The Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Mr. Julius Neequaye Kotey, has held strategic talks with the Excavator Tracking Team of the Minerals Commission in Accra to explore collaborative efforts in regulating the use of excavators in Ghana’s mining sector.

The high-level meeting, held at the Minerals Commission headquarters, forms part of broader efforts to tackle illegal mining and environmental degradation linked to the unregulated use of heavy-duty equipment.

It also follows the formation of a ministerial task force by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, tasked with developing a framework for the registration, tracking, and monitoring of excavators nationwide.

During the engagement, the two institutions identified key gaps in excavator registration.

While the Minerals Commission has systems for tracking concession-holder equipment, many excavators—whether owned by individuals, dealers, or small-scale miners—remain unregistered with the DVLA, despite the Authority being the only body legally mandated to register all vehicles and heavy machinery in the country.

Mr. Kotey stressed the need to integrate DVLA’s role into excavator regulation, noting that unregistered equipment poses a major challenge to monitoring and enforcement.

He assured the Commission of the DVLA’s readiness to deploy mobile service teams to mining areas to register all operational excavators, enabling better oversight and control.

In a key policy shift, the DVLA and the Minerals Commission also agreed that, going forward, all excavators imported into the country will be registered at the port of entry before being dispatched to their destinations. This move aims to prevent unregistered excavators from bypassing regulatory processes and heading directly to mining sites.

The DVLA boss reiterated the Authority’s commitment to supporting national efforts to safeguard the environment and promote sustainable mining practices.

He emphasised that strong inter-agency collaboration is vital in addressing the challenges posed by illegal mining and equipment misuse.

The meeting was facilitated by Dr. Sylvester Akpah, a Computer Science Engineer from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), and was attended by members of DVLA management and technical staff from the Minerals Commission.