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Social
News 13/7
Transport
Minister agrees to speed up airport expanding in Thanh Hoa
Minister of
Transport Dinh La Thang has approved a proposal to speed up a project to
broaden Tho Xuan Airport in central
Minister Thang instructed
Airport Corporation of
Tho
The national flag
carrier Vietnam Airlines is exploiting HCMC-Thanh Hoa route with 12 flights
per week. The company plans to increase the number to 14 in September and
open new flights from Thanh Hoa to
The low-cost
carrier Jetstar Pacific has seven flights per week between HCMC and Thanh
Hoa.
Company
dumps medicine in field
Ha Noi Police, on
Wednesday, said that about 2,000 boxes containing medicinal drugs that were
found in a vacant rice field in Thanh Tri district, had been disposed of
illegally.
The boxes were
found in 54 sacks scattered across the field.
Environmental
Police Division Lieutenant Colonel, Pham Giang Son, said that the drugs were
manufactured by Thanh Tri-based Intechpharms Co., Ltd for Sao Hoang Gia Joint
Stock Commercial Company.
The drugs were
found to be substandard and were returned to the manufacturer.
Instead of
following the regulatory procedures to destroy the drugs, Intechpharms dumped
them in a vacant field adjacent to the Phap Van highway.
The 1,970 boxes
contained children's medication such as calcium, Egokids and Royal cough
syrup.
The drugs then
mysteriously disappeared two days after they were discovered in the field.
Residents in the district said they saw sacks being loaded onto a truck.
Police identified
the truck driver as Tran Dinh Kiem, 36, from Hoang Mai district's
The driver said
that six or seven workers helped him load and unload the drugs.
Police are
continuing with their investigation and have asked Intechpharms to retrieve
the drugs from Ao En.
Viet Nam Health
Environment Management Agency Deputy Director General, Nguyen Thanh Ha said
that an administrative board should be established to monitor the disposal of
drugs.
He said that drug
manufacturers should submit safety disposal plans.
"Drug
manufacturers should be held responsible for any violation of disposal
procedures," said the Deputy Director General.
Summer to
raise encephalitis risk
Despite a steady
decrease in the number of encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis patients in
recent years, the Ministry of Health has warned that summer temperatures
could see a rebound in the number of cases, particularly in northern
Tran Dac Phu,
director of the Department of Preventive Medicines under the Ministry of
Health, issued the warning at a conference on Wednesday.
As of last Friday,
more than 350 encephalitis patients had been reported across 32 provinces and
cities, a 10.8 per cent drop on the same period last year, according to the
department. Six fatalities have occurred so far, with one of the dead
victims, from Ha Noi's Ba Vi District, said to have been diagnosed with
Japanese encephalitis.
The
Phu said the
diseases were caused by different kinds of virus strains including the
Japanese encephalitis virus. Patients often suffered brain damage from the
disease resulting in long-term damage or fatalities, he said.
Children under
15-years-old were especially vulnerable to the disease, added Phu.
The disease
appeared at the beginning of the year and has seen a steady rise in the
summer months.
The vaccine against
Japanese encephalitis was adopted into the National Immunisation Programme in
1997.
After an initial
roll-out in some high risk provinces and cities the vaccine was gradually
expanded to more localities.
Last year the
vaccine was used in 60 provinces and cities and was supplied free-of-charge
to children under-five-year-old in all 63 provinces and cities.
The health ministry
prepared 4 million of doses of Japanese encephalitis vaccines this year, an
increase of 1.7 million doses compared with the previous year.
It also assigned
experts to check and advise on disease prevention in different localities.
Information on the disease has also been disseminated to raise awareness.
Experts from the
health ministry warned that to prevent Japanese encephalitis, residents
should monitor hygiene levels at home and at work.
Livestock cages
should be placed away from houses and cleaned regularly to prevent mosquitoes
from breeding.
Hai Ha
Market vendors take a stand
Since last month,
hundreds of household businesses in north-eastern
The traditional Hai
Ha Market accommodates about 600 household businesses. Two years ago, the Hai
Ha District People's Committee announced that they would be moved into a new
building built by Duc Duong Ltd Company.
