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Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Arroyo flies in for Diwalwal mine blast probe
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo flew in Monday in a no-frills visit to be apprised on the situation in the gold mining site in Diwalwal on Mount Diwata, Monkayo, Compostela Valley, the scene of a recent explosion that killed several miners.
The President also tasked Mindanao Affairs Secretary Jesus Dureza to oversee the ongoing rescue operation in the gold rush mountain of Diwalwal and the investigation on the blast.
In a meeting with the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council at the Apo View Hotel in Davao City Monday morning, Police Regional Director Antonio Billones briefed the President on the present situation in Diwalwal.
Billones said as of Sunday, 11 miners were declared dead, 11 were rescued while 13 more remained trapped inside the Sunshine tunnel of the JB Management and Mining Corporation.
The police official said that rescue operation was hampered by the presence of toxic fumes inside the tunnel.
At this juncture, Davao City Mayor and Regional Crisis Manager Rodrigo Duterte suggested the creation of an agency that will specialize on rescue operations in the mine tunnels.
Duterte said this is not the first time that such an accident happened in Diwalwal and yet nothing has been done to prepare for such emergencies.
"There have been hundred of explosions in the past and always we are faced with incompetence and lack of equipment. This is a recurring problem in Diwalwal," Duterte said.
Natural Resources and Mining Development Corporation (NRMDC) president Art Disini said they will create such agency and it will be under the National Task Force Diwalwal that was created by Arroyo last June 17, 2003 through Executive Order 217.
Monkayo Mayor Manuel Brillantes Jr., meanwhile, informed the president that he formed Task Force Ligtas Buhay to look into the incident in Diwalwal and recommend the proper actions needed.
Brillantes welcomed the plan to form a pro-active disaster team in Diwalwal, saying this would greatly reduce the number of casualties in the future.
It was learned that majority of those who died in Diwalwal were rescuers. They went inside only with wet towels covering their nose and suffocated from the toxic fumes inside the tunnel.
Rescue experts from other mining companies arrived in Diwalwal Monday to help in the rescue and retrieval operations there.
Disini said the rescue team is equipped with protective gears and high-tech equipments capable of identifying toxic gases and their level.
He said it will take two weeks for them to clear the tunnel and come out with the result of the real cause of the cave-in. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(November 1, 2005 issue)
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