All owners, operators, and/or users of excavators in the country are, within seven days of this notice, excluding weekends and statutory holidays, to register their excavators with the Metropolitan, Municipal, or District Assembly (MMDA) with jurisdiction over the area where the excavator is located;
It has been stated that for the avoidance of doubt, the deadline for the registration of all excavators in the country is by close of business on Wednesday, 2nd November 2022.
“An owner, operator, and/or user of an excavator shall, at the time of registration, specify the purpose for which the excavator is being used or to be used and the area where the excavator is being used or will be used, as the case may be.
MMDAs shall, as part of the registration, record the name and particulars of the owner of the excavator; the date the excavator was brought into the country; the registration number of the excavator; the chassis number of the excavator; the purposes for which the excavator was brought into the country; the area where the excavator is expected to be used; the name and particulars of the current operator and/or user of the excavator; and any other particulars the MMDA may deem necessary;
Further, any excavator not registered per this directive, whether found at a mining site or any other operational site or elsewhere, shall be seized and the necessary legal steps taken to confiscate same to the State;
“The Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development has been formally notified of these measures, and has directed all MMDAs to ensure strict compliance with same,” a release in Accra yesterday stated;
The Notice, signed by Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, Minister, stated that the general public is therefore given notice, particularly owners, operators, and/or users of excavators, as well as all MMDAs, to ensure strict compliance with these directives.
“The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources wishes to reassure the general public that it will continue to take the necessary measures to protect our natural environment, particularly, water bodies, forests, and lands, transparently and sustainably, anchored on integrity,” the release stated.
The notice was titled ‘FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL MINING: REGISTRATION OF ALL EXCAVATORS WITH METROPOLITAN, MUNICIPAL, AND DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY’.
As background, the notice stated that illegal mining activities, popularly known as Galamsey, continue to pose a threat to our natural environment, particularly water bodies and forests.
The notice further explained that following the National Consultative Dialogue, held on the 14th and 15th of April, 2021, it was resolved by paragraph 13 of the Communique issued after the Conference, that “the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources will take appropriate steps, legislative and/or executive action, as the case may be, to give effect to the set of measures arising from this Dialogue and approved by the government.
It further stated that most of the devastation to water bodies and forests is caused by excavators used in illegal mining activities and the floating platform popularly referred to as “Chang fan.
It noted that Government has placed a ban on the manufacture, sale, use, and/or dealings in the floating platform known as “Chang fan”;
The directives are therefore to give teeth to the Minerals and Mining (Mineral Operations – Tracking of Earthmoving and Mining Equipment) Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2404), which empowers the Minerals Commission to register and track all earthmoving and mining equipment used in mining operations.
