Investigators from the Chinese
State Council have ended their wide-scale investigation into a
flood in a tin mine in the
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region last July that killed 81
miners.
However, criminal investigations into possible involvement of
criminal gangs and economic crimes related to the case will
continue, as learned Wednesday from the investigation team.
At
the conclusion of the investigation, Wang Hanmin, vice-chairman of
the Guangxi regional government, received a demerit from the State
Council.
Police have arrested top officials Wan Ruizhong, Tang Yusheng, Mo
Zhuanglong, Luo Shaozhang and Wei Xueguang in Nandan County, where
the accident occurred, of attempted cover up, abuse of power and
taking bribes.
Hechi Prefecture top officials Mo Zhenhan, Yan Zhihua and
ZhangGuohui are still being investigated by the disciplinary
department of the party together with the government's supervision
authority for trying to cover up the accident and taking
bribes.
Rampant mismanagement leads to serious accidents
The investigation team of the State Council, headed by Zhang
Baoming, director of the
State Administration of Work Safety, Luo Feng, vice-minister of
Public Security and Chen Changzhi, vice-minister of Supervision,
started their probe on August 8 last year.
The investigation confirmed that the July 17 accident at the
Lajiapo tin mine was caused by two illegal explosion operations
which destroyed the rock partitions and allowed water to flood
neighboring mind shafts.
The site of the accident, Longquan Mining Plant, and other mines in
the area were all marked by rampant mismanagement, waste of
resources, and caused severe environmental pollution, the
investigation revealed.
In
fact, accidents were frequent at these mines -- some of them very
serious -- but most of these incidents have been covered up local
officials.
Longquan was registered as a collectively-owned business, but was
actually a private venture owned by Li Dongming, who bought the
mining rights from a fly-by-night firm opened by authority of
Nandan County.
The investigation disclosed the widespread corruption among major
officials of Nandan County and their connected interests with
illegal miners. Some of the mine owners had been harboring armed
criminal gangs to protect their interests, it was learned.
( January 10, 2001)