Minister Issues Stern Warning To Illegal Miners As Operation Halt II Strikes

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, in charge of Mines, Hon. George Mireku Duker has sounded a stern warning to Miners who are still operating under illegal conditions in various mining communities in the country.

He said ” those who are determined to destroy our heritage, we will come after you and I’m using this medium to sound a stern warning to these recalcitrants to refrain from mining in our river bodies”

The Deputy Minister said they are aware of the new ways of the illegal Miners to work at night and said the army is reviewing it’s strategies to meet up their operating times.

The Deputy Minister said this during the Minister’s Press Briefing held at the Ministry of Information on Wednesday, 8th December, 2021.

Presenting the updates on the fight against galamsey, Hon. Mireku Duker said 256 equipments have been decommissioned including some chanfans, water pumps and excavators. adding that 26 suspects have also been arrested and handed over to the police.

Touching on the progress made with the Community Mining Scheme (CMS), the Deputy Minister said the government through the Ministry has so far commissioned a total of six (6) CMS in various mining communities in the country. These six schemes are expected to generate about 10,000 direct jobs and 21,000 in direct job.

He employed the opportunity to announce that the 7th CMS will soon be launched in Tepa in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

He also announced that there has been an establishment of a Minerals Development Unit at the Agricultural Development Bank (Bank) to ensure that Small Scale Mining operators have access to credit facilities for their operations.

As part of the many initiatives underway for the proper implementation of the Operation Halt11, he said the Ministry has been able to come up with systems such as the Equipment Tracking System, Practical License Verification and Traceability of Gold, all in the efforts to ensure the smooth re-tooling and regularisation of the Small Scale Mining sector.

On the way foward the Deputy Minister said trained officers including River guards have been deployed to various districts to monitor the activities of the Miners and also ensure that no one ventures into the Red Zones.

Hon. George Mireku Duker commended the military for assisting in the fight so far.

He also called on the media and the general public to assist the Ministry and Government to take out these recalcitrants for the salvaging of our river bodies.

Also present at the Briefing were Mr. Martin Ayisi, Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Mr. Benjamin Aryee, the Advisor on Mines, Mr. Peter Awuah, the Technical Director on Mines and other officials from the Ministry.

Source: PR UNIT MLNR