Privatize, for the miners' sake
Over the last 30 years, more than 150 deaths have been recorded at Polish mines. The tragedy at Halemba is the third to strike that mine since the fall of communism.
Poland's Central Mining Institute (GIG) says Poland's mines are some of the safest in the world, but admits that they are not as safe as those in the US, which - though not without their own tragedies - have some of the most modern coal-mining technology and highest safety standards in the world. What is really needed, officials at GIG say, is more investment.
That seems strange, considering that Poland is blessed with some of the continent's largest deposits of coal, and the industry is one of the country's largest employers. As well as providing large export revenues, coal mining also offers the best chance to limit dependency on Russian energy sources - the bugbear of Polish politics of late - at least in the short term. Clean-coal technology even offers a way to make relatively environmentally friendly use of this traditionally pollutive energy source.
The government appears to be doing its part when it comes to financial support. It continues to grant large subsidies to the industry (over zł.700 million in 2004), and has invested in its workers too, controversially raising pensions last year.
This sort of investment is not enough. What is needed is a fresh injection of private funds, which are slow in coming. Investors can hardly be blamed - few see a point in plowing funds into a sector that absorbs millions in government funding, remains dangerous and inefficient, and is controlled by a bureaucratic government suspicious of private investors.
According to GIG, Poland boasts a single privately owned mine. This must change. Putting the industry in private hands offers it the best chance of a fresh injection of much needed cash, technology and business know-how. That would mean higher tax revenues for the government and greater energy independence, but, most important of all, it would mean a safer working environment for the people who make such a vital contribution to the Polish economy.
