What are the implications of this? Massive health hazards, respiratory diseases, noise pollution, air pollution, contamination of drinking water, extraction of valuable minerals, infringements on livelihoods – where communities may experience radical shifts in their socio-economic conditions, etc. Jamaicans are presently contending with a recent approval of a Special Mining Lease (SML) 173 by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) for bauxite mining in the Cockpit Country. The Amazon Rainforest produces 20 per cent of the world’s oxygen, and in comparison, the Cockpit Country aquifers contain 40 per cent of Jamaica’s exploitable groundwater resources. The Cockpit is the site of premier Karst Geomorphology, Maroon wars, and most significantly, it is a sanctuary to endemic and endangered species such as plants and animals. The Cockpit spans five watersheds, it is the source of six major rivers and is a critical water resource for 25 per cent of Jamaica’s surface water run-off. The Forestry Department has designated the Cockpit Country as falling within five parishes: St James, St Elizabeth, Trelawny, Manchester and St Ann, while also bordering on the cusp of Hanover, Westmoreland and Clarendon.
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