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Social
News 17/9
The Prime Minister
on September 15 approved
Launched in 2004,
the CCP has a global reach and aims to fortify the structures and processes
that allow for the application of sustainable laws for States and selected
ports to minimize the exploitation of maritime containers for drug
trafficking and transnational organized crime activities.
The 2.7-million-USD
program will be realized in
According to the
UNODC, about 90 percent of all trade is conducted via sea containers with
more than 500 million are being shipped yearly in the trade supply chain, and
less than 2 percent of this amount is inspected.
The incredible
volume of containers travelling around the world make them important targets
for actors in the illicit drug trade and even more so for those involved in
producing and delivering counterfeit goods and merchandise.-
5
Vietnamese girls returned home
Five Vietnamese
girls were returned to
Promised jobs
selling coffee, the girls were instead sold to brothels in
Cambodian police
found the girls in October 2013, following which they were handed over to the
Ministry of Social Issues, Veterans and Adolescents. Representatives from
Capital tackles
illegal cigarettes
The Hoan Kiem
People's Committee plans to crack down on illegal cigarette sales around
A recent survey by
the city's Steering Committee 389, which combats smuggling and illegal
trading, revealed that there were 22 illegal vendors around the lake: eight
from the district and the rest from elsewhere in Ha Noi.
"The Hoan Kiem
District People's Committee has been working with other districts to eliminate
the illegal sale of cigarettes around the lake. Local patrols have been
dispatched to keep an eye on those individuals," said Lam Quoc Hung,
head of the committee.
Sellers often
divided their stock into small stashes and hid them until they found buyers,
making it hard for the authorities to deal with the situation.
"We have to be
careful to protect our stock, especially the valuable ones like imported
cigars," said a cigarette vendor sitting by the lake who preferred to
remain anonymous. "Mess up one time and you will lose most of your
capital."
As cigarette
vendors were no longer allowed to set up shop on the pavement around the
lake, she simply stood around waiting for buyers.
Asked if she was
worried about the crackdown by the city, she replied: "Our price is
competitive compared to the licensed stores. Buyers will come to us and we
have always figured out a way."
One way that she
and other vendors evade the law is by offering delivery services. Regulars
don't come to the lake; rather, they place orders by phone and have
cigarettes delivered to their homes.
"Cigarette
packs are small and easy to move, so we have to inspect cigarette shops
often. Immediate fines are required to keep those shops in check," said
Nguyen Trong Binh, deputy head of Market Watch Division 1.
The cigarettes are
generally foreign brands such as Hero, Esse, Zest, Parliament and Garam.
About one billion
packs of cigarettes are imported illegally into
The association
proposed several ways to stop cigarette smuggling, including tightening
controls over cigarette imports at border crossings, stepping up co-operation
among local authorities and cracking down on cigarette vendors.
Oyster
breeders remove tires from Lang Co Bay
Following
directions from the Lang Co Town People's Committee, 85 households tore down
their oyster-breeding structures yesterday.
Approximately 290
households raise oysters on Lang Co Bay, using old tyres held up by wooden
sticks. With 500 such structures, one household can produce about four tons
of oysters per year, resulting in profits of VND40-50 million
(US$1,900-2,380).
However, the tires
also create an eyesore on Lang Co Bay, situated 60km from
The People's
Committee originally imposed the deadline of August 15 for residents to tear
down the structures, but lacked the funds to implement the decision.
"Moving the
structures was difficult because we could not find a new place for them.
Moreover, we did not have enough funds to support local residents to enroll
in vocational training and find new jobs," said deputy chairman of the
committee Tran Dinh Vui.
Authorities plan to
tell the residents to tear down the structures as soon as possible.
"Local
residents have raised oysters for generations and it's their main income, so
it's very hard for them to quit the job and we want to give them enough
time," said Vui.
More than VND12
million ($570) was supplied by the Phu Loc District People's Committee for
the project, but nearly VND3.6 billion ($171,400) was needed.
The Southern Seed
Corporation has put into operation a Vegetable and Flower Seeds Centre in HCM
City's Cu Chi District with a total investment cost of VND30 billion (US$1.4
million).
Using the most
modern technology, the centre is expected to provide a wide variety of
high-quality vegetable and flower seeds, meeting domestic demand and export.
It will train
farmers in advanced cultivation methods to meet the goal of modernisation of
agriculture and rural areas.
Dr Nguyen Quoc
Vong, member of the company's board of directors, said besides the task of
producing new seeds, the centre would also be a vegetable production model
following VietGap (Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices) standards where
farmers can visit.
There is an
enormous demand for high-quality vegetable seeds in the domestic market, he
said.
The country needs
more than 8,000 tonnes of vegetable seeds a year, of which more than 80 per
cent must be imported. About 10 per cent are created by farmers, and the rest
are provided by enterprises, institutes and universities.
Overweight
trucks caught in Thanh Hoa
Six sand trucks
exceeding the weight limit were caught on Highway 47 in Trieu Son, Thanh Hoa
this morning.
"The drivers
had no papers to prove their business credentials, so we could only put one
truck on the scale," said Trinh Ngoc Minh, Chief Inspector of Thanh
Hoa's Department of Transportation and Traffic.
The weighed truck
exceeded the limit by 200 per cent. The police put the rest of the trucks in
custody.
Drug
traffickers held in Mong Cai
The Bac Son Border
Guard Station in the
The border station
reported yesterday that a man named Pham Van Tuyen was caught on Sunday with
eight nylon bags that contained the drugs.
Further
investigation led to the arrest of another man named Nguyen Van Son.
The police are
continuing the investigation of the case.
Quarry
blasts rock surrounding neighbourhood
For years, stone
exploitation has disrupted daily life for the 20 households living near Trung
Anh Company's quarry in northern Phu Tho Province's Yen Lap District.
"When dynamite
is used to loosen rocks, our houses are showered with stones," said Du
Quoc Tai, who lives in the district's
Tai's fellow
villager Ha Thi Minh was terrified when an 8kg stone from the quarry landed
in front of her house. Hoang Ngoc Cham, who lives 700 metres from the quarry,
said his house's glazed door was broken by a similar stone.
Local residents
also complained about noise and dust.
Authorised agencies
had failed to monitor companies' implementation of stone exploitation
regulations, explained Hoang Nhu Lo, head of the Mineral Management Office
under the provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department.
Chairman of Yen Lap
District People's Committee Nguyen Truong Son also blamed the situation on
poor management by authorised agencies.
The province has 24
quarries, mainly located in Yen Lap and Thanh Son districts. Yen Lap district
had conducted inspections of 14 local quarries, according to Son.
A survey of 19
mineral exploitation companies by the provincial Industry and Trade
Department revealed that six failed to routinely check lighting-resistant
systems for their dynamite warehouses and 14 of 19 dynamite warehouses failed
to follow dynamite storage regulations.
Hundreds of
fake iPhones seized
Ha Noi police
seized 264 fake iPhone 4S models on a bus bound for the southern
They also found 140
back panels and phone components.
Bus driver Tran
Ngoc Hoa failed to show documents to prove the origin of the goods. He
admitted that he was paid VND400,000 (US$19) to transport the goods from Ha
Noi to
The case is under
investigation.
This central city's
Culture, Sport and Tourism Department has launched its latest online tourism
information portal following an eight-month trial period to further boost its
tourism industry.
On the debut of
www.tourism.danang.vn, the department said the portal would enable tourists
to quickly get online information on bookings at restaurants and hotels as
well as pricing and itineraries of tours to choice destinations in the city
and world heritage sites in the central region.
The
English-Vietnamese website has also been building its Japanese, Russian and
Korean language editions.
The department has
also co-operated with the Military Telecommunications Group, Viettel, in
offering SMS Welcome service for travel and tour agencies and tourism
information and promotion programmes.
The city has opened
two tourism information centres at
Traffickers
receive death sentences
Nguyen Huu Bang,
35, and Nguyen Ngoc Hung, 45, received death penalties for drug trafficking
in a court in the central
Bang's wife Le Thi
At was sentenced to life imprisonment while Hung's wife Phan Thi Vi and
another defendant Van Thi Nga were sentenced to 20 years in jail.
The five were
caught on December 31, 2013 when trying to sell more than 5 kg of synthetic
drugs that had been transported to
More than
100kg of drugs destroyed
Police in the
Offered for sale at
markets to ethnic minority residents for under US$1, they included massage
balms and diarrhoea treatments.
Three fishing boat
owners caught using compressed-air vessels
Local authorities
on Thursday seized three fishing boats whose owners were caught using
compressed-air vessels in this
Arrested on
suspicion of illegal fishing were Tran Van Ngai, Tran Dinh Cuong and Pham Van
Huy. The suspects, all residents of Cam Linh Commune on Cam Xuyen District in
central Ha Tinh Province, failed to produce documents confirming they were
authorised to use compressed-air vessels.