However, only half
of business owners have agreed to the move. The others object that space
there is too expensive. The rental fee for each square metre in the building
is about VND130,000 (US$6.2), nearly six times higher than in the old market.
At a meeting
between provincial leaders and representatives of household businesses on
Monday, vice chairman of the provincial People's Committee Do Thong admitted
that the local authority failed to properly consult households.
However, he added that
those who agreed to move would not have to pay rental fees until 2017 and
would also be exempted from vehicle keeping and cleaning fees.
"Those who
insist on staying at the old market will be forced to move in 2017, when the
site of the old market will be used to develop a square with green
space," he said.
Director of the
province's Industry and Trade Department Nguyen Manh Ha said that the
department had not received any complaints from business.
"If we heard
any concerns, the construction of the market building would have been
discussed more carefully," he said.
At the meeting,
representatives from business households displayed a provincial decision that
mentioned only that the market would be upgraded but said nothing about a
location change. They also complained that a recent power blackout prevented
them from doing business.
Water
stations still inactive over arsenic contamination
Ha Noi authorities
have asked the My Dinh 2 water supply station to extend a halt to operations
due to excessive amounts of arsenic in the water, calling for immediate
action to resolve the contamination.
The station's water
recorded alarmingly high levels of arsenic, four times the legal limit,
during recent inspections by the health ministry. The station was temporarily
suspended last week to allow for corrective action.
However, after the
station took measures to remove the traces of arsenic, test results showed
contamination levels were still double the required limit.
Deputy Director of
the municipal Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh said the station would not
resume operations unless safe water could be provided.
Experts from the Ha
Noi Department of Health's Preventive Medicine Centre said the excess had
been caused by geological factors.
Exposure to arsenic
can be damaging to the human circulatory and nervous system. Arsenic
poisoning can lead to baldness, nausea, amnesia, weight loss and cancer,
health experts say.
Nguyen Thanh Trung,
Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of My Dinh 2 Ward in the Cau Giay
District where the station is located, said local authorities warned local
residents not to use contaminated water and asked the station to produce a
temporary safe water supply to maintain people's daily activities.
The Viet Nam Water
Company was temporarily supplying safe water from the Da river for local
residents but could not meet demand, he said.
Nguyen Thu Ha, a
local resident in the My Dinh 2 residential area, expressed concern about the
station's water quality and said her family had been forced to ration their
use of uncontaminated water.
She also said that
she expected the city would soon implement measures to provide enough safe
water for residents in the area.
Deputy Chairwoman
of the Ha Noi People's Committee, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, has asked the Department
of Construction to set up a plan to supply water to 5,000 households that
have used water from the My Dinh 2 Station.
Future
ASEAN Community needs better-trained students
New teaching
methodologies and better education management are needed to prepare workers
for an integrated ASEAN Community,
Hien, who spoke at
the Education Leaders Innovation Forum at the Southeast Asian Minister of Education
Organisation (SEAMEO)'s Regional Training Centre, said that universities in
the country were trying to train students to be global citizens and prepare
them with skills needed for the 21st century.
Speaking at the
forum, Professor Hafid Abbas of the State University of Jakarta said that
schools should apply innovative learning methods that use supportive
technologies, inquiry- and problem-based approaches, and higher-order
thinking skills.
Community resources
beyond school walls should also be included, he said.
In addition,
students need to be trained to think critically, work creatively with others,
solve problems, make judgments and decisions, and communicate clearly, he
added.
Mastery of core
subjects such as English, maths, economics, science, geography, history,
government and civics is essential to student success, he said.
The three-day
forum, which wraps up today, is a part of the SEAMEO College Project, which
aims to strengthen the capacity of education leaders and practitioners and
promote education and social development in the Southeast Asia Region for an
Integrated ASEAN Community.
The forum, attended
by representatives from 11 Southeast Asian countries, was financed by the
Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction through the Asian Development Bank under the
guidance of the SEAMEO Secretariat as the executing agency.
