| KINGSTON, May 12 (JIS): |
 Research
on mined-out bauxite lands by the Lands Division of the Jamaica Bauxite
Institute (JBI), indicates that they are capable of production levels
equal to other properties, when selected crops and the appropriate
management practices and levels of inputs are employed. This was pointed out yesterday (May 11) by Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, when he opened the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives. “Putting mined-out lands to productive and profitable use is critical, especially considering the growing demand for land for residential, agricultural and public uses,” he said, noting that this has been the major focus of efforts by both the bauxite companies and the JBI, and has been largely successful. Dr. Robertson explained that a mining plan confined the actual mining of bauxite to a narrow area served by access roads within any mining lease. This meant that at any point in time, there were thousands of hectares of land within a given lease that were either being held for future mining or which had been mined and were in various stages of restoration and use. The area covered by the island’s five active special mining leases totals approximately 103,195.19 hectares and up to December last year, the bauxite mining companies mined a total pit area of some 5,369.56 hectares. Most mined out areas are in St. Ann and Manchester. Of
this, Dr. Robertson informed, the total pit area which had been
restored and certified was approximately 3,840 hectares or 72 per
cent. He emphasized that government was promoting efficient and
profitable use of land, through maximum utilization of bauxite land,
not just in the pre-mining stage but also post mining. Alpart
has carried out similar developments in Central and South Manchester
with major housing developments having commenced on mined-out lands
at Moreland. Similar plans were in place for the use of Perth, just
outside Mandeville, Dr. Robertson pointed out. |
