SOCIETY IN BRIEF 12/6 Ministry inspects use of additives The Health Ministry's Food Administration will carry out inspections of the production, trade and use of food additives in a number of localities from now until the end of this month. Two teams of health inspectors would be set up in Ha Noi, HCM City and surrounding localities, said Deputy Head of the Food Administration Nguyen Thanh Phong. The inspections would focus on food additive producers, businesses, importers and food producers that use additives, particularly those who had a history of violating regulations, he said. Inspectors will check food safety and hygiene certificates, origins of materials and food additives and hygiene conditions. The food administration has also urged food safety and hygiene departments nationwide to increase inspections. Violators would be strictly punished to prevent the circulation of low-quality food, Phong said. Out of 169,000 producers nationwide, 34,000 were caught breaking food safety and hygiene regulations in the first two months of this year, according to the food administration. The main violations were substandard facilities and equipment, and higher than permitted levels of additives. The administration reported 163 food poisoning cases in 2013, with 28 fatalities. Traffic accidents in Ha Noi outskirts increase The number of traffic accidents in Ha Noi's suburbs has risen dramatically recently due to general disregard for traffic laws, according to police. Latest figures from the Ha Noi Police Department's Road and Railway Traffic Police Division showed that 184 traffic accidents occurred in the city last month, killing 55 people and leaving 163 injured. Latest figures from the Ha Noi Police Department's Road and Railway Traffic Police Division showed that 184 traffic accidents occurred in the city last month, killing 55 people and leaving 163 injured. More than 100 of those occurred in the capital's suburbs, resulting in 44 deaths. Accident hot spots included the districts of Thuong Tin, Phu Xuyen, Ung Hoa, Chuong My, Phuc Tho and Ba Vi. Violations included driving without helmets, driving in the wrong lane and drink driving. Low public awareness of traffic laws, loose control and a lack of traffic signals also contributed to the problem. Police said that public awareness, especially among young people, was the problem. They cited a stretch on National Highway No1A in Thuong Tin District where many young people gathered at night, driving carelessly or racing illegally without wearing helmets. When local traffic police tried to stop them, they sped away. Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Hau, deputy head of the division, said only last month, police seized 2,018 vehicles, and 2,486 drivers had their licences revoked. To reduce the number of violations and accidents, Hau said the police would organise patrols around accident hot spots, and deploy more teams to crack down on violators between 6pm and midnight. Contaminated food causes poisoning case Food poisoning was found to be the main cause behind the 170 workers hospitalised last week in the northern province of Thai Binh, the provincial food safety and hygiene department revealed yesterday. Test results of food samples found the workers had eaten food contaminated with E.coli and Coliforms bacterium. The food was supplied by private catering company Dung Hop, who were also responsible for poisoning 160 workers at another company in the province in 2012. Further investigation is underway. President Ho Chi Minh memorial site inaugurated in Laos A commemorative site for President Ho Chi Minh was inaugurated in Kaysone Phomvihane district, Laos’ central province of Savannakhet, on June 11. The inaugural ceremony was jointly held by the Kaysone Phomvihane Museum and the district authorities. Covering 1,000 square metres, the 2.4 billion kip (297,720 USD) site aims to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary activities in Laos between 1928 and 1929. Addressing the event, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Governor of Savannakhet Souphan Keomisay reviewed the great revolutionary career of the late President, who laid a solid foundation for the special ties between Vietnam and Laos. He also affirmed the new site will help deepen Lao people’s understanding on the life of Ho Chi Minh and his contributions to the revolutionary cause of the two countries. Can Tho appreciates help from Japanese volunteers Senior volunteers from Japan have provided practical assistance to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam and Can Tho City hopes to benefit from the programme, an official of the Mekong Delta city has said. At a June 11 working session with representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Truong Quang Hoai Nam, Vice Chairman of Can Tho People’s Committee said more than 90% of businesses in the city are SMEs, thus JICA’s Senior Volunteer Programme will be very useful for the city. Senior volunteers are Japanese volunteers from 40-69 years old, who are motivated by volunteers’ spirit and possess practical knowledge and technical skills backed up by their own abundant working experience in a wide range of fields. Since the launch of the programme in 2001, a total of 130 senior Japanese volunteers had been sent to Vietnam as of February this year to work for various technical assistance projects. They are mainly active in such fields as Productivity Management, Quality Management, Business Management, Factory Management