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Failure to enforce LI 2177 caused the Apiate explosion; people must be punished– Prof. Asare

US-based Ghanaian legal luminary, professor Kwaku Asare has blamed the Apiate explosion on the failure of relevant regulatory agencies to enforce LI 2177.

Professor Kwaku Asare

According to him, the Legislative instrument, among many other things “requires the vehicle compartments in which explosives are transported to be covered with sheet metal and lined with treated wood to render it non-inflammable”.

“The compartment should be ventilated, the vehicle should be clearly marked with the danger sign, there are fire extinguisher rules, driver training requirements, etc.,” he added.

The learned professor took to his Facebook page on Thursday to bemoan how numerous Ghanaian laws have been reduced to mere suggestions due to lack of enforcement.

“But to what effect if these regulations are not enforced?

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“Accidents do happen and there is no doubt that the accident here is the actual cause of the problem. But accidents do not cause the kind of carnage we are witnessing. Rather, the negligent transportation of explosives on the Bogoso highway, itself the product of absence of enforcement, is the proximate cause of the carnage,” professor Asare lamented.

He has therefore called for severe punishments to be meted out to all persons whose actions and inactions have resulted in the devastating disaster.

“The mining company must be held accountable for the carnage! I see, at least, $100M of damages.

"But that’s not all. Who are those responsible for enforcing L1 2177? They must all be held accountable.

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"For the avoidance of doubt, a press release taking responsibility is not accountability. People must be fired, prosecuted, demoted, etc.”

In the afternoon of Thursday, January 20 2022, a truck belonging to mining services contractor MAXAM which was transporting some explosives to CHIRANO mining company in Tarkwa was involved in an accident, causing massive explosion.

The entire town of Apiate believed to have more than 500 houses was reduced to debris, and a huge crater has been created in the main road which passes through the town, making it completely unmotorable.

So far, not less than 17 residents of the Bogoso suburb in the Western Region have been confirmed dead with not less than 57 injured victims receiving treatment at various hospitals while rescue operations are still underway.

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