House hears micro market launch and Alpart restart plan

The House of Representatives resumed sitting on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, with ministerial statements on a new Jamaica Stock Exchange micro market for smaller firms and a planned restart of the Alpart alumina refinery, before continuing debate on the Mediation Act 2026.

Speaker Juliet Holness welcomed about 20 students and lecturers from Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College in Montego Bay, plus viewers following proceedings online.

The Minister of Finance and the Public Service reported that the micro market, promised in last year’s Budget to widen capital-market access for MSMEs, was launched on June 23, 2026 after work with the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Firms will be able to raise between $50 million and $100 million in equity. An initial pool of 25 graduates from the Jamaica Business Development Corporation accelerator has been identified as candidates. A “sandbox” will train issuers in reporting, governance and regulatory duties before live listing.

Listing rules include an audit committee; audited accounts within 60 days for semi-annual filings and 90 days for full-year statements; annual reports within 120 days of year-end; at least 20 per cent public shareholding with at least 50 new shareholders; and a move to the Junior Market once capital hits $100 million. The Minister credited the Junior Market, launched in 2009, with listing 56 companies and lifting market value from $785 million at start to $148.5 billion at its peak, linking equity markets to stronger corporate governance, wider share ownership and job growth. Official unemployment stood at 3.6 per cent in figures released March 31, 2026, after a record low of 3.3 per cent in October 2025, compared with 11.4 per cent when the Junior Market opened in April 2009.

The Member for St. Andrew South Eastern backed the micro exchange but urged simpler Development Bank of Jamaica technical help and faster delivery of the long-promised MSME procurement set-aside. The Minister said islandwide registration workshops had begun in Montego Bay and expected the set-aside to be fully operating in six to eight months.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining said Alpart remains central to western Jamaica’s economy, affecting communities such as Nain, Myersville Junction, Malvern, Santa Cruz, Lititz and parts of south-eastern St. Elizabeth and southern Manchester. JISCO bought Alpart in 2017, invested about US$360 million and employed roughly 1,000 people before suspending operations in 2019. After feasibility work and high-level talks in China, including with Gansu provincial leadership, JISCO has confirmed a two-phase modernisation aiming for about two million tonnes of alumina a year. Phase one, about US$490 million, targets one million tonnes, cleaner plant systems, power upgrades, dry stacking of residue, rail and port works including hurricane-damaged Port Kaiser, and a five-megawatt solar-plus-storage hybrid. Construction is sought before year-end, with an official launch before June 2027 and a 20-month build. About US$8 million in rehabilitation gear, including two D11 bulldozers that arrived in Kingston on May 30, is already reclaiming mined-out land. Of 1,233 titles needed for relocated residents, about 350 are done, with roughly 50 more planned this year. Some 149 million tonnes of bauxite reserves are linked to lands under pursuit; no new mining leases have been allocated and Cockpit Country is off the table.

Opposition members pressed past missed timelines, reclamation fines, title delivery and tax concessions. The Minister said reclamation and titling have sped up, dust controls in the Myersville area have held through two dry spells, prior unused investment concessions are expected to apply to the restart, and mining leases remain a government lever if progress stalls.

Members then debated the Mediation Act 2026, with Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton arguing it could ease violence-related pressure on accident and emergency wards. Several Opposition MPs sought wording and enforcement changes. The Justice Minister signalled agreement on some amendments at committee next week before passage.