Ja: A modest bauxite proposal

Mr Audley Shaw, the Opposition spokesman on finance, has proposed the establishment of a $500-million fund which would be used for human and infrastructure development in communities with bauxite deposits which have been mined out.

It is an idea which will perhaps receive some traction, although we believe it is a suggestion to which Mr Shaw needs to add some clarity, spelling out how he sees it working, and its funding.

The basis of Mr Shaw's suggestion, insofar as we understand it, is that bauxite is a finite resource. On the basis of existing and future investments to expand alumina plants, Jamaica's bauxite deposits will be depleted in another 50 to 60 years. At the end of the process, therefore, Jamaica should have something to show for the exploitation of a resource that is non-renewable.