A member of the Parliamentary ad hoc committee tasked to investigate activities of illegal quarry and sand winning in the country say it is wrapping up its report to present to Parliament when the house resumes sitting.

Frank Annor Dompre, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyire, acknowledged that the practice is permeating his constituency but it is also happening in other parts of the country. 

 Across the country, illegal sand contractors are digging up large parcels of land amid deadly protests by residents. The latest clash was recorded in Yaakoko, a suburb of Nsawam in the Eastern Region where one person was killed.

JoyNews’ Latif Iddriss did this report for our Hotline documentary titled Sandy Gold in which he found that the illegal sand winners engage the services of heavily built guards to protect their illegally acquired concession. 

These guards are ready to shoot and kill whoever stands in their way. According to the reporters, one such sand winners cartel has found a safe haven they have over the last few months intensify their operations. 

They have cowed the residents into submission as they destroy farmlands and render many of owners jobless in the process. 

"Our livelihood is on the land, as what we get from the land is what we use in feeding our family and paying other bills. If they dissipate it, there won't be any land to farm on again," one resident said. 

Another resident questioned how the cartel was able to move into their farmlands with land guards to demarcate it for themselves without informing them.  

"We were not told, we only realised that they have taken their machines to the forest to take the measurement of the area they want to work which is illegal. 

After years of suffering at the hands of the sand winning cartel, the youth of Yaakoko said they have taken their destiny their own hands having been let down by the security agencies. 

However, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyire and a member of the committee investigating similar situations across the country Frank Annor Dompreh says work is underway to flush out the illegal activity.

He said the committee is working with existing institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Minerals Commission and within two weeks they will finish their work. 

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