|
Social News Headlines 25/2
Mekong
Delta provinces will strive to help more than 44,000 households escape
poverty this year, bringing the region’s poverty rate down to 6% from 7.2% at
the end of 2013.
Toward
this goal, policies will be adopted to facilitate the development of
household economy and farms as well as small industry and traditional crafts,
thus increasing incomes for farmers.
At the
same time, vocational training and job placement in rural areas will be
improved to help poor labourers find a suitable livelihood.
A
programme to build new residential areas safe from flood will continue to be
implemented this year with the goal of settling 138,000 households including
27,000 poor families. More poor ethnic minority households will be given land
for housing.
Provinces
in the region will also grant health insurance cards to poor people to
cushion them against risks.
Another
target of the region this year is to raise its annual average per capita
income to VND37 million (roughly US$1,740), up 6.9% from 2013.
The
country’s annual average per capita income was US$1,960 last year.
The
Mekong Delta region, the largest granary and aquaculture region of the
country, comprises of 12 provinces and one centrally-run city with a
population of 18 million.
PM
takes measures to stop wildlife trafficking
In a
directive asking inter-sectoral forces to conduct more patrols and
inspections in border areas including international airports and ports, Dung
drew attention to the recent discovery of trafficking in endangered and rare
wild animals including the rhino horn, African elephant tusks and tigers.
He
said the situation was "complicated" and has caused several
negative impacts including the depletion of natural resources, increased risk
of new infectious diseases and threats to national security.
It has
worsened the image of
He
ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to educate and mobilise overseas
Vietnamese to refrain from any involvement in the trade and transport of wild
animals or animal parts in the countries they reside.
The
Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development has been tasked with
monitoring implementation of the directive, tackling ensuing problems and
sending annual reports to the Prime Minister.
Dung
also asked mass media outlets to severely criticise all violations related to
wildlife trafficking and increase the frequency of disseminating information
about wildlife conservation so as to raise public awareness of its
importance.
NGO
role in climate change fight strengthened
Nearly
100 civil organisations and 20 poor communities in 23 cities and provinces will
benefit from a project strengthening the role of Vietnamese non-governmental
organisations in climate change communications and policy advocacy.
Vu Thi
Bich Hop, director of the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) and
head of the Network of Vietnamese Non-Governmental Organisations and Climate
Change (VNGO & CC), announced the project at a workshop in Ha Noi on
Tuesday.
Conducted
by the SRD, the Centres for Marine Life Conservation and Community
Development, Community Health Research and Development, Rural Development in
"With
a total budget of more than AUD224,000 (US$200,000), including over
AUD200,000 funded by the Australian Agency for International Development
(AusAID), the project aims to improve the efficiency of response to the
impacts of climate change by improving the ability of the Chief Security
Officer (CSO) and strengthening NGOs' participation in policymaking on
climate change," said head of the Climate Change Department under the SRD
Pham Thi Bich Ngoc.
It
will also help the VNGO & CC work more effectively by improving the
organisational and coordination structure of operations, Ngoc said.
Also
in Ha Noi, the SRD held a workshop on Wednesday on behalf of the management
board of the Network of Vietnamese Non-Governmental Organisations and Forest
Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VNGO-FLEGT). The meeting focused on
Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership
Agreements.
"Approved
in 2003, FLEGT was one of the European Union's responses to international
concerns about illegal logging and trading; the document sets out
supply-and-demand measures to combat the problem. Meanwhile,
The
FLEGT VPA develops control and licensing procedures in countries that produce
and process timber in order to ensure that only products made from
legally-harvested timber can enter the EU.
Participation
will help the country maintain the two large markets, while reducing illegal
logging and trading and encouraging afforestation, according to Hop.
The EU
has so far concluded a FLEGT VPA with five African countries and one Asian
country,
Delta
water project demonstrates green power
The
living conditions of rural people in the Mekong Delta will be improved thanks
to the construction of a water supply station using solar and wind energy in
the
As
part the Danish-funded project, three water supply stations will be built in
remote areas that are densely populated by Khmer ethnic people: Chau Thanh district,
Prey Chop hamlet and the Vinh Phuoc ward of Vinh Chau town.
