|
CHINA> Regional
![]() |
|
48 coal mine inspectors to resign
By Wang Huazhong and Guo Yali (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-26 07:35 Forty-eight work safety inspectors have tendered their resignations over fears that they "cannot meet the tough rules" laid out for the coal-mining industry of Lianyuan city in Hunan province. A member of the group told China Daily yesterday he had joined 47 other inspectors to submit a joint resignation letter to Lianyuan's coal industry administration, after they found the penalties covering public accountability of the industry "too severe". "The safety rules are extremely strict. It's hard to be 100 percent right all the time," said Zeng, a 50-year-old head of Doulishan township's work-safety station. According to the new rules issued by authorities in Hunan in a bid to make the province's mines safer for workers, the heads of Lianyuan's township work-safety stations "will be sacked for any major incident that occurs under their charge". "We have had sleepless nights, responding to alerts and heading to mines to check reported safety threats for decades," Zeng said.
"To be fair, officials at the local and central administration should help each other and share the burden," he said. The mass resignation comes close on the heels of escalated tensions over work safety in the region after a gas blast ripped through Lianyuan's Guaziyan colliery on Dec 17 last year, killing 18 people. Two mine safety inspectors were removed from the posts shortly after. An official from Lianyuan's local administration said most heads of the township stations who signed the joint resignation letter have "calmed down and returned to their jobs". "The pressure they are under is tremendous and we have been trying to work out better ways to assist them," the director for general administration under Lianyuan's administration for the coal industry, surnamed Su, said. Linfen, Shanxi province, another city hit by frequent coalmine accidents, has not had a mayor for the past six months. In the past three years, Linfen has seen four mayors. The last mayor of the city, Liu Zhijie, was sacked last year on account of a mine accident that killed at least 270 people. Former governor of Shanxi province, Meng Xuenong, was also removed over the same accident last September, while Meng's predecessor, Yu Youjun, had been removed from the post after a series of mine accidents. There have also been concerns in Hunan's Lianyuan over the average wage of its mine safety inspectors, who, China Youth Daily said, earn about 1,200 yuan ($175) a month, making them more vulnerable to bribes. |
顺昌县| 垫江县| 都兰县| 甘南县| 鄂尔多斯市| 靖州| 瑞昌市| 广西| 长泰县| 夹江县| 嘉祥县| 陆丰市| 吉木萨尔县| 聊城市| 海南省| 大渡口区| 封丘县| 黄石市| 滁州市| 渝中区| 呼图壁县| 黑龙江省| 疏勒县| 安阳县| 宜兰市| 乐平市| 锡林浩特市| 江陵县| 尖扎县| 湖州市| 崇礼县| 河北区| 珠海市| 进贤县| 佳木斯市| 万荣县| 郯城县| 广安市| 龙胜| 监利县| 汕尾市|