Seized excavators not pendrives, we’ll return them to owners – NDC

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said some 900 excavators seized by the anti galamsey taskforce under the present New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration will be returned to their owners should the party win the elections this year to form the next government.

Addressing a town hall meeting in Cape Coast, on Thursday, December 3, Member of Parliament for Asunafo South and Minority Spokesperson on Agriculture, Eric Opoku said, “the excavators are not pendrives to have gone missing after they were seized by the task force.”

He said some government officials rather than seeking to address the galamsey menace have gone neck-deep using the seized excavators to their advantage.

“A future NDC government will ensure small scale miners return to their lawful enterprise while a system to supervise and regulate the industry would be in place, ” Mr. Opoku told party faithful.

Earlier this year, the presidential candidate of the NDC, John Mahama speaking at the launch of the NDC’s 2020 Manifesto at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), stated that the party will see to the return of confiscated mining licenses, concessions and excavators to small scale miners should he be voted back into office.

He said that this forms part of his move to promote legal and properly regulated and operated medium and small scale mining in the country.

“We will reissue confiscated legitimate mining licenses to miners. For persons whose mining concessions have been illegitimately seized, we shall return the concessions to the legitimate owners.

“We will track down and take back all excavators that are missing and we will return the excavators to their rightful owners,” Mr Mahama said.