FRIDAY, 3.00PM:
A FORMER engineer at Namibia’s Rossing mine has won a breakthrough compensation case in the House of Lords after a three-year legal battle. Edward Connelly lost his ability to speak to throat cancer, which he blames on working on ore crushers that spewed radioactive uranium and quartz dust.
The dispute before the House of Lords was over whether Connelly had the right to sue Rio Tinto Zinc, owners of the Rossing mine, in Britain, with the support of British legal aid. Rio Tinto Zinc’s lawyers said he had to sue in Windhoek, where he would get no legal aid.
Connelly must still go ahead with the compensation case itself, which could take another year to come to court. But the Lord’s decision opens doors not only to him, but to other Namibian miners who want compensation for diseases they blame on mine working conditions.
Rio Tinto Zinc spokesman Peter Darling told The Namibian newspaper that the Lords’ decision did not deal with the merits of Connelly’s case. “Whilst we have every sympathy for Mr Connelly, as far we are concerned, his condition has nothing to do with his employment,” he said.