NPC boss rips into callous mine owners
The owners of unlicensed coal mines on the mainland are 'sucking blood' from miners in their blind pursuit of profits, National People's Congress vice-chairman Li Tieying said yesterday.
In a report to the NPC Standing Committee, Mr Li condemned the owners, saying the coal produced by unlicensed mines 'had blood on it' and the profits made by the owners was also tainted by the 'blood of the miners'.
Mr Li's outburst follows a series of serious coal mine accidents on the mainland in the past four months.
The China News Service says at least 951 miners have been killed in 33 serious accidents this year - both figures increased significantly from the corresponding period last year.
In his report, Mr Li said more than 90 per cent of mainland coal mines were small pits and a large number of the owners knew nothing about the law.
'Not only do they not follow the law, they simply don't think there is a law,' he said.
'They publicly resist law enforcement and could not care less when they reopen mines shut down by the authorities. They blatantly put human lives at risk.'
He said many small coal mines had extremely low productivity and caused serious damage to the environment.
'The damage they have done is appalling.'
He said the government should strive to achieve a complete turnaround in mine safety in the next three years by setting new production and safety standards.
He also criticised the lax attitude of inspection departments over the supervision of safety in coal mines.
'Collusion [between officials and mine owners] was behind almost every serious accident,' he said.
Mr Li also recommended raising operation standards of mining equipment and technology.
Yesterday's report followed inspections led by Mr Li to 10 provinces including Guizhou , Heilongjiang and Anhui .
Official figures show that more than 6,000 miners died in accidents last year, although independent estimates say the real figure could be as high as 20,000.
