Norris McDonald | Bauxite, health, the Cockpit Country and the Maroons’ justice fight

“The slavery of man

Is the greatest sorrow

With the poor of the earth

I want to cast my faith!”

[ From ‘Singing for Change,

Quantanamera’]

Jamaica’s Cockpit Country is now designated as a protected area by the Government after a long battle with the Maroons who have lived there from roughly 1738.

This is a good thing. There was always much more at stake than the Maroons’ rights to the land.

The Government’s decision to set aside 6,000 acres of land was driven by the fact that the Cockpit Country has Jamaica’ last known proven reserves of bauxite. And there was a generally lust search for and exploit other potential mineral wealth.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ decision in 2022, to establish an expanded “protected area in the Cockpit Country”, has not fully clarified whether this includes the portion that had been appropriated for mining.

While bauxite and alumina production have contributed somewhat to Jamaica’s economic development, it is highly questionable the extent to which Jamaica truly benefited from all this.

We now know, too, that while the country suffered the negative consequences of bauxite mining for the first 20 years, beginning in the mid-1950s, Jamaica supplied bauxite to America “for stockpiling purposes under the barter program”.

Files now declassified from President John F Kennedy Library quite astonishingly reveal the extent of the huge loss of income.

This barter arrangement was a giveaway, since Jamaica was only getting a peppercorn, penny ha’penny (one cent) per ton.

Therefore, while the country served America’s vital national interest, one end result to continued bauxite mining was the unmitigated disaster of rising red mud lakes and other forms of environment destruction.

HUMAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH-RISK NEXUS

I believe it is crucial to understand the human and environmental health-risk nexus.

While the issue on the public’s mind may appear to be a debate over the Maroons’ rights to their historical land in the Cockpit Country, what if there were other concerns that were being overlooked?

There is the important matter of overall health and safety that certainly needs public awareness.

For instance, have we been paying attention to the dramatic, alarming rise in chronic kidney disease over the years?

Over 300,000 Jamaicans are now suffering from chronic kidney disease, which is roughly 12 per cent of the population, a recent report from the Jamaica Kidney Kids Foundation has said.

The global average mean incidence of chronic kidney disease is about 9.4 per cent.

Bauxite mining and alumina production have been found to have both a direct and indirect link to the alarming rise in chronic kidney disease worldwide.

This is quite worrying and must be a cause for concern that demands further investigation.

How is it possible that Jamaica can have a higher incidence of chronic kidney disease that is greater than the world average and alarm bells are not going off?

What are the linkages, if any, to bauxite mining and the alarming rise in chronic kidney disease?

Chronic kidney disease occurs when humans have reduced ability to process and eliminate toxic substances that enter our bodies, either through the skin, the lungs, water or food supply.

An increase in toxic chemicals from mineral elements, such as bauxite and alumina, that seep underground and get into the water of food supply, can cause severe kidney damage. This is the findings of a February 2023 major industrial, environmental and human report published by the US National Library of Medicine.

An August 2024 study also reported that aluminium toxicity has been linked to several instances of chronic kidney disease.

The link between bauxite and alumina production and the rise in cancers, brain disease and respiratory illnesses has long been underreported. These are additional downsides of bauxite mining and alumina production.

The increased risk to human health also increases the financial burden on families. There is also a general rise in national healthcare costs. And this most certainly can also have a negative impact on the already cash-strapped national budget.

My friends, there is definitely a need for serious, deeper investigations and health studies on rural poor people who live near bauxite mining areas.

What do you think?

Test of water supply must be done, too, on a regular basis to make sure that people are not suffering from direct or indirect exposure to toxic chemicals from mineral elements such as bauxite and alumina.

This problem of environmental degradation and the impact on human health and safety is an acute crisis in underdevelopment societies, such as Jamaica, that are in transition to capitalism.

MAROONS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

My dear friends, there is so much at stake in making sure that our people enjoy good clean air, with food and water supply that is not a potential killer.

Poor black people have a right to good health and to live in a safe environment.

The Maroons in the Cockpit Country are not just fighting for the affirmation of their rights. They are fighting for land, industrial, environmental and human health, for political recognition of rights, justice, shared wealth and cooperative investment in rural development.

I was, therefore, very glad to see the Maroons, led by Chief Richard Currie, having a welcomed pride of place at the PNP’s 86th Annual Conference.

In my view, this was, for the first time at last, national recognition being given to the Maroons by a major Jamaican political party.

I believe giving national recognition to the Maroons and earning their political endorsement shows commendable, admirable leadership skills of PNP leader, Mark Golding.

Mr Golding faces a challenge to unite all Jamaicans around a progressive agenda in which those who have been left behind by the ills of a ravaging, high cost, low money value capitalism, can have their lives improved.

The political legitimacy, and moral and revolutionary democratic foundation of Black Jamaicans’ emancipation fight started with the anti-slavery struggle of Coromantee and other Maroons.

The Maroons must be represented in the constitutional reform process to help rectify the shortcomings of the 1962 Constitution that did not enshrine and protect their historic, hard-fought rights.

That is just ‘the bitta truth!’

Norris McDonald is an economic journalist, political analyst, and respiratory therapist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and miaminorris@yahoo.com.