The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has announced taking inventory of some 157 seized excavators that were being used for illegal mining activities.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-cheremeh, this to the media on Wednesday, October 21, 2020, at the Information Ministry’s Meet The Press series in Accra.
According to him, “following a decision by Cabinet in March, 2020, for this Ministry to take direct responsibility to streamline and manage small scale mining activities, the Ministry decided to take inventory of various equipment, that were seized by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and “Galamstop”.
He stated that the Ministry has toured a number of locations to take inventory of these equipment especially excavators.
“This exercise has resulted in the citing of 157 excavators currently located at the following sites: Adenta -122; Obuasi -26; Tarkwa – nine;
Additionally, he revealed that documents received from “Operation Vanguard” and “Galamstop” indicated a number of seized excavators as follows:
• Operation Vanguard – 290; Galamstop – 81.
“The Ministry is currently working on reconciling these figures and developing a database to assist in managing these equipment.”
“Again, the Ministry is working with the Office of the Attorney- General to ensure full compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by the 2019 Minerals and Mining Amendment Act (Act 995)-especially sections (9) and (10).”
By Melvin Tarlue