Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has slammed the management of XtraGold Mining Company for peddling falsehood over circumstances leading to the burning of their excavators.
The Minister said the operation halt team burnt the excavators because the company was engaging in an illegality.
The company managed by National Women’s Organizer of the NPP Kate Gyamfua has said officials deployed to clamp down on illegal mining activities is in breach of laws governing the mining sector and also in contravention of directives issued by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor.
The task force from the Ghana Armed Forces, as part of its ‘Operation Halt’ on Sunday, May 16, 2021, raided some mining sites at Larbikrom, Dompem and Pamen, all in the Atiwa district of the Eastern Region.
As part of the raid, the military task force destroyed over 20 excavators while other mining logistics were set on fire as part of efforts to crack down on illegal mining in the Eastern Region.
But the company said the team burnt their machines although they were a licensed company.
However, the Minister in an update at a press briefing said the burnt excavators were in the red zone of the team.
He said it was not only XtraGold that had their machines burnt but because the company had a political voice, they made noise in the media.
The Minister said the team is not touching licensed operators but the ”illegality”.
”Our target was an illegality. Our target was to protect water bodies and their tributaries, not your license. Yes, you can have a license but if you mine in water bodies, the soldiers were to make sure they take out the equipment you are using. The soldiers were not out to inspect licenses,” he added.
”XtraGold came out to say they were the only company that had their excavators burnt. It is not true. There is a company called Kibi Goldfields Limited, they [Operation Halt] destroyed their equipment as well. Maybe because they don’t have a political voice, they were not making noise. They destroyed their equipment because they were doing the wrong thing.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
