Jamaican bauxite f lies to the moon
DR ESTHER Figueroa has made an award-winning documentary film that must be seen by every Jamaican who wants to save our island from the pestilence of bauxite mining. And, especially if you couldn’t care less, you should watch the film.
Unless jankro nyam out yu conscience, you will immediately want to find out how to get involved in the ongoing fight to protect the whole of Cockpit Country for future generations.
The ironic title of the film is Fly Me To the Moon. Frank Sinatra’s 1964 version of that song came to be associated with the Apollo missions to the moon. And that’s precisely why Figueroa chose to name her brilliant documentary after that sentimental song:
“Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars Let me see what spring is like On Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand In other words, baby, kiss me.” Figueroa’s love song is not about romance. Her passion in this film is environmental protection. The bauxite industry has done much more harm than good in this country. Never mind what politicians say. The money that has come to Jamaica from the sale of bauxite has never benefited the majority of us.
DEADLY BAUXITE RESIDUES
Fly Me To the Moon tells the fascinating story of how Jamaican bauxite ended up in outer space. The US Apollo shuttle was constructed mostly from aluminium. And Jamaica has been one of the major suppliers to the US of bauxite, from which the metal is made.
In the early days of the bauxite industry in Jamaica, a rather grand claim was made, which is documented in the film: “It is aluminium that links the changing future of Jamaica to the changing future of the world. Aluminium has freed mankind from the weight of the Earth and it has lifted its feet from the dust of the fields to the dust of the moon.”
Bauxite mining has actually shackled the feet of wo/mankind across the globe. Whole communities have been displaced. Farmlands have been devastated. Deadly bauxite residues have replaced the dust of the fields. Respiratory diseases have increased. What has been left behind after the bauxite and the earth-shattering machines have long gone is nothing but a wasteland. Or a toxic lake! A striking irony is the similarity between the surface of the moon and abandoned lands that have been ravaged by bauxite mining.
‘JAMAICA FOR SALE’
Esther Figueroa has made several other documentaries that all address urgent social and political issues. Jamaica For Sale examines the ways in which the tourist industry serves the interests of wealthy hoteliers. Workers are paid low wages; fishermen are deprived of access to beaches as more and more hotels are built; and Jamaica’s best beaches are reserved for tourists.
Massa God Fish Can Done challenges proverbial wisdom. It contradicts the foolish belief that there’s an endless supply of fish just waiting to be caught. Overfishing is disastrous. And we can’t blame Massa God when the fish disappear. It’s our own environmental policies that cause the depletion of fish stocks.
Jamaica is the worst country in the Caribbean for overfishing. Our reefs have been eroded and fish nurseries have been lost. In another documentary, Protecting Pedro – South West Cay Fish Sanctuary, Figueroa confirms that we can work with Massa God to do targeted conservation.
Cockpit Country Is Our Home is a magical celebration of the biodiversity of a remarkable ecosystem. We see up close the flora and fauna of the region and learn about the relationship between all the organisms in Cockpit Country. Some of these plants and animals are found only in Jamaica. The film inspires us to protect this fragile ecological balance from the ravages of bauxite mining.
WOMEN TAKING UP SPACE
The World Premiere of Fly Me To the Moon is this Saturday, November 9, at 10 a.m. in the Faculty of Medical Sciences Lecture Theatre 2 at the University of the West Indies, Mona. The public is invited and admission is free. After the screening and Q&A with the filmmaker, there will be a symposium at 1:30 on the future of the aluminium industry.
The speakers are Dr Patrece Charles, whose PhD dissertation focused on health impacts of bauxite mining and alumina refining in Clarendon; Diana McCaulay, founder of Jamaica Environment Trust; Rachel Allen, climate scientist; Professor Lou Anne Barclay, an authority on resource-driven development; Peter Bunting, Member of Parliament for Central Manchester; and Dr Wesley Hughes, chief executive officer of PetroCaribe Development Fund.
Fly Me To the Moon is Esther Figueroa’s most ambitious film. In an email exchange, she asserts that its length, just under two hours, is about claiming ownership of the art form and also taking up space: “People like me – female, from an unimportant small island, with zero funding, are not meant to make ‘ambitious,’ complex or artistic films – we are to stay in our lane and be small! Make shorts and wait our turn! But I’ve been doing this for over 35 years and I don’t need anyone’s permission to tell the stories I want to tell.”
She’s absolutely right!