In the wake of the recent deaths of two miners following a pit collapse in Region Eight, the
Alliance For Change (AFC) has called on the government to focus on attending to the needs of the people in the mining and hinterland communities, who cry out for help and attention to their basic needs.
Expressing condolences to the relatives of Sherwayne Joseph, a 26-year-old miner, and Imran Blake, a 19-year-old miner of Kuru Kuru village, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, the party pointed out that mining deaths are preventable should there be better training, monitoring and enforcement of mining camp operations.
The party said the deaths of the two men brought the number of mining deaths for the year to ten.
“Unfortunately, the sector appears to be in a depressed state, and despite the empty boasts of incentives and investments in the sector, the tale of the average small and medium scale miner is one of awful woe and hopelessness,” the party said in a press release yesterday.
It charged that the management of the mining industry is now characterised by “inadequacy, ineptitude, corruption and discrimination”.
Also, vital roads and arteries continue to be neglected and are in an abject state of disrepair, according to the party. And it said despite the claims of billions spent on incentives for the mining sector, gold and diamond declarations continue to spiral downwards, while smuggling and evasion were on the increase.
“In the meantime, while those in-charge seek after garlands and fancy cocktail receptions, the small miner is left to risk his and her life in a perilous hole with no one there to look out for their safety and well-being. As the cost of living continues to rise, more and more young people are forced to brave the dangers of the backdam just to put food in the table for their families,” the party added.
Joseph and Blake died at around 2:30 pm on Friday at St Elizabeth Backdam, Potaro, Region
Eight where they were working with John Burrowes, a 38-year-old dredge owner of 111 Miles Mahdia, on his eight-inch land dredge mining operation.
The two miners were among nine workers on the night shift and they were in the pit with three of their colleagues when a rumbling sound was heard and soil broke away and started to fall into the mining pit. One of the workers said he raised an alarm alerting the men in the pit. However, the loose soil covered Joseph and Blake, effectively burying them, while the other three workers in the pit managed to escape.
