I never seized 'galamsey' excavators - Peter Amewu

The Minister-Designate for Railway Development, John Peter Amewu says he never seized excavators used for illegal mining activities, locally known galamsey, during his time as Minister for Lands and Mineral resources.

He said, he only asked for the withdrawal of excavators from mining sites which was complied to by miners.

The destruction of natural resource by galamsey activities led to a temporal ban on the activities of small-scale miners in March 2017 as part of efforts to sanitise the sector and cleanse the water bodies which serve millions of households in Ghana.

As part of the operation, equipment  used by illegal miners, including their excavators, were seized by a taskforce to halt their activities.

Subsequent to this, about 500 excavators said to have been seized from galamsey sites were reported missing.

Some government appointees said the over 500 missing excavators used for illegal mining have put the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the government in a bad light.

Elvis Morris Donkor, the Member of Parliament for Abura, Asebu, Kwamankese speaking on the development it's an embarrassment to the government over the missing excavators.

But Peter Amewu said the excavators were withdrawn and not seized.

During his vetting at the Appointments Committee, he said "While I was the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, I never seized any excavator. What I did when I was the Minister for that sector was to ask for the withdrawal of excavators from mining sites. About 500 were withdrawn from the sites, but they were not seized."