ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica—The phased reopening of the Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) Alpart facility in Nain, St Elizabeth, will commence in the last quarter of 2025.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, in making the disclosure, said the Government has been working with the company towards the resumption of operations.

“In fact, they would have undertaken an exercise a couple of months ago, where they brought in a number of residents, workers, to do an asset verification exercise,” he noted.

“They have completed that now and they’ve earmarked the last quarter of this year to start the phased reopening,” he informed, while addressing the relaunch of operations at the Myersville animal pound by the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation last Friday.

The JISCO Alpart facility was closed in 2019 to make way for a modernisation and expansion exercise.

The Minister expressed optimism that the reopening of the plant will boost the local economy, providing renewed opportunities for employment and community development.

“We know in St Elizabeth that JISCO Alpart has been a critical part of our economic survival and once we see the reopening, it will bring back life, not just to the Myersville division, but to St Elizabeth in general and parts of Manchester,” he pointed out.

Minister Green, in the meantime, welcomed the reopening of the animal pound as a critical step in protecting drivers, farmers, and the general public from the dangers posed by stray animals on the roads.

He advised the municipal corporation that government lands are available for the establishment of other pounds in the parish.

“I want to commit to the municipal corporation that if you need additional lands, let us know. We do have some old bauxite lands that used to be under Reynolds in various parts of the parish,” he said.

—JIS