NAIMOS Seizes Over 450 Unregistered Excavators From Forests- Lands Minister Spokesperson

The Media Relations Officer of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Paa Kwesi Schandorf, has disclosed that over 450 unchecked and unregistered excavators have been seized through the operations of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).

These excavators were found in various forests wreaking havoc in 44 out of the 288 forest reserves, which translates into 5,500 hectares and about 7,500 standard football fields.

“The main equipment used to cause this dire destruction was excavators — and for the record, over the last eight years, none of the excavators imported into the country were registered, tracked, or monitored.”

The Ministry expects to confiscate more.

In addition to the ongoing confiscations, he outlined other measures the Ministry was taking to deal with the menace.

One, he said, is a partnership with the DVLA, Transport Ministry, and other relevant agencies to introduce a new mandatory registration regime for all imported excavators.

He also mentioned the rollout of a geo-tracking and geofencing system for all heavy earth-moving equipment, which enjoins importers to disclose its intended purpose and operational location when an excavator is imported.

“Once this requirement is satisfied, the machine is registered and fitted with a GPS tracker under the new monitoring system. If an excavator moves outside its approved zone, the tracker sends an urgent alert, and the machine can be remotely disabled from the Minerals Commission’s control room, which runs 24/7.”

According to him, 724 excavators are being tracked through this process and once it is detected that an excavator is being used for a foul purpose or moving out of its registered station, the tracker will trigger an instant deactivation.

Story by Hajara Fuseini

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