Man turns down $5,000,000,000( 5 Billion) to save ancestral land
JEFFREY LEE is not interested in the soaring price of uranium, which could make him one of the world’s richest men.
“This is my country. Look, it’s beautiful and I fear somebody will disturb it,” he says, waving his arm across a view of rocky land surrounded by Kakadu National Park, where the French energy giant Areva wants to extract 14,000 tonnes of uranium worth more than $5 billion.
Mr Lee, the shy 36-year-old sole member of the Djok clan and the senior custodian of the Koongarra uranium deposit, has decided never to allow the ecologically sensitive land to be mined.
“There are sacred sites, there are burial sites and there are other special places out there which are my responsibility to look after,” Mr Lee told the Herald.
“I’m not interested in white people offering me this or that … it doesn’t mean a thing.
“I’m not interested in money. I’ve got a job; I can buy tucker; I can go fishing and hunting. That’s all that matters to me.”
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A man deserve respect, seldom we can find person like him today..who will choose to protect his ancestral land over that intimidating amount of money. You’re the man, Mr. Lee!.
Sydney Morning Herald article about this inspiring story can be found here.
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Comments
He shouldn’t be a fool. Study history and you will see that people like him always end up losing in the long run. He should have taken the money and used it to buy another ancestral homeland elsewhere, because this one is now plumb for the stealing by every corporation interested in what lies beneath. If he thinks him and his will last long, he’s got another think coming.
He’s not interested in the white man offering him anything. Perhaps if a black representative of the company made the same offer…
What country is this in? You have to admire his convictions, but I think he will eventually be forcibly taken over by so called “progress”.
This guy is just dumb. All of those things he is trying to protect will be gone someday. Heck, once he dies those same companies will probably move in there for free.
He should just take the money and stop clinging to the past.
The government needs to just do what governments have done for thousands of years… take the land when it’s in the best interest of the country to do so. Too bad, so sad – but he had a chance to sell out and he foolishly thinks they are going to let him sit on five billion worth of material and do nothing about it.
Pretty sad to hear all these “he should take the money” comments…
Tells a lot about the future generation and how they will (not) fight to protect our heritage.
how long do he think he can protect it…his life is not forever. better take the money and just make provisions / limitations on how to mine the site. So he could use the fund to allocate the protected property. sa tingin mo?
the article said the corp. wanted to mine $5 billion worth of uranium, not that he’d get that much. And yes he’ll probably end up getting screwed out of the land anyway, but I admire his stand and am sad to hear people call him a fool.
Its pretty sad to read all of this
he will probly end up getting screwed or dead.
Corporations don`t you just love them.
If they don`t get what they want
you get screwed or DEAD!
Ancestral lands is not about money. It is about life–of ancestry, culture, tradition, community of people–of people with a set of values, beliefs. If it is gone from them? They will be gone forever.
To think refusing money is absurd, I would say, yes, it is absurd. That is lotsa money! But who are we to tell them it is right for them?
Those who have ancestral homes, and you sell it for a good fortune, wouldn’t you feel self-betrayal for you have sold your memories, childhood, family traditions? Unless, of course you have a bad past that you want to sell it.
But isn’t it exactly the same as their ancestral land? They seem to be contented with what they have right now? Who can say they have lost refusing $5 billion?
How long do you suppose it will be before this guy turns up dead? People with that kind of money can buy some pretty convincing “accidents.”