As the government collaborates with the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana Airforce (Western Command) to repair some specialized aircraft, the fight against "galamsey" is becoming more intense.

These aircraft will be used for information gathering, surveillance, and area recognition.

The three aircraft were inspected by George Mireku Duker, the deputy land minister in charge of mines, on Friday at the Takoradi Airforce Base. He noted that they had not been in use since 2014.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines is funding the repairs, which are expected to cost €700,000 and take six months to complete.

“This is an effort we are making to clamp down on recalcitrant miners who are determined to destroy our industry. We want to streamline and regulate activities in the mining sector,” he said.

Mr Duker expressed the belief that repairing the aircraft was a cost-effective measure to facilitate the fight against “galamsey” as against procuring new drones and other equipment for mining surveillance.

Servicing the aircraft would see the replacement of crashes, hard drives, outdated software and engines, among other things.

Mr Duker commended the Chamber of Mines for its immeasurable and patriotic effort towards the fight against illegal mining and lauded the Ghana Armed Forces for its support.