With a
total investment of 1 billion VND (47,000 USD), the stations have a daily
capacity of between 30 and 70 cubic metres each and run by solar energy or
both solar and wind power.
The construction
has been supported with non-refundable aid of 4 million Danish krone (14.8
billion VND) along with over 2.3 billion VND contributed by the 12 provinces
and cities benefiting from the project.
The
development aims to promote a sustainable water supply for rural communities
in the Mekong Delta while proving the efficiency of greener energy supply
methods, increasing local understanding for the benefit of Vietnamese rural
people, the environment and the economics of the region.
Bird
flu inspections strengthened at border gates
The
Health Ministry has taken drastic measures to strengthen health checks and
the inspections of imported goods at border gates, with the aim of preventing
bird flu viruses from entering the country.
Tran
Dac Phu, director of the ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department, said that
since the beginning of this year, nine teams have been established to assist
northern border provinces in the fight against the H7N9 and H5N1 strains of
avian flu.
They
have also supervised localities carrying out poultry smuggling
investigations.
Phu
confirmed that no avian flu H7N9 case has been reported so far this year in
either humans or poultry. However, the country has been facing a very high
risk due to the sudden increase in H7N9 cases in neighbouring
Therefore,
the ministry has intensified inspections 24/7 by using infra-red body
temperature measuring machines at border gates as around 130,000 Chinese
enter Vietnam each month. Unusually high temperatures can be a symptom of
avian flu.
In the
time to come, the health sector will continue strengthening quarantine work
at border gates, and improving the capacity of doctors to avoid fatalities.
Yen
Bai gives measles vaccination to 48,000 children
Nearly
48,000 children under 15 years old in the northern mountainous
The
children are from 218 villages and communes in districts of Van Chan, Van
Yen, Yen Binh, Tran Yen and Luc Yen, where the ratio of measles vaccination
was low.
This
year, Yen Bai province aims to have 98 percent of children fully vaccinated
against measles.
The
locality has so far this year seen 350 measles cases, including one death due
to poor awareness of the danger of the disease, especially among parents from
ethnic minority groups.
The
provincial People’s Committee has asked localities to increase communication
activities among parents about the benefits of vaccination while reviewing
the immunisation against the disease in all communes to prevent it from
outbreaking.
Severe
measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially
those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune system have been weaken by
diseases, it said.
In
2013, the country saw 1,048 measles cases, mostly in children under the age
of 10 (75.9 percent).-
Localities
step up efforts against diseases in animals, poultry
The
southern
Accordingly,
animal health agencies have conducted disinfection and vaccinations at border
districts, border gates and live poultry markets in order to limit the spread
of such diseases.
As of
February 21, the Cambodia-bordering province has reported seven bird flu
hotbeds in Ben Cau and Chau Thanh districts, with a total of more than 6,000
sick fowls.
The
Mekong Delta city of
The
municipal agricultural sector has, so far this year, detected seven avian
influenza outbreaks in Phong Dien, Thoi Lan, O Mon and Binh Thuy districts.
Although
A/H5N1bird flu appears to have left the
From
February 22 to March 21, the locality will launch a disinfection drive along
with taking samples of poultry to ease early detection of any disease.
The
provincial health department has tightened its inspection of flu in humans
and boosted its use of quarantining risky patients.
Meanwhile,
the northern mountainous
Along
with increasing awareness-raising work, the province has also keep a close
watch on the import of poultry from across its borders.
Since
February 2014, Yen Bai has used 234 litres of disinfectant and checked the
transportation of tens of thousands of heads of animals and poultry.
According
to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, avian
influenza, foot-and-mouth and blue-ear disease have all struck the locality
in the past.
A/H5N1
has so far this year killed two people in the southern provinces of Binh
Phuoc and Dong Thap.
Vietnam-Poland
Friendship Association meets
The
Vietnam-Poland Friendship Association congress for the 2014-2019 term has
selected Nguyen Dang Cuong to helm its newly elected 14-member executive
board.
In
other business at the February 23 meeting in
They
agreed to focus on intensifying the dissemination of information about Party
and State guidelines and policies along with a range of activities to deepen
mutual understanding and diversify between the two nations.
