{"id":2573,"date":"2019-07-24T18:58:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T18:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2573"},"modified":"2019-07-24T18:58:43","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T18:58:43","slug":"residents-up-protests-against-cockpit-country-mining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2573","title":{"rendered":"Residents up protests against Cockpit Country mining"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shamir Brown<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents in and around the parish of Trelawny came together on Monday to increase their lobby against the proposed mining of sections of the Cockpit Country.The participants in the action are adamant that they are totally against the operations set for September and are calling on the government to rescind the go-ahead given to Noranda to mine the area deemed as Special Mining Lease173. They gathered in the southern Trelawny town of Albert Town, where persons sought to bring awareness to the challenges that they foresee will become associated with the planned mining exercise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Residents gathered to protest the proposed mining activities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since the plans were announced in May in Sawyers and Ulster\nSpring, Hugh Dixon of the Southern Trelawny Environment Agency, related that\nthe residents have been staunchly opposed to it. The residents are adamant that\nthe current borders that are being suggested are incorrect and are calling on\nthe authorities to review what they are doing because the Cockpit Country\nincorporates the lands that Noranda now wants to mine for bauxite deposits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, a number of persons came on buses, while others\ncame in cars and other forms of transportation to stand against the pending\nactions. There were representatives from surrounding communities and groups.\nThe Maroon community, the Rastafari community and other non-governmental\norganizations came with one message: that they were totally against the mining\naction and were calling on the government to stop it. Some came armed with\nplacards, while others came armed with words and messages that they shared from\na stage that they set up in the town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They believe the proposed action will have major effects on\nnot only the landscape, but on the livelihoods and the lives of people. A big\nworry for a number of persons is the potential impact that the mining will have\non the water production coming out of the area. According to information\ngleaned from reputable sources, the Cockpit Country provides over 40% of the\ndrinkable water and is a critical water resource for Western Jamaica. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President of the Lay Magistrates Association for the parish\nof Trelawny and business operator in Albert Town, Kenneth Grant, disclosed that\nhe has visited areas that bauxite mining has taken place and, based on what he\nhas seen, there is trouble ahead. \u201cWhen I go to St. Elizabeth and St. Ann and\nsee what bauxite mining has done and it seems like the place is carved out, I\u2019m\ntotally against the bauxite mining,\u201d he remarked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was further disclosed that the residents are adamant that\nthe protests will continue until they can get a proper resolution to the\nsituation. According to Mr. Dixon, the residents will not agree to the action\nand are calling on the government to examine the alternatives for that area.\nMr. Dixon explained that the unique flora and fauna found in the Cockpit\nCountry provide an opportunity to boost the nation\u2019s tourism product and\ntherefore, that should be examined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents in and around the parish of Trelawny came together on Monday to increase their lobby against the proposed mining of sections of the Cockpit Country.The participants in the action are adamant that they are totally against the operations set for September and are calling on the government to rescind the go-ahead given to Noranda to mine the area deemed as Special Mining Lease173. They gathered in the southern Trelawny town of Albert Town, where persons sought to bring awareness to the challenges that they foresee will become associated with the planned mining exercise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1412,1410,1411,182,314],"class_list":["post-2573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-albert-town","tag-cockpit-country","tag-mining","tag-protests","tag-trelawny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2576,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions\/2576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}