The Minister for Lands and Natural Resource, John Peter Amewu, has revealed plans to deploy drones to complement ongoing efforts to defeat illegal small-scale mining, popularly called galamsey.
“We are in the process of the acquisition of the drones which is costing almost about $3 million,” he revealed Thursday.
The government recently deployed the Operation Vanguard taskforce, a 400-strong combined military and police force, to galamsey hotspots across the country to root out miners who are sometimes armed with sophisticated weapons.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has promised to root out the practice that has destroyed water bodies, arable land and entire ecosystems even if it will cost him a second term.
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister told Accra-based Citi FM that “we have done some exploration activities in some areas that we’ve earmarked such facilities [drone technology] for them.”
Mr Amewu first revealed plans to use drones in the fight against illegal mining in March this year.
The Minister had said the drone technology would access and find miners who sometimes work “deep forest excavating into our water bodies.”