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| The mining industry in Romania: problems and solutions 08/02/2011 |
| (2011-02-08) |
| Last updated: 2011-02-10 12:46 EET |
Tragedy has struck again in the Jiu Valley mining field, in south-Western Romania. Five miners lost their lives on Saturday in a methane explosion that occurred in a gallery 400-m deep in the ground.
The blast came after an electricians’ team had conducted verification works in an electric transformer. Forensic experts say that 3 of the miners died instantly, while the other two suffered carbon monoxide intoxication. That is the latest in a string of underground accidents which have left more than 50 miners dead, over the last decade.
On the other hand, the tragedy in the Jiu Valley has brought to the fore a sensitive issue for miners, that is the restructuring of the National Pit Coal Company. Prime Minister Emil Boc, however, gave assurances that, for several years, no mine will shut down.
‘’According to the European legislation, the mining sector restructuring will take place by 2018, in line with European norms. What does that mean? It means that until 2018, no mine will close. During this span, necessary assessments and analyses will be carried out, with concrete solutions for each mine in the Jiu Valley and those registered with the Ministry of Economy.’’
Minister of Economy Ion Ariton recently said that out of the company’s 7 mines, 4 would be reorganized and 3 would shut down. Quote ‘’We don’t want this sector to disappear, we want to support mining and to set up as many jobs as possible in the area. If need be, at some point, we will come up with alternative solutions’’, Ariton said.
In another move, at the meeting with IMF experts present in Bucharest, trade unions demanded that the future agreement with Romanian authorities include an explicit point referring to an investment program in the Jiu Valley. In the unions’ view, the money that could come from some operational sector programs, will go to projects for that area – renovating transport infrastructure and localities’ infrastructure, dirt-heap ecologisation and streamlining all industrial sites which can turn into locations for small and medium-sized businesses.
Union leaders warn that more protests in the Valley could break out, spurred by the miners’ discontent. The latter are mainly dissatisfied with delayed salary payment for some 9000 employees. It remains to be seen how authorities in Bucharest will manage to ease social tensions in that disadvantaged area.
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