The representative of the company Petquilla Gold denies the version of the extrabajadores of the mine that report that gold is being extracted clandestinely.
Recently the Ministry of Labor made a surprise visit to the facilities of the mine, located in the District of Molejón. After the inspection, Mitrab indicated that the workers were engaged in mineral extraction, using machinery and handling dangerous chemicals without any precautions.
The report states that clandestinely and without complying with minimum health, safety and hygiene measures at work, workers were putting their lives at risk.
The company spokesman, Jorge Obon, says that the "group of workers belongs to the security group that must take care of the property and that they are giving maintenance to the mine, a mechanical group that is trying to save the plant." Obon says that every six months the company, which closed operations in early 2014 and faces a series of administrative proceedings in court, submits to the Ministry of Commerce and Environment a report on the state of facilities which includes cleaning up Areas and stabilization of mining structures, as a sample of compliance with the work of the company recommended by the authorities.
Despite the suspicion of Eric De León, general secretary of the industrial workers' union and at the end of Panama, "the mine has an energy generator and we estimate that gold has been extracted for about two months without the authorities putting a Finally, we were denouncing the Ministry of Labor. They have everything enabled according to De León with the use of chemicals without any supervision, "said the trade unionist.
According to the trade unionist in the mine "there was an inventory of coal loaded with gold that they have been processing, the question is who are they selling that gold and where is the money going if they have not fulfilled the commitments they have with the workers Product of Social Security payments, "he said.
Obon refutes these statements. He explains that the electricity generator is intended to give energy to the maintenance workers, which includes, according to the report sent by the spokesman, the stabilization of the embankment of the southern dam in a tailingshed 1 for erosion control, prevention of sedimentation And the promotion of revegetation, remediation of hydrocarbon spills and other chemical substances in the areas of electrical generators, plant cleaning and other works.
During the visit of the Ministry of Labor on April 21, the workers were immediately evicted and the activities were closed on the grounds of security, in compliance with Article 109 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama, Articles 282 and 283 of the Labor Code, relating to health, safety and health at work, as well as Article 13 of ILO Convention No. 81 on Labor Inspection.
