Social News 5/5 Farmers fear poisoning as toes turn black in paddies   Farmers in Thach My Loi Ward, HCM City, fear they are being poisoned by pollution after the skin on their toes turned black while working barefoot in their paddy fields. Vo Van Thanh, a local farmer in HCM City said he had worked the fields for more than 30 years but early this year he found the skin on his toes had "turned black as ink; they itch and no amount of scrubbing will clean them." Thanh said it was a problem only in some of the fields, where the water was a dark colour and gave off an unpleasant smell. Le Van Dung, another farmer, said there was a lot of algae in the water in his paddies. Chemicals had no effect. The farmers suspect the water may have been contaminated by nearby factories and recent road work. "Before they started the road construction that connects to Phu My Bridge, the water was fine," Thanh said. Dung said the water came from the Saigon River, which itself may be polluted. "If there is no way to fix this, we may have to abandon these fields," he said. Huynh Tan Tien, the head of the HCM City Centre for Labour Health and Environment Protection, said stained toes indicated the water may be contaminated but tests would be necessary to determine what contaminants were present. Nguyen Tri Dung, the director of the HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre, said an investigation was underway.   Cancer centre opens in HCM City A cancer centre was inaugurated on April 30 at the Hospital of Cho Ray in Ho Chi Minh City. With a capital investment of 428 billion VND (20 million USD), the facility has 14 floors and contains 250 beds for patients. The centre will examine, diagnose and treat patients suffering from tumours and cancer. Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, applauded the efforts of Cho Ray hospital staff to treat patients across the country. According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, the centre will contribute to reducing overloading in hospitals in HCM City and will improve the sector’s healthcare mission. In 2014, Cho Ray hospital treated about 1,000 cancer cases by using radiation therapy and completed over 500 liver cancer surgeries. Vietnamese students in Russia hold sports competition The annual sports competition for Vietnamese students in Russia is taking place in Moscow from May 1-4. This year’s event attracts the participation of more than 600 students competing for eight sets of medals in football, track and field and tug of war. This is the third year the executive committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in Russia has organized the event. The annual competition aims at developing the sport movement among the Vietnamese student community as well as enhancing the solidarity between universities in Moscow and surrounding areas. Interesting lessons connects with reality Initiated from the creative ideas of teachers, lessons are connected with projects and themes which attach lessons with the reality of living. Senior high school teachers applied new teaching methodologies to offer interesting studying hours helpings students to learn real experiences and develop their own skills. To draw attention of students to his lesson of Literature, teacher of class 12A5 of Luong The Vinh Senior High School in district 1 initiated the project Van va Doi ( Literature and Life). Students will participate in a drama whose content based on author Nguyen Minh Chau’s literary work Chiec Thuyen Ngoai Xa (Offshore Boat). Teachers who viewed the drama were surprised by students’ professional performance and creativeness. After one month from preparation to performance, teachers and students both worked hard on the drama but it has seen the effectiveness of  new learning style. Teacher Le Minh Tan said that his students were very eager to participate in the drama and the dram impressed students in the school. Student Le Thi Hai Dang said that through the drama, students can grasp the literature work thoroughly. Similarly, student Vu Mai Huong also said that she remembered the work deeply than before. In addition, students feel more confident to deliver their presentation in front of the classmates. Teach Thuy Hang from Luong The Vinh Senior High School said that after viewing the performance of students, teachers realized that their students capture the knowledge more thoroughly and connect with real living and understand more traditional values which should be maintained and developed. Other senior high schools such as DInh Thien Ly, Bui Thi Xuan, Tran Dai Nghia, Giong Ong To went suit. Students of Le Quy Don Senior High School  also performed drama from literature, history, English lessons. Cao Dai Binh Dinh Church holds congress As many as 140 church dignitaries and followers from 11 provinces and cities nationwide joined together at the 4th Congress of the Cao Dai Cau Kho Tam Quan Church in the central province of Binh Dinh from May 2-3. Looking forwards at the 2015-2020 period, the congress will focus on strengthening internal solidarity and working more with external social organisations, participating in charitable and social activities and leading followers to comply with State law. At the event, the participants were briefed that in the past few years the Cao Dai Cau Kho Church has been involved in business development and socio-economic and cultural activities across Binh Dinh localities. It has built 11 places of worship and raised more than 1 billion VND (46,500 USD) for charity. Speaking at the congress, Duong Ngoc Tan, Deputy Head of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs spoke highly of the Cao Dai Cau Kho Tam Quan