Illegal miners warned against provoking joint Military Police taskforce

Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu Bio has warned illegal miners who intend to engage the joint Military-Police taskforce not to carry out their plans because the backlash will be unpleasant. 

He said the taskforce has been trained to deal with the civilian population in their host communities and cautioned against any provocation. 

Speaking on GBC’s Current Affairs Programme, “Focus”, Mr. Owusu Bio said the taskforce has been provided with all the resources it needs to fight the activities of illegal mining.

Mr. Owusu Bio announced that the Ghana Minerals Commission is currently undergoing restructuring to position it to properly deal with mining issues.

The Director of Public Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces, Col. Aggrey Quarshie, said the taskforce has arrived in the host communities and it is engaging with stakeholders to announce its presence.  

Col. Quarshie also warned the illegal miners not to dare to confront the taskforce.

An Environmentalist Samuel Mawutor said the entire mining policy must be looked at to bring some sanity in the sector.

Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners says it welcomes the objectives of the Multilateral Mining Integrated Project, MMIP provided it will be implemented as stipulated. 

The Director of Operations of the association, Emmanuel Antwi, however expressed concern that members will be sidelined in the allocation of concessions since a similar situation occurred previously. 

He spoke to GBC’s Joyce Gyekye during a sustainable mining programme for small scale miners and media practitioners.

In a related development, the chairperson of the Inter Ministerial Committee against Galamsey, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, has allayed the fears of the Small Scale Miners about the allocation of mining sites. 

GBCONLINE