DISCOVERY Bauxite employees and representatives of The University of the West Indies’ Port Royal Marine Laboratory, based in Discovery By, led a clean-up operation of the Old Folly community beach, located in Discovery Bay, on Saturday.

The clean-up team totalled 70 persons and included bauxite staff, marine laboratory divers, teachers, students, and community residents.

The underwater and beachfront clean-up netted over 245 kilogrammes of plastic and glass bottles, Styrofoam boxes, plastic forks, and general garbage.

Discovery Bauxite’s Production Supervisor Milford Flynn, who was a part of the team, explained that the company participates in the clean-up exercises along the coastline each year, in partnership with agencies and parties interested in environmental preservation and general hygiene in public spaces.

“We are always pleased at the opportunity to work with the marine laboratory, service clubs, the police, and the Jamaica Defence Force, as well as the schools from our local operating areas,” said Flynn.

In another area of environmental protection Flynn gave credit to the bauxite mining communities in the Dry Harbour Mountains who have been working with the company on tree-planting activities over many years.

“In 2021 we looked at our regular tree-planting programme — which addresses reforestation and land rehabilitation as an integral part of our mining activities — and merged it with the prime minister’s National Tree-Planting Programme as a specific project which has so far planted 150,000 trees [and is] heading towards a 200,000 target.

“The local communities have been supportive of this project,” said Flynn as he recalled that on Labour Day last year (May 23, 2022) some 150 community residents partnered with 100 employees to plant a record 15,100 trees in a single day in the company’s mining areas around Lime Tree Gardens, Water Valley and Tobolski.