Social News Headlines 29/3 Two Lao drug traffickers arrested in Quang Tri Border guards in the central province of Quang Tri and police from the southern Lao Savannakhet province on March 27 arrested two Lao people trafficking 6,000 pills of synthetic drugs into Quang Tri’s Huong Hoa district. The two admitted they bought the drugs in Savannakhet and were smuggling them to Vietnam via the Lao Bao international border gate. They confessed that their ring also included another who escaped from the scene. A car with Lao number plate along with some amounts of Lao Kip, Thai Bath and related documents were seized. Many OVs face property losses in Vientiane market fire Fire swept through Thongkhankham market in Vientiane, Laos, on March 26 resulting in widespread damage and losses for traders including those from Vietnam. The fire broke out at approximately 20:30 destroying a large number of kiosks which were stockpiling a larger volume of goods than usual in the lead up to Bounpimai –a traditional Lao festival. Hundreds of Vietnamese expatriates were among the thousands of other Lao traders who suffered great losses of property in the accident. Tran Van Thai, a Vietnamese national residing in Laos for 22 years, described how he has run five stalls at Thongkhankham market for over 20 years. “I saved money for decades to invest in five kiosks and all of them were destroyed in the incident”. Thai said he lost around VND4 billion (nearly US$200,000), and his family no longer have jobs or a livelihood as his kiosks and stock were burnt to the ground.. Nguyen Thi Hien, another victim, said her kiosk was destroyed by fire after she failed to enter the market due to the fierce heat and flames. Fire engines and rescue forces were called to battle the blaze, and firefighters managed to get it under control thanks to heavy rain. Relevant agencies are now investigating the fire. Landslides caused by water overuse An initial investigation conducted by the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology and Institute of Geology has showed that the over use of underground water caused landslides in An Nghia Commune in Hoa Binh Province last month. The investigation included geological surveys undertaken in 30 locations within the commune in Lac Son District and about ten kilometers from the commune, said Dinh Van Toan, member of the academy's board. Remote sensing images have also been used to study the landslide, he said. Scientists from the two institutes plan to conduct further inspections in three months to gather more information on the landslide which took place on February 12. In the meantime, Toan warned residents to suspend their use of underground water. Temporary measures have been carried out at locations affected by the landslides including resident evacuations and road construction, said Bui Van Hanh, chairman of the district People's Committee. The district People's Committee had also banned the operation of coal mines in the area, he said. Bui Van Canh, head of the commune, said there are around ten sinkholes in the area as a result of the landslide. The landslide affected an area of four hectares and caused cracks along the inter-communal road and in the walls of several houses. Ten houses in the commune are on the verge of collapse and one household was forced to evacuate, said local authorities. Illegal storage sites uncovered Inspectors in Ha Noi have found over 83ha of land across the city that is being illegally used to store construction materials. Hoang Mai District has the highest volume with over 381,300 sq.m, followed by Phu Xuyen Gia Lam, Dong Anh and Dan Phuong. According to Ha Noi's Department for Flood, Storm Control and Dyke Management, there were over 200 areas being used to store building materials along major rivers in the city, but only 31 had been granted licences. In river valleys, natural materials such as stone, sand and peat were also being exploited. Head of the department, Do Duc Thinh, said that illegal sand exploitation damaged the capital city's dyke system. The illegal practice had changed the current of the Hong (Red), Duong and Da rivers, seriously affecting waterway traffic and causing landslides, according to Thinh. Thinh said that sand exploitation tempted some people because it required little investment but offered high profits. In just two hours, a ship could dredge about 100cu.m of sand and gravel from the riverbed, which fetched VND2 million (US$95). Illegal storage grounds threatened the embankments' safety, he said. Inspectors have asked authorities in communes and districts where violations were found to clamp down. However, local authorities said it was difficult to address the problem. They blamed prolonged mismanagement of riverside land which had led to its misuse. Former local administrations had also signed contracts to lease the land out for years, which caused problems for the current administration. Finally, there were no official fines for the trading or storing of non-identified-origin natural minerals. Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Cuong from the city's Waterway Police Department told Ha Noi Moi (New Ha Noi) newspaper that illegal sand miners were smart and transported their cargoes to neighbouring provinces such as Hung Yen and Ha Nam to avoid detection. In the last seven months, the department detected 38 cases and prosecuted seven people for illegal sand mining. The department was looking to step up measures to punish violators, stop illegal mining and close storage facilities, he said. Vietnamese man banned from flying The Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV) has banned Nghiem Tho Hoan, 41, of Ha Noi, from travelling on any aircraft carrier for six months starting March 20 for joking about a bomb. Tho is reported to have joked about carrying bomb in his luggage as he went through security clearance before boarding a Vietjet Air flight at the Buon Me Thuot Airport in the Central Highlands on March 10. Land reclaimed for afforestation Nearly 4,00ha of forest land illegally encroached on by farmers has been taken back for afforestation, the People's Committee of southern Tay Ninh Province has said. In 2009, due to poor management, many hectares of protected forest in Lo Go-Xa Mat National Park were taken over for agriculture. The losses became greater as the years went by. Some people took advantage of a Government programme to let selected local people take care of forest land and also cultivate rubber trees, cassava and cashews. Ta