China sees coal mine deaths fall, but outlook grim
Source: Reuters
BEIJING, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Chinese coal mines, the world's deadliest, saw a significant drop in fatalities in 2006 despite raising output by about 200 million tonnes, but the outlook remains grim, the government said on Thursday. A total of 4,746 Chinese coal miners were killed in thousands of blasts, floods and other accidents last year, down 20.1 percent from 2005, a spokeswoman for the State Work Safety Supervision Administration told Reuters by telephone. "We have done so much work during the past year. It is not completely unexpected," said the spokeswoman, who gave only her surname, An. The biggest decline in the death toll in years came as China produced 2.325 billion tonnes of coal in 2006, an 8.1 percent hike from a year earlier, An said. "But the foundation (for the improvement) is not firm, and profound problems that affect work safety have not been resolved," she said. An said the "extensive mode of growth" of the Chinese economy, which has enjoyed double-digit expansion in recent years and relies on coal for 70 percent of its energy consumption, had put great pressure on work safety. "Market demand for coal is at such a height that some mines only blindly pursue profits and push production beyond limits," An said. She also blamed local officials for their lukewarm implementation of, and sometimes resistance to, national campaigns to close dangerous mines and improve safety. "The central government attaches great importance to coal mine safety, but the seriousness of enforcing the rectifying measures dwindles lower down the chain of command," An said. Chinese officials are widely criticised for colluding with coal mine owners, sometimes by covering up fatal accidents, as they try to protect the major source of local tax revenues, or even their own gains from stakes in a lucrative business.
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