KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Stakeholders in the mining industry have been told that they should begin to prepare for a future beyond the bauxite industry
“We know that bauxite is a diminishing asset, with mining in Jamaica having just another 30 to 40 years to go. We must now look at life after bauxite, and we must now turn to a product like limestone, which occupies 70 percent of Jamaica’s land space,” said the State Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Franklin Witter.
Witter, addressing a meeting of the Bauxite Subcommittee of the Manchester Parish Development Committee (MPDC) over the last weekend, said there is an opportunity to leverage the link between farming and mining to address some of the challenges affecting the agriculture sector, including access to land and water.
He noted, for example, that stakeholders can work together to provide mined-out spaces for water harvesting to support agriculture.
Witter said that the reclamation of mined-out lands had been a sore point over the years and “we have to ensure that we look at the rules, regulations, and conditions, so that companies abide by them, and how these lands can aid in agriculture.”
MPDC chairman Anthony Freckleton highlighted the need to urgently address the matter of outstanding titles for residents who had sold lands to bauxite companies from as far back as 2002.
He also cited the long-standing issue of the mud lake at Kendal, which is a dust nuisance during dry periods and a potential groundwater contamination source when there is too much rain, and the informal settlement north of the mud lake.
Principal Director Mining/Minerals Policy and Development, Dr. Oral Rainford, in his response, said the Ministry is working to speed up the pace of distribution of land titles.
“If, on average, we are producing 350 to 400 titles per year over the last 15 years, we have another ten years before the process is complete. This cannot continue, and we hope to improve by the next budget cycle.
“It’s not that nothing has been happening, but we have been moving too slowly,” he said, lamenting that there are persons who have been waiting as many as 20 years for their title.
Dr. Rainford said that one reason for the delays is that some people die intestate but noted that the Division is working through these issues in collaboration with the National Land Agency (NLA), Commissioner of Lands, the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), and the director in the Ministry with responsibility for titles.
He said that the informal settlement is also being addressed along with the closing out of the Alcan Kirkvine plant.
“We went to all the facilities, including the plant, red mud lake, and wells, because we, too, have been looking at life after bauxite and how we can utilize some of the assets in place. We are moving to put in place the mechanism for t
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