The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has instructed owners and users of excavators to register their equipment with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) within their jurisdiction latest by Noverber 2, 2022
This is one of the measures government is taking to halt illegal mining activities, popularly called galamsey, a menace which is causing great havoc to natural resources such as waterbodies and lands.
In a press statement issued today, Mr Jinapor urged the MMDAs to ensure that owners of excavators reveal the purpose for purchase of the machines before they are registered.
“An owner, operator, and/or user of an excavator shall, at the time of registration, specify the purpose for which the excavator is being used or to be used and the area where the excavator is being used or will be used, as the case may be.”
Abu Jinapor
He noted that the Minerals and Mining Regulation gives power to the Minerals Commission in tracking all earmoving and mining equipment used in operations.
” By the Minerals and Mining ( Mineral Operations – Tracking of earthmoving and Mining Equipment) Regulations, 2022 ( L.I. 2404), The Minerals Commission is empowered to register and track all earthmoving and mining equipment used in mining operations.”
Abu Jinapor
According to the statement, any excavator not registered in accordance with this directive, whether found at a mining site or any other operational site or elsewhere, shall be seized and the necessary legal steps taken to confiscate same to the State.
Mr Jinapor further assured Ghanaians that the government will continue to take measures to protect the country’s natural evironment most especially, waterbodies and lands.
Fight Against Galamsey
Illegal small-scale mining has long spread across Ghana, Africa’s second and the world’s tenth largest gold exporter. But recent foreign investment coupled with industrialisation has significantly worsen its negative effects.
The menace has caused the death of many miners, change the colour of water bodies in the various mining communities and the destroying of farm lands.
Even foreigners have seen the weaknesses in the system and are exploiting it by entering the country and inflicting more damage to extract as much of the precious mineral as they can, leaving in their trail more devastation and poisons.
It is even more disturbing considering the fact that there are laws and legally mandated state institutions empowered and resourced to ensure that galamsey doesn’t happen and that even if it did, it would have been sufficiently controlled to minimize the level of danger the entire country and its future has been exposed to.
There has been a lot of calls on the President and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources by individual and institutions to come out with measures that will help put a halt to the menace.
The recent arrest of Aisha Huag and some three other Chinese nationals indicates government’s determination to fight the situation.
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