we are coming after you…Lands and Natural Resources Minister declares war on illegal mining

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Armah Kofi Buah has declared war on illegal mining.

According to him, they are not going to spare anybody who mines in forest reserves and water bodies.

In a renewed effort to combat illicit mining, the minister during a working visit to the Offin-Shelterbelt Forest Reserve within the Nkawie Forest District in the Ashanti Region, declared war on illegal miners.

He declared that no one, regardless of political party, will be spared if they choose to mine in these forbidden areas.

Speaking to the media, he said, “This is why we breathe, this is where we get everything that keeps us alive as human beings, so when you see this devastation, at the heart of the Offin River which takes its source from here. what few of our own people are doing to us is, they have come to kill us at where it matters most.”

In strong warning, he said, “My message to our young people who want to do mining is that there is a pathway for doing the right mining, but we are not going to spare anybody who ventures to do illegal mining in our forest reserves.”

He revealed that “in the coming weeks you will see steps being taken by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology to parliament to repeal Act 2463 taking away even the power of the president to grant anybody licence to mine in forest reserves.”

“My message today having reclaimed this shelterbelt on the Offin is to all of the thugs that are in all the other 43 forest reserves, we are coming for you, we are coming after you, the chain of people who are involved, the investigations have commenced,” he added.

The minister concluded that all those who would be found culpable will face the law.

By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme