We have no reason to second-guess Prime Minister Bruce Golding's assertion that it was the state of Derrick Smith's health that caused him to relieve the latter of the security portfolio. Indeed, given Jamaica's crime problem, responsibility for security is challenging and stressful and potentially debilitating to one's health.

So, Mr Smith has been reassigned to be minister of mining and telecommunications, which were, hitherto, the responsibilities of Clive Mullings, who now officially has charge of energy only. For the time being, however, he will continue to oversee the entire package until Mr Smith returns to work.

Renowned international expert

It is not clear what, if any, advice the prime minister took before deciding on this shuffle of his Cabinet. But, on the face of it, it is unlikely that he picked the brain of Dr Carlton Davis, the just retired Cabinet secretary, who is a renowned international expert on the global bauxite/alumina/ aluminium industry, in which Jamaica is a significant player. Jamaica has significant deposits of bauxite, which is both exported and refined to alumina at four plants here.

In that regard, we commend to Mr Golding's attention the article by Dr Davis in The Sunday Gleaner, the concluding part of which was published yesterday.

Dr Davis, who served as executive director and chairman of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, makes three essential observations in his article:

That globalisation is unleashing a spate of mergers and acquisitions that has led to instability of ownership in the industry, including facilities in Jamaica;

That the galloping price of oil is affecting the cost of production in energy-deficient countries like Jamaica, which is increasing the pressure for us to find cheaper and, hopefully, cleaner alternatives if the Jamaican bauxite/alumina sector is to remain competitive; and

That "deterioration" in the grades of the reserves of bauxite being mined in Jamaica will raise challenges for the plants and will require research and, by implication, significant investment if the island is to have a role in the global industry beyond being a bit player.

These represent far more than academic concerns, but are of fundamental economic consequence. For the bauxite/alumina industry lags only behind remittances and tourism as one of the country's major foreign exchange earners. Last year it grossed US$1.3 billion, contributing US$100 million in levies and corporate income tax to the government's coffers and is projected to bring in close to US$120 million this year.

Best skilled

While the industry is a relatively small employer, hiring perhaps 4,000 people, they are among the best skilled and highest paid in the economy. The industry has served as an important route for a transference of skills and technology to the broader economy.

So, what's the point? As Dr Davis pointed out in his article, there are serious and complex issues to be tackled and significant decisions to be taken to protect the viability of this industry, whose collapse would be calamitous to the national economy.

This portfolio cannot be deemed a runner-up post, rest stop for our over-tired minister. It is a stressful post and will require concentrated effort. Hopefully, Mr Smith is up to the effort.