In the face of this year's rising death toll, the State
Administration of Coal Mine Safety yesterday and today ordered over
one-fifth of China's coal mines to suspend production and undergo
safety overhauls by the end of this year because they are
unsafe.
"The number is not all of the mines on the suspension list; the
total will reach 7,000 soon," the administration's press officer,
named An, told China Daily.
Industry insiders said the suspension will leave a huge number
of miners jobless, but coal supply will only be slightly affected
because most of the pits involved are small.
The mine safety administration published the first two batches
of 6,133 mines that are required to stop production and meet
national safety standards. If they do not, they will be shut down
permanently.
Last Friday, the State Council General Office set the end of
2005 as the national deadline for suspension and safety overhaul
for all unqualified coal mines. The deadline had previously varied
from province to province.
According to the mine safety administration, there are 25,927
coal mines in China, supplying 70 percent of the country's annual
energy demand. However, because of the transient nature of mining
employment, no official figures on the number of miners were
available.
An said responsibility to monitor suspensions and supervise
safety improvements will fall on local governments. "The central
government will soon unveil regulations requiring provincial and
local governments to play a key role in safeguarding coal mine
safety," she said. "Otherwise, they will be severely punished."
An said a new central government system for monitoring coal
mines will be announced today, which includes detailed measures to
prevent coal mine disasters.
Some local governments and officials have been found after
investigations to have protected poorly equipped coal mines, where
accidents have claimed an average of 18 lives a day in the first
six months of this year.
On August 22, central government instructed all local government
officials and leaders of State-owned enterprises to withdraw shares
in collieries before September 22.
"The central government's decision to get tough on collusion
will make safety supervisors' work easier," said Li Wenge, safety
director of Shaanxi's Provincial Coal Industry Group.
He said the suspensions will affect many miners. "Those in
private and small mines will lose their jobs and their families
will become poorer."
Li said he expected the average incomes of workers in
State-owned mines to drop because they will have to give a portion
of their incomes to miners laid off by the suspensions, but there
was no further information reported on details relating to
this.
"I'm sure the coal supply will not be affected because many
State-owned big mines have increased production capacities since
last year," Li said.
(China Daily August 31, 2005)