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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Cockpit Country worry</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Gov't says no mining will be allowed there, but residents insist the opposite is happening</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter
Sunday, November 19, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>Although the Government has made it clear that it will not sanction mineral exploration in the Cockpit Country, residents of a number of communities in that section of Trelawny have been relocated, reportedly by miners who have bought land and have already started digging, according to some residents.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=200 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>A section of the Cockpit Country. </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Empty homes and businesses were evident in the district of Sawyers in Trelawny when the Sunday Observer visited two weeks ago.
"Them buy off some people land and move them go different place," a man who gave his name only as 'Workie', told the Sunday Observer. "Most of the land belong to the bauxite company".
The Sunday Observer was unable to determine which bauxite company the residents were referring to, and repeated attempts last week to speak to representatives of Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica and Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP) were unsuccessful.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Both Alcoa and CAP received a special exclusive prospecting licence in May 2004 allowing them to search for bauxite deposits in Trelawny and St Ann. The search area encompassed "Wakefield, Bunkers Hill, Sherwood Content, Duanvale, Kinloss, Jackson Town, Stewart Town, Bryan Castle, Scarborough Mountain, Gordon's Run, Mosquito Cove, Fontabelle, Pantrepant, Albert Town, Ulster Spring, Dromilly, Deeside and others", the licence said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Last Thursday, at a 'Save the Cockpit Country' presentation at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, environmentalists said that applications for a renewal of the licence, which expired in May this year, are now at the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
The Sunday Observer, however, was unable to confirm this.
Meantime, Cockpit Country residents insisted that miners have already started prospecting for bauxite in the area.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Them dig a big hole inna the bush," one man said. His words were met with nods of agreement from other residents of Sawyers who had gathered around. The rugged terrain prevented this reporter from visiting the area the man spoke about.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Elaine Ellington, a shopkeeper in Quick Step, St Elizabeth with her granddaughter. Ellington says the Cockpit Country should not be disturbed. (Photos: Karl McLarty) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>At last Thursday's presentation, British scientist Mike Schwartz, who has lived and studied in the Cockpit Country for over a decade, warned the Government against granting Alcoa and CAP exclusive licenses to prospect for bauxite in the Cockpit Country.
Under Jamaican law, prospecting does not require an environmental permit.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Mining is done in three phases. First, there is the prospecting stage where prospectors use heavy equipment to open roads through sections of a forest before drilling to test the levels of bauxite in the soil.<P class=StoryText align=justify>If the results are favourable, then the miners would develop a more extensive road network
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Gov't says no mining will be allowed there, but residents insist the opposite is happening</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter
Sunday, November 19, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>Although the Government has made it clear that it will not sanction mineral exploration in the Cockpit Country, residents of a number of communities in that section of Trelawny have been relocated, reportedly by miners who have bought land and have already started digging, according to some residents.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=200 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>A section of the Cockpit Country. </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Empty homes and businesses were evident in the district of Sawyers in Trelawny when the Sunday Observer visited two weeks ago. "Them buy off some people land and move them go different place," a man who gave his name only as 'Workie', told the Sunday Observer. "Most of the land belong to the bauxite company".
The Sunday Observer was unable to determine which bauxite company the residents were referring to, and repeated attempts last week to speak to representatives of Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica and Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP) were unsuccessful.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Both Alcoa and CAP received a special exclusive prospecting licence in May 2004 allowing them to search for bauxite deposits in Trelawny and St Ann. The search area encompassed "Wakefield, Bunkers Hill, Sherwood Content, Duanvale, Kinloss, Jackson Town, Stewart Town, Bryan Castle, Scarborough Mountain, Gordon's Run, Mosquito Cove, Fontabelle, Pantrepant, Albert Town, Ulster Spring, Dromilly, Deeside and others", the licence said.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Last Thursday, at a 'Save the Cockpit Country' presentation at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, environmentalists said that applications for a renewal of the licence, which expired in May this year, are now at the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
The Sunday Observer, however, was unable to confirm this.
Meantime, Cockpit Country residents insisted that miners have already started prospecting for bauxite in the area.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"Them dig a big hole inna the bush," one man said. His words were met with nods of agreement from other residents of Sawyers who had gathered around. The rugged terrain prevented this reporter from visiting the area the man spoke about.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=330 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Elaine Ellington, a shopkeeper in Quick Step, St Elizabeth with her granddaughter. Ellington says the Cockpit Country should not be disturbed. (Photos: Karl McLarty) </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>At last Thursday's presentation, British scientist Mike Schwartz, who has lived and studied in the Cockpit Country for over a decade, warned the Government against granting Alcoa and CAP exclusive licenses to prospect for bauxite in the Cockpit Country.Under Jamaican law, prospecting does not require an environmental permit.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Mining is done in three phases. First, there is the prospecting stage where prospectors use heavy equipment to open roads through sections of a forest before drilling to test the levels of bauxite in the soil.<P class=StoryText align=justify>If the results are favourable, then the miners would develop a more extensive road network
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