Information & Development

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The Government has no plans to mine bauxite in the Cockpit Country, and the granting of a Special Exclusive Prospecting Licence (SEPL) to JAMALCo would not include such a right, Parris Lyew-Ayee, Executive Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) has said.

Over the past few weeks there has been much controversy surrounding the application by JAMALCo for the renewal of its licence to prospect for bauxite in the vicinity of the Cockpit Country, located in the south-central part of Trelawny.
Concerns have been expressed that this prospecting work would involve the building of roads in the Cockpit Country as well as the despoiling of the environment and the groundwater regime.

But Mr. Lyew-Ayee has assured that, "none of the above fears is real". He emphasized that no roads would be built for bauxite exploration and that any prospecting work would use modern technologies, which cause no more impact than caused by the expedition of zoologists, botanists, geologists and bird watchers, who regularly go through the area.

The Executive Director flatly denied that the prospecting work would have any negative effect on the groundwater of the area.

Mr. Lyew-Ayee states that not only is there no plan to mine in the Cockpit Country but there is no imminent plan to begin bauxite mining in Trelawny, even if reserves of bauxite were to be discovered in the parish.

"If the results from the exploration work are favourable, the earliest time foreseen for any mining there, is almost 20 years from now," he revealed. Mr Lyew-Ayee also denied reports that JAMALCo was buying lands in Trelawny in preparation for bauxite mining.

Giving a background to the whole issue of bauxite mining vis-à-vis the Cockpit Country, Mr. Lyew-Ayee disclosed to JIS News that during the 1960s, ALCOA was granted two Special Mining Leases (SMLs) to carry out exploratory work for bauxite in the heart of the Cockpit Country.

"The SMLs at that time meant permission to continue to the mining phase after exploration and with a
25-year tenure. This is unlike the Special Exclusive Prospecting Licence (SEPL) now being proposed for JAMALCo in Trelawny, which is for a one to two-year period, with no commitment or permission to automatically proceed to mining," he told JIS News.

Mr. Lyew-Ayee further revealed that exploration permits were also granted to Kaiser Bauxite Company in the 1960s. During this period, Kaiser purchased large acreages of land and exploration work was done without any negative impact on the environment.

However, as a result of the 1974 negotiations with the bauxite companies, the Government in its rationalization programme for bauxite reserves, cancelled all mining leases, including the ones for the Cockpit Country and re-acquired all the bauxite lands. "This action was pivotal in protecting the Cockpit Country," he emphasized.

In the 1990s, the JBI, in conjunction with ALCAN, carried out exploration work in Trelawny as part of a feasibility study to establish an alumina refinery in the area. "It was at this time that a policy decision was taken that no bauxite mining or alumina processing would be done within the core area of the Cockpit Country, in keeping with the boundary of the proposed National Park. There has been no change to this policy," the geologist, who has himself done work on the Cockpit country, stressed.

Mr. Lyew-Ayee made the point that, "there are important cultural and historical aspects associated with the Cockpit Country and it is important that we protect them". He said it was important that all the stakeholders, including environmentalists, work together to ensure that the best interests of the country and the area are protected.

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