A task force against illegal mining, led by the acting Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, Captain (Retired) John Kwame Jabari, has launched a 24-hour joint operation with the Forestry Commission to combat illegal mining in forest reserves across the region.
The announcement follows an attack on a member of the Forestry Commission’s rapid response team on Sunday, March 23, 2025.
Addressing the issue on Monday, March 24, 2025, Captain Jabari stressed the need for heightened security measures to protect the region’s natural resources from further destruction.
He emphasized that the media, alongside the Forestry Commission, would be taken to forest reserves to witness firsthand the reclaimed lands. This, he said, would serve as tangible proof of the task force’s efforts rather than relying solely on verbal reports.
“We have realized that some of them started mining in the evening; during the daytime, they pack their machines. In the night, they go and operate, so we are also going to operate a 24-hour exercise so that we will also tackle them in the night.
“We will have a task force that will tackle them during the day and a team that will tackle them during the night, so it is not something that we are sitting down on.”
He further stated that within the next week, the media would be invited, alongside the Forestry Commission, to tour the forest reserves.
The aim, he noted, was to provide clear and indisputable evidence of the reclamation efforts made so far.
“I must also stress that within the next week, we are going to invite the media with the Forestry Commission and go around the forest reserves with the media to show them the forest reserves that we have reclaimed so that it will be vivid evidence and not a social media war,” he added.
