The illicit mine in Paboken, Jaedepo District, Sinoe County, where the Ministry of Mines made the seizure. Picture credit: Ministry of Mines and Energy
ByVarney Kamara
ZWEDRU, Grand Gedeh – The Ministry of Mines and Energy has seized machines at an illicit mine in Sinoe County, ordering its closure.
Over the weekend, the Ministry held an excavator and a mini washing plant at the mine in Paboken, Jaedepo District. The mine owner, identified as Mohamed Kamara (no relation to this reporter), fled the scene, said Awell Aloysius Carr, the Director of Mines at the ministry.
“Based on the scale of illicit mining activities we saw in this area, we immediately issued a closure and seizure order,” Carr, the told The DayLight in the Zwedru. “I saw massive footprints. I mean areas that were excavated, water courses were diverted, vegetation was destroyed.”
Carr said the ministry would take the matter, and had informed local chiefs and elders, urging them not to shield the alleged perpetrator. Mining without a license violates the Minerals and Mining Law, with a fine, a prison term, or both for violators.
The seizure forms part of a broader crackdown on illegal mining across the country, particularly artisanal and small-scale mines. However, it was the authorities’ first visit to Paboken.
Recently, the ministry appointed a mining agent to the area after recalling the previous one in a move to reform one of the government’s most important yet challenging sectors. The ministry has established County Mining Offices to counter illegal mining.
“I am not going to sugar-quote this,” Carr said.
“We want to say to people out there… that gone are the days you will come and destroy our forest, deplete our resources, and you think that you will go scot-free.”
Facebook Comments
