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274
waterway offences detected in one month
The police and
inspectors from the Transport Ministry's Waterway Inland Administration
Registration Department detected 274 offences during a campaign to tighten
control over the operations of waterway vehicles and facilities.
During the
month-long campaign which started on July 15, the police and inspectors
examined 373 tourist boats, 87 hydrofoil boats, 50 waterway entertainment
equipment, 48 floating restaurants and 31 tourist ferries.
The authorities in
ten localities, including Ha Noi, Hoa Binh, Hai Phong,
The waterway police
plans to increase inspections during the coming National Day holiday between
August 30 and September 2 when the passenger traffic will rise.
Petrol
stations get safe tank upgrade
The first
eco-friendly and safe underground fuel tanks were installed yesterday at a
petrol station in Ha Noi's Dong Anh District.
The double-hulled
tanks, made from steel fibre imbedded in plastic, will eventually replace old
single-hulled tanks at thousands of petrol stations across the country.
The tanks, which
are being made in
The project is
being backed by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). It
involves both the Viet Nam National Petroleum Group (Petrolimex) and
It promises to
provide much better environmental and fire protection by preventing leakages
of fuel into the soil sub-strata.
Masuda Chikahiro,
senior representative of JICA Viet Nam, said that the about-US$1 million
project was part of non-refundable, Official Development Assistance (ODA) to
support small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries by
applying new technology and products.
"Together with
the development of a car-making industry in
"However, all
underground tanks now being used are old steel single-shell tanks," he
said.
"The new model
will prevent the leakage of hazardous and explosive liquids such as fuel, oil
and chemicals, thus ensuring environmental safety and hygiene," he said.
Tamada Yoshihisa, a
director of the Tamada Company in
This could not only
cause soil and underground water pollution, but also pose severe fire risks.
Tamada said that
his company had completed the technology transfer of the new tank production
to Petrolimex.
Colonel Doan Huu
Thang, deputy director of the Fire Protection, Salvage and Rescue General
Department under the Ministry of Public Security, said that existing tanks in
"During checks
at fuel stations, we have discovered many where dozens of cubic metres of
gasoline leaked into the soil," Thang said.
"The
double-hulled tanks, which have been used worldwide, have become a compulsory
standard for fuel stations in many countries," he said.
"They will be
installed throughout the country soon, especially at fuel stations in the
inner city and built-up residential areas," he said.
Thang said his
department would work with relevant agencies in
There are about
13,000 oil and gas stations in
Vuong Thai Dung,
deputy director general of Petrolimex, said the new tanks would cost much
more than the old models.
Following yesterday's
tank installation in the capital city, another two will be introduced in
Autumn-winter
crops yield high earnings
Farmers from the
districts of Thoi Lai, Phong Dien, Binh Thuy and O Mon in the Mekong city of
Farmer Truong Thanh
Phong from Thoi Lai District's Tan Thanh Commune said traders bought his
undried IR 50404 paddy for VND4,800 - VND4,900 per kg and fragrant paddy for
VND5,200 – VND5,250 per kg at the field.
Phong said that his
profits totalled about VND15 million ($710) per hectare, after subtracting
production costs.
He said that
combine harvesters had helped farmers reduce production costs.
According to the
Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the city has about
61,800 ha of land planted under the autumn-winter crop this year.
The department also
advised farmers to strengthen embankments to protect the areas that have yet
to be harvested.
Hung Yen
fines firm for polluting
The northern
The Beeahn Viet Nam
Co., Ltd's wastewater was found to have exceeded the regulated standards by
ten times, leading to the pollution of the water source in the neighbouring
residential area.
The People's
Committee also asked the company to halt the disposal of the wastewater
immediately and to implement wastewater treatment, conforming to national
standards, before resuming its disposal.
Lao Cai
strives to wipe out A/H5N6 influenza virus
The health sector
of the northern mountainous
The avian flu
strain was recently detected in a flock of red pheasants raised in Pho Lu
town, making Lao Cai the third Vietnamese locality affected by A/H5N6, after
the northern province of Lang Son, on the border with China, and the central
province of Ha Tinh, on the border with Laos.
Communication
efforts have also been increased to raise public awareness of how to prevent
the transmission of H5N6 from fowls to humans.
The Ministry of
Health’s Department of Preventive Medicine has recently ordered Lao Cai to
prepare for the virus since it had led to human deaths in
To prevent the
poultry-to-human transmission of A/H5N6, the department asked Lao Cai’s
veterinary and human health sectors to disinfect breeding grounds; to closely
observe risk areas, particularly poultry farms and markets; and strictly
punish the illegal transportation of poultry.
The province, which
shares a 203.5km long border with China, was also requested prepare for
possible exposure to A/H5N6 and send samples taken from patients with acute
respiratory diseases and pneumonia to the Hanoi-based National Institute of
Hygiene and Epidemiology for testing.
According to the
World Health Organisation, A/H5N6 is a highly pathogenic strain, but there is
no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission, despite occasional
reports of apparent cases of contagion within families.