Its four modules
include a strategic dialogue with education ministers; a high official
country-case study; innovation forum for education leaders; and an innovation
forum for youth leaders.
Binh Dinh
province grapples with drought
More than 30,000
households in the central coastal
In Phu Cat
district, 21 out of the 22 irrigation reservoirs have run dry, forcing local
farmers to drill wells or carry water from other regions to water their crops
and meet daily needs, according to the district People’s Committee Vice
Chairman Luong Ngoc Anh.
Phu My district is
also facing the same situation with 41 out of the 44 reservoirs drying up,
whilst nearly 1,000 ha of crops have died.
About 8,000
households with nearly 40,000 people are suffering from severe water shortage
for their daily use, according to the district People’s Committee Vice
Chairman Ha Ngoc Tan.
The provincial
Party Committee has made fighting drought the most important task for the
local government. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also
promised to ask the Prime Minister for an aid package of more than 100
billion VND for Binh Dinh to overcome the drought.
VNA
enhances ties with overseas representative offices
General Director of
the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Nguyen Duc Loi has proposed that chiefs of the
Vietnamese representative offices abroad create the most possible conditions
for VNA correspondents’ coverage in their host countries.
He met with
newly-accredited Vietnamese ambassadors and consuls-general, who are about to
leave the country for their overseas missions, at the VNA headquarters in
He expected that
the overseas representative offices will help VNA pressmen set up ties with
authorities and press agencies in their host countries, as well as provide
them with information from places where the agency has yet to establish its
bureaus.
The VNA leader
introduced his guests to main features of the national news agency, whose
staff now numbers over 2,300 working in 63 local representative offices and
30 overseas ones. It has set up ties with 40 partners all over the world.
Apart from
supplying text and image reports to subscribed users, the agency has 40
different publications in both Vietnamese and foreign languages, including
the electronic multi-language newspaper Vietnam Plus, the English language
newspaper Viet Nam News, the Tin Tuc (News) daily, the The Thao & Van Hoa
(Sports and Culture) daily, the French language Le Courrier du Vietnam weekly
and the multi-language Vietnam Pictorial magazine. It also runs its own
television channel – the VNEWS.
On behalf of the
diplomats, Nguyen Van Thao, Ambassador to the
The guests asked
for the VNA’s continued provision of news and photos to serve their
popularisation works.
On the same day,
the newly-appointed ambassador were received by Vu Xuan Hong, President of
the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, who expressed his belief that
the diplomats will help further strengthen the friendship and cooperation
between
General Director of
the ministry’s General Office for Population and Family Planning Duong Quoc
Trong made the remark at a meeting in the central province of Khanh Hoa to
mark the World Population Day (July 11), themed “Investing in young people”.
United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) Chief Representative in Vietnam Arthur Erken said
there are some 1.8 billion people in the so-called youth group (10-to-24 age
range) in the world, accounting for around one quarter of the global
population.
Appropriate
investment and attention will help the young people fully realise their
potential as citizens, leaders, and those who bring positive changes to the
world, he noted, adding that UNFPA calls on all Governments to include new
goals for young people in their post-2015 development programmes.
This is an
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the country to push up its socio-economic
growth by providing equal attention for all population groups and empowering
the young to fully realise their potential, Erken added.
After the meeting,
participants joined a workshop on population and family planning issues.
Ninh Thuan
strengthens childcare work
The south central
Dang Thi Phan,
Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social
Affairs, made the remark at a July 10 symposium aiming to raise public
awareness of the work and prevent child physical and mental abuse.
She noted the
number of cases of child abuse and violence remains high, attributing it to
the insufficient awareness of child protection among families and the
society.
The official also
blamed the problem on the lack of an efficient childcare service network,
adding that the dignity of a group of children is being damaged by the dark
side of films and online games.
Le Thi Xua, head of
the department’s Child Protection and Care Office, said relevant agencies
should expand a child protection model developed by the United Nations
Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ) and collaborate to heighten the efficiency of the
work.
