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Social News 5/2
The HCM City People's Committee has approved the use of bank
loans to build 72 public kindergartens worth a total of more than VND 2.7
trillion (US$128 million).
The public kindergartens will be built by the end of the year.
Of the public kindergarten projects, Cu Chi District accounts
for the largest number (14), followed by Binh Tan District (nine) and Binh
Chanh and Can Gio districts (seven each).
To speed up the progress of building public kindergartens, the
HCM City People's Committee has decided to start a bank loan programme to
build public kindergartens.
The move represents the city's determination to speed up the
progress of building kindergartens, according to Nguyen Dinh Thai Chau, the municipal
Department of Education and Training's Finance and Planning Division.
Phan Thi Thang, deputy director of the municipal Department of
Finance, said last year the city had 117 public kindergarten projects that
needed capital for construction but the city faced difficulties to allocate a
budget for the projects.
The city recently proposed connecting banks to public
kindergarten projects, she said.
Under the city programme, the projects would be given loans
with a terms of up to eight years.
Nguyen Ngoc Thao, head of the city Department of Finance's
Investment and Repair Division, said project investors should select the
consultants carefully to avoid construction errors that would have to be
corrected at a later date.
The investors of public kindergarten projects will be the
Investment and Construction Project Management Board of each district.
Many investors have petitioned the HCM City People's Committee
to have preferential policies for public kindergarten projects in major
areas, and in other areas where there is a severe shortage of kindergartens,
as well as those that have a large number of ethnic pre-school students.
The city currently has more than 870 public kindergartens
which teach more than 309,000 children.
The public kindergartens can serve about 85 per cent of
children. The remaining 25 per cent of children of this age group study at
private kindergartens and family-based daycare facilities.
New rule tightens fire safety controls
Construction sites and all public transportation
vehicles—buses, boats and trains— must have their fire prevention and control
designs approved and rechecked before going into operation.
This new policy is just one of Circular 66/2014/TT-BCA's
regulations, issued by the Ministry of Public Security and to be put into
effect on February 6.
Those wishing to start construction projects or manufacture
automobiles for public transport must send their fire prevention and control
designs to the Fire Prevention and Control Police Department to be approved
before they can begin.
Once the construction site or vehicle product is set up, the
police department that had censored their design must perform a check to make
sure the submitted designs were executed. The police reviewers must arrive
within seven days after receiving notice.
The circular will also demand that universities and schools
with areas of more than 25,000sq.m; hospitals with more than 100 beds; and
performance halls and cinemas with more than 800 seats must also submit and
get their fire prevention and control designs approved.
Machinery and tools used for fire prevention and control will
also be checked to make sure their kind, design and quality are sufficient.
Each tool must be checked at least once and upon passing the test will be
stamped by the authorities.
At a recent meeting held in Ha Noi, Colonel Hoang Quoc Dinh,
deputy director of the Ha Noi Fire Prevention and Control Police Department,
said that dissemination of information about the issue should be improved,
praising cases of well executed prevention and denouncing ill-prepared sites
and vehicles.
Senior Lieutenant-General Bui Van Nam, Deputy Minister of
Public Security, told the Kinh te&do thi (Economic and Urban Affairs)
newspaper that fire prevention and control forces should work hand-in-hand
with local authorities to manage safety conditions.
Dak Lak faces New Year crisis as kumquats wilt
Kumquat growers in Hoa Thang Commune in Buon Ma Thuot City in
the Central Highland
They are facing disaster as disease sweeps through their crops
of ornamental kumquats, an auspicious tree in Vietnamese households around
the time of the lunar new year.
Nguyen Thi Loan, chairwoman of Hoa Thang Commune People's
Committee, told Tien Phong (The Vanguard) newspaper that kumquats had been a
stable source of income for 20 farm households at this time of year.
However this year, they expect to lose 50 to 70 per cent of
their crops and income due to a disease that wilts the leaves and shrinks the
fruit.
"Gardeners are trying their best to save the remaining
trees in hope of making some cash," Loan said.
Duong Danh Bo, a farmer with 15 years' experience in growing
the lucky orange citrus tree in the commune's Hamlet 11, admitted that he had
lost his battle to combat the disease that wreaking havoc on kumquat crops.
"I found many of my kumquat trees were diseased as early
as November. I tried all I could to save them, but failed. I had no choice
but to discard hundreds of them. Worse still, the remainder are hard to sell
as their fruit do not ripen equally," Bo said.
Bo said that other households suffering the same problem
wanted to increase the selling price of their remaining trees to compensate
for the losses, but felt that even if this was done, he would still suffer a
big loss.
