To eliminate the problems of mine accidents and water pollution, unsafe mines and polluting factories must be shut down, which is the ultimate solution, according to an article in Beijing Youth Daily. An excerpt follows:

Reports of another coal mine explosion in North China's Shanxi Province and new pollution in the Tuojiang River in Southwest China's Sichuan Province made the headlines recently.

These accidents have caused huge human and economic losses. Worse, people cannot predict how many more will come.

The same situation applies to the Tuojiang River, for we never know how many tunnels are secretly piping polluted water into it.

Though the government has invested large amounts of human and financial resources and drafted numerous rules and regulations for solving the problems, there are no shortage of reports about deadly mine accidents and serious water pollution.

Punishments have been harsh. The president of the chemical group responsible for serious water pollution in the Tuojiang River was forced to resign, and five of his former subordinates are under criminal investigation. A director of the local environmental protection bureau was removed from his post and two deputy county chiefs were punished.

But despite all these measures, tragedies keep cropping up.

As a matter of fact, we are paying a heavy price for past poor decisions and loose management.

The source of pollution, paper mills along the Tuojiang River, got governmental approval for establishment only because the decision-makers did not foresee the pollution problem.

The small mines in Shanxi were opened in the name of developing the local economy regardless of potential pollution. And now it is almost impossible to shut them down.

The real cure to the problems demands utmost courage and determination from both the central government and local governments.

Small mines that cannot ensure safety in production must be closed. And enterprises that cannot reach environmental standards must be relocated or closed.

The managers of the mines and enterprises who violate laws and the officials who shield illegal activities must be punished.

These measures will cost both huge money and countless jobs. But compared to the welfare of mine workers and the interests of future generations, that is a price worth paying.