Minister of Information and Development, Donald Buchanan has said that the red mud pond at Mount Rosser will be rehabilitated over a five-year period followed by another three years of continuous monitoring.

Mr. Buchanan, who was making his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives recently, said the pond has been a long-standing issue of concern and was a matter that Alcan had formally agreed to deal with when the bauxite company pulled out of Jamaica in 2001.

"The so-called Alcan Closure Plan for the remediation of the Mount Rosser mud pond, which incidentally, will be the first industrial waste area closure in Jamaica, has been developed and is now going through the NEPA (National Environment and Planning Agency) environmental approval process," he said.

He told the House that work is also progressing at Kirkvine, where a number of small ponds are to be closed as part of the same agreement.

In the meantime, Minister Buchanan said that the Government is responding to the issues and concerns raised in regard to the Cockpit Country. These include: watershed protection, preservation of biodiversity, protection of unique or endangered species, eco-tourism, history, tradition and culture associated with the area and the potential for heritage tourism.

He added that the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands has launched a study to adequately and scientifically define the boundaries of the Cockpit Country and to outline the criteria by which to "define the sort of activity that can be sustained, and from which a preservation and or developmental strategy can be elaborated. All the stakeholders are being consulted as part of the process to develop this comprehensive approach".