Landowners within the Akyem Abuakwa risk losing their lands for life if they release them to illegal miners.
The Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council has indicated that all lands mined and abandoned with open pits shall be reclaimed and handed over to them.
Addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of the Gyaase division in Akyem Abuakwa State as part of activities marking his 25th-anniversary celebration, Okyenhene, announced that illegal mining activities coupled with abandoned open pits continue to pose a risk to the citizens.
He indicated that the traditional council will reclaim all abandoned mines. "We have a decree at the State Council that any landowner who releases his/her land to a miner stands the chance of losing it if the miners do not reclaim the land after mining.