We will track all excavators to avert illegal mining- Mahama
As part of the measures to combat illegal mining, President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has said his administration will implement a tracking system to monitor excavators.
According to him, the NDC government has successfully removed illegal miners from 8 out of the 9 forest reserves.
“We have successfully, as the minister told you, we have cleared illegal miners from 8 out of the 9 no go zone forest reserves. We will track excavators as the minister said, in order to know whether they are being used for illegal mining or not” Mr Mahama stated.
Delivering his keynote address at the Mining in Motion Summit held in Accra today, he revealed the government’s plans to reform the excavator import permit.
“And we intend to change the permitting regime. Ghana has more excavators in this country than in the whole of Africa. We are going to change the permitting regime. You will not be allowed to import an excavator or put it on a ship unless you get a permit before you can ship an excavator” he echoed.
Opining on gold exportation, he said Ghana secured 2.7 billion dollars through gold export between January and April this year.
” The gold bod, the key strategy to reform the gold mining sector and ensure maximum benefits for Ghanaians from our gold resources has taken off. In its short existence, it has sanitized the gold sector, ensuring maximum returns from our gold exports. Ghana’s gold exports earned the country 2.7 billion dollars between January and April and this figure is expected to increase exponentially throughout the year” he stressed.
