Investigations into the disappearance of BOSAI Minerals employee, Neptrid Hercules, changed from that of a workplace accident to a workplace fatality on Tuesday when the man’s partly decomposed body was found at the company’s Montgomery Mines in Linden, Region 10.
And according to Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, the company will now have to answer tough questions on its safety practices as the Ministry continues with an active investigation into the matter.
Employees and family members of Hercules said they still continued to cling to hope on Tuesday that he could be found alive, four days after the bulldozer he was operating fell and was covered by overburden dump when the land beneath them collapsed around 4:00 hrs on Saturday last.
Hercules’ body and the bulldozer were spotted just after noon on Tuesday but could not be immediately brought to the surface.
“What people are focusing on now is getting the body up to the surface.
“An investigation is going on simultaneously that we are doing… the company will be made to answer the tough questions on safety,” Hamilton said as he promised a preliminary report by the end of the week.
Currently, all mines operations at the company have been suspended.
Hamilton said there are serious issues beyond the accident and fatality which needs to be addressed.
Hercules worked with the company for over 40 years and was set to retire later this year.
Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn is currently in the Region meeting with relatives and company officials.
A statement from his Ministry noted that Benn was pivotal in locating the area where Hercules and the dozer were buried.
He is assisting with the recovery efforts which continue to be a collaborative effort between the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and BOSAI.
