The Minister in charge of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, yesterday commissioned 24 brand-new Toyota Land Cruisers and 250 motorbikes to strengthen the government’s fight against illegal mining across the country.

The logistics, procured through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will support key agencies leading the anti-illegal mining campaign, including EPA, the Forestry Commission, Minerals Commission, Water Resources Commission, and the Geological Survey Authority.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Buah stated that the vehicles and motorbikes form part of a broader strategic effort to safeguard the country’s forest reserves and water bodies from the devastating effects of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

He described the gesture as “putting money where it matters most,” stressing that the government was determined to provide the necessary resources and tools to ensure the effective deployment of security and monitoring personnel to illegal mining hotspots.

“It is not enough to declare forest reserves as no-go areas without providing the logistics to enforce it. These vehicles and motorbikes are vital for mobility, surveillance, and intelligence gathering.”

“What we are doing today demonstrates government’s strong commitment, under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, to winning the fight against illegal mining,” Mr Buah stated.

The Minister described illegal miners as “environmental terrorists” whose activities continue to destroy the country’s forest cover and pollute major rivers, threatening lives and livelihoods.

“We have so far lost 44 forest reserves and about 5,500 hectares of protected forest, equivalent to 7,500 football fields which must be reclaimed,” he lamented.

While acknowledging that the government’s budget alone could not fully support the enormous cost of reclaiming degraded lands, Mr Buah appealed to Corporate Ghana to partner the state in providing additional logistics and resources to sustain the anti-illegal mining operations.

Additionally, he noted that significant progress had been made over the past nine months through coordinated security efforts such as the establishment of the Blue Water Guards and the National Anti-Illegal Mining Secretariat.

However, he maintained that more work remained to be done to achieve the desired results.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, said the procurement of the vehicles followed a directive from the President to urgently provide logistics for the fight against illegal mining.

Prof. Klutse explained that the vehicles and motorbikes would be distributed among the various institutions involved in the anti-mining task force and would remain under their ownership and maintenance arrangements.

She reaffirmed the EPA’s commitment, together with partner agencies, to intensify efforts to protect the environment and restore degraded lands across the country.

BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA AND BLESSING ATALATA MOSES