–    Company says it regrets this unfortunate incident
THE minced remains of a 19-year-old Barama Company employee was removed from a chipper machine at Buck Hall along the Essequibo River earlier this week. It was reported that Jason Anthony Fraser, of Kara Kara, Linden, was apparently sucked into the mechanism while he was operating it.
He was the sole operator in that section of the factory where plyboard is produced and was last seen alive around 16:30 h on Monday but could not be accounted for by company officials after then.
Other workers and management officials, worried over his sudden disappearance, mounted several searches after it was suggested that Fraser might have gone to another part of the concession.
However, after checks made at the company’s toll gate established that Fraser had not left the complex, a security guard was attracted by a strong stench in the wood trash area, where the missing man’s clothing and body parts were retrieved Thursday.

Head of Corporate Affairs & Forests Planning at Barama, Mohindra Chand, said the management and staff of Barama would like to extend its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Fraser who died on Monday “as a result of a very unfortunate incident involving one of our chipper machines located at the Barama Buckhall Factory”.
“Management regrets this horrific incident and has been working closely with the family in this time of sorrow,” Chand said in a statement to the media.
“At this point in time investigations are ongoing by the Guyana Police Force, Guyana Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Labour to ascertain the events surrounding this incident,” Chand stated.
He said Barama will continue to support and cooperate with these institutions and the family to ensure that a full investigation is carried out.
“Once again, Barama regrets this unfortunate incident and our heartfelt sympathies are extended to the family and friends of the deceased,” Chand said.

Police are at Buck Hall conducting investigations into the tragedy and Fraser’s remains are at Suddie Funeral Parlour, on the Essequibo Coast, awaiting a post mortem examination.

Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud said investigators were treating the death as an industrial accident because there was no other information that suggested otherwise.

The Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Ministry of Labour was also conducting its own investigations into the incident at BCL, the local subsidiary of the Malaysia-headquartered Samling Global.

Government’s Chief Labour, Occupational Safety and Health Officer, Yog Persaud said the machine-operator was reported missing and after a few days, his remains were found. “We don’t know exactly what caused the death but he was missing.”

Persaud said the machine was not found to be defective and investigators wanted to confirm whether it was an industrial accident or Fraser was put into the shredding machine by someone else.

The Ministry of Labour official said the company claimed that the body was discovered when they were about to start-up the machine

BCL, operating on a 1.6 million hectare concession in north-western Guyana, was recently criticized by Norway for some of its practices but these were rejected by both the company and the Guyana government. (Rajendra Prabhulall and Michel Outridge)