and Marketing. Swept away A stretch of the Tien River bank that collapsed in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap. The stretch is about 100 metres in length and over 25 metres in depth. The mudslide destroyed a row of local houses and a dock, where the Dong Thap Petroleum Trading Co Ltd. imports petrol. The company incurred estimated damages of hundreds millions of dong. Coach accident kills one, injures 11 A coach accident that occurred yesterday morning in Doan Hung District of the northern province of Phu Tho left one dead and 11 others injured. The coach carrying 16 passengers collided with a container truck on the way from Ha Noi to Doan Hung. The injured people are being treated at a local hospital. The case is under investigation. Vietnam, Laos localities’ police boost ties A police delegation from Laos’ Luang Prabang province on June 11 made a working visit to the Mekong Delta city Can Tho to promote cooperation in safeguarding national security and public order. During a working session the same day, the delegation and Can Tho police exchanged views on measures to maintain security and public order in each locality. They also reviewed their increasing effective coordination in the recent times, saying that this significantly contributes to deepening the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. The director of Luang Prabang police Colonel Thonglek Mangnomek thanked Can Tho police for their assistance, adding that links between the two agencies aids both countries’ socio-economic development. The same day, the Lao guests visited Can Tho Police’s professional training centre. Education minister questioned at NA hearing Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan was quizzed by National Assembly deputies on June 11, focusing on tertiary and vocational training quality, graduates’ high unemployment rate, and the implementation of educational and textbook renovation. Regarding information on over 70,000 tertiary graduates who cannot find jobs relating to their profession, the minister said that the country’s tertiary education development model has too long focused on quantity over quality. Training programmes depend on the capacity of universities but must also be linked to the demands of society, he added. Luan took responsibility for the weaknesses, adding that the ministry has reviewed university performance with the aim of building a network of tertiary establishments in line with the country’s human resources development plan and socio-economic development strategy. The ministry also suspended receiving applications for expanding or establishing new university and colleges establishments until 2015. It has also halted the training in areas with oversupply in the labour market, such as financing, banking and accounting in the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. According to Minister Luan, Vietnam has about 400,000 university and college graduates each year. At the session, the minister also replied to queries relating to policies for students, graduates, pre-schools and ethnic boarding schools. NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung commented that Luan had been refreshingly frank, providing direct answers to questions and solutions to problems. Quang Tri Buddhists hopes for peace in East Sea Nearly 4,500 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers in the central province of Quang Tri on June 11 gathered at a ceremony to pray for peace in the East Sea following China’s illegal act of positioning its drilling rig in Vietnam’s waters. Held by the provincial chapter of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), the ceremony also aimed to mobilise donations for people and soldiers in the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. Speaking at the event, head of Quang Tri’s VBS Executive Board Thich Thien Tan recalled the country’s 4,000-year history of foundation and defence, and affirmed Vietnamese people’s hope for peace. He also called on local people and those throughout the country in general to join hands in opposing China’s actions and supporting Vietnam’s forces, who are making every effort to safeguard the country’s sovereignty. At the beginning of May, China illegally dispatched the rig as well as a large fleet of ships and aircraft to Vietnamese waters and positioned it at 15 degrees 29 minutes 58 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 12 minutes 06 seconds east longitude, 80 miles deep inside Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. Vietnam has attempted to conduct exchanges of ideas and dialogues with China on over 30 occasions in various forms and at different levels to demand China unconditionally end all violations of Vietnam’s sovereign right and jurisdiction as well as Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago. Despite Vietnam’s requests, China has expanded its scale of operation and moved the Haiyang Shiyou-981 drilling rig to 15 degrees 33 minutes 36 seconds north latitude and 111 degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds east longitude. The new location is 60 nautical miles deep inside Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. China is constantly maintaining a large presence of escort ships and warships in the area, numbering up to 140 a day. Chinese fighter aircraft are also flying over the area where the rig is illegally standing in Vietnam’s waters. China’s armed vessels have aggressively fired high-power water cannons at, and