Van Dao, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that after four years of watching developments, the department seized nearly 4,000ha. Most of it came from Tan Chau, Tan Bien and Chau Thanh districts. The land is already being re-afforested. About 55ha remaining has not yet been replanted because it is swampy. Dao said about 220ha of forestry land could not be seized as the people farming it had had been granted land use certificates. According to him, the department would ask the Government to revoke the certificates but the farmers to use it until they harvested their rubber crops in 25 years. Central, southern regions reap new-style rural area success Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has spoken highly of efforts by South-eastern, Southern Central and Central Highlands provinces to utilise their advantages in building new-style rural areas, thus gaining initial successes. At a recent conference in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, reports from the 19 provinces in the regions said 141.3 trillion VND (6.7 billion USD) has been raised for building new-style rural areas over the past three years. The sum has been spent on key infrastructure such as irrigation works, roads and water facilities, creating a momentum for production development and improving local living conditions, the reports said. Many concentrated cash crop production areas have been formed in the regions during the period. As many as 4,760 agricultural production models have been implemented with total financial assistance of nearly 3.5 trillion VND (166.2 million USD). Ninh, who is also the head of the Central Steering Committee for the National Target Programme on Building New-style Rural Areas, specially valued models that use high technology, as well as those with the partnership of farmers, businesses and cooperatives. Ho Chi Minh City is known as a leading locality in applying advanced technology in agricultural production, which has brought an average production value of 282.6 million VND (nearly 13,500 USD) per hectare a year – the highest figure in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Lam Dong is now home to 35,000 hectares of farmland using high technology, bringing about revenue of 122.2 million VND (5,800 USD) per hectare each year – 2.5 times higher than the national average. Along with making use of sea-based economic potentials, Binh Thuan province has encouraged the cultivation of dragon fruit following the Vietnam Good Agricultural Practice standards. As of the end of 2013, 8,100 farming households joined the practice with 20,186 hectares, and some 1,600 households cooperated with 16 businesses to ensure an outlet for their fruits. A number of cashew cultivation cooperatives in Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc provinces have also formed collaborative ties with the business circle, thus gaining high economic effectiveness. Despite such attainments, the provinces still face an array of problems in building new-style rural areas. For example, infrastructure works have not been built comprehensively, thus hampering local socio-economic development. Or the link between businesses and farmers has not been expanded. Deputy PM Ninh asked localities to continue promoting farmers’ role in creating on-site production models and facilitating the use of cutting-edge technology. They also should multiply current effective examples and extend the market for local products. The South-eastern, Southern Central and Central Highlands regions comprise 19 provinces with 1,896 communes. At present, 42 communes have met all 19 new-style rural area criteria, 102 others satisfy 15-18, and 380 have fulfilled from one to five standards. Building infrastructure, improving production capacity, constructing public works, protecting the landscape and environment, and promoting local traditions and cultural identities are among the criteria of building new-style rural areas initiated by the Vietnamese Government in 2010.- Vietnamese, Lao war veterans cement ties Colonel Nguyen Hong Ha is leading a Vietnamese war veteran delegation to visit their former battle fields in Laos from March 22-29. The officials met their peers from the Lao War Veterans’ Association on March 27, during which both sides shared experience in poverty alleviation, and improving health and living standards for ex-servicemen and women. Colonel Hong recalled the hard war years when the two countries’ veterans stood side by side to overcome difficulties. Major General Thongkhen Ondavong highlighted the special bilateral relationship and expressed his deep gratitude to the Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives to the cause of Lao national salvation. He said the Lao people and war veterans in particular will always remember their valuable assistance and vow to promote the bilateral long-standing ties among the younger generations. Vietnam and Laos share a 2,000km border, the longest land border that Vietnam shares with a neighbouring country. In addition to sound political relations, both sides have also enjoyed strong economic ties with two-way trade reaching 817 million USD by October 2013. The two nations are striving to increase bilateral trade turnover to 2 billion USD in 2015 and 5 billion USD in 2020. Conference seeks better support system for mentally ill A conference in Hanoi on March 27 sought to develop an equitable social support system for people with mental disorders. The event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) in Vietnam – an organisation focusing mainly on supporting people’s access to health care services. Participants proposed that in the coming time, the MOLISA should pay more attention to building a complete legal system supporting mentally ill people and designing adequate policies to those involving in the care of these patients. The ministry should also work closely with other authorised agencies to organise training courses for officials and the staff working in nursing houses as well as medical workers at local healthcare stations to better care the patients, they said. The conference reviewed the implementation of a project to assist the development of social support system and functional rehabilitation for people with mental disorders in the 2013-2015 period. With technical assistance provided by the project, 26 social support centres nationwide have taken care and given rehabilitation services to more than 10,000 people with mental disorders. VNS/VOV/VNA/SGGP/SGT