Owners of excavators and farming equipment have been given a two-week ultimatum to register their excavators and mechanic propelled farming equipment without delay effective yesterday.The directive, according to the Chief Exec­utive Officer (CEO) of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Mr Julius Ne­equaye Kotey, follows the discovery of about 50 unregistered excavators found within forest areas across the country that had not been registered with the Authority.Mr Kotey, who disclosed this at a press con­ference in Accra yesterday, said that the directive formed part of key measures developed by the Authority to address the issue of illegal small-scale mining, also known as 'galamsey' in the country."We wish to announce that all owners and/or operators of excavators and farming equipment who are not registered with the DVLA are re­quired to locate the nearest DVLA offices within their jurisdiction to, within two weeks starting from today, register their excavators and equip­ment without further delay," Mr Kotey said.He explained that the Ghana Police Service (GPS) and its operational team would go around the country from June 1, 2025 and arrest and confiscate excavators that were not registered with the DVLA and operated in mining sites or for commercial use.In addition, Mr Kotey said that the Authority, in collaboration with other stakeholders, had constituted a registration regime for excavators and farming equipment that were imported into the country to be registered at the port of entry.The exercise, he said, was to help in the identification of all excavators that entered the country and to trace their ownership, including their operations to curb the phenomenon of unregistered excavators and farming equipment that could not be tracked.The CEO explained that the tracking of the excavators would be done by the Minerals Commission while the DVLA took charge of their registration, which was the mandate of the Authority.Mr Kotey emphasised that the Authority had the capacity to register all excavators and farm­ing equipment within the stipulated time frame as it had 34 offices nationwide to undertake the registration and also had enough number plates available."The Authority believes that it exists to promote sustainability and compliance.

This mandate, DVLA stands ready to partner with other state institutions and agencies to execute for the safety of all," he added. BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY