And that precious Manatee population is perhaps one of the most important environmental considerations standing in the way of Vulcan;s quarry project.
For it's part Vulcan has said that a future purchase of White Ridge Farm would quote: "undergo a rigorous and scientifically thorough EIA, conducted to World Bank standards and consistent with all Belizean regulations.", but would that EIA actually provide them with favorable evidence?
Audubon's executive director doesn't believe so. Here's what she said on the subject.
Courtney Menzies:
"Now, while the minister has said that they are not getting the green light, they won't be getting the mining license they have gotten through with this part using, is there any chance that they would be able to get an environmental impact assessment that the EIA would have given them the greenlight in this case?"
Amanda Acosta, Executive Director, Audubon
"So an EIA an I have to always, I have sat on the NEAC for and under different institutions and the NEAC basically reviews the environmental impact of a project. What it does is it looks at how will this. development that we are proposing impact the ecosystem around. So, we have to realize that the EIA what it does is it tries to come up with mitigation. It tries to see how can the development happen in a way that minimizes it's impact."
Vulcan representatives are expected in Belize this coming weekend to visit Gales Point and meet with the community.