HCM
City Union of Friendship Organizations President Le Hung Quoc said he
optimistic that the association’s activities will contribute to promoting
people-to-people exchanges, peace and friendship between the two nations.
Established
in 1990, the association is one of the friendship organizations set up soon
after Southern Liberation Day. It has so far attracted postgraduates and
those who once lived and worked in
PPP
aims to improve healthcare
The
issue was raised at a workshop held by the Ministry of Health and the World
Bank on February 20 to discuss measures to foster co-operation between the
Government and the private sector in the healthcare industry.
Deputy
Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said public hospitals in
After
recently visiting some hospitals in
Meanwhile,
most central-level public hospitals use up to 120% of their bed capacity.
However,
it is a question of how to utilise this private health check-up and treatment
system to help ease overloading in public hospitals.
Many
participants said one of the answers to this problem was to promote the PPP
model in the health sector.
Dam
said the private sector had actively participated in the health sector over
the past years, but had still failed to meet the actual demand.
More
comprehensive policies and mechanisms from land and capital to human
resources to help attract new investment capital sources for healthcare
projects under the PPP were needed to maximise the capacity of modern private
hospitals, he said.
Deputy
Health Minister Pham Le Tuan said increasing public demand for health
check-ups and treatment, overloading at public hospitals and strong
development of private hospitals and clinics were the reasons for developing
the PPP model in the health sector.
Yet, a
shortage of policies and mechanisms on PPP in the health sector made projects
unattractive to private investors.
Deputy
Minister of Planning and Investment Dao Quang Thu said many countries such as
In
Most
participants said the most important thing was to form specific policies and
mechanisms for PPP in the health sector, focusing on land, capital and human
resources.
Many
countries are facing increasing financial pressure from public service
sectors, particularly in the field of healthcare, with a global expenditure
for this sector surpassing US$4 trillion, equivalent to 9% of global GDP,
according to experts from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part
of the World Bank Group.
Public
spending often failed to meet people's demand for health check-ups and
treatment services, and in many low-income countries, people had to pay up to
60% of healthcare fees, they said.
It was
important not to consider the PPP model as a tool to provide better
healthcare services for those who could afford them, but to help poor
patients without health insurance, they said. It meant that the PPP model
would help poor patients to be able to access qualified healthcare services.
Dirk
Sommer from the IFC said
A
successful PPP model depended on politics, the economy and the implementation
of the project, he said.
Sharing
his experience in applying the PPP model, the director of the health
department in the northern province of Phu Tho Ho Duc Hai, said the Phu Tho
General Hospital had mobilised different investment capital sources to
upgrade facilities and equipment, and improve staff training.
This
co-operation had helped to increase the hospital's daily turnover to nearly
VND10 billion (US$$470,000) from VND100-200 million, he said, adding that it
had also helped to ease the city's overload.
Deputy
Health Minister Tuan said the ministry would ask the Government to draft
legal documents for the PPP model, eliminate procedural difficulties and
allocate capital and human resources to ensure its success.
Doctors
at
The
municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said that the
city’s vocational training has yet to meet the demand of businesses and the
labour market.
The
city will focus on diversifying the modes of training and developing reliable
occupations.
Many
facilities have paid attention to vocational training for people with
disabilities, soldiers who complete their military service and rural labourers.
Tran
Dinh Phu, Sawaco's (Saigon Water Corporation) general director, told the HCM
City People 's Council's Economic and Budget Commission during a meeting on
Tuesday that more than 89 per cent of the population has had access to tap
water, but the city will raise the rate to 100 per cent by the end of this
year.
To
reach the target, Sawaco needs to build 1,100km of water pipeline, 94km of
which are main pipelines costing VND2.3 trillion. The remaining are small
pipelines, costing VND2.2trillion.
However,
Sawaco, is only able to cover less than half of the invested capital and has
sought private investment for its water pipeline project.
"Many
investors are willing to invest in water plants but don't want to invest in
the pipeline project because it takes a long time to recover capital,"
Phu said.
Phu
proposed to the People's Council that it use its budget to help Sawaco cover
half of the investment capital of VND4.5 trillion.
