reportedly told, “with the Garifunas or without the Garifunas
this plan is going through. If the Garifunas do not like it, they can
sell their lands.”
At a meeting of farmers working in Barranco, they said they did not want
to sell. “If the Garifunas do not have lands in Barranco, there is
nowhere for them to plant”. One farmer said the only way they were
getting him out of Barranco is dead. He and his wife even remained in
Barranco during Hurricane Mitch when the flood waters rose to within
four meters of their doorway.
Garifuna lands are protected by Convention 169 of International Labor
Organization, which prohibits the development of development plans
impacting ethnic groups without the active participation of the ethnic
people. It also prohibits moving them except in extreme cases. It
protects their entire habitat, including agricultural lands.
In addition to the airport, the master tourism plan proposes luxury
hotels - in spite of the fact the area is infested with clouds of
mosquitoes and, in the rainy season, sand flies. The waters on the bay
side are too shallow to swim in and on the ocean side there is too much
of an undertow, explained a local resident.
The only hostel in the area has been troubled by this lack of clarity of
land titles. On one hand, the National Port Company has said that the
land is theirs. On the other hand, the Garifunas have a court case that
the sale of Garifuna land by another organization to Casa Kiwi was
illegal, said Mr. Garcia.
The Honduran Institute of Agrarian Reform (INA) has been in the area to
develop a report on Garifuna land titles around Trujillo, the first step
to clarifying existing land titles and issuing definitive land titles,
explained Garcia. INA was reportedly approached to do the surveying for
the port authority, but INA refused, explaining that those were Garifuna
lands.
Before a major infrastructure project like an airport could be built, it
would have to prepare an environmental impact statement which would need
government approval. This would be difficult for an airport at Barranco
as Barranco is within the management area of the Guaymoreto Lagoon
Wildlife Preserve. The population of migrating and year round egrets,
herons and pelicans is already down from 20 years ago when these birds
were seen in flocks of 50-60 birds at once. Now they are seen alone or
in pairs, often with tags on their legs, probably indicating studies by
U.S. ecology groups.
One farmer, Marta Carolina Gil, commented on the project. “I have
already fenced in my land. I have cleared the land. I have planted
coconuts. I even talked to them as I planted them. We are in the process
of planting plantains, I do not want to lose my investment.”
In a recent update, the National Port Company announced by radio HRN on
the 19th of November that they would be providing lands for the
construction of the ‘Freedom Ship,’ termed a floating city, the largest
sea-going vessel in the world, complete with its own airport. Residents
worry not only about the illegal usurpation of land linked to this
gigantic project, but also the lack of necessary infrastructure and the
legally required environmental impact studies.
There are no explanations, for instance, how land, living facilities,
potable water, sewage facilities, trash pick-up and other necessary
services would be provided for the thousands of people who would
suddenly migrate to the area. In addition, there is no plan for
prevention of the crime and violence that would accompany the high
unemployment which would occur when the few years of construction of the
Freedom Ship end.
For more information, write to: Comite de Emergencia Garifuna de
Honduras, Post Office Box 67, Trujillo, Colon Honduras, C.A. or call +
504 434 4438 for English and tel/fax + 504 434 4818
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What concerns the Tourism Institute?
By JEANINE PADILLA
A place that generates the highest income in a given field should be a
priority of the government institutions that are responsible for taking
care of national treasures. On this occasion we refer to the Bay
Islands, and in particular, the island of Roatan. As one of the most
beautiful places in the world, it generates the most income for the
Honduran tourism sector.
This has come about through the efforts of the islanders and investors.
But now their endeavors need additional support from the government. But
this seems meaningless to institutions such as the Honduran Institute of
Tourism, for there are some areas that have not been properly focused
on, projected or promoted.
When HTW visited the island all sorts of questions arose concerning
illogical actions. Why has spraying for insects on another island with
less tourism become a priority of the Institute of Tourism? Shouldn’t
Roatan be first on the list? Most businesses on Roatan do it themselves,
but what of those with lesser economic capacity? And why do they have to
do spray themselves, they pay their taxes. From here, another question
arises. Where does the money go?
At least one person a month perishes in a car accident due to the lack
of road signs. Where is the Ministry of Public Works (SOPTRAVI)? Well,
SOPTRAVI would do something if the Institute requested it. Road signs
are not expensive, but the cost of a human life is, and this should be
relevant to the government.
What about communications? Is the director of the national phone company
(HONDUTEL) aware of the difficulty resorts, hotels and inhabitants face
due to the lack of phone lines?
These are just a few of the various issues that deserve attention on the
island. The last question that arose was where is the Minister of
Tourism? Does he know about the conditions on the island? Well, HTW came
to the conclusion that the actual Minister of Tourism has been in office
for a short period of time and some of these problems existed prior to
his taking office. However, there is no excuse for some employees that
have worked in the Institute for more than four years and are
responsible for keeping him up to date. Maybe he does not receive all
the information in a timely manner. And yet, as of today, another
question came up: Are the journalists that are currently visiting the
island of Guanaja going to cover the Thanksgiving celebrations in Roatan
too?
We know that other islands need and deserve development, and are
beautiful in their own right. But let’s not forget that it has taken
Roatan more than 25 years to get where it is today, and common sense
calls for it to be polished and cultivated. Let’s finish what we have
already begun.
No second chances for high school students
The Minister of Education, Carlos Avila, declared in a radio press
conference this week that there will be no more make-up exams for high
school students that fail the school year. Avila stressed that in order
to achieve maximum quality education in the country, there has to be a
series of reforms to the educational system. According to Avila, the
basis for a good education begins at home by the effort of parents. In
addition, the practice of granting the chance of make-up exams is only a
way to support the lack of dedication and effort in some students.
At the beginning of the year, Avila granted a second recuperation due to
the fact that out of a total of 320 million students, 40 thousand failed
the school year. The number represented almost 10 per cent of the
students enrolled.
In regards to the length of the school year, Avila affirmed that the
year should officially conclude on December 13. Various petitions have
been made to lengthen the school year due to the amount of class days
that were lost as a result of the teacher protests held this year. —EL
HERALDO
Free trade with the U.S. depends on resolving cases involving U.S.
citizens
There are 30 homicide cases and other property dispute cases involving
U.S. Citizens that hinder Honduras’ possibility of entering into the
Free Trade Treaty with the United States.
“ We hope that Honduras resolves these pending cases before commercial
negotiations begin. It would be difficult to get support from the U.S.
Congress if this issue is not addressed properly or if there are no
efforts to clear the cases out” expressed Palmer.
“We want those pending cases in the courts to come to a resolution soon.
We won’t condition Honduras directly from the Embassy but conditions can
certainly come from Washington” added Palmer.
Ambassador Palmer said that he receives an average of five to ten
letters a day from senators or congressmen from the U.S. that claim a
solution for unresolved homicide cases in Honduras. Principally, those
having taken place in the Bay Islands and the northern part of the
country. Since congress and parliament are in charge of deciding on any
commercial agreements with Honduras, it is imperative that the cases be
resolved soon.
On the other hand, Guillermo Pina, president of the Honduran-American
Chamber of Commerce indicated that the unresolved cases are just one of
the obstacles that impede Free Trade Agreements; other obstacles include
the tax barriers and financial services. -LA PRENSA
Department of Government and Justice will cancel non-compliant NGOs
Authorities from the Department of Government and Justice announced
their decision to cancel any Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that
do not comply with the primary purpose of their creation. Jose Guillen,
head of the department of Government indicated that the cancellation
evaluations will be carried out by the Superintendent’s Office and will
be supervised by officials in the Department of Government.
To date, there are records of approximately six thousand NGOs that have
authorization to operate but there have been plenty of accusations that
indicate that several of the active NGOs are not executing the tasks for
which they were established in the first place. -LA TRIBUNA
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new bridge over the Guayape River connects inner Olancho with busier
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