Nguyen Xuan Truong, another kumquat grower in Hamlet 4 with
1,000 kumquat trees usually makes about VND500 million (US$20,000) from his
trees, but this year he has already lost about half.
Truong attributed his bad crop to changing weather patterns at
the time the fruit was appearing, not disease. "Prolonged rain for
months made the roots rotten," Truong said.
Quach Thuy Duong, president of Hoa Thang Commune Farmers'
"If it rains for many days, photosynthesis in the leaves
can be affected, resulting in a reduced number of fruit and poor
quality," he said.
The solutions Duong has suggested include applying organic
fertilisers and changing the tree posture from the shape of a pyramid into
other bonsai forms for continued tending in preparation for the next season.
"Local kumquat growers have agreed to push the price of
kumquat trees up by 10 to 20 per cent, but we remain worried that by so doing
we will not be able to compete with neighbouring Binh Dinh and Phu Yen
provinces which are also bringing their kumquat trees here to sell for Tet.
No first prize for Khanh Hoa contest
The contest for an idea for the administrative centre of Khanh
Hoa, which was organized by the FLC Group and the Khanh Hoa Department of Construction
has declared a winner.
The
Based on idea of the winner, the next steps will include the
construction of the centre, which will be executed by the relevant agencies.
The FLC Group is an investor in the project, which is located at the Quan
Truong riverside in the Vinh Thai Commune of Nha Trang City and spread over
an area of 126 ha.
This is the first project to be built under a build-transfer
(BT) form, with a total investment of VND7 trillion ($327 million), which is
also the largest BT project in the province so far.
New waste incinerator model poised to take off in Ha Tinh
Residents of Thanh My Village in Loc Ha District, Ha Tinh
Province welcomed new waste burners placed at the gates of their homes.
They were portable and saved people time travelling to
landfills to dump waste, said Phan Tien Dung, chairman of the People's
Committee of Phu Luu Commune, where the burner was invented.
"Frustrated by the fact that villagers have been throwing
nylon bags, bottles and other solid waste away on the streets, but at the
same time complaining about environmental pollution, the commune's
administration established the Phu Luu Commune Environmental Co-operative,
which collects rubbish and charges fees," Dung said.
However, even with the waste collectors, the situation didn't
change much.
"People still kept throwing rubbish away wherever they
found convenient, especially into ponds and low-lying areas," he said.
After several awareness campaigns failed to inspire people to
keep the environment clean, the commune decided it would stop just talking
and take action, Dung said.
"We decided to join hands with the provincial Department
of Natural Resources and Environment's Department of Environmental Protection
to select an area in our commune to demonstrate our model for cleaning up the
environment and also engaging local civil society," he said. "We
heard there was a new model of solid waste burner in
However, many thought that burner was out of the question
financially, especially if they were going to have to build one for every
home.
"While everyone was at a loss what to do next, Le Tu
Khuong, chairman of Phu Luu Commune's Environmental Co-operative, came up
with the idea of using cement and rock to cast a cylindrical burner, which
would be cheaper and also convenient for villagers if they want to roll it
around, " Dung said.
The burner Khuong designed is 1.1m high and 30cm in diameter.
A steel net is placed on the bottom, and a small square window on the side is
just big enough to fit in fire-igniting material. When waste is burned, trash
falls down through the net. Each burner costs VND350,000 to 400,000 (US$17 to
$20).
Impressed by the new burner, the Department of Environmental
Protection decided to set aside VND100 million ($4,700) to promote its use.
The commune contributed VND30 million ($1,500) to produce about 200 for
households in Thanh My Village, which was chosen as a pilot site for the
project, Dung said.
Phan Thi Chau, a Thanh My Village resident, said that when
they started using the burners, she and her fellow villagers stopped leaving
waste on the roadside and started throwing it in the burners instead.
Dung said he hopes to collect positive reflections on burner
use – like Chau's – for a meeting next year on the burners' performances
during their first year. He said that if the pilot burner project was proven
effective, his commune would need more funding to finance their use in the
rest of the commune.
Warmer Tet comes to poor children in Hanoi
Youth organisations and the Red Cross in
In particular, gifts worth 700,000 VND (33USD) each were
delivered to 35 ethnic minority children from
The charity activity was organised by the municipal chapters
of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Youth Union in collaboration
with the Vietnam Red Cross Society and the Hanoi Association of Young
Entrepreneurs.
Canon expands
Canon Vietnam Company handed over 90 new sets of tables and
desks and other gifts to Canon-Yen Lap primary school in the
On February 3, the company is scheduled to complete a fresh
water system it builds for Ngu Mai primary school in Da Bac District, the
northern province of Hoa Binh, where water is a scarce resource. In addition,
the students will be presented with gifts including clothes, blankets, scarfs
and hats donated by the company’s staff.
Later in March, the project will deliver 12 student desks,
three bookcases and 700 gifts to Dai Xuan primary school in Dai Xuan commune,
Que Vo district, the
Since 2007, Canon Company has supported 82 primary schools
nationwide via the construction of 100 new classrooms, two teacher rooms and
14 qualified toilets and washing areas. The company also
equips the project beneficiaries with cameras, printers, computers, bookshelves
and bunk beds with a view to improving teaching and studying environment for
teachers and students in disadvantaged areas.
The company affirms that the project represents Canon’s
strategic commitments for long-term development in Vietnam.Bac Ninh: War
invalids given Tet gifts
President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee
Nguyen Thien Nhan visited war invalids who are being cared for at the Thuan
Thanh Centre, northern Bac Ninh province, on February 1 on the occasion of
the Lunar New Year (Tet).
On presenting gifts to the war invalids, the VFF President
expressed his utmost respect and gratitude to the wounded and ill soldiers
who had shed their blood to defence the country.
He encouraged the veterans to follow the late President Ho Chi
Minh’s words of wisdom “Being wounded doesn’t mean being useless”.
He also listened to their feelings, wishes and proposals on
the improvement of government policies for those who render services to the
homeland.
The Thuan Thanh Centre is taking care of 100 wounded and sick
soldiers and is the largest of its kind in the country. Since its
establishment 50 years ago, the facility has cared for around 1,000 war
veterans.
Children get disease due to bad weather
Since the beginning of the year, hospitals have received some
children in the
Children in
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly
contagious respiratory disease. It is caused by the bacterium Bordetella
pertussis. Pertussis most commonly affects infants and young children and can
be fatal, especially in babies less than 1 year of age.
People with whooping cough usually spread the disease by
coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in
the bacteria that cause the disease.
Though it is contagious disease, Dr. Phu assured parents
should not get into a panic. It is not likely that the disease will re-occur
and become an epidemic as many children have been vaccinated with the rate of
immunization of over 90 percent.
In addition to children with whooping cough, more children
were taken to hospitals for treating pneumonia and diarrhea due to cold
weather. Of them, 60 percent have pneumonia. Currently,
Gov’t provides rice to poor residents in five provinces
As per the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s direction, the Ministry
of Finance yesterday distributed 5,778 tons of rice for five provinces.
Poor residents in three central provinces of Quang Tri, Binh
Dinh, Nghe An, and northern provinces of Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang will be given
rice on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet holidays).
The PM ordered provincial authorities to provide rice to poor
people. If any province needs more, it should report to the Ministries of
Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and Finance to submit for PM’s approval to
further provision.
Currently, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
received VND24 billion from all sources to take care of disadvantaged people
during Tet holidays.
Fake seasoning factory raided ahead of Tet
Police in Thanh Hoa Province have pulled off the biggest ever
raid on a food seasoning and additives factory using MSG and other seasonings
of dubious origin and rebranding it through fake packaging aimed at the Tet
holiday market.
The factory of Nguyen Thi Cam Huong on
Police allege Huong bought MSG of unknown origin and
repackaged it under well-known brands such as Ajinomoto, Miwon and A-one.
Dozens of kilograms of seasoning packaged as Knorr was also found. The
packaging was sophisticated and the labels near perfect.
The factory went into operation in early 2014 and was
producing 0.5kg packs of MSG at a cost of VND10,000 for sale at triple the
price. Police alleged Huong bought 2.5 tonnes of MSG of unknown origin for
repacking and sale ahead of this year's Tet holiday.
Investigators said they were acting on complaints and
information from the public about the factory.
The programme was initiated by the Government in 2010 with 19
criteria on construction of infrastructure and public facilities, improvement
to production capacity, protection of landscape and environment, and
promotion of cultural identities, among others.
In 2014, the city mobilised nearly 4.8 trillion VND (220
million USD) from the State budget and the community for implementing the
programme, Director of the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development Nguyen Phuoc Trung reported at the conference.
Local authorities also collaborated with businesses to
encourage agricultural restructuring and open farming and vocational training
courses for farmers, he added.
The department is asking the municipal People’s Committee to
recognise 18 additional communes as satisfying all criteria of building
new-style rural areas.
Currently there are five communes meeting all standards, with
average annual per capita income of 37.6 million VND (1,750 USD), up 2.3
times than the level at the start of the programme.
