URCC inaugurates regional mining taskforce

The Upper East Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) has inaugurated a – 12- member Regional Mining Taskforce chaired by the Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru to bring sanity into the mining sector in the Region.

Inaugurating the Taskforce on behalf of the Upper East Regional Minister on Friday, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Daniel Syme tasked the members to work together to ensure that illegal small scale miners are weeded out of the area.

He said government was not against small scale mining activities, but it wants those engaged in it to follow the processes and laws that govern the sector.

The mandate of the taskforce, the Deputy Regional Minister said, was to ensure that the laws are fully enforced.

They are also to seize all equipment used by those who fail to comply with the legal requirement and arrest and prosecute anyone involved in illegal small scale mining illegally.

The taskforce is also mandated to deport all non-Ghanaians involve in small scale mining, revoke the licenses of Ghanaians who have sub-leased their concessions to non-Ghanaians against the rules, as well as holding Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief.

Executives (DCE’s) and their respective District Security Committees accountable for any illegal mining in their area of jurisdictions.

Mr Syme said the Taskforce would be inviting the DCE’s in areas where mining activities are taking place to brief it on the level of the activities, adding that, the DCE’s would be urged to form District Mining Taskforces in their respective areas.

He said the Regional mining taskforce, made up of the Regional Police Command, the Airborne Detachment Command, the Immigration Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Disaster Management Organization would not compromise its operations and warned all small scale miners to adhere to laid down procedures in their operations to avoid embarrassment.