MoH
launches new online registration service
The Ministry of
Health has launched an online registration service through which all the
sector's administrative services can be conducted online.
The comprehensive
service, which is the highest of the four administration service levels in
the country, is expected to create more convenient conditions for enterprises
involved in the healthcare sector to register their businesses.
At the beginning,
the ministry will pilot registration for advertising content of dietary
supplements and food with micronutrients under ministry management.
Companies will
follow four steps to complete their applications, including online payment
for an advertising licence which will be issued within 10 days.
Health Minister
Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said at the opening ceremony of the programme earlier
this month that online registration would enable the public and businesses to
complete application procedures via the internet.
She said the online
programme would improve management efficiency to better serve community
health.
Deputy General
Director of the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA) Nguyen Thanh Phong said
that the ministry's online registration service would allow the public,
businesses and the ministry to save time and reduce paperwork.
"Thanks to the
online service, we will not need to store copies of documents or search for
applications in the archives," Phong told Vietnam News.
He also said the
public and businesses would be able to check the progress of their
applications online.
"Online
registration will help make the ministry's performance more
transparent," he said.
However, technical
difficulties were slowing the implementation of the service, Phong said.
"IT
infrastructure and human resources are varied, causing difficulties for the
VFA," he said.
He said businesses
should offer IT training to their employees and invest in technology to
utilise the online service.
Nguyen Thi Minh
Tam, Hanoi-branch director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based Vinamilk Group, said
it took the company longer to send an application by post from
Heavy rains
prompt emergency efforts
Deputy Prime
Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged ministries and localities to focus on
minimising the destruction caused by floods, flash floods and landslides.
People were often
proactive when it came to minimising storm-related damages to human and
property, but remained inattentive to storm-triggered disasters like flash
floods and landslides, leading to serious losses, he said.
Typhoon Rammasun,
which hit
In 2008, floods and
landslides that followed storms left 120 people dead or missing in northern
mountainous Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces.
Hai instructed
those planning infrastructure projects to prioritise safety, saying new
infrastructure and housing projects would be strictly prohibited in areas
vulnerable to flash floods and landslides.
Localities across
the country plan to relocate approximately 28,600 households from areas at
risk of natural disasters by 2020.
The Deputy PM
assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work with the
Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance to collect
evacuation proposals from localities and submit them to the Prime Minister,
who would give investment priority to feasible projects. Hai also urged
localities to regularly check vulnerable areas and make evacuation plans.
Communication and
outreach efforts should be also stepped up, particularly in mountainous
localities, where every resident should be informed about how to respond to
natural disasters, the Deputy PM said.
Meanwhile, the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will advise localities on the
implementation of their respective evacuation and resettlement programmes and
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will continue to establish
flash flood and landslide warning and observation systems in vulnerable
areas.
The National
Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Prevention and the
National Committee for Research and Rescue on Thursday sent an urgent message
to relevant ministries, agencies and northern and north-central localities
telling them to prepare for floods and landslides as heavy rain keeps
pouring. Residents living close to lakes and rivers and in low areas should
be warned to take preventive measures, the message said.
Director of the
National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre Hoang Duc Cuong warned that the
ongoing heavy rainfall would cause floods in lower areas and landslides in
mountainous areas.
Rainfall up to
400mm caused landslides in central
Rain also caused
estimated losses of more than VND17 billion (US$800,000) in the Central
Highlands
Flooding and landslides
are likely to occur in Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Bac
Can, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An.
Land
clearance stalls road projects
Land clearance for
three major road projects must be completed this year, municipal People's
Committee vice chairman Nguyen Quoc Hung said at a meeting with project
investors and relevant agencies on Wednesday.
The three projects
include a section of Ring Road 1 stretching from
Approved in 2005,
the O Dong Mac – Nguyen Khoai road project requires 41,000 sq.m in four Hai
Ba Trung District wards (Thanh Nhan, Dong Mac, Thanh Luong and Bach Dang).
The city invested
over VND813 billion (US$38.4 million) in the project, including VND669
billion ($31.6 million) for land clearance and compensation. About 850
families have to move to make room for the road, 800 of whom want apartments
for resettlement. Yet only 330 apartments are ready for resettlement and none
have yet been handed over, according to Ta Ngan Infrastructure Project
Management Board.
For the Nhat Tan-
Cau Giay project, 1,555 households in Tay Ho, Cau Giay, Ba Dinh and Dong Da
districts were required to move. However, 689 did not agree with the
compensation rate and refused to move.
According to the
city's Construction Department, the city had enough housing for resettled
people and would deliver it by September 9.
The Tran Phu – Kim
Ma project was approved in October 2011 with a VND225 billion ($10.6 million)
budget, including nearly VND150 billion ($7.1 million) for land clearance and
resettlement. The 11,750 sq.m project involves the resettlement of nearly 200
households in Kim Ma Ward and Dien Bien Ward in Ba Dinh District, 77 of which
have agreed to move. However, 71 of them have not been accommodated because
the allocated apartments failed to meet fire prevention regulations.
Vice chairman Hung
said that the Construction Department, Fire Fighting and Prevention
Department, investors and housing developers would soon complete resettlement
projects but did not specify when. The move would not only speed up road
building but would also save money for the city, which was currently subsidising
temporary accommodation for affected residents, he added.
Director
seized for appropriating money
Ha Tinh Police have
seized the former director of the Ha Tinh Rubber One Member Co Ltd for
allegedly falsifying documents to appropriate VND5.2 billion (US$247,600).
In 2010, the
company started a project to plant 1,000ha of rubber in Cam Xuyen District,
but the provincial People's Committee had already allotted the land to the
Dai Phat Timber Processing Export Company.
Former director
Tran Ngoc Son and his assistant Nguyen Thanh Binh collaborated with head of
the Cam Xuyen Protective Forest Management Board Ngo Dang Khoa and director
of the Dai Phat Company Nguyen Van Ha to forge documents showing they had
paid compensation to households affected by the project.
Government
aid to build shelters for flood victims
The Prime Minister
has decided to provide aid to 14 provinces and cities in the central region
to build flood-proof houses for local residents.
Thousands of people
in the designated localities are expected to benefit from the assistance
policy, to be carried out from 2014 to 2016.
Accordingly, each
household in flood-hit areas will receive VND12-16 million to build houses
and shelters to prevent floods and storms.
In addition, the
Bank for Social Policy will also grant preferential loans for poor families
to help minimize risks and deal with aftermath of national calamities.
Teenagers’
awareness of sexual, reproductive health worried
The National
Assembly's Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children Affairs
(NACEYCA) August 27 said at a meeting on reproductive and sexual health of
teenager regulations that young people’s awareness of gender, safe sex and
birth control is very low.
The participants
released the figure that only 27 percent of teenagers are practicing safe sex
in the first sexual intercourse. Children are still victims of sexual
assaults with over 1,000 cases per year.
Nguyen Van Tuyet,
deputy chairman of NACEYCA, said that teenagers who are from ten to 30 years
old make up nearly 40 percent of the country’s population.
In recent years,
the birth control demand among young people remains high. There are a few
medical clinics which provide consultation and birth control services for
teenagers however, most private clinics are no under control by local
authorities.
The delegates
agreed to add sexual and reproductive healthcare into law. Young people
should have right to access information of gender education and living skills
in schools, on the other hand, medical clinics should be improved.
There should have a
national sexual and reproductive healthcare strategy to mobilize
organizations and investors to build more clinics, aiming to supply sexual
information to young people, help them protecting their health as well as
HIV/ADIDS prevention, said delegates.
The Ministry of
Health should provide more sexual and reproductive healthcare services to
unmarried young persons and workers in the industrial parks and immigrant
people.
Tran Thi Ngoc Bich,
who heads the Health Strategy and Policy Institute pointed out the Ministry
of Education and Training should separate the sex and reproductive health
chapter instead of including in Living Skill chapter.
According to the
Ministry of Health, the rate of HIV/AIDS infection through sex in the country
was 33 percent, 39 percent, 41 percent, 43 percent and 45 percent from 2009
to 2013 respectively. The rate of abortion among teenagers in the country was
2.2 percent, 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Residents
leaving Thanh Da condos amid worries
Many residents in
two crumbling Thanh Da condo buildings in HCMC’s Binh Thanh District are
leaving for new condos in the same district amid concerns about the price
differential they will have to pay as their new homes are larger than the
current ones.
There are 243 out
of the 297 households living in the old condo buildings agreeing to move but
they are worried about the prices of the new apartments which have yet to be
clarified by authorities.
The issue was
raised by Phan Ngoc Anh Huy, head of Binh Thanh District’s site clearance
compensation committee, on the sidelines of a press briefing held Tuesday on
compensation, relocation and financial support for the relocated people.
The floor area of a
unit in the two Thanh Da condo buildings is 80 square meters while that of a
new apartment is 60 square meters, Huy said. Residents swap each of their
condos in Thanh Da for two new apartments, meaning they will have to pay rent
for or buy the difference of 40 square meters.
As specified in an
instruction by the city government late last year, those people moving to the
new condo would not have to pay extra costs if the floor area of the new home
is the same as their old one. If it is larger, the additional area would be
sold or rented to the resident in accordance with market prices, HCMC Vice
Chairman Nguyen Huu Tin told a meeting on relocation of the two Thanh Da
condo buildings organized last year.
However, the price
of the additional area of 40 square meters has yet to be calculated by the
local government, causing confusion among the households in the old condo
buildings.
Prices of the
relocated homes and apartments should be determined by a council authorized
by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in accordance with new
amendments to the Land Law. However, there has been no responsible agency to
take on such a task up to now, Huy added.
Vice chairman Tin
at the briefing held Tuesday also ordered the Department of Construction and relevant
agencies to set out a number of supportive measures for the residents in
Thanh Da condo buildings. The financial aid will be calculated based on the
compensation and selling prices of the new apartments.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
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Thứ Hai, 1 tháng 9, 2014
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