[Broadcast on 21 February 2005]
A total of 213 miners have been killed in the Sunjiawan Coalmine disaster in Liaoning Province. A week after the accident, dozens of bereaved family members of the miners who were killed in the accident were waiting for the news about any compensation offered by the mining company at Dongshan Street. We have telephoned the police station at Dongshan Street asking the police officers there about the arrangement of compensations for the victims’ families. A police officer there told us that authorities from above have issued a strict guideline on reporting the news about the disaster.
Police officer:
Anyway, we should carry out our work, shouldn’t we?
Han Dongfang [Han]:
Then, is it easy to do that?
Police officer:
Some works are easy, and some are not.
Han:
Why are some not easy to do?
Police officer:
Then, I think there is no need for me to tell you too much about that. We have guidelines from above. We have guidelines, that is, we have strict requirements concerning journalists’ enquiries.
Han:
About this coalmine disaster?
Police officer:
Yep. Yep.
Han:
I won’t ask anything secret, but just about the emotion and situation of the victims’ bereaved families.
Police officer:
The situation is pretty good now.
Han:
Pretty good?
Police officer:
Pretty good. Also, the policy is less strict this time. [The victims’ families are] rather satisfactory.
Han:
Then, what is the most difficult part of your work?
Police officer:
There are many different things. Well, I don’t think I need to tell you anything more about that.
Then, we telephoned the trade union of Fuxin Coal Industry Group. A trade union staff said that he was not sure about the arrangement of compensations for victims’ families.
Han:
How is the arrangement of compensation now?
Trade union staff:
I’m not sure about that.
Han:
Huh?
Trade union staff:
I’m not sure about that.
Han:
I mean how much would each victim’s family get?
Trade union staff:
I’m not sure about that.
However, a local resident told us that each victim’s family will get 200,000 Yuan of compensation.
Resident:
A victim is called Bao Mutian. He was 36.
Han:
Are there any other men in his home?
Resident:
No, not anymore. Just him.
Han:
So, he’s the only son in the family?
Resident:
Yep. He’s survived by his wife, his son and his father, who is now about 60 years old. His son is about 12 or 13 years old. I heard that the family would get 200,000 Yuan of compensation, but I’m not sure about that.
Another resident said that two brothers living next to her were killed in the blast.
Resident:
Six of my neighbours were killed in the disaster. Among them were two brothers.
Han:
Two brothers?
Resident:
Yes, poor them. I feel so sad about that. I know five of the victims.
A retired miner of Sujiawan Coalmine told us that compensation given to each victim’s family in the past was only 60,000 Yuan. Among the 200,000 Yuan of compensation this time, 80,000 Yuan was compensation offered by the mine company, while the remaining 120,000 Yuan would have to come from community donations. The retired miner also said that because the compensation arrangement was directly endorsed by the State Council, the dead miners’ families would not be able to challenge it if they were not satisfied with the amount offered.
Retired miner:
It used to be 60,000 Yuan. Now it has been increased to 80,000. The remaining 120,000 will come from donations.
Han:
Where do these donations come from?
Retired miner:
The money was collected from all the citizens of Fuxin City. The mine company is not making a very good business. How can they get the money to pay the compensation? State Council officials came here to handle this matter. The official from the State Council is called Hua Jianmin. He’s here in town right now. Whenever anyone informs the State Council about any accidents, the State Council would handle the matter like this. Since so many people died this time, the State Council intervened and handled it with the national standards.
A dead miner’s uncle told us that many relatives had come to the dead miner’s home after the accident. But the 2,000 Yuan of living allowance offered by the mine company to each affected family was not enough for them to make ends meet.
Dead miner’s uncle:
The mine company’s arrangement after the disaster was not appropriate. They gave each family 2,000 Yuan of living allowance. How can that be enough to feed the whole family everyday? We have to prepare food for all the family members who have come here. The amount is just not enough…To say it in another way, the money is not even enough for the officials to enjoy a banquet, isn’t it? Communist officials are now so corrupt, just so corrupt!
He said that his nephew was survived by a sick daughter, but the mine company had declined to offer any help to pay part of the child’s medical treatment.
Dead miner’s uncle:
Now, my nephew was killed in the blast, but the mine company has still given no response to any of our questions. His daughter is sick and we had brought her to Shenyang to see a specialist doctor there. The girl is 12 years old now and she will need to take medicine to treat her illness for the rest of her life. We told the mine company about the girl’s health conditions. It costs more than 300 Yuan each month to buy the medicine and we also need to take her to Shenyang for medical examination once every month. We told the company about that and asked if they could offer us any help, but we still haven’t heard anything from them yet. A party secretary of the mine company had personally told us that there is no….no such requirements for the company to help us in this regard.
The dead miner’s uncle then told us how some victims’ families had signed the compensation agreement. He said that although some bereaved families were not happy with the compensation offer, they eventually signed the agreement as the mine company allegedly forced them to sign it in a threatening manner.
Dead miner’s uncle:
When we were asked to sign it, the people handling the compensation matters, including the mine company’s party secretary, were there. Then, when we presented our requests to them, the officials told us that they could not promise anything to solve our problems. After we have told them about our requests, they even refused to let us sign the agreement.
Han:
Are the dead miners’ families happy with the compensation offer?
Dead miner’s uncle:
We are absolutely unsatisfied with this amount. As the disaster had occurred, we should get what we were entitled to, right? Now, my nephew had died, leaving behind his old parents, his wife and his young daughter. You say, how can we solve their problem?
Han:
I saw a report of the Xinhua News Agency today. It said that 179 victims’ families had signed the agreement and 49 of these families had received the compensation.
Dead miner’s uncle:
The authorities require us to sign the agreement before 23 April, or our dead relatives’ bodies would not be cremated and we won’t get any compensation from the authorities.
Han:
So your family has signed it?
Dead miner’s uncle:
Our family has signed it. We couldn’t do anything about that. The mine company’s party committee arranged that for us.
Han:
Did they put the agreement in a written statement?
Dead miner’s uncle:
No, they just told us. We put it into record ourselves.
According to a Xinhua report on 21 February, 179 dead miners’ families of the 213 miners killed in the Sunjiawan Coalmine disaster had signed the compensation agreement with the mine company, and 49 of these families had received the compensation. The report also said that the Fuxin Coal Industry Group and the local government had taken “appropriate measures” to solve the living difficulties of the bereaved families.