Church’s proactive participation in national socio-economic development and charitable activities. He highlighted that in the coming time, the Cao Dai Cau Kho Church needs to instruct its followers to improve livelihoods while furthering the tenets of Caodaism. On this occasion, the provincial People’s Committee officially recognised Cao Dai Cau Kho Tam Quan Church for its contributions to society in 2010-2015. Founded in 1926 in southern Tay Ninh province, the Cao Dai religion worships the Divine Eye, known as the eye of heaven and a symbol of the supreme being of the Cao Dai religion. Cao Dai’s doctrine honours the Divine and the miraculous quality of supreme spirits, and considers them as the means for human beings to unify with God. Ethnic minority-targeted policies prove effective in Central Highlands Specific programmes and policies issued by the Party and State over recent years have vastly improved the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands. The Central Highlands encompasses the five provinces of Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong, which are home to more than 5.5 million people with 36 percent of them hailing from 46 minority groups. The Party and State’s solutions to local difficulties include Programme 135 on upgrading infrastructure in disadvantaged communes and villages, the Prime Minister’s Decision 167 on supporting low-income families with house building expenses, a policy aiding stability for famers, and a rapid and sustainable poverty reduction programme targeting the 62 poorest districts. As a result, over 12,270km of roads have been built across the region, making all communes now accessible by car, said Vice Standing Chairman of the Central Highlands Steering Committee Tran Viet Hung. More than 2,260 irrigation facilities have been built with nearly 5,000km of canals and ditches serving agricultural activities, he noted, adding that all communes have gained access to the national power grid while 70.75 percent of the households have clean water. Hung also highlighted the improvement of educational and healthcare services, vocational training, and job provision, as well as spiritual lives of local residents. He said the regional provinces expect the Government, ministries, and sectors will swiftly eliminate overlapping policies and implementation management. Relevant agencies should design more practical policies, especially those addressing problems pertaining to farm and residential land, human resource training, employment, agricultural development, and the purchase of farm produce, ultimately raising local livelihoods, the official added. Ca Mau dredges major estuaries to develop fisheries The southernmost province of Ca Mau will invest 20 billion VND (around 930,000 USD) to dredge the two big estuaries and build wharves to facilitate fishing activities. According to Mai Huu Chinh, Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, the work will start at Song Doc and Khanh Hoi estuaries in the second quarters. Dykes will also be built along the two sides of the estuaries to prevent erosion. Song Doc estuary in Tran Van Thoi District is 40km to the west of Ca Mau City. It is used by nearly 3,000 fishing vessels. Meanwhile, Khanh Hoi estuary is in U Minh District, 50km from Ca Mau City, and is used by nearly 1,200 boats. Ca Mau boats a coastline of more than 254 km, equivalent to one third of the Mekong Delta’s coastline, and a fishing ground of 71,000 sq. km, considered to be one of the four key fishing grounds in Vietnam, according to the province’s portal. Besides a fishing fleet of 4,000 boats, the province has 290,000 hectares of land used for aquaculture, which generate a combined aquatic output of 490,000 tonnes in 2014, representing an annual increase of 10.3 percent. Roughly 180,000 tonnes were processed for export, bringing home 1.3 billion USD—a 200 million USD increase from a year earlier, according to Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Van Su. Cat Tien national park develops ecotourism The Cat Tien National Park, located in the south of Vietnam, is expected to welcome over 26,000 visitors in 2015 based on its ecotourism development. According to the park’s director, Nguyen Van Dien, more than 2,500 vacationers toured the park in 2015 as of May 2, with the highest numbers visiting on national holidays. The number of foreign visitors made up around 10 percent, , he said. The management board of the park is coordinating with the provincial authorities to promote community-based forest protection and wildfire prevention. It also set up 22 regulations to coordinate with agencies and units in forest protection and management, he added. The patrol workers deal with forest land transgression and overexploitation, as well as illegal transport of forest products. At the same time, a socio-economic development programme is also being carried out to improve the living standards of locals, especially those from ethnic minority areas. Local authorities plan to work with the park officers to introduce brocade weaving products and promote ecotourism. Cat Tien National Park covers an area of over 71,000 ha and belongs to the three provinces of Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc. In 2001, the park was recognised by UNESCO as a world biosphere reserved zone. It is home to 1,300 species of vascular plants, including 34 listed in the Vietnam Red Book, together with 77 mammals, 318 birds, 58 reptiles, 28 amphibians and 130 fish. Central province Ha Tinh opens 13 friendly libraries The Department of Education and Training in the central province of Ha Tinh’s Loc Ha District and primary schools in the district in coordination