One commune has met 18 criteria and the remaining 50 have
fulfilled 16 out of the 19 criteria.-
The Vietnamese Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs
and
The document replaces the memorandum of understanding in the
field between the two agencies in 2007.
During the talks, Pham Dung, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
and head of the Committee for Religious Affairs, spoke highly of two
agencies’ cooperation on religious affairs in the past, saying that the two
sides obtained achievements in the field via exchanging delegations and
mutual support in organising international religion-related events in each
country.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Minister Min Khin stressed the need to
promote the cooperation agreement via meetings on religion between
border-sharing provinces.
The increased cooperation on religious affairs will benefit
the two countries’ people, helping them understand their traditions, culture
and customs, Minister Min Khin said.
Host and guest shared experience in state management on
religious affairs and assessed the results obtained in the implementation of
the 2007 MoU.
The two sides agreed to step up delegation exchange,
cooperation in personnel training in religious work, supporting cooperation
between the Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam and the Cambodian Buddhist Sangha.
First six communes in the southern
The qualified communes, which met all 19 criteria for new
rural areas, are Phuoc Trach, An Tinh, Ben Cui, Binh Minh, Long Thanh Trung,
and Thanh Binh.
In 2015, Tay Ninh plans to spend over 900 billion VND (42.8
million USD) to implement the national programme on building new rural areas
across the locality.
The province hopes to have seven more communes that become new-style
rural areas this year.
The National Target Programme on New Rural Development,
launched in 2010, sets 19 criteria for new rural areas, covering
infrastructure, production, living standards, income and culture, among
others.
An action programme to protect consumer rights was launched in
The programme, the fifth of its kind, calls upon customers to
speak out against violations of their rights to businesses or relevant
agencies.
The purchasers themselves should be fully aware of their
rights, said Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and
Trade Phan Tien Binh.
The programme, which runs from March 1 to July 31, will host
various activities including a meeting in response to World Consumer Rights
Day on March 15, a workshop, and other campaigns to raise public awareness of
the issue.
March will be celebrated as a consumer rights action month,
offering opportunities for customers to buy high-quality essential goods at
reasonable prices.
For further information, call 04.1081.
Labor demand increases sharply in Dong Nai
About 500 enterprises in the southern
The Department revealed that actual demand for laborers is
higher than reported, estimating at over 60,000, and apparel, footwear, and
mechanics industries require the highest employment.
The Dong Nai Garment Corporation (Donagamex) and the Hwaseung
Company, for example, need to hire 2,000 and 1,000 workers, respectively.
Deputy Director of the Department Lam Duy Tin advised
enterprises to offer preferential policies on wage and other welfare with a
view of avoiding shortage of workers after the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival
which falls in mid-February.
To date, Dong Nai has 1,131 valid foreign projects with a
total investment of nearly 21.49 billion USD.
It is home to 31 industrial zones covering nearly 9,560ha,
with the land occupancy rate of 66.77 percent, according to the Managing
Board of the Dong Nai industrial zones
Dong Nai, together with Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau,
Binh Phuoc, Long An and Tien Giang provinces and Ho Chi Minh City, form
Vietnam’s southern key economic region.
Binh Phuoc’s drive to keep ethnic traditions alive
Southern Binh Phuoc province has conducted a promotion
campaign for the traditional cuisine and costumes of the local S’tieng ethnic
minority people in a bid to preserve those values in the context of invasive
modern culture.
The campaign has received significant attention for its
genuine insight into indigenous life.
Event participants had the opportunity to learn the S’tieng
technique for weaving brocades as well as the preparation of special dishes
and drinks, such as bamboo-tube rice and local wine. They were able to take a
closer look at how the ethnic group has long maintained its traditional way
of living through generations.
Local artisan Thi Gion from Thanh An commune, Hon Quang
district, shared that the construction and use of the traditional brocade has
evolved over time. In the past, it was made from wild plants and used daily,
but now the materials are mostly fabricated and the final products themselves
have become commodities, she added.
Craftsman Thi Loi said that despite the community’s efforts,
the young generation has shown a lack of interest in the traditions,
necessitating campaigns like this to foster their appreciation.
According to Huynh Thanh, head of the provincial Board for
Ethnic Groups, practical promotion programmes can raise awareness and
encourage creativity in harmonising economic growth with traditional cultural
preservation and development.
Binh Phuoc is home to 40 ethnic minority groups with half of
its population identifying as S’tieng.
