– Two deaths recorded so far for 2016
STATISTICAL data from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) indicate that mine-related deaths are on the decrease.
Thus far for 2016, the industry has recorded two deaths when compared to 12 for the same period last year.
“We are improving, but one death is one too many,” GGMC Occupational Health and Safety Officer Denis Lewis told the Guyana Chronicle during an exclusive interview in Konawaruk Backdam.
He said while there are signs of improvement, one cannot ignore the fact that 119 mine-related deaths have been recorded between 2006 and 2016.
The majority of mining accidents in Guyana are linked to pit failure. In a presentation made in 2015, GGMC Senior Engineers Carlos Todd and Ronald Glasgow reported that 72% of the mining accidents that occurred in 2014 and 2015 were as a result of pit-wall failures.
“Most of the fatal mining accidents (52%) that occurred over the past six years resulted from pit-wall failure – 72% in 2014-2015,” the engineers had explained in their presentation.
A Commission of Inquiry (CoI), which was headed by GGMC’s former Commissioner Dr. Grantley Walrond, in 2015, found that the principal cause of pit-failure accidents was the neglect of safe mining practices. In addition, there was evidence that shortcuts were being taken in an effort to raise production.
That CoI was set up and mandated to investigate mining deaths by President David Granger after a mining pit at Mowasie Backdam, Region Eight, collapsed on May 17, 2015, killing 10 miners, in what has been described as the worst accident of its kind to date.
Considering the recent death of 18-year-old Ramal Williams, who lost his life when the walls of the pit caved in at Konawaruk Backdam last Sunday, Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, said there is an urgent need to have the Potaro-Siparuni region re-evaluated to determine safe mining zones.
She said in addition to placing tremendous emphasis on preventative measures, the mining areas should be re-evaluated as part of a pilot project.
“We must have engineers go in and evaluate the whole area, the whole of Region Eight – Mahdia, White Hole and St. Elizabeth – to assess the soil types in the different locations,” she said.
Additionally, she said there is a clear need to have the Mining Regulations fully enforced by GGMC officers on the ground. “These areas need to be monitored by technical people,” she posited.
Miners, however, are being urged to adhere to the rules and regulations governing the mining sector, particularly in the area of Occupation Health and Safety.
(Svetlana Marshall)
