The Professor Richard Amankwah led Ministerial Enquiry Committee on 14th March presented its Report to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for further actions by the government. The Committee was inaugurated 7th February following the explosion in Appiatse, a mining community in the Prestea Huni-Valley District of the Western region.
Thirteen persons including 3 children were among the dead. Dozens were injured with at least some eight hundred displaced according to the National Disaster Management Organisation in one of Ghana’s most devastating mining related accidents.
The five-member Committee was mandated to review the safety regime of the mining industry in Ghana and proffer recommendations when necessary.
Receiving the Report, the sector Minister Lawyer Jinapor expressed optimism saying, “I am confident that the findings of the report will be an invaluable asset which will guide matters to do with the health and safety regime of the mining sector in Ghana.”
Lawyer Jinapor committed to studying the thoroughly and “pursue to the latter, the findings and recommendations provided by the team.”
“I have no doubt that if not all, most of the findings and recommendations which have been made by this Committee will be taken on board and implemented. We want to ensure a mining sector which is fit for purpose, serving the people, contributing to the national economy, and is safe so that we do not have a recurrent of what occurred at Appiatse,” the sector Minister said.
“Transparency has been the our mantra as a ministry and we continue to be transparent in the management of the lands and natural resources as we seek to serve the nation in the context of the best standards of integrity and fidelity,” the Member of Parliament for the Damongo Constituency added.
He expressed the government’s profound gratitude to the Committe for an extensive work done.
“We couldn’t have assembled a better team than we did giving the expertise the five of you bring to the table. Expertise of diverse areas with enormous experience from your various fields. We are very grateful for such an extensive work done.”
The Committee has recommended that the report is tweaked to meet modern trends in the sector, the Chairman of the Committee Professor Richard Amankwah urged the government as his team handed over the Report.
The other members of the Committee are Prof. Grace Ofori-Sarpong, a professor representing the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ms. Effie Oppong-Fosu, an associate representing the Ghana Bar Association, Mr. Benjamin Aryee, a former Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, and Mr. Kwesi Enyan, a former Inspector of Mines, and a former Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti.
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