Adamant. The JLP's Fernandez 'Bingy' Smith says he'll do everything in his power to save the Cockpit Country

COCKPIT COUNTRY - Fernandez 'Bingy' Smith, the hard-nosed vice-chairman of the Trelawny Parish Council's finance committee, has moved a motion to save the ecologically sensitive Cockpit Country from the backhoes of Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica and Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP).

The motion - seconded by Garth Wilkinson, the ruling People's National Party's (PNP's) councillor for the Falmouth Division, at the council's monthly meeting recently - calls for a resolution to refuse the issuing of licences for mining in the Cockpit Country which has been designated one of the 200 most important ecological sites in the world by the International Conservation Union (ICU).

"I am a victim of bauxite mining in the Mocho Mountains. My family was dispersed and relocated from Clarendon. We are not going to retreat, because it is a no-no," said Smith, also the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP's) councillor for the Sherwood Division. "I will be at the forefront of the struggle, so it could be Paul Bogle all over again... I am prepared to sensitise the people about the imminent disaster in store for the environment if mining is allowed."

Wilkinson, one of two PNP councillors on the nine-member Council, agreed.

"From the Council's point of view, we are trying to protect the Cockpit Country," he said.

Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica and Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP) obtained an exclusive prospecting licence in May 2004, to search for bauxite deposits in the Cockpit Country, which is located in Trelawny and St Ann.

Trelawny communities included in the search are Wakefield, Bunkers Hill, Sherwood Content, Duanvale, Kinloss, Jackson Town, Stewart Town, Level Bottom, Rest and Be Thankful and Bryan Castle. Also included are Scarborough Mountain, Gordon's Run, Mosquito Cove, Fontabelle, Pantrepant, Albert Town, Ulster Spring, Dromilly and Deeside.

Smith, a trained agriculturist, bemoaned the anticipated catastrophic effect that mining would have on the farming belt of South Trelawny which relies heavily on yam production.

"The long-term economic benefits of having these areas (remain) unmined would better suit the country. Most of the plants grown in these areas are rich in medicinal values," he noted.

Hugh Dixon, executive director of the South Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA) and co-ordinator for the renowned Trelawny Yam Festival, also condemned the move to mine in the Cockpit Country.

"The area is a sensitive ecological area that, if mined, cannot be restored. To have something that has international recognition and destroy it is ridiculous," he said.

Dixon noted further that the Cockpit Country supplies 33 per cent of Jamaica's fresh water, which, if disturbed through mining, would result in the disruption of water flow to major rivers such as Martha Brae, Great River and the YS River.

"The Cockpit Country is made of hillocks and bottom lands and the areas where you will find bauxite is the bottom lands, but these areas are where you will be finding agricultural production and residential locations. So if you mine it you would be disrupting the commercial, productive and residential lives of these communities," he said.

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