Michael Stewart, Member of Parliament for Manchester South - file photo
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Michael Stewart
Member of Parliament for Manchester South, Michael Stewart, is calling for greater attention to be paid to bauxite mining communities which he says are suffering because of the activity.
Speaking in the constituency debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Mr. Stewart said the government needs to explain the current profit-sharing scheme in the bauxite industry.
He said bauxite communities, including those in his constituency, are not benefiting.
"The citizens of South Manchester are worse off because of bauxite mining. The flora and fauna have been destroyed, their fruit trees are no more, the coffee and pimento trees are no more, the citrus trees are gone, the income from these crops are no more. The constituency once produced the best sweet potato in the world. This is now becoming an endangered specie as the lands have been mined out," he bemoaned.
The government last year moved away from the bauxite levy to the profit sharing arrangement.
Mr. Stewart wants the Jamaica Bauxite Institute to establish an office in Manchester to more closely monitor activities in bauxite mining areas.
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