Participants also
underscored the need to build amusement parks for children, especially those
living in remote and mountainous areas, in order to create safe playgrounds
for them.
Measures to ensure
financial resources for preventing and fighting HIV/AIDS were discussed at a
workshop held in
Organised by the
National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, the conference also heard
international experiences in mobilising financial assistance and updated the
building of finance strategies in the field.
Speaking at the
workshop, Kristan Schoultz, UNAIDS Country Director in Vietnam Kristan
Schoultz highly valued Vietnam’s efforts in building a project on ensuring
finance for HIV/AIDS prevention activities in the period of 2013-2020, saying
that this shows the country’s strong determination in looking for solutions
to the issue.
Dang Thuan Phong,
deputy head of the committee, said at the event that
He also noted that
it is difficult to reach the targets as the State budget allocation and other
resources for the work were cut down to only 207 billion VND (9.7 million
USD) in 2013 from 245 billion VND in the previous year, and the figure is
likely to be only 83 billion VND in 2014.
At the end of
April,
Participants said
the coverage of services for preventing HIV/AIDS remains limited as the
distribution of condoms and injection needles meets only about 50 percent of
the need, while the treatment therapies satisfy only one-third of HIV cases.
In
Therefore, it is
necessary to pay attention to consolidating the HIV/AIDS prevention networks
from the central to local level, improving the quality of service providers,
and broaden Methadone treatment for addicts in the community, said
representatives from the Vietnam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control.
They also
underlined the necessity to hold campaigns raising public awareness of
HIV/AIDS prevention measures.
In order to ensure
sustainable resources for realising goals set in the field, the
administration of HIV/AIDS has proposed the Government and the NA to set up a
national programme for HIV/AIDS prevention for the 2016-2020 period.
The programme is
being considered by the Prime Minister for approval.
UNDP-funded
project targets wetland protection
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a project on the conservation of critical
wetland areas and linked landscapes with the aim of establishing two more
wetland preservation areas in northern Thai Binh province and central Thua
Thien-Hue province.
The project,
sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Environment
Facility (GEF), will be carried out in four years at a total cost of over 18
million USD.
According to the
Prime Minister’s Decision 1131/QD-TTg signed on July 9, the project will be
implemented by the Vietnam Environment Administration and the People’s
Committees of Thai Binh and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, under the management of
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
It looks to build
legal frameworks for the conservation of wetlands, establish two new wetland
preservation areas, enhance provincial-level capacity in protecting and
exploiting wetlands and reduce threats from local livelihoods to
biodiversity.
The project also
aims to raise public awareness of the value of wetland ecosystem, targeting
sustainable management and use of larger linked landscapes.
Concern
over high rate of delayed and canceled flights
Representatives
from several airlines in
Delays and
cancellations are nothing new, but the number has recently been sharply
increasing, mostly with the low-cost carriers. On July 9, representatives
from four carriers, Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, VietJet Air and Vasco,
along with other relevant units discussed the problem. The deputy director of
Jetstar Pacific, Nguyen Tuan Anh said they only have six planes, so if one
needs maintenance their capacity is reduced by one sixth.
Hoang Van Manh,
from Vietnam Airlines, said they had to invest in human resources, equipment
and back-up planes for many years. Manh pointed out that sometimes delays are
unpredictable. He recounted an incident, "When a plane was set to take
off, the crew wasn't able to find the luggage of a missing passenger to
return it to the airport. When the luggage was found, the passenger arrived,"
he said.
According to
VietJet Air, which has the highest number of delayed flights, during the
first six months of the year, they had to cancel 32 flights because of
technical issues, which caused delays to 200 flights. Bad weather and
passenger errors are other causes. A representative from VietJet Air went on
to say that many flights were delayed because the check-in system across the
country is not synchronized, refueling and security screening services at
airports are also slow.
On the other hand, the
ground handling services at
A representative of
the Department of Flight Safety Standards, under the Civil Aviation Authority
of Vietnam said that since weather forecasts at airports are not always
accurate, it added to the number of sudden delays and cancelled flights.
