Government has, within this half year, seized 425 excavators and other machinery that were involved in illegal mining (galamsey) activities, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has disclosed.

The breakdown for the number of excavators and other machines seized from illegal miners by the Forestry Commission was 177 excavators, four bulldozers, 12 vehicles, 43 motorcycles,155 pumping machines, 184 changfangs,15 detector machines, and 10 heavy-duty generators.

He said so far, 1,345 arrests had been made nationwide, and prosecutions were steadily progressing.

Mr Buah made this known when he took his turn at the Government Accountability Series press conference held at the Presidency in Accra.

The Government Accountability Series is being organised by the Presidency Communications Bureau as part of efforts to promote transparency and accountability in governance.

Mr Buah reiterated that as part of the broader fight against Galamsey, the Ministry had in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance (Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)-Customs Division), and the Ports and Harbours Authority, initiated a proactive tracking of all imports of excavators and earth-moving equipment from the point of entry.

He noted that so far, 1,200 excavators had been impounded pending validation before clearance at the Tema Port.