The use of
compressed-air vessels in fishing has been banned for its negative impact on
the marine environment and the health risks it poses to scuba divers.
Ly Son
As many as 15,000
Bang Vuong saplings (Malabar Almond) are being grown in Ly Son island district
in the central
The Bang Vuong
seedlings cultivation project, which was started in 2011, has been
implemented by soldiers under the Military Command of Ly Son Island.
The idea was
inspired by Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Dao, Head of Logistics and
Engineering Department under the Military Command, who spent half his life on
the island, one of the country’s outposts.
Dao said the Bang
Vuong tree represents the strength and resilience of islanders in the face of
difficulties and challenges.
According to Deputy
Chief-Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ho Ngoc Hien, the cultivation of Bang
Vuong seedlings simply requires the careful selection of seeds and frequent watering.
Cultivation is straightforward since the plant thrives in all kinds of
weather conditions.
Currently, 2,500
Bang Vuong trees line the islands’ streets, providing shade and an
aesthetically-pleasing environment.
Logistics Assistant
Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Thuan said tourists will be given two saplings to take
home with them in a bid to develop tourism and distribute the trees across
Recently, the
district Military Command presented 1,000 saplings to
Ly Son
ready to connect to national power grid
A 22kV undersea
power transmission cable line was connected successfully to a transformer
station on Ly Son island district’s An Vinh commune, the central
The work was
undertaken by a contractor partnered by the Italia-based multinational
company Prysmian and
The cable is now
being fixed firmly to ensure absolute safety and smooth operation for the
network, which is scheduled to officially run on September 28.
The project worth
over 652 billion VND (31.1 million USD) comprises an 8.7 km-long
middle-voltage transmission line in Binh Son district and a 26.2m undersea
cable line connecting Ly Son district.
Once joining the
national power grid, the undersea cable line will greatly contribute to
national security and marine industry development of the island district and
will benefit 22,000 islanders.
Fifteen nautical
miles from land, Ly Son, covering 10 sq.km, is the only island district of
Quang Ngai.
It lies on the sea
route from the north to the south of
Education
and sci-tech progress is key to success: PM
Training human
resources to the highest standards, coupled with scientific-technological
innovation, is pivotal to success, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said.
Speaking to staff
and students at the
The 2014-2015 year
is of particular significance since the country is radically and thoroughly
overhauling its education and training system, the PM said during his opening
speech at the ceremony to launch the VNU’s new academic year.
To support this
process, he urged the VNU and universities and colleges all over the country
to revise their management practices and govern themselves autonomously and
effectively, saying that these are decisive factors for improving their
performance.
Apart from updating
their curricula, he asked universities to be more active in scientific
research and the transfer of technology, making them a productive environment
for inventions and scientific breakthroughs.
He pointed out that
the initiative relied on a contingent of qualified lecturers and managers in
terms of intellect and virtue, and a modern infrastructure system, the two
prerequisites for innovation.
The entire
education sector is geared towards producing cohorts of high-calibre
graduates who will drive national development, he stressed.
The PM took the
occasion to ask VNU and the Ministry of Construction to relocate three of its
universities in the next five years.
This year, the VNU
revised its syllabi to meet new demands for higher education and increase the
scale of post-tertiary education.
Many of its
programmes meet the ASEAN University Network quality standards, benefitting
its students, who are able to secure jobs after graduation more easily.
The VNU strikes a
balance between liberal arts and science, and between basic sciences and
applied sciences. It is one of
Representatives
from Russian universities are on a September 14-19 visit to boost
collaboration with Vietnamese schools.
During their stay,
they will hold a working session with
The Russian guests
will exchange views with their Vietnamese counterparts on possibilities for
implementing joint scientific research and organising joint seminars and
conferences.
On the occasion,
the Russian Science and Culture Centre in
Shafinskaya
Natalia, representative of the centre, said the project aims at establishing
and developing direct relations between Vietnamese and Russian universities
as well as encouraging young Vietnamese to pursue education in
Gia Lai
ethnic minorities settle into housing
A total of 200
disadvantaged rural households in the Central Highlands
The total
investment was worth more than 11.2 billion VND (526,400 USD).
The majority of
beneficiaries are of the Bahnar-J’rai communities in the province’s six poor
districts of Chu Prong, Chu Se, Chu Puh, Phu Thien, Mang Ya and
In Ia Mor commune
in Chu Prong district, 50 houses were constructed, making it the first
commune to eliminate household poverty based on housing conditions.
