Guyana Manganese Inc (GMI) should be sanctioned for allowing its employees to work without the requisite protective equipment, according to General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) Lincoln Lewis.
Lewis’ statement came yesterday after Occupational Health and Safety Department consultant at the Ministry of Social Protection Gwyneth King declared that the GMI workers who fell ill after working in tunnels at the company’s Matthews Ridge operation did not have protective gear.
King also related that the company – owned by Bosai of China – claimed that the workers’ protective gear was held up at customs awaiting clearance.
Lewis, however, found that excuse wanting.
“You can’t tell me that the situation is one where you are working without the safety gear but working because you don’t have them. That is you conceding that you are in breach of the law and it needs to be looked at. The company needs to be sanctioned somehow,” Lewis said.
He also stressed that the company is firstly responsible for ensuring that the workers are adequately protected.
Lewis also pointed out that the Occupational Health and Safety Department has to ensure that corrective measures are put in place before operations resume at the site and the question of compensation for the families of the two workers who died – 47-year-old Zhenglong Zong and 45-year-old Zengguo Ji, both Chinese nationals – also has to be addressed.
However, he noted that while compensation needs to be highlighted, emphasis must be placed on making the conditions safe enough to prevent such a situation from recurring.
When questioned about whether it is also the Department’s job to ensure that companies working in Guyana adhere to the requisite safety rules, Lewis explained that the Health and Safety Department isn’t adequately staffed or equipped to police the companies.
“They are supposed to do it but policing can only be done if they have the requisite amount of staff. They cannot do the work that is supposed to be done because the volume is too big. You are talking about a country of 83,000 square miles and you have to take into consideration what they can do with their staff,” Lewis added.
He also noted that the entire department needs to be restructured and “not on paper” and must cater for better manpower and other requisite changes that will assist it to function better.
On March 30th, seven workers were air-dashed to the city, where they were quarantined at the Georgetown Public Hospital after experiencing flu-like symptoms, which led to the death of another worker at the Pakera District Hospital.
An additional six workers were subsequently air-dashed to the city for treatment at the GPH and a second miner died while receiving medical attention there.
After the two workers succumbed, the Chinese government made a request for the 10 sick workers, all Chinese nationals, to be flown back home for medical attention. This request was granted and the men were flown back last week Monday. They are said to be showing signs of improvement.
Two workers have since been admitted to Pakera District Hospital and they are under close observation and treatment for the Hantavirus. Samples from them are presently being processed for shipment to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for testing.
Senior Environmental Officer at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Camille Adams and health officials noted that the mining ground is still considered a “Red Zone” and “no one is allowed to enter the site.”
Asked if a decision was made on the future of the mining ground, Adams responded in the negative and explained that “we have not had the opportunity to do our assessment as yet because this has superseded all of that.”