intentionally rammed Vietnamese public-service and civil ships, causing damage to many ships and injuring many people on board. Such acts gravely violate international law, the 1982 UNCLOS, and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), to which China itself is a signatory. These extremely dangerous acts also directly threaten peace, stability and maritime security and safety in the East Sea. USAID provides eye care to thousands of children Over 15,000 primary and secondary pupils in Hanoi’s Quoc Oai District have received eye tests and high quality prescriptive glasses through a US Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded project. At a workshop to review the project in Quoc Oai on June 10, USAID Mission Director Joakim Parker said child blindness and visual impairment are preventable and treatable. USAID is proud to support Helen Keller International (HKI)-Vietnam and the Hanoi Department of Health, Education and Training, to improve child eye care and prevent visual impairment among Vietnamese children. Such assistance is an important part of USAID work to expand individual opportunities in Vietnam to protect health and improve well-being. Out of the students and teachers in 27 primary and secondary schools screened for visual impairment, 10% have been identified with refractive errors and 1,015 (84%) pupils with uncorrected refractive error have been provided with quality corrective lenses. In addition, approximately 300 teachers with refractive errors have also received prescriptive glasses from the project. The Childsight programme, implemented by HKI-Vietnam, has also trained 73 school and community health workers in vision screening, provided four district refractionists and ophthalmic instruments to Ha Dong Eye Hospital, the Health Center and the General Hospital of Quoc Oai district to improve ophthalmic services. The project has addressed gaps in the current eye health system in western districts of Hanoi and developed a comprehensive and sustainable system of care for children. Refractive errors (short-sighted, long-sighted and astigmatism) are a significant cause of visual impairment, blindness and disability, especially in developing countries. It is estimated that one in five Vietnamese children suffer from refractive error, yet most of them have been undiagnosed and untreated. Without treatment, refractive error can worsen and may lead to blindness and irreversible loss of vision, particularly in young children.   First implemented in Kon Tum Province, HKI’s Childsight programme has now expanded to Hanoi’s rural districts and Nam Dinh province, providing services to over 75,000 students and issuing 5,000 quality pairs of glasses to students and teachers. Participants at a workshop discussed the results, lessons learnt and recommendations to improve the programme in the future. Blaze engulfs wood factory Fire-fighters stamped out a blaze at a wood processing company in the central province's Dien Nam-Dien Ngoc Industrial park after two hours yesterday, June 11. The fire occurred from a plywood oven of Taiwan's Gia Dinh Company around 7am in the morning, but smoke prevented fire-fighters from getting closer. A squad of 50 fire-fighters and seven fire-engines were called in to extinguish the blaze at the 1,000 sq.m factory and accomplished it within two hours. No one was injured in the blaze. The industrial park is in Dien Ban district, 25 km away from Da Nang City. Two suspects arrested transporting heroin from Laos Border guards in Nghe An Province, in collaboration with Laos police, caught two suspects attempting to smuggle 20 heroin cakes from Laos to Vietnam on June 11. Authorities also seized 5,000 tablets of methamphetamine, a car, a motorcycle and other related objects. The two suspects Tong Lo (born in 1974) and Lau Lo (born in 1987) are both of Lao nationality. This is the largest drug haul seized by border guards in Nghe An Province so far. Vietnamese and Lao authorities are carrying out further investigation into the case. Thunderstorm kills 1, damages crop in Cao Bang A 41-year-old man was killed after lightning struck him on Monday midnight in Thong Nong District's Luong Thong Commune while a thunderstorm hit the northern mountainous Cao Bang Province. Hoa An District suffered the most from the thunderstorm: Around 50 hectares of crop was inundated, 150 animals and poultry were swept away and 5 local houses collapsed. The provincial authority helped the local residents in fixing the situation and bringing back their lives to normal. Bac Giang’s people in need presented with wheelchairs The “Bau oi” foundation and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations have donated 100 wheelchairs to people with disabilities and Agent Orange/dioxin victims in the northern province of Bac Giang. Speaking at the presenting ceremony on June 11, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Linh said the practical gifts will help the beneficiaries improve their living conditions. Currently, Bac Giang has more than 35,000 people with disabilities and over 10,000 Agent Orange/dioxin victims. According to Truong Thi Tuyet Nhung, head of the fund raising committee of the “Bau oi” foundation, the fund has so far presented more than 300 houses, worth up to 50 million VND (23,000 USD) each, to poor people across the country. The foundation has also given free medical services and scholarships for disadvantaged people, she added. Source: VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA