THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on August 24 in the years identified: 1977:Resources Mining and Natural

Minister Dudley Thompson signs an agreement in Venezuela to sell 1,000,000 tons of alumina to that country over the next seven years. A spokesman for the Jamaica Bauxite Institute tells The

Gleaner that it is expected that the first delivery will be made in July 1978 and will be made at a rate of 130,000 tons a year. The spokesman says that the Government, through the Bauxite Alumina Trading Company, will purchase the alumina from Alcan to supply the Venezuelan order. This, he says, will enable Alcan to operate its Ewarton and Kirkvine refineries, which have a capacity of approximately 550,000 nearer to rated capacity. 1981:responses There are favourable

from the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association and Jamaica International Telecommunications to the decision at the Third Law of the Sea Conference in Geneva to site the International Seabed Authority headquarters in Jamaica. In a statement, R. Anthony Williams, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association, says, “On behalf of my executive directors and members of the JMA, I congratulate the Government on successfully negotiating for the headquarters of the International Seabed Authority to be sited in Jamaica.”

1983:Jamaica “I would like to offer

as a location from which to organise multi-city, multi-country video conferences,” Prime Minister Edward Seaga tells a gathering of nearly 1,000 users and makers of satellite telecommunication equipment in the United States.