The optimism in St Elizabeth and Manchester following news of the sale of the mothballed Alpart alumina refinery to Chinese metals corporation Jiquan Iron & Steel Company Limited (JISCO) is understandable. Simply put, it is being read to mean jobs, jobs, jobs.

For those who have not been paying due attention, Russian owners of Alpart, UC Rusal, are selling the plant for US$299 million.

It’s reasonable to assume that the new Chinese owners will be moving quickly to retool and reopen the 49-year-old plant, which has been mothballed since 2009. Readers will recall that Alpart — like its sister plants at Kirkvine in Manchester and Ewarton, St Catherine — were closed following the shocks from the global financial fallout inclusive of plummeting metal prices, twinned to soaring oil prices.

The word is that JISCO has plans to industrialise the area close to the plant. There is to be the long-talked-about independent energy plant, and there is even talk of an aluminium smelter and facilities for the manufacturing of industrial inputs.

We hear from former Mining Minister Mr Phillip Paulwell that JISCO plans to invest US$2 billion over the next five years.

Even if much of the talk comes to nothing, a reopened alumina plant will mean jobs for locals.

The ripple effect of an Alpart reopening across the wider economy can’t be overstated. It’s useful to recall that the collapse of Alpart and much of the remainder of the bauxite/alumina sector played a pivotal role in Jamaica approaching the International Monetary Fund for support in 2010.

All that said, the point must also be made that the bauxite/alumina industry does have its downsides. Environmental issues are always a concern. A problem for the industry in Jamaica, unlike many other bauxite/alumina-producing countries, is that production takes place close to communities.

Hence the ever-present tension regarding industrial emissions, dust nuisances and health-related complaints, including allergic reactions and worse.

Then there is the problem of mined-out land. Ask any farmer in mined-out areas and he/she will report that, even when mining companies comply fully with requirements, land once mined is never the same in terms of fertility.

Those are issues that must be explored as JISCO gets set to take charge at Alpart.

The Government must also be held to account.

The Capital Development Fund, which was set up in 1974 using bauxite levies, comes readily to mind. It is scandalous that given the reality of such a fund, thousands of people in south Manchester and south-east St Elizabeth are still without running water supplied by the National Water Commision.

It is beyond scandalous that 15 years after it was first launched, the Essex Valley Water Scheme — meant to supply people in bauxite-mining areas and connected communities in south-east St Elizabeth — is yet to be completed.

Instead of being used for development projects, such as the Essex Valley Scheme, the Capital Development Fund has been drained time and again for other purposes.

As the society gets set for a new era of bauxite/alumina production at Alpart, Jamaicans and their Government should take stock. They should ensure that the terrible mistakes of the past are not repeated. This time around, it must be that the people most affected by the stresses of bauxite mining and alumina refining benefit in sustainable ways other than access to jobs.