The government has warned persons and groups posing as security operatives to harass small scale miners across the country to stop or face the full rigours of the law.
A statement signed and issued in Accra by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the activities of those groups were unauthorised and did not form part of the special military operation dubbed “Operation Halt” to curb the activities of illegal miners in water bodies and forest reserves.
“It has come to the attention of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources that certain unauthorised task forces and security operatives have taken advantage of the ongoing Operation Halt to harass small scale miners across the country.
The operations of all such unauthorised task forces and parallel security outfits should cease and be disbanded with immediate effect,” the statement noted.
It explained that Operation Halt was mounted by the Ghana Armed Forces to preserve the water bodies and forest reserves which have been designated as Red Zones.
The statement said the operation was being conducted under the express instruction of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo through the Ministry of National Security.
“Operation Halt relates exclusively to the purging of our water bodies and forest reserves of illegal small-scale mining,” it added.
The statement reiterated government’s commitment to promoting sustainable small scale mining saying “the government is not against lawful, regulated and sustainable small-scale mining.”
It said the Ministry would continue to implement stringent measures to deal with other forms of illegalities in the mining sector including enhanced regulation, reformation of permitting regime, community mining and other enforcement mechanisms.
The statement said the Ministry was committed to realising the national policy on small scale mining, which was to preserve Ghana’s waterbodies, forest reserves and sanitise the sector.
BY TIMES REPORTER
