Jamaican Government has announced plans to merge Clarendon Alumina Partners (CAP) and the Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited. The joint company will be listed in Jamaica Stock Exchange. Jamaica Bauxite Mining owns 51 per cent of the old Kaiser operations. CAP has a 45 per cent stake in bauxite company Jamalco, where Noble Group has a 55% stake.
Minister of Transport and Mining Robert Montague said he would be seeking permission from his Cabinet colleagues to sell shares in the entity to the Jamaican people, so that the local community can have an ownership in the company.
“This is an offer that the little man, the civil servant, the farmer, the workers, all Jamaicans, both here and abroad, will finally, after over 60 years get a chance of owning a part of the industry,” said Montague during the Sectoral Debate in Parliament.
He confirmed his parliamentary colleagues that internal discussions have started in this regard. The government will seek assistance from the Attorney General’s office and the Development Bank of Jamaica in order to prepare the company for listing on the stock exchange.
The minister said that till now the government had to depend only on bauxite levy and royalty to offer the benefits of bauxite mining to Jamaicans. But the new listed company will be giving ordinary Jamaicans a chance to own the asset and get direct profit share.
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