By Vanessa James
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – The new ministry of mining and geology will be tasked with transitioning Jamaica from being a primary producer of raw minerals, limestone and aggregates towards value-added production, says portfolio minister, Floyd Green, speaking to JIS News at the Tourism Agricultural Opportunities Forum held at the AC Hotel by Marriott, Kingston.
“We want to see our high-value chemical-grade limestone being made in Jamaica into things like toothpaste, into antacids, into other things,” minister Green said, noting that crafting an incentive regime to attract investors will be crucial.
The new ministry, which officially began operations on November 2, will place greater focus on securing value form Jamaica’s minerals as government repositions mining to drive economic growth and national development.
Minister Green said that having a dedicated ministry will significantly accelerate the pace of project implementation and sectoral reform, including expediting implementation of the National Minerals Policy 2017–2030 to optimise Jamaica’s returns from mining and quarrying. It will also provide the administrative setup needed to complete key economic transactions, including accelerating the sale of the government’s shares in Jamalco to remove the asset from State liabilities.
Minister Green, who retains responsibility for agriculture and fisheries said that a major focus will be the creation of modern fiscal regimes for non-traditional minerals, including gold, copper, and rare earth elements extracted from bauxite residue.
“Even though we’ve done work on rare earth over the years, we haven’t developed a fiscal regime around it. Now that the world is looking and so many people are coming and calling, we have to be proactive and be ahead of that. So, I think this new structure helps in that,” minister Green said.
Central to the operational shift is the addition of Darlene Morrison as permanent secretary, who previously served as financial secretary.
“I know the capacity has been strengthened by bringing in a permanent secretary who has a vast amount of experience, especially in terms of fiscal matters, fiscal management. A lot of what we have to deal with at mining now is a new fiscal regime,” he pointed out.
Minister Green highlighted that the separation of administrative duties also provides crucial support to the agriculture and fisheries sectors. He noted that, with a permanent secretary focusing exclusively on agriculture and fisheries, the ministry is better positioned to manage ongoing climate resilience initiatives after the sector suffered back-to-back major storms and is undergoing one of the most severe droughts.
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