431. Telegram 1701 From the Embassy in Jamaica to the Department of State1
1701. Subj: The Little Boy with His Finger in the Dyke.
Summary: There appears to be some slippage in the bauxite/alumina industry here in Jamaica in its relations to the Government of Jamaica.
1. It had been a long, long time since Prime Minister Manley and I had discussed bauxite in any way. Having been taught years ago that when a deal is a deal, don’t bring it up again, I steadfastly refrained from discussing Manley’s commitments to me and the future of the bauxite/alumina industry. I have deliberately taken the point of view that the case is closed and his agreement to me to leave current agreements untouched was a course of action he intended to follow.
[Page 1108]2. In a somewhat friendly, but rough, meeting with the Prime Minister on May 16, I specifically and coldly asked him if he intended to harass the bauxite industry with some of his new tax proposals or did he have designs on securing equity or concessions through the route of coercion. To this Manley flatly stated, “No.”
3. There followed a discussion aimed at the members of the industry who had large tracts of land that were unused or used only for cosmetic purposes and contributed nothing to the alleviation of Jamaica’s problems of production, employment, agriculture and the like. Manley has always had strong feelings about the full usage of land, and I attempted to elicit from him the particular companies that were the offenders. He singled out Alcan for its fine contribution to Jamaica in the form of tenant farmers on their yet uncommitted property and Alcoa for its contributions in ancillary investments and experiments on the land that it owns, plus, I suspect, his personal rapport with John Harper. He stated that a secret survey was under way to see and be able to prove which companies were not doing their share and what could be done. By elimination, it is not difficult to figure out who are the offenders.
4. I asked Manley about the previously reported utterances of the Minister of Mining Allan Isaacs. Manley merely shrugged his shoulders expressing disinterest in Isaacs and his statements, but once again he indicated the decision and the future of the bauxite industry lay solely with him.
5. It is possible that with an air travel card, $500 in cash, a week on the road, and a little arm twisting and selling, I can cure this problem in the short run at least. One wonders, like the story of the little boy with his finger in the hole in the dyke, whether it is not time to get some other hand, some other fingers, and some other thinking into this plugging process.
6. Comment: The water’s rising.
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Summary: Ambassador Vincent de Roulet reported on a meeting in which he discussed the future of the Jamaican bauxite industry with Prime Minister Manley.
Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, [no film number]. Limited Official Use. In telegram 99360 to Buenos Aires, May 23, the Department repeated the text of this report to Kubisch. (Ibid., [no film number]) In telegram 1622 from Kingston, May 17, the Embassy referred to comments by Isaacs indicating that the government “intended to become more involved in the operations of the bauxite industry.” (Ibid.)
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