President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has ordered $5 million out of the total $6 million fine imposed on MAXAM Ghana Limited to be paid into the coffers of the Appiatse Support Fund.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor on Monday announced the imposition of a $1 million administrative fine and an additional $5 against MAXAM.
This was after a committee of inquiry found MAXAM guilty of breaches in the incident of January 20, 2022, in which the transportation of some mining explosives from MAXAM’s plant at Iduapriem to Chirano Gold Mines resulted in a blast at Appiatse in the Western Region.
In the latest release dated Thursday, January 10, 2022, the lands minister said the President has ordered the $5 million fine to be paid into the account of a fund set up to support the victims of the accident which led to 13 deaths.
“The President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has directed that Five Million United States Dollars (US$5,000,000.00), out of the total of Six Million United States Dollars (US$6,000,000.00), to be paid by Maxam Ghana Limited to Government, be donated to the Appiatse Support Fund, established by Government to, among others, support the victims of the Appiatse incident and reconstruct the community,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the minister in his initial release stated that while the administrative fine of $1 million is to be paid outright by MAXAM, the government has agreed with the company for the payment of the $5 million in monthly instalments over a period of 18 months.
“By law, the One Million Dollars (US$1,000,000.00), which constitutes the administrative fine, forms part of the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of the Minerals Commission, the regulator of the sector. The President has, therefore, directed that the additional Five Million Dollars (US$5,000,000.00), to be paid by Maxam to Government, be donated to the Appiatse Support Fund to support the reconstruction of the community. Accordingly, I have directed the Minerals Commission to ensure that the said Five Million Dollars (US$5,000,000.00) is paid to the Appiatse Support Fund, in accordance with the agreed terms of payment,” the minister said.
On Thursday, January 20, 2022, a truck transporting explosive material- Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil (ANFO) - from MAXAM Ghana Limited's explosives plant, located at Iduapriem, Tarkwa in the Western Region, to Chirano Gold lines Limited's site in the Western North Region, exploded, causing extensive damage to life and property.
Some thirteen (13) persons are reported to have died from the incident, with some one hundred (100) people injured, with several others rendered homeless due to the impact of the explosion which brought down, or structurally weakened, almost all houses in the Appiatse community.
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