|
Social
News 11/8
Derailed
tourist train injures eight
Eight people were
injured after a tourist train derailed at a tourist site in the southern
The train was
carrying 30 tourists from the gate at Ba Den mountain to the tourist site's
telpher departure station.
The accident
occurred when the train turned a corner without reducing its speed, according
to officials.
The injured
victims, including three children, were taken to a hospital in
The case is under
investigation.
Vietnamese
student wins consolation prize in UPU writing contest
Pham Huong Thao.
Pham Huong Thao, a
7th grader from Chu Van An secondary school in
Under the theme
“Write a letter describing how music can touch lives” 13-year-old student
Natasa Milosevic coming from
The second prize
was awarded to 10-year-old Chinese student Zou Canyan, and Ashley Nicole
Abalos from the
Previously, Thao
also won first prize in the 43rd UPU International Letter Writing Contest
launched in
In her letter, Thao
made believe she was a violin of a young boy. His father abandoned the boy
and his mother for an affair with a famous female violinist, which broke the
heart of the boy’s mother and instilled in her a hatred for music.
As part of an
effort to heal his mother’s soul,the boy began to play music, quickly
discovering an innate talent as a musical prodigy,to help him overcome
difficulties and sadness.
Her letter was
translated into English and French and submitted to the international round.
So far,
Forest fire
put out in Binh Dinh
Firefighters and
soldiers stamped out a forest fire on Ba Hoa mountain in the
More than 800
firefighters, soldiers and community members were mobilised to put out the
fire, which started at 10am on Saturday.
The fire destroyed
some 20ha of forest, including trees that were between 10 to 15 years old.
According to an
initial investigation, the fire was caused when a local resident burned
incense and votive papers on the mountain.
Meanwhile, a forest
fire in the central
A huge landslide
spilled rocks and red mud from an ore waste dump over the irrigation system,
stream and fields of more than a dozen households in the
Since Cao Bang Iron
Steel Joint Stock Co. built the dump in 2013, local residents were haunted by
fear of landslides, said district farmer Hoang Van Thach.
"We are always
scared that the landslides will bury our crops and even threaten our lives,
especially when it rains heavily," he said.
The ore waste dump
was located on top of a hill, below which lay the irrigation system and the
farmers' fields. Only a stream separated the residential area from the hill.
The July 6
landslide spilled mud and rocks over the 2-km irrigation channel and 6,000
sq.m. of fields. Some fields were covered with so much mud and rocks that
they could no longer be used for farming.
Hoa Chung district
People's Committee President Le Thanh Huan said that Cao Bang Iron Steel
Joint Stock Co., had not cleared the mud and rocks left from the first
landslide or compensated the farmers for their losses.
Half the stream
that provides water for farming was buried under red mud in the second
landslide and was seriously polluted. Higher water levels in the stream due
to heavy rain will flood the fields with red mud.
"Na Rua
residents have continuously asked local authorities to dredge the mud and to
clear the channels for months, but we have yet to receive any answer from
them," district resident Trinh Van Quan said angrily.
The deputy PM made
the statement at the seventh Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial
Meeting and the fourth Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) Ministerial Meeting
on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in
He expressed
Minh also proposed
boosting cooperation and conducting further dialogues within the LMI and FLM
frameworks, especially supporting socio-economic development, strengthening connectivity,
narrowing the development gap between ASEAN members and helping the Mekong
River Commission to enhance research capacity, forecast work on the impact of
hydroelectric dams in the
The seventh LMI
examined opportunities and challenges for sustainable development in the
In a joint
statement, the ministers said in the next five years, the LMI cooperative
programme will focus on implementing six major projects including connecting
smart infrastructure for the
The fourth FLM
meeting also agreed to strengthen cooperation in regional connectivity,
sustainable management of water resources and environmental protection in the
Meanwhile, many
development partners such as the European Union, Australia, World Bank and
Asian Development Bank, have committed to supporting
The EU decided to
triple its aid to regional nations in the 2014-2020 period and agreed to
organise a special FLM at the deputy ministerial level on sustainable
development in
Moral
education deters social evils
More than 8,000
students had broken the law since 2009, according to statistics released by
the Ministry of Education and Training at a conference held on Tuesday in Ha Noi.
