VIDEO: Don’t burn Galamsey excavators, is useful for dredging, – Adenta MCE

Utilising the excavators seized from illegal miners could present part of the solution to the yearly flooding issues, according to the Municipal Chief Executive for the Adenta Municipal Assembly, Nii Noi Adumoah.

He said these excavators could be used for dredging the drains in municipalities that struggle annually with floods.

Mr. Adumoah’s assembly has been struggling to get a single excavator since April 2018. “As we seize the equipment from the galamsey people, rather than burn them or leave them to rot in various areas, bring them down south. They might help us to dredge our areas and do it comfortably,” he told Citi News.

The anti-illegal mining and anti-sand winning task-forces are known to seize excavators and other heavy-duty equipment.

On some occasions, they are reported to have set such equipment ablaze.

Most recently, some soldiers set fire to 14 tipper trucks and an excavator used for sand winning in the Dalun River.

The Adenta assembly only got an excavator after the major downpour and flooding on June 19.

“We don’t have an excavator. The NADMO [National Disaster Managment Organisation] national headquarters has excavators. We have been chasing them since April,” he noted.

Despite the resource constraints, Mr. Adumoah said his assembly will continue to preemptively tackle the flooding.

“Within the reach of what we have, we are doing something… As at now, we are not adequately resourced, however we are resourced enough to do something about it,” he said.

On Monday, the Adentan Municipal Assembly demolished illegal structures on waterways in Ashiyie.

It has pledged to carry out similar demolitions across the assembly.