The labour ministry has ordered the Chinese-owned Cheetah Cement plant at Otjiwarongo to stop production due to health concerns.
A directive to close the plant in terms of health and safety regulations under the Labour Act was issued by the ministry on Tuesday this week.
The labour ministry says a team of occupational safety, health and labour inspectors concluded after an inspection that the company’s plant is an unsafe working environment.
The ministry’s acting executive director, Lydia Indombo, says the ministry identified shortfalls and contraventions with regard to health regulations, and that the company was instructed to make improvements in this regard.
Some of the transgressions are that employees are not 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.
“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 have been made to date since the inspection held on 3 May 2022,” Indombo stated.