The cases included
causing public disorder, using heroin, murder and theft.
The reasons for the
issue were that students wanted money to play computer games, pay off
gambling debts and buy drugs, which led them to commit crimes, said Ngu Duy
Anh, director of the ministry's Student Affairs Department.
Gambling in
dormitories was under control thanks to good management, but day-students
were difficult to monitor, he said.
Deputy Minister of
Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia said that each school should invest
in manpower and infrastructure to ensure security.
Educating students
about morality and a good way of life should also be focused on so they were
able to resist the temptation of social evils.
Schools needed to
develop a system of clubs to provide vocational guidance for poor students
who are susceptible to these risks, she said.
Nghia also asked
schools to improve healthcare services.
The Ministry of
Education and Training is going to work with the Ministry of Public Security
to prevent social evils from breaking into schools.
Rehab plans
for drug addicts
Provinces and
cities have been asked to create an action plan for community-based treatment
for drug addicts in an aim to reduce the number of patients at rehabilitation
centres from 63 per cent to 20 per cent by 2015, and 6 per cent by 2020.
Deputy Minister of
Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam has urged localities to
set up counseling centres in their wards or communes for drug addicts.
Speaking at a
two-day conference that ended yesterday, he said counselors should urge drug
addicts to voluntarily visit community-based treatment facilities.
There are 140
rehabilitation centres in 60 provinces and cities.
Thirty-two
provinces and cities have carried out treatment programmes for 10,000 drug
addicts in either communities or families, according to a report from the
Department of Social Evils Prevention.
The number of drug
addicts nationwide has increased, while those who have had a relapse after
treatment remains high.
"The fight
against drug addiction has been not effective," Dam said.
The country has a
total of 182,800 addicts, and of that number, 19 per cent are addicted to
amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), compared to 8 per cent in 2012.
Areas with a high
proportion of addicts of ATS include
As of June,
methadone-based opioid substitution treatment has attracted 16,500 addicts.
In 2015, 80,000
will be expected to use the treatment.
Dam said that
provinces and cities had not offered enough assistance, such as vocational
training and jobs for addicts who have left rehab centres.
He said this
assistance should be offered to more addicts who voluntarily go to
community-based facilities, with the goal of 70 per cent of them having
stable jobs by 2020.
Japanese
expert instructs police on safe driving techniques
With over 30-years
of experience, Japanese driving guide Tashino Kanno is taking part in a safe
driving training course for Vietnamese traffic police.
The course, funded
by
Kanno said he will
give final exams to his Vietnamese trainees at the end of the year before
they officially become first trainers in safe driving courses held by the
Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Security.
According to Kanno,
traffic in
Better
policy needed to support dioxin victims
Deputy Chairman and
Secretary-General of the Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin
(VAVA) Nguyen The Luc made the remarks in an interview with the Vietnam News
Agency on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the Agent Orange
catastrophe in
He said, however,
support policies for the victims should be updated and improved regularly as
only 300,000 out of the three million sufferers benefit from the incentives.
Established in
January 2014, VAVA now groups chapters in 59 cities and provinces with over
315,000 members. It has raised more than VND800 billion (US$37.8 million) in
and outside of the country to repair and build houses, grant scholarships,
and offer storm relief for dioxin victims and their families.
From 1961-1971, US
troops sprayed more than 80 million litres of herbicides - 44 million litres
of which were AO that contained nearly 370kg of dioxin - over southern
Vietnam.
As a result, around
4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to the toxic chemical. Many of the
victims have died, while millions of their descendants are living with
deformities and diseases due to the chemical’s effects.
On the occasion of
the Day for AO/Dioxin Victims (August 10), a wide range of activities have
been held nationwide to assist the unfortunate.
English
training camp keeps children busy
As many as 130
students at two primary schools in Loc Vinh and Loc Thuy communes were taught
using modern English school methods at a two-month summer camp at Laguna Lang
Co early last week.
The project,
entitled ‘Learning English is FUN', which was developed by the Laguna Lang
Co, aims to improve the level of English proficiency in the community and,
more importantly, to bring fun to young children in remote areas in Phu Loc
district during the students' summer vacation.
10th ASEAN
Skills Competition taking shape
As many as 293
candidates from 10 ASEAN countries will take part in the 10th regional skills
competition at the Hanoi-based National Convention Centre from October 19-29.
