With 400 excavators and other mining equipment already destroyed in the recent fight against illegal mining, the Minister for Defense, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, has indicated that “no machine is going to come home.”
Mr Nitiwul said all machines found to be involved in illegal mining would be burnt and destroyed.
“No prisoner will be taken back home; everybody is going down. I am saying this to mean that no machine is going to come home.”
The Minister was speaking at a press conference in Accra yesterday.
He made the comments while giving an update on the just-ended phase two of Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, termed “Operation Halt.”
The operation sought to flash out illegal miners from Ghana’s river bodies and forest reserves, he said at a press conference in Accra yesterday.
It would be recalled that the government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, launched a fight against illegal mining.
The fight started with a warning from the Ministry to people who were prospecting in Ghana’s rivets and water bodies to halt their activities for the time being.
This was followed by the release of 400 personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces to the river bodies to flush out people who were engaging in illegal mining.
The first phase of the operation commenced on April 28 and ended on April 30, while the second phase commenced on May 7 and ended on May 9.
According to reports, phase 2 of the operation saw the burning of 28 excavators, 267 changfan machines with platforms, 18 water pumping machines, and one milling machine.
Other items that were destroyed include one dredging machine, two industrial pumps,10 plastic fuel tanks, five canoes, one wooden accommodation, eight industrial batteries, and two pump action guns.
Some that were seized, but not destroyed, were 21 new pumping machines, a truck and a washing platform.
Giving more updates on the operation, the Minister indicated that no arrest was made because most of the illegal miners took to their heels when they saw the soldiers, but warned people to stay away from the water bodies for their own good.
He said they were lucky the soldiers didn’t shoot at them, but that should not be taken for granted, because they could do so when the next phase commenced.
He indicated that the overall impact had been successful, because most people had abandoned their equipment and haven’t returned to the mining sites to mine.
“Therefore, the operation will continue until we are satisfied that the president’s objective has been achieved.”
The Minister for Land and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, whose Ministry was spearheading the fight, also spoke at the conference, indicated that the fight against illegal mining (galamsey) had no regard for political colouration.
His comments were a response to Ghanaians who have questioned the genuineness of the resumed fight against illegal mining in Ghana’s water bodies and forest reserves.
According to the Minister, what the government was doing was a very genuine effort and the commitment to do it was unflinching, total, and unwavering.
“It’s a tough battle, but we are on it. This is about Ghana and nothing else. The commitment to do it is total, unflinching and unwavering. It is a very genuine effort. It has no regard for political colouration.”
He sent a word to the naysayers that “it’s either we are fighting this menace or we are not. It’s either we are protecting our rivers and forest reserves, or we are not.”
Touching on the issue of harassment of some small scale miners, the Minister said his attention had been drawn to the fact that some people had taken advantage of the operation that is ongoing and were intimidating and harassing small scale miners, and cautioned small scale miners to be on the lookout for such miscreant.
He said these men are trying to paint the government black with their activities and called on the small scale miners to beware.
The Minister said that “the government of Akufo-Addo was not against small scale mining.
“On the contrary, we are working to regulate a viable, sustainable small scale mining industry which has regard for the preservation of the environment,” the Minister said.
The post We will keep on burning excavators -Nitiwul appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS