Turkey mine explosion: rescuers search for trapped workers as death toll rises further
Harriet Alexander, Josie Ensor. 15 May 2014
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Issue Overview and Course Connection
This article, while covering what is an unseen disaster brings up the issue of corrupt government safety regulations as well as unmet safety standards. The government was clearly not doing their job to uphold the safety and freedom of their people. This is not just limited to Turkey, but around the world. Just like the Democratic Republic of Korea government who holds the title for being the most corrupt government in our current age. Where there are no safety regulations at all, it is an eat or be eaten country, and not many people get the opportunity to eat.
Key Stakeholders
Soma Mining is the company that runs the mine that exploded in Turkey killing 274 miners. They are the biggest stakeholder for the mining explosion being the company that is supposed to run the mine according to safety standards. They clearly did not complete this task because there are several reports showing that the mine was under sketchy safety practices and did not care for their workers. (source)
Then there is the prime minister of Turkey who should be at the helm of the support for all the citizens of turkey helping them through this rough time. But instead he played it down making it look like a regular event. This makes him look like he did not care about the event, when he really should because it shows how is department of safety is not meeting their expectations. This puts the image of the Turkish government down very much, showing them as uncaring and corrupt.
Then there is the prime minister of Turkey who should be at the helm of the support for all the citizens of turkey helping them through this rough time. But instead he played it down making it look like a regular event. This makes him look like he did not care about the event, when he really should because it shows how is department of safety is not meeting their expectations. This puts the image of the Turkish government down very much, showing them as uncaring and corrupt.
Contributing Factors / Implications
There are various factors that have contributed to the explosion that took place in Turkey. First would be the political, there are various reports saying that the mine was no were close to being a safe working environment. There were various safety regulations that would go just blatantly unchecked. Even in the manor that the mine exploded, the generator that exploded cut power to the entire mine, there were no backup generators to power the lift that could of saved at least some of the 274 dead. There are even reports that one of the dead miners was 15 years old, that is verging on child workers. These kinds of regulations don't go unnoticed without some corruption in the political system. The Turkish economy is a major factor in this explosion. It is not the strongest in the world, and not having very much money in the country is a big reason that this mine did not meet safety standards. There was simply not enough money to either uptake the mine or to oppose a large, lucrative mining company.
The implications afterwards from a mine explosion are devastating. From the environmental impacts to the economic impacts, there is no good coming out of the mine explosion. Firstly there is the environmental impacts, when the generator shut off the ventilation shut off with it. this stored tons of carbon dioxide within the mine. That will be pumped into the environment, having it slowly pumped into the environment is bad, but having a lot dumped out all at once is even worse. Then there are the economic outcomes of this, the mine is a huge job location for the town, so much so that the town was dependent on it. This explosion is devastating for the town which relies on the mine as a source of income for the entire town. With the explosion the miners will be out of work and with the investigation that will happen after the dust has settled the miners will be out of work for some time to come. Then there's the political outcome, the Prime Minister did not handle this very well. His actions afterwards were to downplay the severity of the disaster, making it seem like a part of life and not something that stands out. This caused uprising within Turkey and will most likely lead to a new leader for Turkey.
The implications afterwards from a mine explosion are devastating. From the environmental impacts to the economic impacts, there is no good coming out of the mine explosion. Firstly there is the environmental impacts, when the generator shut off the ventilation shut off with it. this stored tons of carbon dioxide within the mine. That will be pumped into the environment, having it slowly pumped into the environment is bad, but having a lot dumped out all at once is even worse. Then there are the economic outcomes of this, the mine is a huge job location for the town, so much so that the town was dependent on it. This explosion is devastating for the town which relies on the mine as a source of income for the entire town. With the explosion the miners will be out of work and with the investigation that will happen after the dust has settled the miners will be out of work for some time to come. Then there's the political outcome, the Prime Minister did not handle this very well. His actions afterwards were to downplay the severity of the disaster, making it seem like a part of life and not something that stands out. This caused uprising within Turkey and will most likely lead to a new leader for Turkey.
Bias
The article about the mining disaster in Turkey was published shortly after the event took place. It is very informative and full of eye witness accounts and reaction from family and other miners. But the bias it does have is that it makes the Prime Minister, Receo Tayyip Erdogan out to be the bad guy. It makes him look like he does not care for his citizens and is downplaying the situation.