Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Southern, Peter Bunting has accused bauxite mining companies of being both secretive and standoffish in their relationship with residents of the communities where mining activities take place.

The Opposition MP said the approach extends to elected representatives like himself.

It is this approach, according to Bunting, that has seen “the officials of Jamalco go into communities that they’re about to start mining, or that are agitating for some relief, when they go in, they go in with a small army of private security and JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) personnel”.

“And the communities find that show of force intimidating and it immediately sets up a power imbalance,” he added.

Bunting made the charge in the House of Representatives on Tuesday after Mining Minister Floyd Green had provided detailed responses to Bunting’s questions about the mining sector.

Bunting said there is also a knowledge imbalance with community members, including small farmers, not having access to relevant information about the activities of the mining companies. He said MPs also had difficulty getting basic information from the companies including their water trucking schedule.

Bunting said communities expect companies like Jamalco to maintain their social licence to operate through transparency, through early consultation when they go to mine new areas, through fair compensation, and through credible and timely rehabilitation of mined out lands.

He also repeated that some sections of his constituency that should have already been reclaimed by the mining companies “look post-apocalyptic”.

“The areas are mined out; they look like a bomb fell on them. They’ve not been rehabilitated although no mining has taken place for over a decade in some cases,” said Bunting.

He told the House that the Winston Jones High School appeared to be marooned as hectares of land all around it have been mined out and the school is left perched on an un-mined spot, with just the road to access the site.

He shared that since he has started his agitation, the responsible company has started the reclamation process.