Finance Minister, Audley Shaw, says the government has not made a policy decision to abandon the long running bauxite levy regime.
There’ve been recent concerns regarding the non-performance of the bauxite levy arrangement, due in part to fluctuating fortunes in the global alumina market.
Mr. Shaw answered questions on the issue of the bauxite levy from Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Dr. Peter Phillips, at today’s sitting of parliament’s Standing Finance Committee.
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Mr. Shaw explained to Dr. Phillips that the recent profit sharing arrangement with Noranda should not be interpreted as a policy push to abandon the bauxite levy regime.
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The Finance Minister noted that the administration has not projected revenues from bauxite levy arrangements for this fiscal year.
He says in the case of the Chinese-owned, Jiuquan Iron and Steel, JISCO, the company is moving to double its production of alumina in Jamaica.
Mr. Shaw says JISCO has put on hold the issue of alumina production because they are sensitive to environmental concerns about the use of coal.
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