Jeremiah Heaton, the man who claimed a small territory in Africa to realize his daughter’s dream of being a princess, has produced plans for how he plans on running his so-called ‘Kingdom of North Sudan.’
Heaton, who ran for Congress as an Independent in 2012, announced plans to make the Kingdom of North Sudan, currently known as Bir Tawil, saying he dreams of using the land as a sort of test ground for scientific advancement, focusing on transforming the 800-square-mile desert into agricultural land. Scientists have long been working on transforming desert land into land suitable for agricultural growth, and Heaton believes that a “terraform” process could be achieved in Bir Tawil/Kingdom of North Sudan with the right scientific research.
Before Heaton can get any scientific experiments up and running in the Kingdom of North Sudan, his country will first have to be recognized by the UN and surrounding nations – notably Egypt and Sudan. Heaton has reached out to both Egypt and Sudan’s respective state departments, but says he has not received any response, nor have either country released any statement on Heaton’s plans. Heaton isn’t worried, however, telling Business Insider that he thinks they haven’t gotten back to him because of Ramadan, which will end on July 28, after which he will up his efforts.
After Heaton planted the Kingdom of North Sudan’s flag – designed by his three children – in BIr Tawil, he and his family spoke about what exactly they wanted their new country to stand for. Princess Emily, 7, who inspired Heaton to create his own Kingdom, said that she wanted to ensure that people in the region are well nourished, and her family agreed.
“That’s definitely a concern in that part of the world. We discussed what we could do as a nation to help,” Heaton said.
As to how Heaton can make this dream a reality, he recently revealed that he has developed a four-point plan for the Kingdom of North Sudan’s development: “innovative agricultural production, renewable energy, digital freedom and digital currency.”
Heaton believes that Internet access and digital currency are vital to the freedom of a state, saying that the Kingdom of North Sudan would ensure “freedom to exchange information without any government interference.”
Still, first and foremost, Heaton plans to focus on turning the Kingdom of North Sudan into an agricultural center. In order to do so, Heaton declared that he will run his kingdom as a sort of scientific alternative to those unable to get grant money funding for their environmental research. In other words, Heaton hopes to create a beacon for scientific discovery. Funding for such undertakings will be allocated by him, the king of the region, and will come from crowd-funding via Kickstarter.
“Once we make our plans clear for how the money will be spent, we will send the call out on Kickstarter for funding. It would be easy and tempting to set something up now for people to donate to. I want people to donate with a clarity and understanding of what their money will be spent on,” Heaton told Business Insider.
Heaton even claims to have already been approached by interested scientists unable to get enough funding elsewhere and interested in creating a more environmentally conscious state.
Heaton has been steadfast in the Kingdom of North Sudan’s mission, telling The Guardian, “One of our key principles would be to share the food and resources that we develop with other people in the region, so I think they understand that this project would be beneficial for everyone."
As to critics who accuse Heaton‘s ‘claim’ on Bir Tawil of being a colonialist custom, Heaton insists he is not a colonialist.
“What I am doing is the exact opposite of colonialism. The dictionary defines colonialism as one country taking control of another to exploit its resources or people. Bir Tawil is not a country, it does not have a population, and I don’t represent the United States or a corporation. I’m an individual, and I'm not going to dig for diamonds or drill for oil or build a pipeline. What we’re doing is designed to improve people’s lives,” He said.
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