Kiwi family in Panama land battle

A New Zealand family who has spent the past decade creating botanic gardens out of jungle in Panama is battling a powerful local family for possession of the land.

David Gillingham, formerly of Marton, in the Manawatu, and his wife, Lin, told the Panama Star that the circuit judge of the Bocas del Toro area where they live has three times tried to enter their property to measure land the wealthy Eleta family says it should own.

"Lands disputes between foreigners and Panamanians are becoming quite common, mainly because properties, especially in beauty spots in the provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro, have increased their value dramatically," the newspaper reported.

The Gillinghams said their 9.31ha was properly titled at the public registry when they bought the property a decade ago.

They hacked their way with machetes through jungle on the site an since then have built a house, a botanical garden and a nursery.

Mrs Gillingham opened the Finca Los Monos (the Monkey Farm) botanical garden to tourists last December. The hilltop property has stunning views both eastward toward the archipelago of Bocas del Toro and westward toward mainland mountains.

But two months ago, the circuit judge demanded access to their property, to measure and separate a plot from it.

The land being sought is exactly where the house, botanical garden and nursery are sited.

" The Eletas have no legal claim to our land," Mrs Gillingham said

"We are legally occupying our land."

- NZPA