THE POSITIONS of 15 employees at the Alpart Spur Tree and Mining Department were made redundant yesterday as a result of the collapse of the Joint Bauxite Mining Venture comprising bauxite companies Alpart, Jamalcoa and Windalco, which will officially end on February 1.
The National Workers Union (NWU) said it regarded the development as being at odds with the direction in which the local industry should be going in order to improve competitiveness.
NWU vice-president Norman DaCosta, said it was a step backwards in light of a planned expansion, which will require mining and transportation of substantially more bauxite ore.
IMPROVED RELIABILITY
In 2001, Jamalcoa, Alpart and Windalco, decided to amalgamate its mining operations in order to reduce cost and improve reliability in bauxite delivery to the alumina refineries.
The International Mining Company, Henry Walker Eltin (HWE), was retained to manage the mining operations.
But Mr. DaCosta said that, despite the fact that local bauxite mining was enhanced through a combination of training, introduction of state-of-the-art equipment and improved productivity, Jamalcoa abruptly pulled out of the Joint Mining Venture in 2004 and was soon followed by Alpart.
HWE was also experiencing financial difficulties at its Australian operations.
On Monday the company announced that Glencore had bought the Jamaican segment of its international operations.