the provincial Children Sponsoring Fund and Zhi Shan Foundation project Taiwan (China) have just opened a new friendly library and review the library model implemented in the province. The model friendly library was implemented in Loc ha District since the academic school year 2012-2013. Total investment for building new library and upgrading 13 libraries and 13 primary schools is over VND10 billion (US$ 466,091); of the amount, Zhi Shan Foundation Taiwan supported VND100 million (US$ 4,660) for each library. Each library is located  in the area of 80 meter square with full equipment, desks, chari, reference books for teacher and students with over 6,000 various books and 2,000 handbooks. The libraries are designed with a multi-function space for studying including corners of various purpose for reading, writing, drawing, chess playing and IT studying which is suitable for primary students to help them have entertaining chance and develop their skills comprehensively. Vietnamese, Lao border provinces collaborate in forest protection Vietnam’s northern mountainous province of Son La and Laos’ Houaphan province have signed a cooperation agreement in forest protection and fire fighting in border areas from 2015-2017. Under the document, the two localities will design specific plans and programmes to prevent the spread of wildfires and mobilise forces to extinguish any incidences. They will also intensify communications to raise local awareness of using and managing forest resources efficiently alongside activities to develop border area economies. As stipulated, Son La will help Houaphan increase its capacity in forest development, protection and management; fire fighting; and technology application. The two provinces share a 250-kilometre border line; strengthening coordination in forest protection is a significant step towards minimising and preventing the illegal smuggling of forest products and wild animals, contributing to safeguarding the border, border markers and the eco-environment. European media praises Vietnam’s achievements Vietnam’s achievements in 40 years since its reunification graced the front page of the Euro Presse Image on May 3. The story recounted the historic milestone of the spring 1975 victory when Vietnam Liberation Army’s tank crashed through the gates of Saigon’s presidential palace, heralding the end of the US war in Vietnam. The paper highlighted that the victory paved the way for a new era for Vietnam while underscoring that the national “Doi moi” (reform) policy launched in 1986 has transformed Vietnam from an underdeveloped nation to a low middle-income country. It also pointed out that annual economic growth stands at 7 percent and the per capita income is expected to reach 2,200 USD by the end of this year. Vietnam has fulfilled a number of Millennium Development Goals as well. Challenges faced by the country were also discussed in the article, including insufficient transport facilities, energy sources and high-quality labourers alongside development gaps between cities and provinces. The article concluded by briefly summarising the country’s significant milestones since 1990, such as normalising relations with China in 1991 and with the US in 1995, as well as joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995. Vietnam responds to global road safety week The Ministry of Transportation (MoT) held a ceremony to launch a programme in response to the UN Global Road Safety Week themed “Children and road safety” on May 4 in Hanoi. The programme was co-organised by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). From May 4 to 10, information on typical traffic crash causes and their effects on children will be disseminated across the country to raise community awareness of the need to protect children, said an official from the MoT. The programme urges children to wear helmets and abide by traffic laws. According to WHO statistics, more than 1.24 million people are killed in traffic accidents globally each year. In Vietnam , around 2,000 children die annually in road traffic accidents, mostly due to not wearing helmets. Also on the occasion, the MoT provided 400 helmets for students at the Tan Dinh secondary school in Hanoi. Hue: Outstanding individuals honoured with French Orders Nguyen Van Me, former Deputy Secretary of the Party’s Committee of central Thue Thien-Hue province, and Buu Y, a Hue culture researcher, received French Orders in the city of Hue on May 4. French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean Noel Poirier presented Me with the National Order of Merit and Y with the Order of Academic Palms for their contributions to bringing the French culture to central Vietnam. France was a key partner to Hue, having supported the locality to organise Hue Festivals since 2000. The French Culture Centre in the city was established 25 years ago in an effort to promote the French culture among the local community and give the French a better insight into the beauty of the Vietnamese culture. At the award ceremony, Me and Y expressed their thanks for the contribution of the French partners to strengthening the Vietnamese-French relationship through events and activities of the Parliament of the French Community and the International Association of Francophone Mayors. The ties between France and the province have grown significantly in the past few decades with a number of joint projects, including those to improve local grids, upgrade the Hue water supply plant, restore the Hue Imperial Citadel, supply medical equipment and offer personnel training for local universities and hospitals. Nguyen Van Me is also the former Chairman of the provincial