A new multimillion-dollar commercial and industrial park project has been set in motion as Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited (JBM) the new development gets underway in the St Ann parish in the country.

Based in Lydford, the site was chosen, by Minister of Transport and Mining Audley Shaw, and State Minister JC Hutchinson, with operations there set to take place very soon.

The minister said that the proposed commercial and industrial parks will feature state-of-the art facilities designed to accommodate business process outsourcing, manufacturing, retail shops, and small and large warehouses.

“I'm very pleased about this development,” Shaw said, “because it will create more jobs for the people in St Ann and adjoining areas,”

“This is a really outstanding project and it is inspiring to see that although you're still called the Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited, you're into other things; and that shows the need for creativity and diversification.”

“The aggregate material being produced here is of a high technological level,” the minister said, noting that limestone is being processed into sand for commercial use.

“Jamaica probably has the largest area of limestone deposits in the region, so, it is something that the government have to look at as one of the alternatives going forward. Limestone is definitely one of the areas that we have to promote, and do so more aggressively.”

Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited, which was incorporated in 1975, is a Government-owned entity with a business enterprise mandate. The company holds 51 per cent equity, on behalf of the Government, in the bauxite operations of its current partners, New Day Aluminium (Jamaica) Limited.