They will compete
in 23 official skills and two performance skills, according to the general
Department of Vocational Training.
The Ministry of
Labour, Invalid, and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and the 2014 ASEAN Skills
Competition (ASC) steering committee met in
This is a golden
opportunity for
She requested that
the committee lay out a detailed plan and assign specific responsibilities
for each member. She also suggested measure to enhance coordination between
the ministries, branches and localities to ensure the best conditions for the
competition.
Photo
exhibition features lingering pains of AO victims
Heartbreaking
portraits of the everyday struggle and horrifying effects Agent Orange
victims continue to suffer some 40 years after the
On showcase at the
HCM City-based War Remnant Museum are 50 photos taken by Nguyen Van (Thu An),
with a focus on the lingering pains of AO victims from across the country, as
well as their constant efforts to overcome difficulties and miseries to have
a better life in happiness and peace.
Photographer Nguyen
Van An said he submitted photos to international contests to help friends
worldwide understand more about the plight of Vietnamese dioxin victims and
their great aspiration for life. He hoped that visitors to the exhibition
will voice support and provide assistance to dioxin sufferers.
On the occasion,
local students and soldiers participated in music and dance performances in
praise of the bravery of dioxin victims and the significant contributions
soldiers have made to protecting national sovereignty over sea and islands.
Protecting
the rights of Vietnamese guest workers
Vietnamese guest
workers face a host of challenges related to dangerous living conditions,
working conditions, exploitive employers, assault, and sexual abuse.
Dinh Van Chenh from
Quy Mang hamlet, Son Chung village, Quang Ngai province was determined to
prosper through working overseas. However, broke and downtrodden he was
forced to return home after less than one year working in
Chenh says before
signing a work contract, the employment agency made substantial promises but
never delivered on any of them. It turned out he had to work long strenuous
hours at a very low salary (VND3 million per month), which barely covered his
accommodation fee.
After working less
than a year, the Malaysian company he worked for filed for bankruptcy
protection and he was forced to return home. Now he is awash in debt
and doing everything he can to repay bank loans he racked up while working in
Jo Dech Crich’s
case is even more egregious. Her son, Clau Hor, registered to work overseas
with the hope that her family could escape poverty and hunger. After less
than one year working in
The two stories are
typical of the experiences guest workers encounter and were told at the
recent seminar on guest labourers.
Attendees at the
seminar heard speakers explain that one of the primary reasons labourers find
themselves in these abhorrent situations is lack of information and
understanding.
Legal Aid
Association for the Poor Chairwoman Ta Thi Minh Ly, says a survey on
labourers working abroad in some central and
A recent survey
conducted by the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family,
Women, and Adolescents (CSAGA) reported that around 23.5% of labourers did
not get full information about their jobs, 24.14% did not understand the real
fees and compensation cost and almost all – 93.56% – were cheated at least
one time during their work overseas.
International
Labour Organisation (ILO) Vietnam Country Director Gyorgy Sziraczki says
migrant workers have contributed remarkably to the national economic
development by sending their money to the homeland but they receive a little
legal assistance to protect their rights.
ILO representative
Nguyen Mai Thuy says
This is tripartite
action for the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers in
the ASEAN region (ASEAN TRIANGLE project) aiming to significantly reduce the
exploitation of labour migrants in the region through increased legal
assistance and safe migration and improved labour protection.
According to ILO, a
good integration policy should greatly assist
A loosening of
restrictions on migration may provide benefits for workers, however, more
importantly they must be provided with complete and accurate information
about policies, fees and their interests to protect themselves. Most
importantly, they need access to quality legal assistance to ensure their
rights are adequately protected.
Deputy PM
addresses health sector
Deputy Prime
Minister Vu Duc Dam yesterday praised the health sector's efforts for
overcoming many difficulties to look after people.
At an online
conference to review the health sector's performance during the first half of
the year, Dam asked the sector to re-assess health-related legal documents
and deal with their limitations.
Dam asked
localities to keep themselves informed of public frustrations about health
issues through the media and urgently deal with any violations.
Citing revelations
about poor quality biochemical testing machines in Ha Noi's Thuong Tin
District as an example, Dam asked localities to conduct inspections on the use
of medical equipment in a serious and transparent manner.
