The Minerals Commission has closed down Maxam Company Limited on Saturday (22 January) in connection with Thursday’s explosion at Bogoso-Appiatse, a village 300 kilometers west of Accra.
The shutdown follows a directive by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor.
Isaac K Mwimbelle, the Western Regional manager of the Minerals Commission disclosed this during the closure of the company that it has become necessary for his outfit to take drastic measure to forestall future happenings.
He said the shutdown of the entity is to pave way for further investigations and mentioned that a final report will be forwarded to Accra for onward submission to the sector minister.
He added that the Minerals Commission has issued a prohibition notice to the company, barring them from undertaking any form of activity at the site.
“Based on the initial investigations that we are conducting, we find it prudent to evoke the law which states that if the inspector has any reason to believe some operation can result in further danger, then we should cause a cessation of same.
“We went to Maxam and asked them to stop work while we continue the investigations and make necessary recommendations to the CEO for onward submission to the minister,” Mwimbelle told the media.
He added: “We issued what we called prohibition notice which means they are not allowed to hold any activity on the site and they are to remove equipment from the site for their own safety”.
To ensure that the directive is enforced, Mwimbelle stated that the commission has deployed two members of staff to stay at the site.
Police say a preliminary investigation has established that a truck filled with explosives for mining collided with a motorcycle, resulting in the explosion at Bogoso-Appiatse in the Western Region. Authorities say 500 buildings were destroyed in the explosion, displacing over 500 people.
At least 13 persons have so far been confirmed dead in the explosion, leaving hundreds of locals displaced, the police said. The explosives were being transported to the Chirano Gold Mine, run by Toronto-based Kinross (K.TO).
In a statement issued on Friday (21 January), the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources also announced that the chief inspector of mines has been interdicted, as investigations into the incident continue.
The government is set to establish GHC200, 000 fund to support families and victims of the deadly explosion at Bogoso-Appiatse in the Western Region.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice-President of Ghana who led the National Emergency Response Team to Bogoso said the fund including food and other material items are initial provisions to help bring relief to the victims.
“Today, I want to give thanks to the Catholic Church and the Father here whom we have seen providing accommodation to the people who have been displaced. We’ll do everything that we are able to do to provide the need for all the displaced and to make sure all the sick is taken care of.
“…And we are presenting these things to the people through the municipal chief executive to make sure they’re distributed including a sum of GHC200,000 to take care of their initial need,” he stated.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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