
Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica, announced a ban on mining activities in the Cockpit Country Protected Area, Jamaica. Andrew Holness made the statement in parliament on Tuesday, November 21. Holness said, “In this regard, the Mining Act and any existing mining licences will be amended to close these areas to mining.”

Holness explained, “The area is too valuable in terms of its ecological and hydrological importance and uniqueness to allow mining which may result in permanent and irreversible harm and deprive future generations of the benefit of this national asset.”
“While we will forgo the extraction of millions of tonnes of high grade bauxite and limestone with potential earnings of billions of United States dollars; we cannot put a price tag on the loss to our water resources and biodiversity.”
The decision was in response to a “Save the Cockpit Country” petition launched in August by the Jamaica Environmental Trust.
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