5-Member committee established to ensure sanity in mining sector
A Ministerial Committee of Inquiry to review the health and safety regime of the mining industry has been set up.
The establishment of the committee is pursuant to Section 100 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) to help bring reforms that will improve health and safety systems and reduce accidents in the mining sector.
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The committee, which was inaugurated by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, in Accra yesterday, follows the accident involving a vehicle carrying mining explosives that occurred at Appiatse, near Bogoso in the Prestea-Huni Valley District in the Western Region on January 20, 2022, leading to the loss of 14 lives and the destruction of the entire Appiatse community.
The committee is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Professor Richard Amankwah.
Other members are a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies of the UMaT, Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong, and a member of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and associate of Menka-Premo and Co. law firm, Ms Effie Oppong-Fosu.
The rest are a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission, Mr Benjamin Aryee, and a mining engineer, Mr Kwesi Enyan.
The committee is to review the existing laws, regulations and guidelines on health and safety standards in the mining industry, inquire into any matter relating to health and safety in the industry and make recommendations to the government on the way forward.
It has one month to present its report.
Vision
Mr Jinapor said the time had come for mining accidents to be looked into holistically, instead of treating them as isolated cases.
"The vision of President of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is to make Ghana the mining hub of Africa, which requires that we build robust, safe and healthy mining and mine support services that pose no risk to lives and properties.
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“The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is committed to working with all stakeholders to realise this noble objective," he said.
The minister also said the government would begin implementing recommendations of the three-member committee that was set up to investigate the Appiatse explosion, adding: "In the course of this week, we will be updating the nation on some of the consequential actions following the report of the investigations."
Prof. Amankwah gave an assurance that the team would do a good job by way of building a robust health and safety regime for Ghana’s mining industry.
He said the committee would consult broadly, including drawing useful lessons from international mining entities, to put together a document that would ensure good safety practices in the sector.
On the Appiatse incident, he said the UMaT would undertake soil testing in the community before reconstruction started.
Recall
In 2020, 13 people died in two separate incidents at Ayanfuri in the Upper Denkyira West District in the Central Region.
Again, in May 2021, three people were killed and many others injured at Breman, also in the Upper Denkyira West District, when a mining pit caved in.
It happened a week after an underground pit of AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine had caved in, killing one person.