According
to Phu, the city will have two more water plants. The Thu Duc 3 Plant built
by the Saigon Clean Water Investment and Trading Co. will start operation by
the end of this year and the Tan Hiep 2 Water Plant invested by Tan Hiep
Water Invesment Co., by the end of next year. Each plant has a capacity of
300,000 c.m a day.
"Sawaco
will buy water from the plants to supply to city residents. It needs to
invest in more water pipelines to fully use the additional water
volume," Phu said.
Flyovers
fail to curb traffic congestion
A
series of newly-built steel flyovers have been put into use in
The
Hang Xanh intersection flyover is an example. The four-lane flyover, with a
width of 16 metres and a length of 390 metres, opened to traffic early last
year in Binh Thanh District. The VND88 billion (US$4.1 million) flyover,
which was designed for both cars and motorbikes, was expected to reduce 80
per cent of the area's traffic jams.
However,
all two-wheeled vehicles were banned when this flyover was inaugurated due to
safety concerns, leaving the congestion unimproved. The city tried to divide
lanes and allow two-wheeled vehicles on the flyover as a trial. But after a
short period, they were forced to again ban the vehicles.
Nguyen
Thi Tram, resident in District 2, said she and other people were still
suffering from traffic jams during rush hours, although the overpass helped
ease the situation.
"I
go to this road everyday and the situation has yet to get better. I feel
annoyed, as the city authorities keeps banning and allowing motorbikes to run
on this road."
"Many
flyovers have been built, but traffic chaos still happen. I think authorities
should evaluate their effectiveness before building more such projects,"
she said.
The
same situation occurs at other flyovers, which solved the traffic jams at
intersections, though traffic chaos arose in surrounding areas during peak
hours.
Recently,
city authorities approved building a steel flyover in Go Vap Intersection at
a cost of VND354 trillion ($16.8 million).
The
city has also considered a project to build two overpasses at two crossroads
in District 3 and District 11.
Last
year, six steel flyovers were built at serious congestion-prone areas in the
city.
Doctor
Pham Xuan Mai of
"Congestion
in the city has become a long stream, instead of just in spots, as in other
places. Flyovers only solved the problem at the place they were
installed," he said.
Doctor
Nguyen Huu Nguyen of The Southern Economic Research Centre, said construction
of flyovers could not ease the current situation.
In
general, the area for traffic in urban areas must be between 20 and 25 per
cent of the total area, while that found in
According
to experts, the city had more than 7,000 kilometres of roads, but 2,000 of
these were narrow. Thus, the city should organise different vehicles to
travel on different routes, with tuk tuks being the correct choice in narrow
areas.
The
city should invest more in the network of buses and the construction of a
subway. The reduction of population density from urban to suburban areas
should also be carried out.
Sugarcane
farmers look to sweeter crops
Many
sugarcane farmers in the Cuu Long (
In
Ho
Thanh Kiet, head of the Cu Lao Dung Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau,
said traders were buying sugarcane at fields at a price of VND700 a
kilogramme.
At
this price, farmers could only break even or lose after nearly one year of
growing a sugarcane crop, Kiet said.
The
district's sugarcane area is estimated to fall by 500ha for the 2014-15
sugarcane crop, according to the bureau.
Nguyen
Hoang Phuc in Cu Lao Dung's An Thanh 2 Commune, who has planted sugarcane for
37 years, has dug two ponds with a total area of 4,500 sq.m in his sugarcane
field to breed shrimp.
"I
suffered losses in the sugarcane crop for 2013-14," Phuc said.
Phuc
said he had invested in shrimp even though the financial outlay for the ponds
was high.
The
price of shrimp has risen in recent years, so many sugarcane farmers have
switched to raising shrimp.
Tran
Van Be, deputy chairman of the Cu Lao Dung People's Committee, said Cu Lao
Dung had decided that sugarcane was the district's key crop.
The
district has the highest sugarcane yield in the delta and supplies sugarcane
sugar mills in Soc Trang and the Delta's other provinces.
However,
the price of sugarcane has continued to fall over the past two years because
of large sugar inventories and an increase in smuggled sugar.
Last
year, the district's farmers converted more than 100ha of sugarcane into
shrimp ponds.
The
district officials estimate that an additional 300ha of sugarcane will be
turned into shrimp ponds this year.
In Tra
Vinh, Ben Tre, Long An and Hau Giang provinces, many sugarcane farmers have
also planted other crops after harvesting this year's sugarcane crop.
Nguyen
The Tu, head of the Phung Hiep District Agriculture and Rural Development
Bureau in Hau Giang, said farmers in Phung Hiep had converted 700ha of
sugarcane to other crops in the 2014-15 sugarcane crop.
In Tra
Vinh, the area under sugarcane cultivation has declined to 5,800ha in the
2013-14 sugarcane crop, down about 300ha against the last crop, according to
the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Sugarcane
cultivation in the delta has declined in recent years, and sugar mills are
expected to face a shortage of raw materials in the future, according to
experts.
Hospitals
focus on infection
All
health facilities in
At the
workshop on improving patient safety for nurses, which was held in
However,
only 68.5 per cent of them monitor and assesses the system regularly,
according to Phuong.
Monitoring
and assessment helps find shortcomings in the infection control systems so
that hospitals can improve the systems.
Every
hospital in the city has set up an infection control council.
The
city also has begun programmes on hand washing compliance, and safe solid and
liquid waste treatment.
Lots
of the research shows that hospital infection raises mortality, prolongs the
duration of illness and treatment, which increases the use of antibiotics and
hospital costs.
Phuong
used a 900-bed hospital and its intensive care unit in
The
hospital started its infection control programme in 1996. It assessed the
basic rate of nosocomial infection in the programme's first year, she said.
It
adopted methods such as the standardisation of nursing care and hand hygiene.
The
results were a reduction in the number of patients with sepsis-blood
poisoning, urinary tract infections, and nosocomial pneumonia by 33 per cent
over five years, Phuong said.
Phuong
said that improving care techniques would help improve patient safety.
Jackie
Wright, president of Australia Viet Nam Volunteers Resource Group Inc's Vic
Health Education Team, said that hospital safety was a serious global public
health issue.
In
recent years, countries had increasingly recognised the importance of
improving patient safety. In developed countries, one in 10 patients is
harmed while receiving hospital care, she said.
Health
facilities should improve patient safety by promoting a culture of reporting
and learning from patient safety incidents, she suggested.
Collecting
data from incidents would assist in identifying trends and patterns of
avoidable incidents and underlying cause, as well as developing models of
good practice, she added.
Mekong
Delta provinces have so far poured more than 91.8 trillion VND (4.1 billion
USD) into building new-style rural areas in 1,300 communes, said the Steering
Committee for the Southwestern Region.
According
to Nguyen Phong Quang, deputy head of the committee’s standing board, the
money has been used in transport, irrigation, electricity, education,
healthcare and housing.
As a
result, the region’s growth rate saw a year-on-year increase of 9 percent in
2013 with agriculture up 4 percent, the export of farm produce up 10.6
percent, and industry up 11.9 percent.
Last
year, the region’s average per capita income stood at 34.6 million VND (1,600
USD), 2.3 million VND higher than that recorded in 2012, Quang said.
Nearly
2,700 class rooms were built, he said, adding that the drop-out rate was cut
to 0.69 percent and 97.5 percent of school-age children have gained access to
classes.
Programmes
on education, health insurance, housing and vocational training, among
others, have been implemented effectively.
There are
21 communes in the region meeting at least 15 criteria required for building
new-style rural areas and 320 others satisfying 10-14 criteria.
Building
infrastructure, improving production capacity, protecting the environment and
promoting local traditions and cultural identities are among the criteria for
building the new rural areas – a programme launched by the Government in
2010.-
Work
starts on Lach Giang estuary channels
Construction
of channels running through Lach Giang estuary began in Hai Hau district, the
The
work is part of a major transport project expected to cost more than 201.5
million USD, with the World Bank providing a loan of 171 million USD and the
remainder coming from the Vietnamese Government.
The
first phase will upgrade the Viet Tri-Hanoi-Quang Ninh waterway corridors and
the second will build a breakwater and canal at the Lach Giang estuary while
upgrading the Viet Tri, Ninh Binh-Ninh Phuc river ports.