People’s Council and the former Chairman of Hue City People’s Committee while Buu Y is the former Director of Hue’s French Culture Centre. Islanders appreciate historic Hoang Sa soldiers Residents on Ly Son island in central Quang Ngai province commemorated sailors of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) flotilla with a traditional ceremony at An Vinh village temple on May 4. The “Le khao le the linh Hoang Sa” (Feast and Commemoration Festival for Hoang Sa Soldiers), held on the 15th and 16th days of the third lunar month annually, pays tribute to the men enlisted in the flotilla to patrol the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos to tap natural resources and defend national island sovereignty. According to Vietnam’s feudal state history, under the Nguyen Lords’ reign in the south of Vietnam from the 16th – 18th century, 70 fishermen from An Vinh and An Hai villages around the Sa Ky estuary and the An Vinh and An Hai villages on Ly Son island were enlisted in the flotilla each year. They sailed to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa to tap marine resources, survey sea routes, plant milestones, and erect steles declaring national territory in the two archipelagos at the Nguyen Lords’ orders. They began their trip in the second lunar month and returned six months later. Since their mission was fraught with danger, a ceremony was held before the trip to pray for their safety. Puppets representing the soldiers and basics like rice, salt, fuel wood, and drinking water were put on replica boats which were then released into the sea to symbolically substitute for the soldiers. The ceremony has been observed over centuries by families in Ly Son and many coastal areas in Quang Ngai, attracting increasing participation from across Vietnam in recent years. The Feast and Commemoration Festival is a precious intangible cultural heritage that evidences Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, said Director of the Quang Ngai Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Dang Vu. An Giang commemorates locals killed in Khmer Rouge massacre A solemn ceremony has been held in Ba Chuc in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang to commemorate the death of 3,175 local people in a Khmer Rouge massacre in 1978. The service was organised annually by the provincial authorities on the 15th and 16th days of the third Lunar month, which fell on May 3 and 4 this year. Some 3,157 local people, including children, women and elderly people, were slaughtered when the Khmer Rouge forces entered Ba Chuc commune from April 18-29, 1978. To remember the victims of the massacre, the local authorities built a tomb to keep the remains of 1,159 victims. The Ba Chuc tomb was recognised as the national historical relic site in 1980. Upgrades to the 5-hectare tomb started in 2011 with a total investment of 30 billion VND (1.39 million USD) and are expected to be finished by 2018 to mark 40 years since the massacre. Bio-based products increasingly important in agriculture Bio-based products such as bi ofertilizers and biofungicides ( PGPR) are playing an increasingly important role in promoting sustainable farming, according to local and foreign agriculture scientists. They were meeting at an international conference in Hanoi from May 3-6 to share the findings of recent research studies on technology using plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. Scientists said that the PGPR helped maintain productivity in agriculture, ensure economic growth, preserve biodiversity and meet growing food demand. The PGPR is defined as root-colonizing bacteria that exert beneficial traits on plant growth and development. In Asia, the PGPR has been developed and used at different stages, and the commercialisation of the PGPR is a growing market, according to scientists. According to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, the PGPR will help reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, thus reducing production costs and promoting sustainable farming. The PGPR reduces risks in agricultural production and management, he added. The conference was held by the Vietnam Institute of Agricultural Science in collaboration with the PGPR Asian PGPR Society, the US Auburn University, and India’s International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. Quang Ngai focuses on ethnic minority development In recent years, mountainous and ethnic minority areas of the central province of Quang Ngai have seen remarkable socio-economic development. Total investment capital for developing mountainous regions exceeded 3.2 trillion VND (152 million USD) and was sourced from the State budget. Average growth rate in the period reached 16.48 percent annually while average food production per capita hit over 360 kilograms in 2014, up 10 percent from 2010. The economic structure in mountainous areas is comprised of nearly 50 percent agro-forest-fishery, over 30 percent industry-construction and 19 percent commerce-service. The rate of impoverished households decreased from 60.87 percent in 2009 to 33.85 percent by the end of 2014, decreasing by an average of 6.75 percent per year. Average income per capita increased from under five million VND (238 USD) per person a year in 2010 to 8.6 million VND (410 USD) in 2014. More than 90 percent of households in mountainous and ethnic minority regions have access to power from the national grid and over 84 percent have access to clean water. School systems, houses for teachers and healthcare services in mountainous areas have improved considerably. The province has also focused on manpower training in a bid to meet the