Violations in government rice distribution The Vietnamese government asked that 12, 322 tonnes of rice be disbursed to poor households nationwide between Tet and the next crop period but some localities have been slow to implement the programme.    Distributing rice to poor people According to the government’s decision, Ninh Thuan Province would be provided with a total 853 tonnes of rice, with each person being given an average of 15kg. But, until now, only 252 local poor households in four villages received rice, and at an average of only 10kg per person. One man, of the Rac Lay ethnic minority, from Phuoc Ha Commune, said that people in his village did not have enough rice for Tet because each person was only given 10kg. Many people have asked local authorities to ensure they have sufficient rice. The chairwoman of Ninh Thuan Fatherland Front Committee, claimed that Phuoc Ha Commune retained part of the allocated rice to help local households which live near the poverty line. The committee has requested that Phuoc Ha Commune provide needy families the remaining rice as regulated. The chairman of Phuoc Ha Commune Peoples’ Committee, Ta Yen Ut, admitted there was wrongdoing in the rice distribution. In Phu Yen Province, 444 tonnes of rice out of the total 676 tonnes meant to go to poor households have also been held back. Nguyen Van Lang, Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, explained that, despite receiving the rice, they did not have enough time to get it to the people before Tet. He added that the department will continue adding to the list of poor households to the additional rice supply by February. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Phu Yen always tops the central region in terms of rice productivity, having made record-high productivity during the winter-spring crop in 2013.Phu Yen also did not suffer from serious impacts of storms and flooding in 2013. However, local authorities asked the government to provide the province with 676 tonnes of rice. Tran Thanh Binh, an official from the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the support is aimed mostly at helping the ethnic minority population. NLD