Interior Ministry gives Maxam Company ultimatum 

The Minister for Interior, Ambrose Dery, has ordered the management of Maxam Explosive Company to address all the short falls in their operations within eight weeks.  He said if the firm fails to meet the approved safety standard by December 10, 2017, the Ministry will have no alternative than to stop granting them any further permits to handle explosives. 

Mr Dery said the new regulation is that there should be bunkers erected on the four sizes of the magazines to ensure that in case of any explosion the horizontal movement of the explosion will  be contained within the bunkers and can only go vertically up which will reduce any collateral damage that may be caused. 

Addressing the media, the Minister said Maxam Explosive Company is one of the institutions the Ministry has granted permit to operate, but they have not met the regulation to secure their magazines as stated by the regulator. 
 
Mr Dery said recently when he visited the company he observed that they had no protective clothing like jackets, helmet and goggles which is wrong.
 
He said those security clothing are necessary because there is the possibility of some explosives getting into the wrong hands.
 
He said much as the President wants the private sector to operate, he is also interested in high standards and that best practices must be pursued.

GNA
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