Noranda Bauxite Company will continue to remain a pillar of the Jamaican economy despite all the criticisms over environmental issues alleged with it, said the firm’s chief executive officer.
Mark Hansen, Concord CEO, said Noranda Bauxite spent US$85 million on operational items, an ideal time for the company to build on such a foundation, even hinting that with partnership and cooperation from all stakeholders far more positive were in store.
Hansen also said that he remained optimistic that the operations of Noranda Bauxite would be a win-win for all. Noranda is a joint-venture held by the Jamaica Government through Jamaica Bauxite Mining Ltd (51 per cent) and Concord Resources (49 per).
Hansen said, “The mining industry has brought several thousands of well-paying jobs to Jamaica. Even our company alone in the last five years has been involved in constructing a community skills training centre in two different areas; donated buildings and land to communities; sponsored many school and community activities; and even when I used to chair Jamalco [Clarendon Alumina Production Ltd] there were many community and sports initiatives, education initiatives, funding for certain buildings in communities that we undertook, in addition to being a significant contributor to the local community.”
He added, “Our business alone, we spent US$85 million a year into direct community impact in Jamaica across contractors, employees, salaries and benefits, service providers, we engage with community relations… this is a significant amount of money. So the benefits of an important industry shouldn't be overlooked.”
One of the prime concerns of bauxite mining is that the mined land remains idle, but for Hansen, there is much hope for the land.
“One of the initiatives we are looking at is farming,” he said. “Here, mined-out areas can be effectively reclaimed and used for agriculture purposes, green house initiatives…this is a direct request of the Government to look more at things like those and we are very open to supporting that.”
“There are a number of productive uses for that land… different industries can spring up from that in St Ann. We have to do more of that. Reclamation is a very important piece of the bauxite industry and there are times when it needs to be done better and with more intention, but it is also our commitment to look at those areas and be on top of that as we can be and be open-minded about the different uses of those lands,” Hansen said.
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