The death of four workers at a sand extraction valley site in Bigogwe Sector, Nyabihu District, last Friday reignited debate about  the safety of hundreds of workers in quarries and mines across the country.

A hill on which the quartet was extracting sand caved in, burrying them alive.

The incident has been blamed on excavation activity and the recent rains that left the ground soft and prone to mudslide.

Three other people died in similar circumstances in Kintobo Sector in the same district, early last year.

Jean Marie Vianney Faida, the chairperson of the Rwanda Mining Association (RMA) in the Western Province, said quarries producing construction materials such as sand and gravel are not under the RMA but added that they intend to bring them on board.

"We resolved at a meeting in Nyabihu District that  quarries are brought under our docket so that we do advocacy for them,” Faida said on Monday.

He added: "We have engaged the ministry on this and hope it will be achieved soon.”

The mining association advocates for miners’ rights, welfare, periodic training, and safety at work.

Evode Imena, the Minister of State in charge of mining, however, explained that bringing quarries within RMA is not practical since they vary in size.

The quarries owned by major construction firms like Cimerwa, Ruliba Clays and East African Granite Industry (EAGI Ltd) are high-end and they have got clear standards to abide by, the minister stated.

He said the others, at the lowest level, such as the quarries in most country valleys, are owned by cooperatives and the government was yet to determine what category they belong to.

"There are commercial quarries and non-commercial quarries. The one in Nyabihu District is a non-commercial quarry and a responsibility of the district. Policy and regulation matters, however, are the responsibility of the ministry,” Imena admitted.

He said: "Small quarries are a responsibility of the district but before people are awarded contracts to excavate, they must be given explicit standards.”

The mining sector is the country’s second highest foreign exchange earner after tourism. 

In the first six months of 2013, Rwanda registered $30 million in mining revenue compared to $39 million the previous year.

But as the country’s mining prospects continues to grow, so should the mine workers’ safety measures, says Andre Mutsindashyaka, the head of  the Kigali national union of workers associations.

"We are now fast-tracking a major campaign on occupational safety and health,” he said, adding that they are also gathering statistics on mining accidents.

The government targets $407 million (Rwf268.6bn) in mineral exports by 2017.

Mitigating risk

Globally, thousands of miners die from mining accidents annually.

Poisonous gas leakage, collapse of mines, flooding, general mechanical errors from malfunctioning mining equipment, and use of improper explosives are some of the  common causes of accidents.

Last week, the American Mine Safety and Health Administration reported that eight miners died in the US in mine accidents in the first three months of 2014.

Faida admits that accidents are still a challenge in Rwanda’s mining sector.

He explained that in order to  prevent fatal accidents, the ministry made it mandatory for  mining companies to insure their workers from possible accidents.

"When accidents occur, we carry out investigations to ascertain the possible cause so that measures are put in place to prevent re-occurrence,” Faida said.

He said accidents usually occur where mining is done inside tunnels and in open pit-mines.

Imena said the mining sector last year deployed  mine inspectors across the country to conduct inspections and acquire baseline information.

"We now have five inspectors. They are not enough but it is a good start. We are slowly making progress,” he said.

The five traverse the country training miners in requisite operational standards and best practices.

"There is an improvement although we are not yet there,” Imena said.