Dam said the
Government would soon issue a decree about giving autonomy to public health
organisations so that they can organise market-driven operations.
He said that for
the rest of the year, localities should review health performances in
different areas, from preventive medicine, treatment quality to the
development of facilities and equipment.
The Minister of
Health, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, said the sector had made achievements in
institutional reforms, investment in infrastructure and reforms in the
financial and operational mechanisms of public health organisations.
In response to the
spread of the Ebola virus and H7N9 in the world and the domestic outbreak of
diarrhoea and malaria, Tien said the health sector would continue to be
active in its prevention work and step up supervision at airports and borders
to minimise the spread of disease.
She added that the
ministries of health, agriculture and trade have managed to clarify their
responsibilities and deal with overlapping in inspection and supervision
activities from central to local levels.
Tien said the
quality of medical examination and treatment had been improved in the first
six months and that there were more beds at hospitals and more medical
interventions and operations.
She also said the
health sector had gradually dealt with overloading at hospitals, citing the
reduced overloading at the
Tien said the set
up of a hotline for public feedback on problems and corruption, the sector
had taken action against violations and worked to improve fee collection and
simplifying medical insurance payments.
Towards the end of
the year, she said the health sector would focus on inspecting food safety,
maintaining the vaccination rate, working against the spread of rabies - and
preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases.
Transport
authorities crack down on road maintenance failures
Viet Nam Road
Administration wants the Ministry of Transport to stop leaving the management
of road maintenance to incompetent local transport departments.
At a conference
yesterday on evaluating the situation, the administration said that the
management quality varied widely.
At present, 50 per
cent of highway maintenance is controlled by 49 departments nation-wide.
Figures show that
only six of the 49 departments managed road maintenance properly. They
included offices in Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Kon Tum and
Ben Tre.
Eight departments
cited for poor quality management were Son La, Lai Chau, Vinh Phuc, Hai
Phong, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Lam Dong and Kien Giang.
Nguyen Van Huyen,
head of the Viet Nam Road Administration told Vietnam News Agency that some departments
did not pay much attention to their task. For example, the choice of
materials for road repairs in some localities was responsible for causing
subsidence in roads.
He added that the
restriction of funds for highway road maintenance also contributed to the
ineffectiveness of management.
"The real cost
of regular maintenance annually is estimated to be about VND19 trillion
(US$896 million). However, the State only allocates VND5 trillion ($235
million)," he said.
As a result, the
administration asked the departments to give priority to the routes seriously
downgraded or affected by floodings.
Huyen said to make
the management of road fund more effective, it was necessary to seeks bid and
find the best qualified contractors.
These contractors
must meet requirements on equipment, machines and human resources.
Huyen added that
the administration would strengthen inspections on the management of
departments, examine their performance annually and stop assigning the
management of maintenance funds to those who were incompetent.
Master plan
to improve mental health needed: ministry
A national strategy
on mental health with orientations to develop a comprehensive caring system
is needed for
Deputy Minister of
Health Nguyen Viet Tien made the statement at an August 4 workshop in
In the country, one
psychiatrist serves 100,000 residents, whereas the average rate in the world
is 3/100,000, according to the Central Mental Health Hospital No.1.
Tien mentioned the
shortage of medical staff and inter-sectoral coordination as major obstacles
to the efficient care of mental patients.
He also stressed
the need to further improve related healthcare services and build a competent
legal system in the realm.
The number of
people suffering from mental illnesses in
However,
According to the
World Health Organisation in 2012, more than 350 million people worldwide
suffered from depression.
Mental disorders
account for 14 percent of the global disease burden, of which 75 percent is
reported in low- and medium-income countries.
The organisation
has appealed for action from governments; social, multilateral, bilateral and
private organisations; global partners; and research agencies to further
improve mental health for the public.
It has recommended
countries build strategies and regulations relating to the issue.-
Medical clinics
detected to have wrongdoings
Health Minister
Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and an inspection team from the Ministry's Department of
Medical Examination and Treatment August 4 paid an unscheduled visit to
medical clinics in
The health minister
and inspectors dropped by Sai Gon Medical Clinic at 132 Ly Thai To Street in
District 10.
