Government’s decision to register all excavators in the country is currently in limbo as owners of such earth moving equipment are refusing to abide by the directive.

This was disclosed by the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker.

A statement from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources had given all owners of the earth-moving machines up to November 2, 2022, to register with the relevant local government authorities.

The statement warned that any owner who failed to have their excavators registered would have them confiscated.

“An owner, operator, and/or user of an excavator shall, at the time of registration, specify the purpose for which the excavator is being used or to be used and the area where the excavator is being used or will be used.”

But a short of two days to a month after the directive, Mr. Duker said the Ministry is facing major challenges in registering the excavators because the owners of these vehicles are not forthcoming.

“So far, it [the registration exercise] is not to the expectation of the Government. Yes, some have not registered at all, and some are on and using different models for the registration, we want to bring all of them under one umbrella because we are going to track all the excavators as well, apart from the registration.”

As part of the registration, Metropolitan, Municipal, or District Assemblies were to record the name and particulars of the owner of the excavator, the date the excavator was brought into the country, the registration number, the chassis number, the purposes for which the excavator was brought into the country, the area where the excavator is expected to be used and the name and particulars of the current operator and user of the excavator.