The mining explosives manufacturing company at the centre of the fatal explosion at Appiatse near Bogoso in the Western Region, Maxam Company Limited, has been shut down.
This followed a directive by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, to the Minerals Commission to pave way for further investigation.
Consequently, the Commission has issued a prohibition notice to the company, barring it from undertaking any form of activity at the site.
Isaac K. Mwimbelle, Western Regional Manager of the Minerals Commission, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on Saturday explained that, the closure of the company was necessary and enables the Commission to take drastic measures to forestall future happenings.
He said it would allow for further investigations to generate the needed report on the incident for the Minister.
“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 whiles we continue the investigations and make necessary recommendations to the CEO of the Commission for onward submission to the Minister,” he stated.
The prohibition notice, Mr Mwimbelle said, was a directive for the company not to hold any activity on the site and required to remove equipment from the site for their own safety.
To ensure that the directive was enforced, he noted that the Commission has deployed two members of staff to stay at the site.
In a related development, Mr Jinapor, has directed the Minerals Commission to interdict the Chief Inspector of Mines with immediate effect, pending the outcome of ongoing investigations into the tragic events.
He explained that, pursuant to regulations two of the Minerals and Mining (Explosives) Regulations,2012,LI 2177), the Chief Inspector of Mines was also the Chief Inspector of explosives, responsible for the supervision of the manufacture, storage, transportation and use of explosives for mining and mine support services.
His directive was contained in a statement released by the ministry at the weekend.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource wishes to assure the Ghanaian public that the ongoing investigations will be thorough and comprehensive, and any public official found to be culpable will be made to face the full rigours of the law,” the release added.
From Clement Adzei Boye, Appiatse and Claude Nyarko Adams, Accra