Republic of Korea assists medical training in Vietnam
The
The programme will be financed by non-refundable aid worth 3.5
million USD from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which
covers the expenses of courses not only in
Thua Thien-Hue general hospital was built on loans from the
RoK government and began operation in January 2013. With 500 beds and fully
equipped with modern technologies, it serves as a satellite facility of the
Tourists to
The central city of
Around 263,000 travellers visited the coastal city last month,
up 13.3 percent against January in 2014.
Of them, 112,000 were foreigners, a slight increase of 3.5
percent and 151,000 were local holiday-makers, jumping 21.9 percent from the
same period last year.
The revenue also rose 20 percent from one year ago to 765
billion VND (35.832 million USD).
The programme will focus on introducing new tourism options
from all three localities in 2015, including a number of fascinating events,
festive activities and tourism packages.
The city will introduce new river tours, the Helio
entertainment complex, a French village, the Asia Park, a night market on Han
river, Vincom commercial centre, and more.
Red Cross initiatives bring Tet to the poor
The Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) has put forth several initiatives
to join the Party’s and nation’s efforts to care for disadvantaged groups,
including the poor, Agent Orange victims and homeless elders and children,
especially during the lunar New Year (Tet) holidays.
This year, the VRC continues launching the “Tet for the poor
and AO victims” movement with a hope of collecting at least 1 million gifts
from domestic and foreign donors and organisations.
Held annually from 1999, the event has so far mobilised over 3
trillion VND, assisting nearly 14 million poor households and AO victims.
Notably, last year, the organisation collected 1.7 million gifts worth 635
billion VND.
Additionally, during this Tet festival, the VRC Central
Committee will also provide 3,900 blankets for households in northern and
northwestern areas which are severely hit by cold spells.
At this time, around 7,000 pairs of shoes, funded by the
Korean Red Cross, will be presented to needy people.
The organisation has also succeeded in implementing the “Cow
Bank” project, which is designed to provide cows for indigent districts and
border communes.
Workshop promotes women’s participation in politics
A workshop to enhance women’s involvement in politics was held
in central Ha Tinh province on February 2.
Speaking at the event, Vice National Assembly Chairwoman Tong
Thi Phong said that today, more and more women pursue learning to improve
themselves and have important contributions to the nation’s socio-economic
development.
She spoke highly of the organisation of the workshop as it
offered a forum to discuss measures to increase the participation of women in
political issues and a chance for the NA Standing Committee to listen to
delegates’ opinions about contents relating to the draft Law on Election of
Deputies to the NA and the election of People’s Council members.
Participants also proposed several solutions to help women
promote their capacity as a contribution to speeding up industrialisation and
modernisation and achieving gender equality goal.
After discussions, they proposed the Party Central Committee’s
Politburo and Secretariat issue documents on gender equality in personnel
planning and appointments.
By 2020,
Illegal sand mining rampant in Son La
Along the Ma River in the northern mountainous
The problem has worsened in recent years despite efforts by
local authorities.
About 20 ships illegally exploit sand and gold along the 80km
stretch of river passing through Song Ma District, said Hoang Minh Luoc,
chairman of the Chieng Khoong Commune. The commune People's Committee
penalised violators, but they only stopped for a short time and then resumed
their violations.
Vi Duc Tho, chairman of the Song Ma District People's
Committee, said that households living along the Ma River in the district
owned about 70 sand-sucking ships.
Chieng Khoong Commune, with 14 households, had 20 ships –the
most ships in the district. Chieng Cang Commune had 21 households with 33
ships.
Most of the households did not have permits to exploit sand.
The district had penalised them many times, but the households continued to
exploit sand, Tho said.
Luong Van Quan, a resident of
"I spent hundreds of millions of dong to buy a ship to
suck sand, so I was forced to take the sand while waiting for a reply from
local authorities to avoid losses," he said.
Sand in the river could only be exploited from July to
December so the income from sand exploitation was not high, Quan added.
Illegal sand exploitation also happened in the Central
Highlands
A local resident said that the sand shops had eroded more than
2,000sq.m of land owned by his family.
Le Xuan Dung, head of the Chu Pah District Division of Natural
Resources and Environment, said that illegal sand exploitation had happened
in the district during the past five years.
However, the division did not have enough inspectors to
control it.
Under regulations, the district People's Committee chairman
must be blamed for illegal sand exploitation, according to Ho Mau Long, head
of the Mineral Division under the provincial Department of Natural Resources
and Environment.
However, Chu Pah District does not currently have a chairman
because the former chairman was appointed to another position in the
provincial Department of Planning and Investment.
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/ND
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Thứ Năm, 5 tháng 2, 2015
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