Monday, March 10, 2008 Mayor to set up monitoring body for mine safety
ARGAO Mayor Edsel Galeos plans to create a commission that will draft safety measures to prevent another mining tragedy similar to what killed two miners in the town last March 2.
While Galeos believes what happened was an accident, preventive measures still need to be drawn up, he added.
Galeos told Sun.Star Cebu he will call on representatives of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the mine operators to form a commission.
“We need to sit down and formulate ways to prevent another accident,” he said. “In the first place, we have no authority over the mining industry.”
The Municipal Government gets blamed for such tragedies, but what the public doesn’t know, said Galeos, is that the Municipality does not have authority over mines. Neither does it get any tax from them.
It is the DOE that has authority over the mines, and financial gains go to the barangay, he added.
Mining is no loss to the municipality, though, because it has created jobs that support about 100 families, and during the rainy season, mine operators help Argao cover up potholes, the mayor said.
But monitoring of the mine operations should be instituted, he added.
Three mines operate in Argao.
The commission that Galeos plans to form will be tasked to submit monthly reports on the status of the operations. The mayor also hopes to work out some kind of tax so the municipality also gains something from the resource extraction.
Galeos also encouraged regular training or seminars on safety measures. He did say that DOE conducted a seminar on mining safety last February.
What happened two Sundays ago, though, was just an accident.
“Karaan na man to nila nga trabahador, dili gyud ordinary ba, ni-kompyansa lang gyud (Those were trusted workers, who just let their guard down),” explained the mayor.
Miners Avelino Pantojan, 24, and Sonny Alberca, 22, died in a mine explosion in Barangay Linut-od, Argao, some 23 kilometers from the main road.
Gerry Bandico got out with minor injuries.
Preliminary reports stated that the three went inside a proposed ventilation shaft without getting clearance from the safety inspector.
A brownout stopped the mine’s operations last March 2. But when power was restored at about 4 p.m., the three miners decided to go back to work.
An hour later, a blast rocked the shaft.
Galeos explained that methane gas inside the mines needed to be drained at least three hours after the brownout, when blowers meant to disperse the potentially deadly gas had to shut down.
