Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

EXECUTIVE Director of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), Paris Lyew Ayee, says the local bauxite sector has not been given enough credit for its contribution to Jamaica's development.

Speaking during last Friday's inaugural awards ceremony at the Terra Nova hotel for the JBI's school's essay competition, Mr. Lyew Ayee blamed the perceived lack of respect on ignorance.

"Perhaps we are taken for granted, why some people don't appreciate the benefits the industry has brought to Jamaica, Jamaicans here and in the diaspora," he said. "We might not be the biggest employer in the industrial sector, but in terms of education, the bauxite/alumina plays a significant role across the country."

Mr. Lyew Ayee said the bauxite/alumina industry earned US$1.5 billion in 2006, making it the third highest earner of foreign exchange in Jamaica behind remittances and tourism.

Positives overshadowed

He said positives of the sector are usually overshadowed by complaints, usually from groups claiming that dust from plants in Clarendon and Manchester, affect the environment and nearby homes.

According to Mr. Lyew Ayee, these negatives influenced administrators at the JBI to launch the essay contest which attracted participants from nine secondary schools. He called for more tours by schools to bauxite companies where students can get an accurate reading of the sector.

For the essay competition, each student was required to write about the bauxite industry's importance to Jamaica. Jeanelle Waite, a 15-year-old fourth former at Campion College in St. Andrew, won the contest.

Finishing second was 16-year-old Prince Carter, another fourth form student at Campion.

Sixteen-year-old Michael Berry, a fourth former at Guy's Hill High School in St. Mary, was third. A panel of three judges reviewed the essays.