Serious questions for Minister Broomes, GGMC on the Russian’s death

Jul 17, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
In recent days your goodly newspaper carried reports of a tragic mining accident at Annamuri Backdam, Mazaruni, Region Seven, in which a Russian geologist, whose name was only given as Oleg, died after a cave-in.
It was also reported that Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, has pronounced on the subsequent investigations… that the company Innovative Mining Inc., owned by Mr. Parmeshwar ‘Joe’ Jagmohan, has been cleared of any negligence.
I have watched the rise of Ms. Broomes from an outspoken miner to an admired activist who fought to ensure that our hinterlands are free from trafficked persons.
She did admirably at the Ministry of Social Protection where a number of raids occurred on work places including at some of the foreign owned operations.
The fact that she was highly critical about some of the infractions at the work places has raised her standings in my eyes.
However, her stay at the Ministry of Social Protection was short-lived. She has now been placed at the all-important Ministry of Natural Resources where her knowledge of the mining areas makes her an ideal person to cover the monitoring aspect.
Mr. Editor, I stress monitoring as it entails a critical aspect of what we do as a country to ensure our laws are protected and respected.
That is why your report of that mining incident has me baffled not only in the haste in which this investigation was closed and the company cleared, but the very words of the Minister. Mr. Editor, last year, the David Granger administration vowed that every mining death will be investigated and a report compiled.
This was following a tragic accident at Mowasie, Konawaruk, in Region Eight where 11 mining workers lost their lives in a pit-cave in.
There were a number of other cases which saw inquiries launched and a special investigator appointed.
What was so different about this death? The facts of this case, as reported by your newspaper, is that somewhere around June 15-16th, a Russian geologist, whose only name is given as Oleg, was buried alive when the walls of a trench he was working in collapsed.
He was reportedly taking samples. Mr. Joe Jagmohan’s company claimed it called in police and alerted the Ministry of Social Protection.
The Personnel Manager did not report the incident to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the regulator, until a few days later.
The facts of the case are that the remains of the geologist were cremated. The family of the geologist, according to the goodly Minister, was flown in and they stayed at the Marriott.
The family did not want the geologist to be buried here and according to the reports, requested his ashes.
Minister Broomes reported that an engineer travelled to the area and came back and said he found no evidence that negligence by the company. That the earth where the samples were being taken from when the walls collapsed became unstable because of soil conditions.
There are several questions to be asked. Why was this case not treated like the other mining deaths? Moreso, the fact that a foreigner was killed. The fact of the matter is that when a company sets about doing business that company has to know the rules of the game.
There is a regulator. That regulator is GGMC. There is no excuse whatsoever for the company to claim ignorance and for the Minister not to have understood this point would be highly worrying.
The Personnel Manager is supposed to know the implications of such a death and that it was his/her obligation to report it immediately to GGMC. Mr. Jagmohan is a prominent businessman who should also know the responsibilities. It is not enough to pass the blame or claim ignorance. We are also unclear when the remains of the geologist were cremated?
Was a post mortem done? Who conducted it? Where was it done? What was the cause of the death?
Was Mr. Oleg here officially? Was GGMC aware that Mr. Oleg was here and in our backdams conducting prospecting work for Innovative Mining?
Was the family here when the cremation was done? How do we verify?
GGMC top officials initially suggested a cover-up? Could it be that Mr. Oleg was murdered? These are all possibilities, Mr. Editor. The police reports and those from Social Protection should all be made available. Is GGMC considering any sanctions against Innovative Mining for not reporting the incident until almost a week later?
I am hearing that the company is set to make a donation to President David Granger’s Three Bs program, in the form a bus.
These are my random thoughts and I have more. I would love to hear more from the goodly Minister about this incident and possibly a commitment for the report of the incident to be made available. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for one mining company and for Mr. Jagmohan to claim that they did not know that a report had to be made to the GGMC.
Ruel Rodrigues

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