Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he has asked Mining Minister Robert Montague for a report of the controversial developments at Clarendon Alumina Partners (CAP), also known as Jamalco, and has directed that a contract at the centre of the dispute be placed on hold “until the Cabinet has had a chance to review the minister’s report”.

“Reports and allegations in the press regarding CAP are troubling. Instability in its governance is inimical to the national interest, given the significance of the Jamalco incorporation,” the prime minister said in a late evening statement yesterday.

The bauxite producer and alumina refinery is now in turmoil after Chairman Norman Reid resigned Wednesday in protest against a decision to extend consulting company CCA Capital Partners Limited’s contract.

Since it was first signed in May 2019 for US$10,000 per month the contract has been renewed four times with each renewal seeing an increase.

Yesterday, Nationwide News Network reported that the latest contract was valued at approximately US$24,000 per month.

Yesterday morning, CAP General Manager Shanice Nesbeth, as well as directors Michael Schloss and Kemoy Lindsay appeared on Cliff Hughes Online on Nationwide Radio and challenged Reid’s argument that the contract renewal was irregular.

According to Lindsay, the directors had lost confidence in Reid’s leadership.

Nationwide also reported that the chairman of the board’s sub-committee on finance, Michael Schloss, has said he was satisfied that the contract should be renewed. “However, he could not provide details on what tasks were outstanding,” Nationwide said.