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Honduras orders coffee mill checks after deaths

20 Jan 2007 00:31:28 GMT
Source: Reuters

TEGUCIGALPA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Honduras ordered safety inspections on Friday at all the country's coffee processing plants and warehouses, two days after six workers were killed by falling coffee sacks.

Tonnes of coffee crushed the workers when an overhead storeroom collapsed in the northern town of Villanueva this week, leading to harsh criticism from British aid agency Oxfam about the lax safety standards in the industry.

"We are calling on the country's municipalities to immediately inspect the state of coffee mills and other industrial structures," top government safety official Juan Carlos Elvir told Reuters.

Oxfam International's Honduran representative, Asier Malax, said conditions were dangerous at plants across the country.

"There is a great risk similar situations are repeated," he said. Malax blamed the poor state of coffee warehouses in Honduras on what he said was poor distribution of coffee income to producer countries.

"Honduras is not getting enough money to invest in installations due to the unfair relationships produced in the coffee market," he said.

Rescue workers and one of the two survivors of the incident said the storehouse holding the coffee had structural faults that were visible to the naked eye.

Survivor Christian Hernandez said the building's conditions had been reported to the warehouse owner, coffee exporter Companias HONDUCAFE, before the collapse occurred.

Honduras, the second most important coffee exporter in Central America, has 44 similar processing plants scattered throughout the country. The current coffee harvest is in full swing.

The nation's coffee exporters said the deaths were not a reflection of the industry as a whole.

"The majority of the silos are in good shape; they are periodically inspected and there is no danger," said Christian Lesaje, president of the Association of Honduran Coffee Exporters.

He declined to comment specifically on the HONDUCAFE facility.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The coffee industry is only now emerging from a prolonged crisis caused by low international prices. Coffee remains a major source of temporary employment for the populace.

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Last updated:Sat Jan 20 00:31:45 2007