Last Night, on the news I took you to the village of Gales Point Manatee where villagers are vex about the potential sale of a large tract of land for the purpose of mining.
Now, it's not a done deal - far from it - actually, it's only at the exploratory stage.
In fact, while Vulcan Materials Company has entered a contract for purchase, that contract is, quote, "contingent on the findings of due diligence."
And tonight in Part two of the you'll hear Vulcan's defense of their Playa del Carmen operation, and why the village doesn't even want to entertain the proposal:
Gales Point Manatee, it's the forgotten gem of the South, and it seems like a place out of time, like it stayed still while the rest of the world moved on. But time might finally be catching up to it - as the wave of globalisation is now surging into the Southern Lagoon.
And in the second part of our story on Vulcan Materials Company and its exploratory license for White Ridge Farm, villagers - even transplants like the man known locally as Boko - remain very concerned about the village's Sugar Hill.
Kareem "Boko" Smith, Gales Point Villager
"If they blow up the hill then we'll have problems because all the water from Belmopan, from all bout will come straight to us dig. Right now miss we A-set, we good, we have the tourism, we have the manatee, we have the turtle group we have the doctor, we have some people from the States who came here and donate and loves here, so I am proud of that and we have people who sponsor our kids all up to 6th form, so right now thanks for the road works, thanks for the lodge, the ruin - we have everything we got right ya. So if you are lazy you will not eat, if you want to work, you will eat."
And for generations, the village's abundant environment has been more than enough, with fruit trees, fresh game from the jungle, and the bounty of the lagoon providing everything the villagers needed. But village Elder Hubert Andrewin said if it's up to the government, that won't be the case much longer:
Hubert Andrewin, Resident
"We got to start locking up those politicians. Some of them have to go to jail because I don't see how they could give this guy any concession to do that because I read about him oh no in Mexico he did very bad damage there."
"But if they want to give it, it doesn't even matter to me because i'm 74 years old it's time for me to go home, you understand. So no big deal with that."
But for those left behind it is a big deal. Any serious mining activity would involve clearcutting the jungle and removing the aggregate materials by blasting.
But the Company says that isn't the full story telling us quote: " While the video raises some important issues, it fails to consider actions taken by the company to mitigate some of the very concerns that are addressed."
They continue saying quote:
"Our efforts to preserve Jaguar habitat has actually led to an increase in the Jaguar population that was being hunted to extinction."
And back at the Point with our movie star. We heard about the fragility of the village's social fabric.
Indira Andrewin, Actress & Villager
"Everyone here is related and if they are bringing in so much other people, we are definitely not getting any income or anything and it's just I don't know where they will house them, they will probably make all these houses and it will definitely change the feel, the vibe just the energy of the place too."
"So whoever is thinking that they will get any type of money off of this Vulcan that's probably non-existent. So I just don't see any benefit at all."
And very few in the village do. We stopped by this weekend card game and cookout to speak to a few concerned residents and get their impassioned opinions on the Vulcan threat.
Nicolee Myles, Village resident
"We are the only highway with all those pretty mountains. We are developing and we need to become more. They just want to tear us apart, it's like we're supposed to stay less and we are fighting for more and with Vulcan we could have never get more with they, beautiful Gales Point is the most beautiful village I could ever say, we have water on 2 sides and if they come and tear down that it will be more water, because the things will drop in, every thing, every thing will be washed away. We are trying to develop and they are coming to tear us down, it doesn't make any kind of sense."
"The people that are voting for it are just for the money, they should come up and have us come together and say no to Vulcan say no."
Georgia Myers, Village Resident
"We don't want any of this to be wrecked. We have young kids coming up we don't want any of this to be wrecked, so if the Vulcan will take this down it's better it crashes it, you understand me, before it takes it down because we need to uprise, we don't need to go down our village, Gales Point Village needs to uprise."
And at the end of our day in Gales Point it was clear that the village had rejected the very premise of a mining company coming in, but, for its part, the company of which they're so suspicious hasn't committed to mining in the area, they say at this time, their purpose is still purely exploratory. And for the villagers, that's as far as it needs to go - they're hoping that shedding light on this issue will ensure that no mining license is granted.
Again we sought comment from Vulcan Materials Company and they told us to quote: "Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vulcan began to study the geologic and economic feasibility of creating an environmentally and socially sustainable limestone quarry on a portion of the White Ridge Farm property near Gales Point. Our studies are continuing. The company has not made a decision on whether to pursue the project, develop plans and apply for approvals." End quote.
We hope to have an interview with one of their representatives next week.