In recent years,
Gia Lai has received 120 billion VND (5.64 million USD) from Vietinbank for
its social welfare programmes, building a total of 500 houses for the poor,
two schools and two communal houses.
With an area of
more than 15,500 square kilometres, Gia Lai is home to more than 1.2 million
people (2009 statistics), including 34 ethnic groups such as the Bahnar, Xo
Dang, Thai and Muong.
Farmers
reap high profits from prawn breeding scheme
Farming blue-legged
giant prawns in paddy fields during the flooding season in
Many farmers began
breeding the prawns after harvesting their winter-spring rice crop this year.
Dong Thap floods more heavily than other provinces in the Cuu Long (
In Tam Nong
District, farmers adjusted their paddy embankments and used lime to sterilise
fields in addition to putting up stakes and nets in surrounding fields.
Tam Nong District
has the largest blue-legged giant prawn breeding area in Dong Thap.
Nguyen Thanh Cong,
who has bred the prawns in Tam Nong's Phu Binh B Commune for seven years,
said he had been breeding prawns over a 5.5ha area.
Blue-legged giant
prawns grow rapidly when flood waters are high. Flooding conditions also
provide an abundance of food for the prawns.
Cong started
breeding prawns in June. The prawns take about six months to grow to full
size.
In the delta, the
annual flood season caused by the rising water levels of the
Breeding
blue-legged giant prawns in the flood season also brings other benefits for
paddy fields as flood waters bring fertile silt into the fields, benefiting
the next rice crop.
Last year, Cao Lanh
had 124ha of blue-legged giant prawn and harvested a total of 234 tonnes,
according to Nguyen Minh Khoa, deputy head of the Cao Lanh's Fisheries
Station.
Farmers earned a
profit of VND80-100 million ($3,800-4,700) per ha for each prawn crop last
year, Khoa said.
Some farmers earned
VND120-140 million ($5,700-6,600) per ha, four to five times higher than rice
cultivation, he said.
However, to ensure
stable outlets for the prawns, farmers need to join cooperatives. With such
an arrangement, farmers could more easily sign contracts with companies to
buy animal feed, medicines and quality prawn fries at reasonable prices.
Currently,
blue-legged giant prawns are bought domestically and not exported, as supply
has not met local demand.
Dong Thap plans to
breed about 1,200ha of blue-legged giant prawns in this year's flooding
season.
According to Nhu
Van Can, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development, said that blue-legged giant prawns play a secondary role
after tra fish in the province's freshwater aquatic cultivation.
The rotation of
rice and blue-legged giant prawn cultivation in paddy fields promotes
sustainable cultivation and production.
However, the
province still lacks a sufficient supply of prawn fries.
In addition,
farmers have been reluctant to invest in breeding prawns because of changing
weather patterns and the higher expense.
Farmers in Dong
Thap now have to buy prawns from other provinces or countries such as
Under the
provincial People's Committee's plan to develop blue-legged giant prawn to
2020, Dong Thap targets having 4,000 ha of blue-legged giant prawns with an
output of 6,400 tonnes in 2015, and 6,000ha in 2020 with an output of 9,600
tonnes.
Can said to develop
cultivation sustainably, the shortage of prawn fries should be solved first.
Last year, more
than 20 provinces and cities nationwide bred blue-legged giant prawns in a
total area of 12,299ha.
Of the figure, the
Cuu Long Delta accounted for 12,250ha, or 99.6 per cent, according to the
Directorate of Fisheries.
However, provinces
and cities that breed blue-legged giant prawns can only supply 40-50 per cent
of prawn fries for local farmers.
According to Nguyen
Thanh Vu of the National Breeding Centre for Southern Freshwater Aquaculture
said breeding the prawns has more advantages than other freshwater species as
it requires less investment capital, and has fewer risks and more stable
prices. Farming techniques are uncomplicated as well.
Blue-legged giant
prawns can be bred in ponds and paddy fields, and with other fish species.
To increase the
supply of fries, the Dong Thap People's Committee agreed to allow Ba Tong, a
company that produces and trades the giant prawns, to set up a farm that
produces blue-legged giant prawn fries.
The farm, which is
expected to be put into operation this year, will be able to produce about
130 million fries a year, helping to ensure fry supply for local farmers.
Work
agencies get thumbs up
Twenty-three per
cent of Vietnamese recruitment agencies sending workers abroad were rated as
"A1" or "top excellent" in an official ranking published
yesterday.
More than 50 per
cent of the agencies belonged to group A2, or "excellent", and
nearly one fifth received B1 status - "good".
The evaluations
were made by the Viet Nam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) on the basis
of a Code of Conduct for recruitment agencies.
This was introduced
in 2010 with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
through the GMS Triangle project funded by the Australian Government.
The Code of Conduct
is a voluntary self-regulation tool aimed at improving companies' compliance
with Vietnamese legislation and international standards, ensuring better
business management and protecting migrant workers from exploitation.
The ranking
includes four categories – top excellent and excellent (A1 and A2), good (B1
and B2), satisfactory (C1 and C2) and not satisfactory (D1 and D2).
Nguyen Luong Trao,
VAMAS's president said the evaluation was not only about data, assessment and
rating but more about persuading and supporting companies to improve work
ethics and comply with ILO standards.
Nguyen Ngoc Thach,
deputy general director of the SIMCO Song Da Joint Stock Company, which was
assessed as an excellent recruiter (A2 ranking), said the programme was
objective because assessments were made by gathering feedback from workers,
localities and country representative offices in Viet Nam.
He said it
benefited recruitment companies of high quality by boosting their reputation.
In the second year
of ranking, the number of recruitment agencies opening up for evaluation more
than doubled to 47 from 20 in the first year.
They account for
more than 27 per cent of all the agencies in the country and cover half of
the total number of contract-based overseas workers. The number of
participating agencies is expected to reach 70 in the third year.
Six out of 20
companies rated in the first year climbed up in rankings in the second year
by showing improvements whereas five others took a step back due to
violations of the code.
Experts said they
hoped the rankings would help boost competitiveness among enterprises so that
they worked harder to improve their services to workers.
Tro said VAMAS also
hoped to expand the code compliance to all recruitment agencies, while noting
that this could be difficult because of the voluntary nature of the organization.
He said he expected
more support from State agencies, especially the
Deputy Minister of
Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, said the Ministry was
committed to supporting efforts to expand the size of evaluation.
"It's a good
way to promote fair competition, prevent abusive practices in the recruitment
processes, improve the quality of company services, and bring companies to a
new height," he added.
Hoa requested
VAMAS, through the knowledge it gains from code assessment, to contribute to
the revision of the Law for Vietnamese Workers Overseas in 2016. The law was
issued in 2006.
He said the new law
would be revised so that it better supported Vietnamese workers abroad.
While stressing the
need that State agencies and companies take better care of workers, Hia also
said it also important that workers take care of themselves, implying the
importance of raising awareness and knowledge.
He also said
The flow of
Vietnamese workers overseas is expected to increase when the ASEAN Economic
Community comes into being at the end of 2015.
"This requires
better protection of migrant workers and improved services of recruitment
agencies. So self-regulations tools are a win-win solution to both companies
and workers," said ILO Viet Nam Director Gyorgy Sziraczki.
"Labour
migration should no longer be seen as only a way to reduce poverty.
Scholarships
granted to OV students in Laos
The Vietnamese
Embassy in
The beneficiaries
will continue their studies during the 2014-2015 academic year in
Speaking at the
event, Ambassador Nguyen Manh Hung highlighted the significance of the
donation, saying it reflects the Party and State’s attention to OVs’
children.
He called on the
Vietnamese community in
Sectors
join hands to brace for Ebola epidemic
Representatives
from relevant ministries and agencies gathered at a seminar in the northern
port city of
The health sector
has applied medical declaration forms and temperature scanning of passengers
from Ebola-affected regions at international border gates, while isolating
those possibly exposed to the virus and taking their blood samples for
further tests, he said.
The passengers will
also be put under strict community surveillance within three weeks since the
date they left the affected areas, he said, adding that the most effective
measure is to wash hands regularly with soap or antiseptic solution.
Meanwhile, the
Ministry of Transport said it has launched a plan against possible petechial
fever caused by Ebola virus with a goal of early detecting infections in the
sector, preventing the epidemic from spreading and minimising deaths.
The Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism has also issued an action plan to prevent the
virus, which poses a high risk of entering the country via tourists, and at
the same time encouraged Vietnamese people to travel at home.
The Ministry of
Public Security affirmed that its clinics have prepared medicine, equipment,
isolation areas and workforce in case of any Ebola outbreak.
Ebola can cause
fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, organ failure and internal and external bleeding.
The earlier the virus is detected and the symptoms are treated, the higher
the chance of survival is, according to the World Health Organisation.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
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Thứ Ba, 16 tháng 9, 2014
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