Speaking
at the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai described
infrastructure development, especially in transport, as one of the three
strategic tasks on
He
asked the Ministry of Transport, the project’s investors, management board
and constructors to mobilise all resources for the work.
The
ministry must closely partner with local authorities to overcome obstacles
along the way and ensure successful completion of the project, he said.
Once
operational, the channels will allow ships with loads of up to 1,000 tonnes
to reach ports in the
The
work is expected to be completed by the end of December 2015.
Film
encourages people to say no to tiger bone glue
Education
for Nature - Vietnam (ENV) has just released a short film calling upon people
to join hands to stop the killing of tigers by saying no to tiger bone glue,
the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Online Newspaper reported.
The
film criticises the backward viewpoint of some people that tiger bone glue is
not only a good medicine but also shows off one’s success and status amongst
friends and colleagues.
The
main character of the film is a newly appointed member of the board of
directors. To impress other members of the board, he uses tiger bone glue as
a gift at his first board meeting. However, the gift is not well received but
creates the opposite impression of what he had hoped, tarnishing his image.
Apart
from the message "Tiger bone glue will not impress anyone”, the short
film also calls on viewers to protect tigers by reporting tiger crimes to
authorities or via the free hotline 1800 1522.
Currently,
a lot of Vietnamese people, especially men, still believe that tiger bone
glue is a miracle medicine to help treat bone diseases, improve health and
enhance vitality. In
Over
the past few decades, the tiger population in the world has declined sharply,
mainly due to poaching, trade and habitat loss. According to statistics,
"Some
people still believe that using tiger bone glue for treatment is fashionable,
is a way to express their rank. However, it is the time for us to wake up, we
need to think and act based on the science, and in a way suitable with a
civilized era. The actions and unfounded beliefs leading to tiger hunting and
trafficking need to be changed," Deputy Director of ENV Nguyen Thi
Phuong Dung.
She
also warned that
This
is the 18th film in a series of short films for communication to raise
awareness in order to reduce consumption of endangered and rare wildlife
products of ENV.
The
films will be broadcast on central and local television channels.
Quang
Ninh bidding to build Youth Island
The
northeastern coastal
The
project on building national youth islands between now and 2020 aims to
encourage young people and families to act as pioneers in effectively making
the most of the potential offered by
Since
the end of 2013, Quang Ninh province has launched a project to encourage
young people to reside on
Quang
Ninh has selected 17 voluntary households to relocate to the island, and most
of main workers are under the age of 40. These would-be islanders will be
introduced to their new home in the second quarter of 2014.
They
will be supported with free residential land, 80 percent of house building
expenses and loans under concessional terms, among other incentives.
Apart
from Tran Island, four others locations will also be developed into youth
islands: H on Chuoi Island in the southernmost province of Ca Mau; Tho Chau
Island in the southern province of Kien Giang; Bach Long Vi Island in the
northern city of Hai Phong; and Con Co Island in the central province of
Quang Tri.-
Oxfam
climate change response project benefits Ben Tre
A
climate change response project launched by the
Funded
by the New Zealand Government, the five-year project “Building resilience to
disasters and climate change risks for men and women” is improving the
capacity of local people in disaster management and climate change
adaptation.
It is
supporting livelihoods for poor and vulnerable groups like the elderly,
children and the disabled along with adding the supply of clean water and
local hygiene.
In
2013, it provided the 15 communes with early warning disaster equipment and
other machines worth over 1.4 billion VND (66,000 USD) while training courses
on community-based disaster management and disaster risk reduction were also
opened.
Meanwhile,
as many as 37 watermelon farming households received essential equipment
while 237 breeding goats were distributed to other farming families.
In
coordination with the Centre for Clean Water and Environment Hygiene, the
project also assisted the construction of water containers in Ba Tri
district’s Tan Xuan and Bao Thuan communes.
During
the year, the project ran 54 activities at a total cost of over 17 billion
VND (800 million USD).
Ben
Tre is facing negative impacts of climate change like environmental
pollution, typhoons and heavy floods.
HCMC’s
government has given a document to the Department of Transport guiding
measures against degraded hydrofoils, saying that all the vessels must remain
anchored for further technical examination.
