MIIF moves to curb quarry encroachment to boost royalty mobilisation

Plans are underway to establish an intergovernmental agency task force to help address the persistent encroachment and compliance challenges confronting quarry operators across the country.

It forms part of a renewed effort to protect mineral concessions, enhance royalty mobilisation and ensure sustainable operations within the extractive sector.

The task force, which will work in collaboration with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Minerals Commission, will be activated and deployed more frequently to the field to monitor activities and enforce regulations.

The initiative would also involve closer engagement with Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to curb encroachment on legally acquired quarry lands.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), Justina Nelson, who made this known during an executive mine visit within the Greater Accra Region on February 25, stated that protecting quarry investments was critical to safeguarding government revenue and sustaining the country’s infrastructure drive.

The visit led by the CEO and other officials of MIIF took them to the Regimanuel Concrete Products Limited at Ablekuma, Eastern Quarries Limited and Massey Stone Ghana Limited, both in Shai Hills.

It was expected to offer MIIF's leadership first-hand insight into operational performance, regulatory compliance, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices at the sites.

Also, the visit was meant to strengthen strategic relationships with quarry operators, reinforce the fund's active oversight role, and position itself as a committed, long-term investment partner within Ghana's quarry and mining sector.

Some of the concerns raised by the quarry operators during the visit to the sites included persistent invasions of concession areas, which they said threaten lives, equipment and production levels.

The operators warned that continued encroachment could disrupt operations and affect the supply of essential construction materials nationwide.

Assurance

In response, Mrs Nelson assured the operators that decisive institutional measures were being implemented to address the situation, particularly through the strengthening of collaboration among key state agencies.

She stressed that the fund was working to revive and reinforce the intergovernmental task force in partnership with other agencies to improve enforcement and oversight.  

She explained that once reactivated, the task force would intensify field engagements, hold stakeholder meetings and work closely with local authorities to curb encroachment.

She added that the compliance unit would liaise with relevant agencies to ensure that what was due the state was collected, while addressing operational bottlenecks confronting quarry firms.

Regimanuel’s difficulties

The Head of Operations at Regimanuel Concrete Products Limited, Isaac Attah, said persistent encroachment had drastically reduced the company’s operational buffer, shrinking its quarry concession from a 500-metre radius to just 100 metres. 

“Our quarry site, which originally had a 500-metre radius from the middle, has now been reduced to 100 metres because of encroachment,” he said. 

Industry survival

The Chairperson of the Quarry Dust Association, Dr Ebenezer Mireku, cautioned that ongoing encroachment on quarry concessions posed a serious risk to the survival of the industry and had the potential to undermine Ghana’s infrastructure growth.

He said that the problem was prevalent across the southern belt of the country, particularly in the Ashanti, Volta, Eastern, Greater Accra, Western and Central regions.

“Encroachment carries both human and economic costs. Quarry operations are hazardous, which is why the law requires a 500-metre buffer zone,” he added.