Dust emissions and the environment

I APPRECIATE THAT some people in the community are concerned with the dust emissions that arise from a bauxite processing facility such as ours, and I respect their right to comment on the situation as they see it," said Mr. Dolinschek. "We at KJBC are also concerned about the dust, and have made several improvements to reduce its impact on people's lives. Still, we realise that more needs to be done to better control the episodic dust releases that occur from time to time, which are usually related to operating practices. We have allocated additional funds to effect repairs and improvements to the processing plant to lower the overall dust emissions on an ongoing basis. I am preparing a more detailed statement, which sets out what we have done to date and the effect of these actions over the last few years, and what we plan to do in future."

Mr. Dolinschek stressed that KJBC is sympathetic to the needs of the community. "We have set up specific forums where the local community can meet with us to discuss issues of concern," he said. "Community Council meetings have been held at the mine location since 1995, and at Port Rhoades we started a year later. The meetings at Port Rhoades have split into two separate meetings to more adequately address the concerns of different communities. These meetings are attended by community representatives and are open to any observer from the communities. The Council meetings have over the years resulted in many good suggestions, which have been acted on by the company. We are currently preparing a list of actions that have in some way resulted from interaction with our local communities."

"While we provide employment and make our contribution to Jamaica's economy, we will do everything in our power to minimise the environmental impact," Mr. Dolinschek stated.

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