Stiffer penalties for illegal sand miners

At a Manufactured Sand Pitso held here recently, director of mines Sellinah Mogojwa said the amended Mines and Minerals Act is expected to be passed by Parliament, containing the relevant stiffer penalties. She said the draft proposes that property of illegal miners such as tipper trucks, earthmoving machines and other equipment used for committing the crime be confiscated by Government and sold by auction.

She said government had resorted to tough measures as it realised that the P1,000 fines currently being charged were not enough to deter illegal miners.