The inspection team
discovered the clinic’s wrongdoings including nurses having no practicing
certificates and practicing registration issued by the city's Department of
Health. Though the clinic has medical records, patients’ documents have no
address, age, disease diagnosis and treatment.
Health Minister
Nguyen Thi Kim Tien asked the clinic to correct the available omissions.
The inspection team
also checked A-Au beauty salon located on
The team asked the
clinic to remedy the defects as soon as possible.
239
candidates participate in 2014 National Youth Informatics Contest
The Science,
The contest is
scheduled to take place in Ha Noi on August 9.
This year’s contest
attracted participation of 239 candidates nationwide. The contestants will be
divided into five table compettion, including table A for primary school
students, table B for secondary school students, table C for high school
students, table D for software creation and table E for programming hardware,
said organization board.
The awards ceremony
will be organized and broadcast live on Vietnam Television on August 10.
The National Youth
Informatics Contest is considered as an annual informatics contest for
students across the country, aiming to discover young talents.
The contest's
organization board include Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Ministries
of Education and Training, Information and Communications, and Science and
Technology and the Vietnam Association for Information Processing.
Mountainous
provinces speed up relocation in rainy season
Northern
mountainous Lao Cai province is working hard to bring people in flood-prone areas
to higher places as the rainy season is posing a high risk of flooding to the
locality and the northern mountainous region as a whole.
At a teleconference
on August 6, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Doan Van Huong
asked localities to accomplish the work by August 15 at the latest.
Nguyen Anh Tuan,
Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development,
said that 266 households, mainly in Bac Ha, Bat Xat, Muong Khuong, Bao Yen,
and
As of July, the
province had relocated 134 households in new, safe areas.
The department will
continue intensifying dissemination to help locals understand the importance
of the resettlement.
In the northern
mountainous
Local authorities
are keeping a close watch on weather patterns as well as landslide signs in a
bid to promptly alert their residents to quickly take safety precautions.
Thousands
of residents in Quang Binh without clean water
Nearly 700
households in a commune in
Residents of Phu
Ninh and Tan An hamlets of Quang Thanh Commune have had to live with the
worst of the contamination. Although, in the past residents of Phu Ninh
Hamlet were able to collect some fresh rain water, rainfall has been low
recently.
Ngo Thi Hong, 57,
from Phu Ninh Hamlet, said her family has five members and has to use
alum-contaminated water for years. “Even though we’ve dug a well dozens of
metres deep, the water we get looks muddy and isn't safe to drink. Now we're
forced to buy our water from surrounding areas."
Phan Thi Trang is
living in the same situation. Sh said that poorer families living there are
forced to use the contaminated water even though they are aware of the
dangers.
Phu Ninh and Tan An
Hamlets are home to 681 households, and 80% of them report alum contamination
in their wells. The price of buying water from other localities is around
VND60,000, which is unaffordable for many families there.
Ngo Thanh Binh,
vice chairman of the communal government said, “The Gianh River is the source
of the contamination and it runs very close to the residential areas."
Binh said that a
safe water system was built in the district but priority is given to some
communes in the southern part of the district at the expense of residents in
Quang Thanh Commune.
“We’re encouraging
local residents to continue to use rainwater or buy safe water for daily use
while waiting for government funding for the construction of a safe water
system,” he added.
Over VND20
billion raised in public campaign for Hoang Sa and Truong Sa
A mobile text
campaign to raise funds for residents, fishermen and armed forces in the
waters of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos has
received over VND20 billion (over US$944,000) in donations after just two
months.
Developed by the
Ministry of Information and Communications and the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC),
the campaign named 'Joint efforts for national sea and islands' aimed to call
on public interest and support for local islanders, fishermen and armed
forces on the waters of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, said VRC
General Secretary Doan Van Thai at a ceremony to review the campaign in Hanoi
on August 8.
The two-month long
campaign saw a great response from people from all walks of life. with over
one million text message donations being sent, Thai noted.
The General
Secretary added that the VCR also received direct donations worth over VND1.6
billion from over 120 organisations and individuals across the country.
At the ceremony,
the organisers presented the Vietnam Coast Guard and Fisheries Surveillance
force 93 specialised cameras and 23 salt water filter devices worth nearly
VND16 billion.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
|
Thứ Hai, 11 tháng 8, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét