Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Workers at the Jamalco plant in Clarendon guide Ghanian President John Kufour (third from left) through a tour of the facility on Tuesday. - CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE BOARD Alcoa of will on Friday decide on a proposed US$1.24 billion (J$63 billion) expansion of the Jamalco bauxite refinery at Halse Hall, Clarendon. Alcoa's management was speaking during a visit to the refinery on Tuesday by Ghanian President John Kufour. Mr. Kafour said he was convinced that Alcoa would be the right company to partner with in building a refinery in Ghana.
Seventy-seven million U.S. dollars towards expanding production has already been granted and the overall expansion, expected to be completed by 2008, will see production increase from 1.25 to 2.8 million tons per year. This follows from 2004's expansion from one million tons following a US$125 million investment.
Alcoa Chief Executive Officer Alain Belda would not indicate the likelihood of the proposal's success, but said, "This is a very good plant and at the moment it is the most productive of Alcoa's 11 plants worldwide. The
decision rests with the board."
The expansion will see Alcoa's stake in Jamalco's increasing to 77 per cent with the government-owned Clarendon Alumina Producers (CAP) retaining the remaining 23 per cent. Ownership is currently split 50:50 between the two partners.
MORE JOBS
The expansion, said Jamalco's President of Global Refining, John Sibly, will create 100 more jobs at the plant, a further 150 in construction and employ 3,500 during the peak of construction. It was, he said, "one of the best examples in the world where business and government form a win-win situation."
Mr. Kufour was visiting Jamalco, drawing to an end a period of negotiation between his administration and Alcoa to construct a refinery in Ghana. Ghana was visiting Alcoa's operations in Jamaica, as a comparable Third World country.
"In the past six months, many representatives of Alcoa have been visiting Ghana and we wanted to see something about Alcoa, so we were challenged to make a visit to Jamaica to complete our due diligence of Alcoa," said Mr. Kufour.
A deal between the Ghana and Alcoa would, he said, be signed in the next month or two. "I am convinced that Alcoa is the partner to have ... we wanted people with sound conscience and we have seen that here."
The day also marked the first trip of the 'Clarendon Express', a tourist train that runs from Whitney Estate to the Mocho Mountains. Mr. Sibly said it was part of Jamalco's "innovative support for both (tourism and industrial development), cementing Jamalco's position in community and in national strategy."
