Coal mines threaten lives and livelihoods

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-23 10:20

Illegal coal mines in Beijing's Fangshan district continue to pose serious safety threats despite government efforts to shut them down, local residents said.

Early last week, a 46-year-old man from Inner Mongolia died while working underground in an illegal coal mine in Fangshan, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.

Shang Chunsheng had been working in the unlicensed pit for 10 days when the accident occurred, authorities said. The pit owner reportedly transported Shang's remains to Hebei province where he had them cremated in an attempt to hide the worker's death.

The owner also paid Shang's family 400,000 yuan ($58,554) in compensation.

Fangshan police told METRO yesterday that the case is still under investigation.

They said it is difficult to collect evidence in a place where there are many look-alike illegal mining operations.

The Beijing administration of work safety, a mining industry watchdog, declined to comment.

Fangshan, known as the mining town of Beijing, has been hit by frequent fatal mining accidents due to its large number of unlicensed mines that violate safety regulations.

In June 2006, three miners died when an illegal pit caved in. The incident led to a one-year jail term of a township head for dereliction of duty.

In September 2007, four workers suffocated while working in a mine. One month earlier, two other workers were buried alive.

While the local government has closed a number of the pits over the past few years, more than 20 remain open, according to residents. Authorities have pledged to close the remaining mines by the end of 2010.

However residents involved in the mining industry say the pits will be hard to eradicate because of the high profits they generate for their owners and the jobs they provide to people living in and outside the region.

"People are willing to risk their lives for a chance of better living standards," said a Fangshan resident surnamed Shi who worked in the collieries.

"There are still many illegal mines in the villages here because people don't know what else to do in order to make a living," Shi said. "Most do not know what to do other than digging up coal."

But Shi acknowledged that the fortune Fangshan has had as a mining town will likely end sometime soon.

"Even those licensed pits will close when their production licenses expire," Shi said. "So we have to try one way or another to find a way out."

"Maybe we will plant crops or do construction work outside our village," he said.

Gao Yanjie, deputy head of Fanghsan district, said when the remaining mines are closed, residents living in the area would be relocated as well as receive government subsidies.

The population involved is an estimated 100,000. Around 45,000 people will be relocated by 2012, said Gao.