According
to the traffic safety unit under the Ministry of Transport, the ministry will
set up a group to look into technical safety of hydrofoils in HCMC and Ba
Ria-Vung Tau Province. Inspectors will focus on issues that the city’s
transport department has yet to survey or give clear results before.
Earlier,
the city has reported to the ministry inspection results over hydrofoils of
the HCMC-Vung Tau route. Local inspectors have found that all the hydrofoils
had been in use for over 20 years, and their hulls have degraded.
They
have also discovered oil leaks in four of the nine hydrofoils, broken fuel
pipes in six out of nine, water leaks at the cockpit, cabin and engine
compartment in three vessels, and substandard lifebuoys in four vessels.
The
department has also suggested the ministry to conduct full check of
durability of the vessels so as the hydrofoil service could resume soon.
On
January 20, a blaze burned down a hydrofoil while it was en route from the
city to Vung Tau with 92 people on board including 85 passengers and seven
crewmembers.
The
captain of the Vina Express vessel then drove the hydrofoil to the shore of
the
High
risks of bird-flu transmission to humans
The
HCMC Department of Health reiterated the high risks of bird-flu transmission
to humans at a meeting on Wednesday, and urged relevant agencies and
residents to stay vigilant against the deadly disease.
Speaking
to representatives of the Medical Preventive Divisions of 24 districts,
Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy director of the Health Department, warned against the
high risks of transmission from fowls to humans, especially the lethal strain
of A/H7N9 that is wrecking
“The
risks of the virus spreading to Vietnam is very high, and the Health
Department has proposed the city government to set up four inspection teams
and prepare necessary facilities to fight the epidemic in case of outbreaks,”
he said.
As of
February 17, China had recorded 357 cases of human infections, with 74 people
killed, mainly in provinces bordering Vietnam, Hung said, adding there are
signs the virus has spread to Southeast Asia.
“It is
crucial to inform the people of the high risks of A/H7N9 virus, since there
are no visible symptoms on infected fowls,” he stressed.
He
advised all people to come to hospital upon such symptoms as coughing,
running nose or unfounded fever. Residents should informed relevant agencies
when finding dead birds, Hung added.
According
to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar are
countries having high risks of the A/H7N9 virus from China.
Regarding
the less lethal virus H5N1, high vigilance is also important.
Vietnam
currently has 35 million doses of H5N1 vaccines while the bird flu is likely
to spread widely, and thus the use of such vaccine needs to be taken into
careful consideration, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Therefore,
provinces should use their budget reserves to prevent and control the bird
flu, said Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat at an
online meeting with provinces and cities nationwide on the H5N1 bird flu
prevention held on Tuesday.
“In
localities having A/H5N1 virus, there six out of 100 ducks infected with the
virus and 61 out of 100 markets detected with the virus. Therefore, the bird
flu is highly likely to spread and outbreak,” Minister Phat stressed.
According
to the Animal Health Department, 14 provinces nationwide had been hit by the
bird flu as of Tuesday. The number of poultry destroyed has amounted to
66,388.
Besides,
the bird flu has occurred in some other localities but has been detected and
prevented early. Two people in Binh Phuoc and Dong Thap provinces were
reported to die of the A/H5N1 bird flu in January.
Pham
Van Dong, director of the Animal Health Department, said that the flu could
continue to occur in some localities in the coming time, resulting from
farmers raising new flocks.
Deputy
Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai spoke at the meeting that it was important to
ban purchases and transport of poultry and poultry products via the borders
in all forms. Ministries have to tightly control such activities, monitor
markets, decontaminate and separate areas selling live poultry, he added.
At the
meeting, most of the provinces and cities proposed the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development to provide more vaccine and chemicals to
prevent the flu.
Some
20 million doses of bird-flu vaccine are expected to arrive in Vietnam, and
another 20 million doses on February 28, which will be distributed to all
cities and provinces. When these shipments arrive, Vietnam will have
sufficient vaccine for all localities.
Number
of poor people in city to rise eight times
The
number of poor households in HCMC will be 130,000 this year, equivalent to
7.12% of the city’s population, under the new poverty line applied on January
24 while the respective figures of last year were 16,000 households and 0.8%.
