Scarred and ugly. A mined-out pit that has not yet been restored in south Manchester. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

IT'S NOTHING like the picturesque hills for which Jamaica is known; bare, wide-open pits, countless pieces of limestone rock and shrubs struggling to display signs of vibrancy are among the disturbing images that Blenheim Town projects.

Once upon a time, residents say, the landscape was lush green - not with unwanted vegetation, but acres and acres of food under cultivation.

All that is history; life as they know it in this south Manchester community has changed ever since bauxite mining touched the rustic hills.

"The place is like the Sahara Desert now. The lands that we used for farming have been taken away and we have no where to farm," James Hagues, a member of the Blenheim Town Community Council tells The Sunday Gleaner.

barren land

Hagues and other members of the community do not have to look very far to point to examples of degradation and barren land that have now befallen the quiet community.

Crops from trees are few and there is little evidence of ground provision being cultivated. Conversely, the trails left by front-end loaders, backhoes and trucks that remove bauxite dirt are many and very pronounced.

In some instances, pits are left wide open, waiting on the commissioner of mines to certify that all possible bauxite deposits have been taken and the mining company must now reclaim the land.

In other instances, lands which farmers say were once arable and suitable for growing root crops, such as yams and potatoes, now display limestone in abundance. These lands are now only fit for rearing cattle.

"These areas used to produce lots of food, but since the bauxite company come, wi nuh see nutting like dat. It just tek it time and deteriorate until it disappear," Asher Meggie says.

The land in and around Blenheim Town are owned by Aluminium Partners of Jamaica (Alpart), a bauxite mining company which bought them from peasants and wealthy men long before roaring heavy-duty vehicles graced the quiet hills. Many parcels, The Sunday Gleaner was told, were sold for "quatty" and have yielded millions to the miners.

Residents say people sold the lands during the 1950s and then entered into lease agreements with the bauxite company.

Once, prime agricultural lands passed from generation to generation and yielded crops which enabled residents to build houses and school their children. But as the mining company set about its operations, the farmers got displaced.

Deep in the Manchester hills in the nearby community of Rose Hill, a bulldozer could he heard clearing the way for the extraction of the red earth.

One resident describes it as the "final destruction", arguing that once the companies begin mining bauxite, it is almost an inevitable end to farming.

Old Hagues laments that the population of the community is expanding and soon people may have nowhere to live.

"Young people and dem parents only have a house spot. What is going to happen to dem - no room for expansion and no room for production," Hagues wails.

Farmers tell The Sunday Gleaner that one acre of sweet potato can yield up to $300,000 in value.

served notice

But, a huge uncovered pit is all that's left of the sweet potato plot. The mining company served notice for its lands and then moved in.

One female resident who suffered as a result of the displacement now grows just a few tomato plants on a small narrow bank, metres from the huge pit. She has also been forced to experiment with potatoes on a stony hillside nearby.

Lewis is adamant that Government should conduct scientific research into the potential use of reclaimed bauxite lands for agricultural purposes.

"If a farmer gets 10 acres of the reclaimed land now, he has no idea what he can plant on it because there is no research to say how to use that land," Lewis says.

Meggie says he yearns for the day when the bauxite company decides to sell the remaining lands around the community at reasonable rates.

He also envisages chicken and goat-rearing projects in the community.

"We have given so much and have got nothing in return," Meggie laments.

He adds: "Right around us, feet and yards from our doorsteps mine out. We are not bullying them, we are simply asking them intelligently, since yuh tek from us, then give something back to us so that we can live from it."

And the community believes the repayment must be tangible. As Hagues puts it: "We need to get something monumental so that after bauxite gone we have something to show."

But Lance Neita, head of public relations at Alpart, says that the policy of the company has always been to sell the lands back to the people once they have been restored.

"The farmers get first preference for leasing the land," Neita tells The Sunday Gleaner.

He also defends Alpart's role in the development of the communities that have been affected by mining. He says the company contributes to areas of education, irrigation, health care, sports and agriculture.

"We always wish we could do more," Neita says, while adding that the company does not only take bauxite out of the community, but it contributes a great deal to development in these areas.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com