Karlene O'Connor, Gleaner Writer

It seems environmentalists have won yet another battle in the struggle to protect the ecologically sensitive Cockpit Country.

Victor Cummings, Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, says there will be no mining in the area, and government will be moving to have the Cockpit Country declared a protected area. Cabinet is now reviewing the findings of the study of the Cockpit Country to identify its boundaries. The findings are to be disclosed in another two weeks.

Study commissioned

A study of the area's boundaries was commissioned last year after environmentalists pressured the Government to suspend the prospecting licences of alumina companies Alcoa and Clarendon Aluminium Production (CAP) to prevent attempts at mining in the 5,000 acre biodiverse Cockpit. Thearea is home to 106 endemic species of plants and also indigenous fauna such as the giant swallowtail butterfly.

The study which was conducted independently by a team from the University of the West Indies was done over a three-month period, at a cost of over $2 million.

"It was done with extensive consultation, and included all the stakeholders in the Cockpit Country area," Mr. Cummings said.

But chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust, Diana McCaulay, and spokesperson for the Cockpit Country Stakeholders Group (CCSG), said while residents living in the Cockpit were consulted, the CCSG was not.

She said despite repeated requests made by the group to be consulted, they were not able to meet with the consultants until a week ago. This meeting, she clarified, was initiated by her group.