VOA常速英语2014--黄金矿工加入诉讼在南非过肺病

 

Gold Miners Join Lawsuit¹ in South Africa Over Lung Disease 黄金矿工加入诉讼在南非过肺病

JOHANNESBURG / MASERU—

Five of South Africa's largest gold mining companies recently announced they will create a working group to deal with the issue of occupational lung disease.

南非最大金矿公司中的五家近日宣布他们将成立一个处理职业肺病问题的工作组。

This move comes as the sector² faces what could be South Africa's biggest-ever class action lawsuit. More than 25,000 miners are seeking compensation from gold mining companies, saying they failed to protect them from Silicosis, a debilitating³ and incurable⁴ lung disease.

此举可能是该行业在南非有史以来面临的最大集体诉讼。超过25，000名旷工向金矿公司寻求赔偿，他们认为金矿公司没有采取有效措施使他们免得硅肺病—一种使人不断衰弱和无法治愈的肺病。艾米丽从南非和邻国莱索托发回的报道。

Back in his village in Lesotho, former miner David Maribenyane must rely on his home garden to feed his family. At 48 years old, he can't run or walk long distances, making it almost impossible to get a job.

Maribenyane has Silicosis, which he said he contracted working for more than 20 years underground in a gold mine in South Africa.

‘’I'm very angry at the mining houses. I came home empty handed and a cripple," said Maribenyane. "I'm worried about the future because I need to feed my family and to do so, I have to plow⁵; now, I can't because of my shortness of breath.”

Crystalline silica dust

Silicosis is caused by breathing crystalline silica dust -- a human lung carcinogen -- found in mines. It causes shortness of breath,  general weakness and increased susceptibility to tuberculous. It cannot be cured.

Maribenyane is one of tens of thousands of former miners who’ve joined a class action suit filed by three South African law firms in an attempt to hold 30 of South Africa’s gold mining companies liable for the Silicosis.  

"These box files are the files of the individual clients," said Richard Spoor, who is one of the attorneys.

"Silicosis is not a new thing. It's a very old disease. It's very well understood for a long, long time," he said. "There have been laws to protect miners for a hundred years. Those laws are very simple, they say 'you may not expose workers to harmful quantities of dust. You may not do that, it's against the law'."

The class action suit came about after Spoor won a ground-breaking case three years ago in which a former miner successfully sued his employer for negligence⁶ which led to his contracting Silicosis.

Building the case is taking time. Many of the affected⁷ miners are from neighboring countries. So they must be tracked down, screened for Silicosis and informed about their option to join the class action suit. In Lesotho, that's the job of Isaac Shafiq, from the Mineworker Development Agency, or MDA.

"Mostly they do not know that they have Silicosis. Most of them go for screening in our local health facilities. But the result is always TB. It doesn't go further to determine if it's actually Silicosis or what," said Shafiq.

Numerous challenges

Mining companies are challenging the class action, claiming the cause of Silicosis is up for debate. For former miner Mokete Bokaako, however, the connection is obvious.

"I've never worked anywhere else than in the mines. I'm like this because of the mines and I believe that the mines owe me something," he said.

Bokaako said he only found out about his lung condition a few years ago after he was retrenched⁸, came back home to Lesotho and was screened by the class action campaign.   

"I’m angry when I think that we had a health checkup every 6 months, or every year, and the mining company never told me I had Silicosis," said Bokaako.

In November, five of South Africa's biggest mining companies said they would create a working group on occupational lung disease. In the meantime, a ruling on whether the class action suit can proceed is expected in October 2015. It is estimated that one in four current and former gold mineworkers have contracted Silicosis.

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

4 incurable   

adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人

参考例句：

• All three babies were born with an incurable heart condition.三个婴儿都有不可治瘉的先天性心脏病。
• He has an incurable and widespread nepotism.他们有不可救药的，到处蔓延的裙带主义。

5 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

6 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 retrenched   

v.紧缩开支( retrench的过去式和过去分词 )；削减（费用）；节省

参考例句：

• They retrenched by eliminating half the workers. 他们把人员减半以减少支出。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They retrenched by eliminating half of the workers. 他们藉剔除一半的工作人员来节约开支。 来自互联网