Mine deaths: bereaved families, demonstration of young people at the morgue

General News of Saturday, January 26, 2019

Source: Starrfmonline.com

2019-01-26

Two days after the worst mining fate in the Upper East region, a crowd of angry youth and bereaved families staged a strong protest calling for the immediate withdrawal of Shaanxi Mining Company Ltd. from Talensi District.

The protest took place Friday night at the morgue of the Upper East Regional Hospital, where the bodies of 16 miners were reportedly killed Wednesday by the toxic smoke of a mining explosive from Shaanxi.

The autopsied bodies were inside the morgue and a number of affected minors were still in the same hospital as Bismarck Zumah, who would later tell the press how the morgue had become the scene of the demonstration, read a press release on behalf of the mourning multitude in his capacity as vice-president of the Talensi youth involved.

"It's really a sad moment for all of us," said Zumah, surrounded by grieving Gbane residents, where the miners were gbaded underground.

"It should be noted that since [Shaanxi Mining Company Ltd] began to operate, a total of 61 people died as a result of their operations. It is noted that none of these deaths were compensated. We also want you to know that the explosive used on Wednesday (Wednesday) contains a powerful gas, carbon, to intentionally kill our people, "he said in Bolgatanga, the regional capital, while men sobbed in the background.

The statement added, "We Gbane people [and] Talensi wants appropriate compensation for the deceased's families. And we want to state unequivocally that the community is tired of the frequent death of our people and therefore we can not live with them. They should pack up and leave. Otherwise, we would advise.

A protest with corpses and a scary crowd

According to observers, members of the community who were on the premises of the morgue, demanding an urgent evacuation of Gbane Chinese, were over a thousand.

"For a number of reasons, we could not have held our press conference elsewhere than at the morgue esplanade where our dead brothers are," Zumah told Starr News.

"They were killed and brought here. We can not exclude them (the deceased) from the press conference we have. They are part of what we are doing here today. The whole world should see what the Chinese have done to our people. See the crowd. No room in the area could have contained the number. And no place would have been more appropriate than where we also came to pick up 16 dead bodies for burial, "he said.

As stated in the press release, frustrated members of the community also claimed that the Chinese-owned Shaanxi Mining Company Ltd. did not adhere to "basic safety practices" – a challenge demonstration of endangering the life of our people. They also said the company had barely done publicity before explosives exploded, with at least one vehicle allowing to publicly announce an "impending explosion."

They were not illegal miners – protesters defended the dead

Around 500 miners were reportedly in hiding on Wednesday. And the Chinese mining company, after the disaster, reportedly described the victims in public as "illegal miners".

But the press release strongly opposed this representation by stating: "Our dead brothers are not illegal miners, as these were erected by the Shaanxi mining company".

The protesters also poured a lot of venom on some public institutions that they said had failed to avoid the mining calamities that the community had continued to experience since the Chinese arrived in the district more than 10 years ago.

"We also want to state that the community has never seen an institution's recommendation for any accident. The Minerals Commission has also failed to engage the community in a public forum, as stipulated in mining regulations. Shaanxi and its partners – the mining groups Yenyeya and Pubortaaba – have never had social responsibilities. Why? Take our money without giving back to the community, "they said.

They also said, "Our research also shows that the mining company practices illegality. Section 27718 of the 2019 Mining Act sets out the composition of the foreign partnership – a $ 200,000 support from the foreign partner, with the local partner paying 10% of that amount. What do we see here? The foreign company Shaanxi took over. Again, we want you to know that the workers of the company are not insured. "

The President of the Small-Rale Miners Association cries at the morgue

Robert Tampoare, Acting Regional President of the Upper East East Regional of the Ghana Small-Scale Miners Association, was in the middle of an emotionally charged speech when he burst into tears in front of him. surveillance cameras and recorders.

"It's a blow for the people of Talensi. We can not contain it. And I want to be very direct with the Government of Ghana, the Minister of the Upper East Region, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, the Minerals Commission [and] Inspection Division of the Minerals Commission is too much for us!

"There is no institution, there is no department without someone who controls it. The activities of my colleagues – the Yenyeya mining group's concession, the Pubortaaba group's concession and their investor counterparts – are not beneficial for Talensi. But I do not blame them. I blame the authorities. [They] Keep killing our people and no one cares! According to the law, if they operated in a sustainable way in the mining sector, they would not have killed our people, our innocent young people, "said Mr. Tampoare in a speech troubled by tears.

All 16 bodies were taken from the morgue to be buried immediately after the press conference. A mbadive funeral procession flocked to Gbane Friday night before another rally of concerned people, Talensi, this Sunday.