Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, has issued a two-week ultimatum for illegal miners to vacate water bodies and forest reserves, emphasizing the government’s commitment to addressing the issue.
He stated that the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council will deploy a team to enforce the directive and put an end to mining activities in these protected areas.
Speaking at his first media briefing since assuming office, Dr. Amoakohene outlined key measures to combat illegal mining and ensure strict adherence to environmental regulations.
“The President John Dramani Mahama has issued a directive that anyone in the forest reserves mining should vacate those places. We’re giving them up to two weeks if you are mining within forest reserves and if you don’t want to be on the other side of the law, you have two weeks to vacate or leave those places.
The other area has to do with water bodies, so we’re giving them two weeks, if you have any investment whatsoever and you are on water bodies polluting them and destroying our water bodies, you have two weeks to leave the space. We will send out a team to ensure normalcy and restore order within the mining sector.”
Additionally, he identified 618 stalled infrastructural projects across the region and pledged to work towards their completion.