Mineral Commission shuts down Maxam Ghana Limited
The Minerals Commission has shut down Maxam Ghana Limited, the company whose explosives exploded on a vehicle en route to Chirano Gold Mines as a result of an accident at Apeatse in the Western Region.
The company provides support activities for the mining industry in Ghana.
In an interview with JoyNews‘ Maxwell Agbagba, the Western Regional Manager of the Minerals Commission, Isaac Mwinbelle stated that the outcome of ongoing investigations will determine whether the company will be allowed to resume operations or otherwise.
“We are acting in accordance with the requirements of the Minerals and Mining Regulation. An accident occurred as a result of the transport of explosives from this site to one mining site and as part of our investigations, in accordance with the law, we have realized that it is important to cease operation at this site to help us complete our investigations and to help us make recommendations to our boss, the Chief Executive Officer and I’m sure he will also forward it to the Minister responsible for mines.
So this afternoon, what we are here basically to do is to ensure that all operations on this site are ceased and stopped, and we put our officers here to ensure that the directive is complied with by Maxam Ghana limited”, he disclosed.
Commenting on how long the closure of the company will last, Mr. Isaac Mwinbelle indicated that, “it will depend on the outcome of the investigations that we are doing. And the investigations are still ongoing. So it will be premature for me to say that it will take either one week, a month until we complete the investigations, then we can talk about it. And depending on our recommendations to our superiors, then they can be able to take a decision as to when operations at this site would resume”, he explained.
Meanwhile, government is launching a full-scale investigation into the circumstances that led to Thursday afternoon’s huge explosion in Apeatse.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed this in an interview with CNN on Friday.
He said the investigation will help the government determine whether the protocols for transporting explosives in the country were adhered to, to enable the government put in place appropriate measures to prevent such a tragedy from occurring in the future.
“There is going to be a full-scale enquiry after the initial sequence of events have been properly gathered and an assessment made on whether or not the protocols for transporting materials of that nature were followed to the letter, and if anybody, unfortunately, did not do the right thing, the necessary sanctions will come to bear, and if indeed there are lapses in the protocol, some more stringent measures will be put in place, ” the Minister said.
At least 13 people have been confirmed dead, with 59 people sustaining varying degrees of injury after a vehicle carrying mining explosives travelling from Tarkwa to Chirano collided with a motorcycle at Apeatse, razing down houses in the community.
Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, led a government delegation including Minister for Interior, Minister of Information, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and officials of the Mineral Commission to commiserate with the affected families.
Dr. Bawumia said government will bear the cost of medical care for the injured and support the families of those deceased.
Source: Ghana News
