Investigative Report On Newmont Mine Accident Released

A six-member investigative team commissioned by Mr John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, to conduct technical investigations into the cause of the Newmont Ahafo Mine fatal accident, on Friday presented its report to the Minister.

The accident, which occurred on April 7, 2018, at Kenyase No.2 in the Brong Ahafo Region, claimed the lives of six workers of the Consar Construction Company Limited, a sub-contracting firm working on a reclaim tunnel roof at the Newmont Ahafo Mill Expansion Project.

Mr Frederick Gyebi, the Chairman of the Committee, who is a Principal Inspector of Mines at the Minerals Commission, presented the Report to the Minister at a brief ceremony at the Ministry in Accra.

Mr Amewu expressed appreciation to the Committee for the expeditious manner in which it conducted the investigations and gave the assurance that the Government would swiftly implement the recommendations.

'We will examine the Report and the recommendations will be taken seriously because we're a government that believes in the rule of law and governance practices must be adhered to, and contractors must know their level of specifications and what to do in terms of supervision,'' he stated.

He said it was high time engineers of mining firms adhered strictly to laid down regulatory framework to safeguard the safety of their workers and the public as a whole.

He observed that over the years, multi-national firms operating in advanced countries often complied with specifications, however, they tended to breach those specifications whenever they came to the developing nations like Ghana.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Amewu said the Government had not gone to sleep on the illegal small-scale mining fight, otherwise known as 'galamsay,' noting that the next phase of the fight would be geared towards implementing the multi-sectoral integrated mining project.

He said, this year, the Government's attention had shifted to implementing land sector reforms to enhance client service delivery.

The details of the Report were not disclosed to the media.