Making coal the ol fashion way in JAJamaica does not have any coal mines
and rely on importation.
Maybe one day north american gem can supply their coal needs.
Take it to a Jamaican to be industrial enough to create their own coal.
As seen from this Jamaican Gleaner article
https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060207/life/life1.html
CHARCOAL BURNING is one of the oldest trades of rural Jamaica.
Farmers burnt charcoal near their farms as a means of bringing in an additional income.
Back then, glassworks, ironworks and forges consumed huge amounts of charcoal.
THE PROCESS
However, charcoal burning is still a trade practised by Jamaicans.
Paul Collins, 51, of East Avenue in Kingston Gardens, downtown,
Kingston has been working on a coal kiln from before Christmas.
He dismantled the kiln last Friday. "It's a very hard task and it takes time; it cannot be rushed," he says.
Charcoal making consists of:
Finding and cutting the wood
Packing the kiln
cutting and grassing the kiln
zincing the kiln
lacing;
"dirting" and keeping on eye on the kiln daily to ensure that it does steam.
"If you don't understand coal making you will get nothing out of it,
so you have to understand the work and technique," says Mr. Collins.
He notes that is why many Jamaicans incorrectly refer to coal kiln as coal 'skill'.
"It's not an easy work to do one have to understand the technique."
Pulling down the kiln, which he refers to as 'drawing', is the last part in the process of making the coal.
"That's when I get the coal and money starts coming in," he said.
Mr. Collins has been making coal since the 1970s.
He learnt coal making from a friend in his early 20s when he resided in Little London, Westmoreland.
"I learnt how to pack, grass it, lace and then dirt." Over the years with continuous practice,
he has mastered the trade and today it is a simple routine. "Dirting is the trick of making coal.
The dirt makes it burn; without dirt and if air gets into the kiln the wood will burn to ashes.
So you have to constantly visit to repack with dirt and lace (with bush)."
Mr. Collins' main job is construction but since last year jobs in the field have been scarce for him.
"I started making coal again because nothing else was there for me to do and I needed money."
For many men coal making is a way of earning money when life gets hard.
The notion that wood, dirt and grass, the main ingredients of a coal kiln are readily available
makes the skill 'something to turn to'.
Ivan Messam, 71, is a skilled sewer digger. Living in St. Thomas,
Mr. Messam is often called on when a house is being constructed to dig a sewer in the backyard for the new home. Still, oftentimes Mr. Messam is out of work and his back aches a lot when he has to bend and swing the pick-axe. So he often turns to coal making, that he learnt as a child.
"Coal making not nice because fi search fi the wood dem no easy.
But when the coal dun burn sometimes me no have enough fi sell as every woman want coal.
So the money come een quick," Mr. Messam told Lifestyle.
Despite the hard labour that goes into the skill Mr. Messam is adamant that today's young men
should learn the art. He said that coal will put money in their pockets and make them save.
"You see how every year wi a have hurricane and gas (price) a go up everyday it good fi have coal."
With that in mind, Mr. Collins notes that coal making is a craft that has to be properly learnt.
He prefers to use wood that is hard as soft wood burns out quickly and doesn't produce excellent coal.
In his community he searches for woods such as lignum vitae, guango, orange, guinep, ackee, starapple, dog wood, mango, pimento, tamarind, and others. "But not mahogany as this is best for furniture building so I don't cut those types of trees."
Important Element
The other most important element of coal making says Mr. Collins is the way it is done.
He notes that some persons burn a coal kiln but that it should be steamed.
"Steam is better. It takes longer but you get a better result," he says.
Then he continues, "Coal made from the burning method don't last long when you use it to cook."
The difference between the two methods is that with steaming the wood gets very little air, if or at all,
and the kiln is constantly re-packed with dirt to fill out any open air pockets.
"If air gets into it, it will ketch fire because inside it's hot."
When his coal kiln is steamed many negative factors associated with charcoal burning such as the smoke does not affect him. "My coal kiln only lets out steam; there is no smoke and if it does, I wet it as I have to keep down the smoke," says Mr. Collins.
In Kingston Gardens, where his coal kiln is located there are business places such as Lithographic Printers and there are several homes in the immediate vicinity. "The only thing that comes from my coal kiln is dust because of the dirt but I use water to keep it from affecting the persons next door."
Sandra Fraser, who works at the Printry, says that she has been admiring the coal kiln. "I never see two gentlemen work so hard in my life. It's so nice and tidy - a fabulous work. I have been watching and following it and I am fascinated by it. And they are so considerate and conscious that the smoke doesn't affect the workers in the area," she says.
The negative factors of burning coal do not stop him making coal. What used to be a cream shirt and brown plaid pants are now black. His nails, palms and hands are also black from sifting through the coal pile. "I can't avoid it because it's a dirty work," he says.
Last Friday when Lifestyle visited his coal kiln there were several empty rice and sugar bags as well as some already filled with coal. From the previous kiln he filled 80 bags but he believes that because of the size of this kiln he will get more. However, these days his coal kiln are small compared to those he made during his sojourn in in Westmoreland - those yielded about 530 bags. Each bag of coal is sold for $600.
https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060207/life/life1.html