Technical Reports On Apeatse Explosion Will Not Be Published

Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has indicated to Parliament that two technical reports on the Apeatse explosion which killed at least 13 people will not be made public.

Speaking to parliament on Tuesday, he claimed the reports were technical and would therefore not be useful to the general public, in what smacks of total disregard for the public.

Samuel Abu Jinapor said this in response to an urgent question in Parliament on what the findings and recommendations of the Apeatse disaster reports are and whether the reports can be made public.

It would be recalled in response to the explosion the government had set up a 3-member committee to probe.

Mr. Jinapor who claimed that the Akufo-Addo government had nothing to hide reiterated the work of the committee as if the committee’s work is not already known.

“Given the complexity of the matter, I constituted a three-member Committee, chaired by a highly respected former Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Mr. Benjamin Aryee, to carry out independent investigations to corroborate, or otherwise, the findings of the Minerals Commission,” he said.

He reiterated that following the disaster of January 20, 2022, when the truck transporting explosive materials exploded at Appiatse, the Minerals Commission as the regulator, conducted its investigations in accordance with the Minerals and Mining (Explosives) Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2177), and submitted its report to the Ministry.

Key among the breaches, he said, include failure to ensure the transportation of explosives was managed by a certified explosives manager, contrary to regulation 6(2)(a) of Minerals and Mining (Explosives) Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2177).

Maxam, he said, also failed to ensure that activities that involve explosives are carried out only by competent and certified persons, contrary to regulation 6(2)(b) of L.I. 2177; and also failed to ensure that the code of safe working practice developed for the transportation of explosives is followed, contrary to regulation 11(1) of the L.I. 2177 among others.

The Committee recommended among others that Maxam be sanctioned and also recommended the transportation of explosives be made safer by the installation of fire suppression systems in explosive vehicles, the use of two escort vehicles, one in front and one behind, the use of two police officers, one-armed and other unarmed, the use of sirens to alert road users, and a review of the entire health and safety regime of the mining industry.

But all of these facts are already known to the public, including the US$6million sanction against Maxam, the Spanish company.

Mr. Jinapor said a Health and Safety Committee of Inquiry has been established to review the entire health and safety regime of the mining industry and make recommendations to the government, for legislative, policy and other reforms.

The Committee, he said, will be submitting its report to the Ministry soon and the necessary recommendations will be implemented to make the industry safer and better