Reopening of JISCO Alpart Remains a Priority of Government

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, says the reopening of the JISCO Alpart in Nain, St. Elizabeth, remains a priority of the Government.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday (April 24), Mr. Green noted that the plant is the country’s only high-temperature aluminium refinery, uniquely capable of processing lower-grade bauxite found in some areas of Jamaica.

He informed that the Ministry met with a high-level team from the Gansu province and from JISCO, who visited the island last week as a part of their feasibility study and plans for the reopening of Alpart.

“We had a very open, frank meeting about the possibilities. Clearly, they’re going through our process, looking at the costs and the feasibility of it, but we did come away from that meeting feeling very hopeful,” the Minister said.

“There are two more visits scheduled for the end of this month and for June, and the team from JISCO has indicated that the last quarter of this year, they will submit to us their plan for reopening, and as such, we look forward [to that]. Clearly, we would have pledged the support of the Government towards reopening JISCO Alpart,” he added.

Additionally, the Minister said he met with a team from Jamal last week, including executives from Century.

Mr. Green noted that Jamalco is going through some management changes, which are aimed at prioritising increasing production numbers.

“We discussed issues regarding land reclamation, land titling, and that is a priority of this Government – to treat with some of the issues that have really not gotten the sort of attention it needed over the years. We got a clear commitment from the new manager of Jamalco, also from Century, that they will prioritise land reclamation [and] land titling,” Mr. Green said.

State Minister in the Ministry, Hon. Franklyn Witter, has been tasked with paying keen attention to those areas.

“We do expect to see an uptick in the pace of land titling during this year,” the Minister said.