Gov't looks to limestone as bauxite falters

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Gov't looks to limestone as bauxite falters

BY RHOMA TOMLINSON, Observer writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, May 23, 2009
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Against the backdrop
of Jamaica's declining bauxite/alumina sector, state minister for industry, investment and commerce, Michael Stern, says his Government is moving to expand the limestone mining industry.
STERN. limestone less hazardous
Stern was speaking recently at the opening of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation's (JBDC) ninth business information centre,
a collaboration with the Northern Caribbean University.
Responding to news that the Alpart, Kirkvine, and Ewarton plants, all owned by Russian company UC Rusal, would not reopen if local production energy costs were not reduced, Stern said his Government had done enough research to feel confident that a limestone industry could plug the bauxite fallout. He said Rinca, which is among the United States' biggest cement and limestone companies, has just started mining limestone in Clarendon following a $300-million agreement signed with the Government last year.
"We don't realise we have a large deposit of limestone, we have an almost endless supply. The options for limestone are very easy because we have the infrastructure, we have the railways, some of the people losing work, they have the know-how. Even if we are to get back bauxite, it wouldn't be the same bauxite industry, so we shouldn't look back," he said.
Noting that products such as toothpaste, whitening, paper products, building and paint products could be made out of limestone, the state minister said Jamaica must start building its processing capacity if it is to retain its key industries. He said during a recent trip to a conference in Mauritius, he realised that Jamaica was known as a country of "samples". "They consider us a country of samples, we have the best samples but can never provide the quantity."
Decrying the inadequacy of Jamaica's agricultural production, the state minister said persons were fighting with his ministry for the right to import products such as ginger and pepper which are grown locally, because enough was not being produced. "We're literally out of ackee in Jamaica, our parents just kept planting trees, we have stopped planting trees, we just reap and reap and reap," he said.
Commenting on the environmental challenges of mining bauxite, Stern told the Observer that limestone was less hazardous to the environment, as "we wouldn't need the ponds, for example. Of course, we can't get away from the dust."

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J'cans urged to buy more local goods to boost economy

BY ELLIOT BLAKE, Observer writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Saturday, May 23, 2009
MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Winston Lawson, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce (MCoC), says that the stability of Jamaica's currency lies in the hands of the consumer whom he says must purchase more local goods and services to help boost the economy.
Lawson said a pro-local goods and services mentality would also encourage investment in local businesses and foster job creation.
"Well do we really need to import onions and tomatoes? According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, the country consumes 60 per cent of imported food - both processed and fresh produce," Lawson said.
"The demand we place on foreign goods and services must be channelled locally and this will lighten the burden on the Jamaican dollar," he added.
Lawson's comments came during his address to the seventh annual renewal of the Today's Money Limited - Money Expo 2009 held at the Golf View Hotel recently. The purpose of the day long event, entitled 'One, One Cocoa. Managing Savings and Investments in a Challenging Economy', was to identify viable business opportunities and introduce the public to profitable methods of saving money.
Pointing to the fallout in the bauxite/alumina industry which for decades has dominated Manchester's economy, Lawson said tourism, health care and merchandising were possible "areas of exploitation" for entrepreneurs in this south-central parish.
"Bauxite may or may not return but Manchester has been fortunate enough to see a great deal of diversification across industries that keep our economy alive," Lawson said. "The shutdown (of bauxite/alumina production companies) presents an opportunity for these industries and these potentially strong contributors to step up to the plate," the MCoC president, who is also a leading Mandeville banker, added.
Michael Stern, member of Parliament for North West Clarendon and minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, agreed that diversification should be the way forward. He said the government is "committed to facilitating new business initiatives" in these "challenging times".
He added that "at present the Government's lending programmes to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector total approximately $2.5 billion (per annum) and this is because small businesses are the bedrock of our country and their success mirrors the success of our country".