The Appiatse Support Fund is to receive US$5 million out of the US$6 million fine imposed on Maxam Company Limited, the company at the centre of the deadly explosion which claimed 17 lives on January 20.
A statement issued by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, in Accra yesterday, said the decision followed a directive by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to donate the fine to the support fund.
The Appiatse Support Fund was established by government to, among others, support the victims of the Appiatse incident and reconstruct the community.
The remaining US$1 million which constitutes the administrative fine for regulatory breaches following the Appiatse incident, it said, forms part of the Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of the Minerals Commission, the regulator of the sector.
It would be recalled that Maxam Company Limited, was fined a total of US$6 million for their role in the fatal explosion.
Imposed by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, it includes an administrative fine of US$1 million and a further US$5 million to be paid to government.
The fine followed a review of the report of the independent investigations carried out by the three-member committee to corroborate, or otherwise, the findings of the Minerals Commission by the minister.
Mr Jinapor in a statement said, “Upon a review of the two reports, the ministry has established regulatory breaches on the part of Maxam Ghana Limited in respect of the manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives for mining and other civil works.”
The breaches, per L.I. 2177, attract fines ranging from GH¢600 to US$10,000, it noted.
However, the statement said the Minister imposed the hefty fines due to the nature and totality of the circumstances leading to the tragic incident.
It stated that Maxam would be required to pay the fine before the restoration of its permit to manufacture, store, supply and transport explosives.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
