Cheetah Cement production halted due to safety concerns
The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation has ordered the Chinese-owned Cheetah Cement plant at Otjiwarongo to stop production due to health and safety regulations.
The plant was ordered to close under the Labour Act. Some of the concerns include employees not being provided with suitable protective equipment and that the cement factory has failed to provide adequate sanitary conveniences, canteens and emergency medical aid emergency arrangements to employees.
The ministry said the company has never investigated and identified the hazards and risks attached to the work, employs appropriate measures to prevent or minimize risk thereof and that the company does not have a health and safety policy and programme in place.
According to the ministry, a team of occupational safety, health and labour inspectors visited the plant and found that the company plant is an unsafe working environment.
The ministry’s acting Executive Director, Lydia Indombo, said the ministry identified shortfalls and contraventions with regard to health regulations, and that the company was instructed to make improvements in this regard.
“Requests by the ministry to ensure compliance have however fallen on deaf ears as the Ministry has on various occasions engaged the Management of Cheetah Cement but no improvements were made to date since the inspection held on 3rd May 2022,” Indombo said.
