The proposed revision of the coal ministry's rehabilitation package may have raised the hopes of people displaced by coal mining projects, only to shatter them again. Given the reluctance of the

A private firm, Eastern ANning Ud, is scheduled to boon large scale operations in a sao" already ravaged by several small mining ventures. But skft officials seem blissfully ignorant of the threat.

China's attempts at modernising its energy industry will cause more than 100,000 coal workers to be laid off immediately, while hundreds of thousands more will be retrenched in the coming years. The

Workers in noisy coal washeries have been shown to suffer considerable hearing loss. According to one study, 20 per cent of washery workers had mildly handicapped hearing -- hearing loss becomes a