Mining pit tragedy…Operator’s breach of mining regulations caused tragedy – GGMC

May 20, 2015 News

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The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), having completed its investigation into the ill-fated Mowasi mining pit that collapsed, killing ten workers on Sunday, has ruled that several unsafe mining practices led to the tragedy.
According to GGMC, Imran Khan, owner of the mining operation, had been following dangerously unsafe mining practices as far back as 2013.
Tragedy struck the Mowasi, Potaro mining camp on Sunday when the pit collapsed on some 18 workers who were in it at the time. While some escaped with injuries, others were not so lucky.
Dead are Leyland Jones, 38, called ‘Foots’ of Grove, East Bank Demerara, who was the gold operations General Manager; his nephew Jason Trotman, 21; of Samatta Point, Grove Housing Scheme; Raymond August of 229 Bent Street, Dartmouth, Essequibo; Bobby Brittlebank of 98 Wisrock Housing Scheme, Linden; Michael Gardner of Better Hope, ECD; Sheldon and Orlando Clario; Desmond Martins; Trevon Phillips and Nanmore Kurt.
The injured have been identified as Alex Green, 28, of Lima Essequibo Coast; Regan Green, 21, of Dartmouth, Essequibo Coast; Collymore Lewis, 34, of Moraikobai Mission, Mahaicony; Sheldon Adams, 32, of Beehive, East Coast Demerara; Lazarus Andrews, 49, of Nappi, Central Rupununi and Henry Xavier, 37, of Paramakatoi, North Pakaraima.
Seven bodies have since been recovered. Five have been transported to the city, but only three have been positively identified by relatives. They are Brittlebank, August and Gardner. The bodies are currently at Lyken Funeral home.
Khan’s conflict with GGMC
According to a release from GGMC, Hopkinson had made a complaint on August 8, 2013, that Khan had been mining on his concession without approval.
An investigation by GGMC revealed several mining breaches. These caused the body to secure two injunctions, a cease work order and an order for Khan to remove within 48 hours.
In a counter move, however, Khan secured an injunction against Hopkinson and GGMC on August 21, 2013, restraining them from interfering in his operation until a hearing on September 10 that same year to continue the injunction.
When nothing came out of the hearing, the injunction remained against Hopkinson and the regulatory body, allowing Khan to continue his enterprise.
According to the release, as recent as April 1, 2015 officers from the commission inspecting operations in Pepper Creek found that Khan was still operating in an unsafe and dangerous manner, but when GGMC’s technical officers made attempts to advise and sanction the personnel, they were shown the injunction barring them from acting.
GGMC, following their investigations into the tragedy, have ruled that the operator failed to adhere to standard safety practices when mining beyond 50 feet.
Further, the GGMC ruled that the pit limits were too narrow to allow for safe operation, especially with the current mining method being used.
GGMC went on to state that the commission was effectively barred from acting against similar operators when faced with such injunctions and that there are several other injunctions outstanding against the GGMC.
‘Overburden’
According to a closely placed mining expert, the ‘overburden’ or dirt that was dug out of the pit was placed dangerously close to the edge of the opening.
According to the source, with the rainfall, the water seeped underneath the dirt and boulders, eventually dislodging the mass, sending it cascading into the pit. The workers within the pit would have had little warning before being buried alive.
Randy, brother of one of the victims, Michael Gardner, spoke to the media at Lyken Funeral parlour after relatives identified the body.
“We heard he was in a 90-foot pit. That is very dangerous and the stuff they took out of the pit they didn’t really move it; it was right there. So it was very careless. My brother-in-law went in and saw it and he said it was suicide.”
According to the man’s brother, his death was hitting them very hard since he was very close to them.
“We all lived as one with real love. We don’t know how we will deal with this. I hope as the government change, things would be different.”
Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, who accompanied the team of mining officials into Mowasi, was also of the firm view that steps had to be taken to ensure a mishap such as this never happened again.
He recommended that mining organizations undertake a massive training exercise to bring miners and operators up to scratch with proper mining practices, since the safety regulations were not followed in this case.

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