Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, has revealed all miners have been flushed out of the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve.
He noted this forms part of stringent laws being put in place against illegal mining, especially to protect the country’s forest reserves and water bodies.
Mr Jinapor said this on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen while speaking on the ban on prospecting in forest reserves.
“The fact that the Minister has come out with a ban on prospecting and recognizance, as well as exploration activities, doesn’t mean that certain people will not flout that rule, there will be recalcitrant ones. Those people are perpetuating and engaged in illegality. When it comes to our attention we’ll deal with it,” he said.
Citing the operations of Akonta Mining Limited, the Minister noted he could have chosen to turn a blind eye to it because it involves Chairman Wontumi of his party, the New Patriotic Party.
However, he ordered them to halt operations with investigations ongoing into their activities in the forest reserve and when found culpable, they will not be spared.
“Like this Tano-Nimri, Samreboi relating to this matter, the Akonta matter. I have gone a step further to get a task force from the Forestry Commission with helicopters to flush the whole forest reserve of all kinds of mining. Not just in respect of Akonta, but everything.
“Today, the indication I get from the Forestry Commission is that that particular forest reserve at least for now is rid of any illegal mining activity,” he added.
