Prince William And Kate Middleton Not Welcomed In Village In Belize Ahead Of Trip To Jamaica

On the agenda for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in recognition of the Queen of England’s Platinum Jubilee was an eight-day tour to Caribbean countries Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas. To start the tour, Belize, was first on the list, however, due to protests from villagers, some of their plans had to be diverted.

According to reports, Prince William and Kate Middleton had to cancel their trip to tour the Akte ‘il Ha cacao farm in Indian Creek village in the foothills of the Maya Mountains in Belize after residents started a protest on Friday ahead of their visit scheduled for Sunday.

This protest by residents stems from a dispute about communal land rights of the Indian Creek Village and Flora and Fauna International (FFI), a conservation charity protecting the planet’s threatened wildlife and habitats that is supported by Prince William as a patron. More so, the villagers felt that they were disrespected because they were not properly informed of the arrival of the Duke and Duchess in their village.

Due to this, the helicopter that was arranged to land the royal family on the local football field in the village was forced to make different engagements. Chairman of the Indian Creek Village, Sebastian Shol told the Daily Mail “We don’t want them to land on our land, that’s the message that we want to send. They could land anywhere but not on our land.”

The Belize Government has since released a statement on the protest and also informed that another location has been found to welcome the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, “Indian Creek was one of several sites being considered. Due to issues in the village, the Government of Belize activated its contingency planning and another venue has been selected to showcase Maya family entrepreneurship in the cacao industry.”

Genelle Aldred, Deputy Chair for Women in Journalism UK (WIJ_UK), posted a tweet in which she is imploring Jamaica to follow the acts of the Belizean village people. She went on further to question the actual reason behind the upcoming visit of the royals to the island, whilst also noting that the trips to accommodate them will cost a significant amount that will only benefit them in the process.

Check out her tweet below:

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