According
to the new poverty line, poor people in HCMC are those with incomes smaller
than VND16 million per year, or US$2 a day, instead of VND12 million applied
last year.
The
poverty line of HCMC is currently the highest nationwide and three times
higher than the national line for urban areas.
Nguyen
Van Xe, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Labor, Invalids and Social
Affairs and head of the city’s poverty reduction board, told the Daily that
last year’s poverty line was no longer suitable as an annual income of VND12
million was equivalent to only VND7 million of 2011 after the price slide was
factored in. The figure of VND16 million is equivalent to the living standard
of a person whose income in 2011 was VND11 million, he added.
According
to Xe, the poverty line increase pushes up the number of poor people,
affecting allowances for the poor. However, as prices continuously rise high,
the poverty line adjustment is necessary to ensure living standard for the
people and ensure supporting policies of the city to reach those with low
incomes.
HCMC
is currently considering providing many criteria besides income such as job,
education, health, accommodation and community activities. With such criteria
included, the number of poor people will be higher but solutions to support
the poor will be more suitable.
For
instance, those whose income is under the poverty line based on the criterion
of job will be supported to have a job or lent money to improve living.
HCMC
will increase the cost for poverty reduction programs by nearly VND670.7
billion to VND3.504 trillion this year, and there will be around VND3.531
trillion to support poor people next year, according to Xe.
Industrial
park workers to receive funding for childcare
An
education fund has been set up for the children of workers in industrial
zones in several southern provinces, which includes to improve preschool
education.
The
fund, calls for 1,000 scholarships worth a total of VND1 billion (USD47,314)
to be granted to the preschool-aged children of industrial park workers in
Dong Nai, Binh Duong and HCM City.
The
fund, established jointly by HCM City University of Pedagogy’s Institute of
Educational Research and Home Credit Vietnam will provide 350 scholarships to
underprivileged children in HCM City, while the provinces of Dong Nai and of
Binh Duong will be granted 325 each.
Apart
from such scholarships, the fund will also invite experts in preschool
education and child psychology for the purposes of training in childcare for
workers in industrial parks and export and processing zones.
Dr.
Nguyen Kim Dung, Deputy Director of the Institute of Educational Research,
said that the areas targeted are places that house a large number of
immigrant workers. These areas have been experiencing overcrowding of
preschools, forcing many parents to send their children to unlicensed
family-based daycare centres which lack trained staff.
“Even
though the authorities have conducted regular inspections and applied fines
to these low-quality centres, and in some cases asked them to shut down,
several child abuse cases involving such businesses have come to light
recently. More attention should be placed on pre-education,” Dung
recommended.
According
to her, the institute is conducting a study on the practical application of
childcare at the preschool level in these three localities in order to assess
the quality of education and the difficulties faced by workers by sending
their children to daycare. Based on their findings, they will propose
long-term solutions to improve the situation.
Student
swimming contest held in cold conditions
Education
authorities in Quang Trach District, Quang Binh Province have been criticised
for organising an outdoor swimming competition despite cold weather.
A
total of 220 secondary school students and 69 primary school students were
compelled to compete in the contest, held on February 19-20.
The
contest continued even though the temperatures dropped as low as 12 degrees
Celsius, drawing criticism from the students’ parents, local residents and
passers-by.
“I
don’t know why they would hold a swimming contest when it is so cold. Several
students needed to be taken out immediately after jumping in the water,” said
a local boatman hired to provide rescue services during the contest.
A
local woman who has two children participating in the contest said, “The
adults who stood at the bank of the dam bank were cold even though they were
dressed in thick clothes. I felt as if they were trying to torture our
children.”
Dang
Xuan Loc, Head of the district Office of Education and Training said, “We
only worked in an advisory capacity for the contest, and the district
People’s Committee approved the plan, which was made quite a long term ago.
They couldn’t have predicted the weather being so cold. They found it
dificult to delay the event to another day, as it may have affected their
other plans and drove up expenses.”
Source: VNA/VOV/VNS/SGGP/SGT
|
Thứ Hai, 24 tháng 2, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét