EPA Executive Director unhappy with Omni Quarry partner following explosion
Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has registered his displeasure with the failure of Mr Samuel Twumasi Addo, a partner in the Omni Quarry business to answer telephone calls or visit the site since the explosion occurred.
This stemmed from the fact that the business partner had not shown up to commiserate with families of affected victims, when the explosion occurred on Saturday night.
Dr Kokofu, during an inspection on Monday, to ascertain the level of damage said, “Get him arrested. Wherever he is in Accra, look for him. How can you look so inhumane.”
Mr Emmanuel Owu-Ewie, the Assemblyman of Anto Electoral Area, reported that since the disaster occurred, his team and other officials, had tried to contact Addo, who was based in Accra, to come to the site and alleged that Mr Addo was fronting for some Chinese to operate the quarry.
Dr Kokofu described the disaster as “not a pleasant situation at all,” adding, explosives were not supposed to be carried by anybody and wondered why workers in the company did not hint the EPA on the storage of the ammonium at the site.
Dr Kokofu added, “This is why we continue to say when you see something, say something…if workers had been proactive this unnecessary accident could have been prevented.”
He, therefore, called for attitudinal change among Ghanaian workers and stated that “we have observed that people continue to work illegally at our blind side, we are re-strategising our monitoring systems and deploying technology that would improve our monitoring.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Minerals Commission, Mr Martin Ayisi, for his part stressed the need for Ghanaian companies to work in line with stipulated requirements.
Stressing that the company operated illegally, he said” This is what happens when you do things without recourse to due processes.”
The company, Mr Ayisi maintained, had no legal backing to operate though their documents were in the books of Minerals Commission.
In another development, the Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has formed a nine -member committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the explosions at Kwabenandokrom ,at Anto Aboso, in the Shama District of the Western Region.
Members included Chief Director Western Regional Coordinating Council (WRCC), Mr Frederick Agyemang (chairman), Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Health Service, Minerals Commission, Environment al Protection Agency (EPA), National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Shama and Works Department, Shama.
“There is an issue of life and property and it’s necessary that as matter of urgency, we set up the committee to investigate the matter. The committee is to present a full report in three weeks,” Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister declared.
He explained that the committee had three mandates to investigate the causes of the explosion, and other causes to check future occurrences, whether the enterprise worked within safety guidelines, whether it had the authority and license to store the explosives and make recommendations to forestall future occurrences.
Mr Darko- Mensah hoped the committee would execute the task within the stipulated time set.
At the time of the visit, the quarry site was littered with debris including burnt vehicle tyres, equipment and machinery, electrical cables and burnt safety dresses and boots with the atmosphere enveloped in the ravaging pieces of wares.
Source: GNA