area’s socio-economic development demand, including training programmes for ethnic minority officials in communes. Looking forwards, the province has targeted a 15-16 percent annual average growth rate of economic development and a 5-7 percent annual decrease in the rate of poor households in mountainous and ethnic minority areas by 2020. Quang Ngai is home to over 180,000 ethnic minority people from the Ca Dong, Hre, Cor and others groups living in the six mountainous districts of Son Ha, Tra Bong, Minh Long, Ba To, Son Tay and Tay Tra. Dong Nai ambitious towards 2015 green efforts The southern province of Dong Nai will spend over 522 billion VND (24.8 million USD) on environmental protection this year. About 324 billion USD will be allocated to 12 projects to deal with oil spills and climate change, collect urban waste, protect and develop forests, install environmental monitoring equipment in industrial parks and upgrade hospital waste treatment systems. The remaining will be used to improve environmental monitoring at the grassroots level. As scheduled, the province will also prevent and control pollution levels, address pollution hotspots and develop climate change scenarios. It targets to have standard wastewater treatment stations in all industrial parks and collect all medical, solid and hazardous industrial wastes. Green coverage is expected to achieve 56 percent and 80 percent of rural households will have hygienic farms and toilets. Hospitals see more patients, surgeries during long holiday Emergency surgeries in central hospitals increased during the six-day Reunification Day and Labour Day holiday due to traffic accidents and fights. Nguyen Duc Chinh, deputy head of the planning department under the Ha Noi-based Viet Nam-Germany Hospital, said a great number of patients visited his hospital over the holiday. On average it saw 140 to 200 people per day. Last Wednesday, 61 out of 146 people who went to the hospital did so for injuries related to traffic accidents. As many as 37 of them suffered from concussions. Chinh said that on a normal day the hospital performed around 30 surgeries, but the number increased sharply during the holiday. The hospital had 44 surgeries last Thursday and 49 on Friday. Some were hospitalised after participating in fights fueled by alcohol. The Viet Nam-Germany Hospital received seven such patients last Wednesday and 10 on Thursday. Duong Duc Hung, head of Bach Mai Hospital's planning department, said that on average over the holiday the hospital received 100 to 130 people. They went to the hospital for heart disease, high blood pressure, alcohol poisoning and digestive diseases. During the holiday more than 70,000 people in HCM City went to hospital for health checks and surgeries, and more than 40 died, according to the city's Department of Health. Nearly 1,500 were hospitalised for traffic accidents and more than 300 for scuffles. Yesterday, the first working day after the holiday, most main roads in HCM City were jammed, including Truong Chinh-Cong Hoa and other roads in Tan Phu, Tan Binh and Go Vap districts, according to Dan tri e-newspaper. Roads weren't as overloaded in Ha Noi, but terminals were crowded as people returned to the capital from vacation. Nguyen Hai Anh, 23, from the northern province of Phu Tho, said he couldn't take a coach on Sunday because they were all already booked. He had to wait until yesterday to come back to the University of Technology in Ha Noi. 6 Vietnamese face theft charges for using stolen credit card data Ho Chi Minh City police are seeking theft charges against six members of a gang that purchased stolen credit card data online and then used the card numbers to buy goods from the US. The six, aged 26-31, face charges of “using the Internet to appropriate property.” According to police investigations, Nguyen Thanh Son, the 29-year-old ringleader, and his accomplices bought the credit card data stolen from overseas phishing sites or from large data breaches at international banks at the price of US$6-20 per card. They then bought goods online using these cards. After the products were shipped to Vietnam from the US, they were sold. On December 30, 2013, HCMC police arrested Son and his accomplices when the group was receiving a batch of goods sent from the US. The police searched five houses and confiscated hundreds of iPhones, dozens of laptops and other products that the group bought from the US. Son told police his group started their illegal activities in 2010 and earned around VND2 billion (US$92,540). 72-yr-old Taiwanese kills his estranged wife in southern Vietnam Police in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho said they have arrested a Taiwanese man who allegedly stabbed his Vietnamese wife to death after failing to convince her to return to Taiwan with him. Lee Ya Te, a farmer in Tainan, was caught on May 3 afternoon when he was fleeing from the house of his parents-in-law, after the murder of his wife La My Hanh. Police seized a bloodstained knife Lee carried with him and used to threaten locals who tried to stop him. The 72-year old man told police that he had stabbed Hanh several times in her abdomen after she refused to come back to him. Hanh, 48, succumbed to severe injuries on the way to hospital. They got married in March last year. Hanh moved to Taiwan with her husband but flew back to Vietnam six months later and lived with her parents. In February, Lee visited her and allegedly threatened to kill her with a knife. Hanh first reported the incident to local police but then waived her complaint, enabling Lee to get off scot-free and return to Taiwan. He came back three months later. Neighbors