The Mines and Geology Division (MGD) carried out 243 quarry inspections in the 2022/23 financial year against a target of 400, according to a performance audit by the Auditor General’s Department (AGD) tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. 

The shortfall of 157 inspections left the regulator about 39 per cent below its own plan.

The audit, covering 2019/20 to 2023/24, found the division had no documented method for deciding which quarries to inspect first. Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis noted that MGD’s operational plans and the Quarries Control Act contemplate setting inspection frequency by risk, weighing factors such as the size of an operation, environmental sensitivity, compliance history and complaints.

Published coverage of the report does not attribute the shortfall to staffing or funding.

MGD supervises all prospecting, mining and quarrying in Jamaica. A presentation by the division’s chief inspector put the number of licensed quarries at roughly 180, alongside 11 mining leases. On that basis, the 2022/23 inspection count works out to fewer than one and a half visits per licensed quarry for the year.

Cases without follow-up

Enforcement records showed wider gaps. Auditors could not confirm consistent action on 14 of the 15 illegal-quarrying cases in MGD’s complaints register. Of nine police reports reviewed, one matched a register entry and showed evidence of follow-up.

Licence monitoring also slipped. Six quarry operators kept working after their licences expired, five of them filing for renewal between 30 and roughly 607 days late, while the sixth never applied. MGD did not consistently send reminder notices before expiry or act promptly afterwards. One mining operator continued for six years on an expired licence.

Revenue tracking was weak as well. The audit found royalty and quarry tax records were not accurately maintained or reconciled on time. MGD’s March 2026 schedule showed US$828,000 in royalty principal and US$2.58 million in interest and penalties owed by two operators, separate from US$13.7 million in penalties owed by three lessees for unrehabilitated land.

In a December 2025 public advisory, MGD said it would step up island-wide enforcement with the Jamaica Constabulary Force, including monitoring high-risk areas and checking stockpiles and transport vehicles. The advisory said unlicensed removal of quarry material carries fines of up to J$1 million, imprisonment, or both, and that buyers can also be prosecuted. 

The division sits within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, according to the ministry’s website. 

The findings reach Parliament as mining and quarrying exports fell 46.4 per cent between January and May, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica. MGD and the ministry had not publicly responded to the audit at the time of writing.