Dear Editor,

I write on behalf of the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC) to express our displeasure at what seems to be a game of ‘stop and go’ between National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Jamaica’s environmental watchdog, and Bengal Development Limited, who was served with a 72-condition environmental permit for mining in Dry Harbour Mountains in late 2020.

Bengal’s permit was amended in December 2020 to include the requirement for the permittee to pay a $40-million performance bond within 30 days from December 17, 2020 on which the new 76-condition permit was issued ( The Gleaner, January 13, 2021).

Bengal Development seemed to have missed the deadline — reasons unknown — for paying the bond and was granted an extension to March 21, 2021 by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), ( The Gleaner, January 24, 2020).

The delinquency of Bengal to pay the bond was the subject of a recent Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) meeting in which NEPA, via its CEO, claimed to not recall why Bengal sought they extension, nor why they, NEPA, granted it. This entire process is bordering on being a fiasco, and it shows very scant regard for the Jamaican people and citizens of Puerto Bueno who have been calling for transparency in the environmental permitting process.

The JCCYC sent an open letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness on November 19, 2020 ( 1drv.ms/b/s!Aq54QhnyjT0WgZoImXki7fg72bSbsA?e=AOIFaL) requesting clarity and called for decisive actions meant to restore our faith in his leadership and stewardship of the environment. This letter has, to this day, gone unacknowledged. We only heard of an extension being granted without what appears to be good enough reasons for our regulators to remember.

It appears that the Government is jumping through hoops to get the operations going for Bengal in the Dry Harbour Mountains, and the citizens of Jamaica deserve to know why.

Dry Harbour Mountains remains an ecologically sensitive area that is also important for protection, water resources, and is home to many who feel a strong connection to their environment. We cannot afford to be so whimsical when it comes to the protection of our environment amidst a global climate crisis.

We call on the people of Jamaica to stand with us in demanding answers from our Government on the decision-making processes that pertains to this and other like activities for which there has been public disapproval.

And, we call on our decision-makers to use this as a telltale of what is likely to come once Bengal begins operations. We cannot grant extensions on people’s health and well-being, so if Bengal is going to renege on their commitment it is best we allow them to do so at this stage, rather than after the damage is already done.

Mario Christie

Associate director

Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council

christiemario@gmail.com