Belize Government Hesitant to Back Attempts by US Company to Acquire Land
BELMOPAN, Belize – A senior government official is predicting that the Belize government will not support moves by the United States-based international mining company, Vulcan Materials to acquire lands here.
White Farm Ridge (File Photo)“I can tell you that the position is that unequivocally that this may not be an investment that has the support of the government, so we will have to communicate to them the position as it relates to that investment,” said Kenrick Williams, the chief executive officer in the Ministry of Sustainable Development.”
The company is in the process of acquiring several hundred acres of land off the Coastal Road, near Gales Point Manatee, in an area called White Ridge Farms.
But the villagers have overwhelmingly rejected the company’s project proposal in fear of irreversible environmental damage that preparatory work will bring.
They believe for example, turning a hill into rocks and stones means explosives will have to be used to blast the hill and that will kill and displace all the wildlife in the area.
Officials from the Vulcan Materials Company are due to meet with personnel from the Ministry of Sustainable Development later this week.
But Williams, says while there has not been any formal proposals from the company, just a request for a preliminary meeting, the company’s past projects is of concern to the government.
“They want an environmental impact assessment (EIA). We’ve not commenced any process. They would like to present to us the idea that they would like to develop in this area. So we’ve not initiated any process as it relates to the EIA,” said Williams.
“We’ve not received any formal indication or request for the conducting of an EIA. It’s all what is really floating out there in the media, again, save for an expressed interest to have a discussion with us about this project because of the public backlash in the initial concept stage.”
Williams said that the authorities have done the research and some initial analysis as to the investments being made by this company in other jurisdictions, the impact being caused by mining. “We’re not the experts on mining, that is the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Mining Department specifically and their part of the NEAC, they would inform us as it relates to the specificity of that process.
“We also do not want to prejudice any investment, so any investment that is being made, there is a legal process that they go through that they will indicate to us from their research and analysis and their projections these are the potential impacts as it relates to these developments,” Williams added.
The Vulcan Materials Company is the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregates, primarily crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a major producer of other construction materials including asphalt and ready-mixed concrete.
The company serves markets in 20 states, the District of Columbia, Mexico and the Bahamas.
