Officials punished for illegal coal mines
5 June 2007
More than 5,000 Chinese civil servants participating in the operation of illegal coal mines have received punishment in almost 100,000 illegal mining cases since 2005, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), state media reported. By the end of 2006, China had investigated 89,926 cases of unlicensed mining, 1,907 cases involving illegal trading of prospecting and mining rights, and 5,795 cases of mining beyond boundary lines, said Jia Qihai, a senior official in charge of mining resources development in MLR. A total of 2,154 people received penal treatment for illegal coal mining, he said. However, the MLR official specified neither where or what ministries these civil servants come from nor the kinds of punishment they took. Coal mine accidents killed 4,746 people in China in 2006. On average, 17 miners lose their lives every day in Chinese coal mines, making them the world's deadliest.