The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) of the Trades Union Congress (Ghana) has said it is deeply concerned by the mining explosives disaster which occurred at Apiate in the Western Region, resulting in the loss of lives and destruction of the entire community.
A statement issued in Accra and signed by General Secretary, Ghana Mineworkers’ Union, Abdul-Moomin Gbana, following the disaster at Apiate said the relevant state agencies particularly the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission “should step up its supervisory role on enforcement and compliance and consider extending some of its services to host mining communities by providing basic training in health and safety, particularly bordering on identifying common hazards or dangers inevitably associated with mining and how to deal with them.”
“As a trade union that operates in mining communities, anything that adversely affects such communities affects us dearly considering that most of our members reside and work from, or sometimes, in these communities. Mining communities therefore need to be assured that mining and its related activities shall not endanger their lives and livelihoods.”
The union said “mining like any commercial activity should not endanger the lives of anybody, whether you live within or far from a mining community, and the surest way to do that is to focus more on the preventive side by educating the citizenry, ensuring strict enforcement and compliance with safety standards and punishing transgressors frontally.”
The union said “there is the urgent need to be deliberate about health and safety awareness among Ghanaians by taking steps to integrate health and safety into all spheres of our national life – whether at the workplace, homes or public places,” adding “the government must therefore intervene swiftly through policy or legislation to ensure health and safety is given national prominence and greater attention in the Ghanaian society. Indeed, there is no gainsaying that some safety awareness could have significantly saved the situation and made a big difference by reducing the overall impact of the Apiate community explosion disaster.”
The union commended the government and the relevant state agencies for the swift response since the accident, saying “we are particularly happy about government’s bold decision to rebuild the Apiate community and would therefore like to use this opportunity to call on all well-meaning Ghanaians and corporate bodies/institutions to join hands with the government to enable us all put smiles on the faces of our brothers and sisters in the Apiate community and help them pull through this disaster in the shortest time possible.”
The union however, called for swift independent enquiry into the disaster to ensure that jobs are saved, and livelihoods are ultimately protected.