Bauxite mining magnate, Alpart, has agreed to meet with members of the Jamaica Caves Organisation (JCO), who have hit out against reports that the company had plans to mine for bauxite in lands close to a sinkhole in Cross Keys, Manchester.

The sinkhole, known as Smokey Hole, is Jamaica’s deepest known cave and acts as an important form of drainage for Cross Keys and surrounding communities when heavy rains fall.

But contrary to those claims, Alpart’s head of communication, Lance Neita, said the company had no plans to mine for ore in that section of South Manchester.

“We have no plans to mine there. It is not a consideration,” Neita said last week.

The news has been greeted with joy by the JCO who have been trying to raise public awareness on the importance of caves and sinkholes to the environment.

“The JCO is pleased to hear that Alpart has no immediate plans to mine in the vicinity of Smokey Hole Cave. The goodwill shown by this statement is very encouraging. It may be an important first step in the preservation of not only Smokey Hole but also many other important caves and sinkholes. We hope that a long-term commitment will come next,” Stefan Stewart, head of the JCO said.

The cavers had previously hit out at the company for dumping rocks, marl and bauxite waste in sinkholes located on mined-out land during land reclamation exercises in other sections of the parish. The JCO also pointed to residents of communities who dump their garbage into the sinkholes, eventually clogging them up.

A sinkhole is a natural depression in the surface topography caused by the removal of soil or bedrock by water. Sinkholes may vary in size from less than a metre to several hundred metres in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. They may be formed gradually or suddenly.

They are very important forms of drainage and supply water to underground aquifers and rivers.

Caves and sinkholes are inhabited by bats, of which there are 21 species in Jamaica. Bats consume large quantities of insects, including many that are harmful to crops and pests to humans.

Fruit-eating bats are the most important seed-dispersing mammals in the tropics.

Nectar-feeding bats, along with some fruit bats that visit flowers, pollinate thousands of trees and shrubs. Bats also pollinate banana, coffee, mango, guava, avocado, fig, and cashew.

The issue has now been taken up by the regulatory body governing the environmental practices of bauxite mining companies, The Jamaica Bauxite Institute after a meeting between miners and other regulatory agencies last month.

Stewart is glad for the involvement of the JBI.

“We’re glad that the issue has been taken up by JBI. Retaining the integrity of the Jamaican natural drainage system, and the purity of the aquifers, is in everyone’s best interest. We continue to believe that the main threat is a lack of knowledge, rather than malicious intent or sheer indifference,” Stewart said.