of the victim said that she was a vegetarian who always lived in harmony with others. Her marriage to Lee was her second, ten years after her first husband passed away. Danang takes care of tourists The Danang Tourism Promotion Center last week inaugurated a tourist support center at 108 Bach Dang Street in the central coast city of Danang. The center provides tourism information and assist tourists in emergency cases of accidents, theft, and price cheats as well as gets comments on service quality. A similar facility was launched in 2013 comprising of information booths at the Danang International Airport and in front of Trung Vuong Theater. The new  center is more convenient for tourists to get assistance. Visitors can call the hotline at 0511 3550 111 for help. Upgraded highway shortens HCMC-Dalat distance The complete first-phase upgrade of National Highway 20 allows autos to travel between HCMC and the hilly resort town of Dalat within five hours, instead of eight or nine hours. The road, which links Dong Nai Province and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, was opened to traffic last week. The upgraded 109.5-kilometer section of the highway runs from Dau Giay T-Junction near the HCMC-Long Thanh-Giau Day Expressway, to Provincial Road 725 in Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province. Work started on the first phase of the project in December 2011. The upgrade should have been completed late last year but was then postponed till this month due to financial constraints. The project cost more than VND5.26 trillion (US$243.6 million), including over VND600 billion from the main investor and the rest funded by foreign banks. It was carried out under the build-transfer (BT) format by a consortium of Cuu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (Cuu Long CIPM), East Mekong Trading-Manufacture-Construction Co. Ltd., PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corp. No.1, and Building Materials Corporation No.1. The upgraded road is expected to fuel tourism development in Lam Dong Province and facilitate the transportation of export-bound alumina from Tan Rai alumina factory in the Central Highlands Province of Lam Dong to Go Dau Port in Dong Nai Province. The transport ministry is considering upgrading the highway section from Provincial Road 725 to the intersection with National Highway 27. In a related development, the ministry has opened to traffic an additional 17 kilometers of National Highway 1A in the central province of Ninh Thuan. The 20.5-meter-wide section, which cost VND968.8 billion funded by the proceeds from the Government bond sale, has four lanes for vehicles to run at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour. The expansion of National Highway 1A will meet increasing demand for transport, cut travel time between localities and save costs for transport firms. The ministry targets to finish expanding the north-south highway from Thanh Hoa Province to Can Tho City by the end of this year. Lam Dong schools lack useable toilet facilities, water In remote areas of Lam Dong Province, a total of 17 primary schools are without bathroom facilities, according to the provincial Education and Training Department. In 40 other schools in the province, the toilets are out of order, lacking water to flush or are in disrepair, says the department. But this is nothing new, according to the department's report, local primary schools and kindergartens suffered the situation for decades. More than 200 students at Loc Bao Primary School in Bao Lam District have used makeshift open-air toilets in the school's backyard for more than seven years. At break time, teachers go back home to use their toilets; generally a 6-8km roundtrip. Teacher Le Xuan Mai said the school operated without electricity, water or toilets for years. Principal Dang Duc Nhan of Loc Bao Primary School said teachers have raised their concerns with the provincial education and training department several times but, so far, nothing has changed. A wing of the school, which houses three classes, has two toilets that were built in 2008 and 2013 and cost VND165 million (US$8,000) and VND300 million ($15,000), respectively. The toilets would certainly help alleviate the situation, if they could be used. A lack of water means the toilets are locked and students must continue to resort to makeshift ones. Two kindergartens in the district have gone without tap water or toilets for three years. Teachers had to lug water in from outside for the kids until parents chipped-in to buy water tanks. Head of Bao Lam District's Education and Training Department, Le Duc admitted that the state of primary schools and kindergartens has been severely poor, forced to resort to makeshift classes without sanitation or any kind of infrastructure. At present, the department has campaigned for investment to build bathrooms for students, but it has been hard. Le Duc said building new bathrooms can only occur if it is attached to projects to build new classrooms; approval by district and provincial authorities for both takes time. An official of the department, somewhat dismissed the urgency of the issue, arguing that many schools have only one or two classes of 20 to 50 students so building so many bathrooms will be costly and take time to get approval. According to Dr Truong Huu Khanh of Paediatrics Hospital 1 in HCM City, schools without bathrooms should not be treated as a small issue. A lack of bathrooms causes big problems for children as well as the community such as heightened risk of gastrointestinal disease or disorder and respiration. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TN/Dantri