The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has announced that more than 500 excavators have been seized in the fight against illegal mining since January this year.
Director of Communications at the Ministry, Ama Mawusi, disclosed that the confiscated machines are currently being kept at secure facilities across the country. These include regional police commands and military barracks, depending on the location of the seizures.
“Look, over 500 excavators have been seized,” she confirmed in an interview with Myjoyonline. “We have them all over; some of them are with the police, some of them are in the regions, and some are in the barracks, depending on where we seized them.”
To safeguard the machines, Ms Mawusi revealed that tracking devices have been installed on all seized excavators to ensure their movements are monitored.
“We have put these tracking devices on them. If anybody moves any of them, we will be able to know. As far as we know, all the excavators that have been seized are still intact,” she emphasised.
She further credited the establishment of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) as a major factor in strengthening the fight against illegal mining.