In order to improve
the situation, the carriers agreed to increase their back-up planes and
staff. Moreover, the turn time of a plane will also be lengthened. The Civil
Aviation Authority will inspect the ground handling services and publicise
the number of delayed and cancelled flights weekly. "If carriers are
unable to improve services, then we may ban them from opening new
routes," said Vo Huy Cuong, deputy head of Civil Aviation Authority.
In the first six
months of 2014, there were 74,000 flights in
'Busted'
online football betting ring still active
Despite the recent
clamp-down by Vietnamese police, a major gambling ring which used the domain
name m88.com is still openly operating.
On July 4, public
concerns were raised over the news that m88.com, a huge illegal online
football-betting ring, was shut down by HCM City police for allegedly taking
more than 1 trillion VND (47.6 million USD) in bets on football matches. At
least seven of the people allegedly involved were arrested.
Just one day later,
however, a reporter successfully accessed the website. Apparently, after the
police bust, M88 simply switched to other very similar domain names. There is
even one website that provides assistance for gamblers to get access to the
M88 system after the clampdown.
After gaining
access to M88, gamblers can easily set up an account and, within a few
minutes, be provided with customer service. Clients are able to chat online
with staff, who will guide them through the process of how to transfer money
from a Vietnamese bank account of their choice to their M88 accounts. There
are a few rules, including not divulging to the bank that transfers are
actually going to M88 or transferring money through a third party.
Gamblers are also
reminded to check the system daily, as M88 changes their account number on a
regular basis. This has stirred up concerns about how an illegal football
betting ring is able to set up so many bank accounts for their transactions.
A few hours after
conducting the transaction, the money goes into the gambler’s M88 account,
which allows them to start illegally betting.
An investigation
found that the internet was not used for major football betting rings in
When asked about
the recent police 'bust', an M88 staff member simply said, “We’re operating
as normal," and abruptly ended the conversation.
Deputy PM
affirms continued housing support for disadvantaged
The Government was
determined to continue implementation of a housing support programme for
disadvantaged people, though it would be difficult to balance the State
budget, Deputy Prime Minister, Hoang Trung Hai has said.
While chairing a
July 10 meeting on developing housing support policies for the poor in areas
frequently hit by floods, Deputy PM Hai affirmed the consent of Prime
Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung and Government leaders on continuing the programme,
which was widely known as the 167 Programme.
Saying that the
poor and people living in flood-prone areas had faced difficulties, the
Deputy PM said that long-time housing policies implemented by the Government
on a national scale in past years had helped millions of poor people to have
the capability to settle and strengthen their homes. They have also offered
better solutions in prevention and adaptation to natural disasters, storms
and floods to the Central region and Mekong Delta.
The implementation
of the programme’s phase 2 has progressed immediately after phase 1 finished
with more than 500,000 households supported in housing construction and
renovation. However, according to recent statistics, more than 510,000 poor
households are still in need of housing support.
It is estimated
that the total estimated capital sourced from the State budget and
preferential loans for phase 2 was at VND13 trillion (US$611 million), plus a
projected VND6 trillion (US$282 million) mobilised from the community and
household contribution. The difficulty in accessing financial resources has
threatened the implementation of the 167 Programme in some periods.
However, at the
meeting, representatives from related ministries, agencies and authorities
expressed their determination to continue the meaningful programme to assist
the lives of people nationwide.
In that spirit,
Deputy PM Hai assigned the Ministry of Construction, in collaboration with
the Ministry of Planning and Investment, to develop two new related projects
on housing support for the poor during the 2011-2015 period and housing
construction for flood-prone areas in the central region, then submit the
project plans to the PM for consideration.
Along with that,
the Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant agencies were asked to
balance medium-term capital for the two projected schemes to be implemented
in 3-5 years.
Financial support
levels will be calculated according to specific situations at each site. As
expected, depending on the condition of each household, the State budget will
allocate VND5-7 million or VND10-14 million for each household, while
offering preferential loans of VND15 million per household at a maximum.
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Thứ Bảy, 12 tháng 7, 2014
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