| By Jarryl BryanAll ten miners have been recovered from the ill-fated Mowasi, Potaro mining camp which collapsed last Sunday, with Leyland Jones, the General Manager of the camp, being the final body to be pulled from the deadly mining pit.The dead have been identified as Leyland Jones, 38, called ‘Foots’ of Grove, East Bank Demerara; his nephew Jason Trotman, 21,China Jerseys Cheap, of Samatta Point, Grove Housing Scheme; Raymond August, 17, of 229 Bent St, Dartmouth, Essequibo; Bobby Brittlebank of 98 Wislock Housing Scheme, Linden; Michael Gardner of Better Hope, ECD; Sheldon and Orlando Clario; Esmond Martins; Trevon Phillips and Nanmore Kurt.Six injured miners were identified as Alex Green, 28, of Lima Essequibo Coast; Regan Green, 21, of Dartmouth,Cheap Jerseys From China, Essequibo Coast; Collymore Lewis, 34, of Moraikobai Mission, Mahaicony; Sheldon Adams, 32, of Beehive, East Coast Demerara; Lazarus Andrews, 49, of Nappi, Central Rupununi and Henry Xavier, 37, of Paramakatoi, North Pakaraima.On Monday, five of the dead miners were first retrieved from the pit and transported to the city the next day, where they were placed at Lyken Funeral Home.On Tuesday, two more victims were pulled from the pit and even as preparations were being made to have them transported to the city, the final three were recovered.Kaieteur News understands that Jones’ workers were on the scene and were able to identify the last body to be pulled as that of their GM.It is expected that the five remaining bodies will be transported to Georgetown in time for the post mortem today at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation Mortuary.GGMC INVESTIGATIONThe Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), having completed its investigation into the fatal incident, ruled on Tuesday, that several unsafe mining practices led to the tragedy.In fact, the GGMC revealed that Imran Khan, owner of the mining operation, had been following dangerously unsafe mining practices as far back as 2013.GGMC, following their investigations into the tragedy, ruled that the operator failed to adhere to standard safety practices when mining beyond 50 feet.Further, the GGMC ruled that the pit limits were too narrow to allow for safe operation, especially with the current mining method being used.KHAN’S CONFLICTS WITH GGMCAccording to a release from GGMC, Edward Hopkinson, the rightful owner of the mining claim had made a complaint on August 8, 2013, that Khan had been mining on his concession without approval.An investigation by GGMC revealed several mining breaches. These caused the body to secure two injunctions, a cease work order and an order for Khan to remove within 48 hours.In a counter move, however, Khan secured an injunction against Hopkinson and GGMC on August 21, 2013, restraining them from interfering in his operation until a hearing on September 10th, that same year to continue the injunction.When nothing came out of the hearing,Cheap Sports Jerseys, the injunction remained against Hopkinson and the regulatory body, allowing Khan to continue his enterprise.According to the GGMC, as recent as April 1,NBA Authentic Jerseys, 2015, officers from the commission inspecting operations in Pepper Creek,Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey, found that Khan was still operating in an unsafe and dangerous manner,NFL Jerseys Cheap China, but when GGMC’s technical officers made attempts to advise and sanction the personnel, they were shown the injunction barring them from acting.‘Overburden’According to a closely placed mining expert, the ‘overburden’ or dirt that was dug out of the pit was placed dangerously close to the edge of the opening.According to the source, with the rainfall, the water seeped underneath the dirt and boulders, eventually dislodging the mass and sending it cascading into the pit. The workers within the pit would have had little warning before being buried alive.Randy, brother of one of the victims, Michael Gardner, spoke to the media at Lyken Funeral Home after relatives identified the body.“We heard he was in a 90-foot pit. That is very dangerous and the stuff they took out of the pit they didn’t really move it; it was right there. So it was very careless. My brother-in-law went in and saw it and he said it was suicide.”According to the man’s brother, his death was hitting them very hard since he was very close to them.“We all lived as one with real love. We don’t know how we will deal with this. I hope as the government change, things would be different.”The police are currently conducting their investigations. |
