Guangdong shuts down coal mines for checks
By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-11 06:08

XINGNING, Guangdong Province: While thankful he did not meet the same grim fate as those trapped in Daxing Coal Mine, Luo Dingjie yesterday was contemplating an uncertain future.

The 25-year-old had been working for two years at another coal mine in Xingning but after the Daxing disaster, his mine stopped operations.

The Guangdong provincial government has ordered all coal mines in the province to shut down for safety inspections in wake of the tragedy.

"Most of my fellow workers have started going back to their hometowns," Luo, from the neighbouring province of Jiangxi, told China Daily at a bus station in Huanghuai Town as he waited to go home.

According to Luo, there are more than 500 miners from Jiangxi Province and thousands from other provinces working in mines in Xingning, an important coal producing centre in Guangdong Province.

For miners in Xingning like Luo, the biggest issue now is work safety.

"This is the most terrible coal mine accident we have ever seen, and we cannot work here until we are sure preventable accidents will not occur," said a downcast Luo.

The local government has not revealed the exact number of coal mines in Xingning but, according to Luo, there are about 10 mines in Xingning's Huanghuai Town alone.

"As far as I know, almost all mines here are privately-owned and have no production and safety licences," said Luo.

The local government admits Daxing Coal Mine had been operating for years without a production licence.

Xingning residents now fear for their livelihood.

"What can we do if they shut down the mines for good? I have been working in the mine here for many years. I don't know what else to do," said one man who has been a miner for more than 15 years.

Many are now prepared for the worst.

"I will have to go and find a job in another city. Mining here is basically finished," said another local miner.

Meanwhile, a local shopkeeper, Zeng, is fretting about his business a grocery shop he opened 11 years ago. "A great number of miners used to buy things in my shop. I don't know how I will manage.

"Some of those trapped in Daxing Coal Mine had become friends. Now, I may never see them again."

(China Daily 08/11/2005 page2)

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