Seven hundred and sixty two workers employed to West Indies Alumina Company (WINDALCO) are to lose their jobs Wednesday as the alumina company officially ceases operations.

WINDALCO was last year forced to scale back production due to a sharp decline in the demand for alumina on the world market. It subsequently decided to retain employees on a three day work week. However, this did not prove to be viable against the background of the continued weak demand for alumina and the company made the decision earlier this year to end the shortened work week and close its production plants. Vincent Morrison, President of the National Workers Union, says all categories of employees at WINDALCO will be affected by Wednesday's redundancy exercise. What's next? WINDALCO's parent company, aluminium giant UC Rusal, has also been facing financial difficulties as well as problems with the Russian government. Vincent Morrison, NWU President. And according to Mr. Morrison Wednesday's closure of WINDALCO has serious implications for the local bauxite/alumina sector which has been hit hard by the protracted global recession. "What we'll have to ponder from here is what is going to happen to the sector. A year ago, (Alumina Partners of Jamaica) ALPART closed its operations and we have not heard what will be the outcome of the sector. We know that the government had set up a task force which was to be supposed to be monitoring the sector," he said. Mr. Morrison expressed concern that the Bauxite Task Force has not met since it was established by the government a year ago. What are the plans to restore the bauxite sector asks Peart In the meantime, the Parliamentary Opposition says it is concerned that the government has been silent on the future of the troubled bauxite/alumina sector. Michael Peart, Mining Spokesman. Michael Peart, Spokesman on Mining, has taken his government counterpart James Robertson to task for failing to indicate whether there are plans on the drawing board to help revive the industry. According to Mr. Peart, this has left displaced bauxite workers and residents of mining communities in an unsettled state. "They're laying off more than 700 workers right now. We have bauxite community councils in the bauxite mining areas of St. Ann, St. Catherine, Manchester, Clarendon and St. Elizabeth yet the minister has not called us through the Jamaica Bauxite Institute to meet with theses community councils to sensitize them to plans that the government has in regards to restoring the bauxite sector, if they have any," he said.