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Social News 4/7
Police
seize 387kg of smuggled elephant tusks
Police
at Ha Tien International Border Gate and
The
border police found a suspected truck travelling from
The
goods were seized. The case is being investigated further.
On the
same day, customs officers at
Construction
begins on Orange Village
The HCM
City Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin on Wednesday began
construction of the
The
49,000sq.m centre will provide treatment, vocational training and
rehabilitation for victims of Agent Orange (dioxin).
The
project with a cost of VND100 billion (US$4.76 million) is funded by domestic
and international donors.
The
country has around three million Agent Orange victims.
The city
has more than 20,000 Agent Orange victims, including 5,000 war veterans, said
Tran Ngoc Tho, chairman of the association in
The
centre is scheduled to open in 2018.
Remote
areas set for commerce boost
Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a programme to bolster commercial
activities in
The
programme aims to increase the total sales of goods and services by 10-12 per
cent in 287 regions across the country, which were categorised as remote,
mountainous and island regions.
Experience-sharing
seminars will be organised to help create business connections between local
companies and businesses across the country as well as foreign companies.
The
programme will encourage commercial activities of goods and services in
remote regions and islands.
Support
and priority will be given to local commercial enterprises in trademark
registration and product origin identification to help improve their
competitiveness.
In
addition, the programme aims to boost the sales of local products by pushing
them through the country's domestic distribution channels as well as seeking
markets in foreign countries.
As part
of the programme, the Government is to establish an infrastructure network to
provide local products with logistics, storage, packaging and transportation
services.
Government
agencies were asked to perform a comprehensive review of local markets and
their effectiveness. The review will serve as a foundation to design support
policies in the development of local markets.
Besides
funding from the State budget, the Government encouraged local authorities to
step up efforts in attracting additional sources of investments by forming
partnerships with economic enterprises.
Lao
Cai approves Sapa link road project
The
People's Committee of the mountainous
Chairman
of the committee Doan Van Huong asked relevant units and locals to complete
the necessary procedures to start the construction work soon, an official
said.
The
27.3km-long link road is expected to be constructed with technological
standards suitable to mountainous areas.
According
to the plan, the entire route will have nine bridges, including five
viaducts, and four flyovers over streams.
About
275 households will be shifted from 104.1ha that will be used to build the
road.
The
total investment under a BOT model (build-operate-transfer) is expected more
than VND2.5 trillion (US$116.6 million).
The
payback period of the project is expected to be 24 years and eight months via
toll collection.
The
construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year.
The
provincial chairman has asked the transport department to quickly assess and
submit the project to the committee for approval to issue a tender.
The
construction units have been asked to work closely with relevant sectors and
local agencies to complete the project on schedule, Huong said.
The
transport and construction sectors will work together to deal with issues of
environment and tourism impact, compensation, land clearance as well as
resettlement.
Authorities race to extinguish Nghe An forest fire
Hundreds
of people were sent to control a fire that broke out yesterday and destroyed
more than 5ha of a pine forest in Nghe An Province's Yen Thanh district.
By 3am
today, the fire, which destroyed 5ha of pine forest Nghe An Province's Yen
Thanh district, was under control.
The fire
broke out at 8pm yesterday in the central province's Cong Thanh Commune's Cao
Son hamlet.
A local
resident said several people in the village heard an explosion from the pine
forest at the time, and saw huge flames on a hill about 300m from the residential
area.
Authorities,
residents and firefighters raced to control the fire. However,
it was
difficult to stamp it out due to the hot weather of more than 40 degrees
Celsius, strong dry winds and darkness.
The
authorities asked soldiers, police, the provincial firefighting force and
residents in the area to help prevent the fire from spreading to other areas.
By 3am
today, the fire was under control but the cause of the fire has not been
identified yet.
Quang
Tri polluter told to down shutters
Authorities
in the central
Following
complaints by local residents in the province's Gio Linh District that the
Hong Duc Vuong Company was polluting the environment by releasing untreated
wastewater, environmental authorities came to check and found the reports
were correct.
The
company produces animal feed from fish powder, has an inefficient waste
treatment system. It discharges wastewater into the environment without fully
treating it.
Inspectors
from the local department of natural resources and environment found the
company was polluting the air too.
Students
pray at scholars' temple for exam success
Students
are flocking to
This
year, the high school graduation exam will decide which universities the
students can apply to enter, eliminating a second entrance exam for college
aspirants.
Examinations
are already being conducted nationwide, but as they wait for their results,
students are revisiting the
Up to
40,000 students queue before the Stelae of Doctors, where the names of
successful students at royal exams have been carved on 116 stones carried by
turtles.
Students
over the centuries have touched the turtles' heads for luck, which caused
them to wear down. The temple has erected barriers to protect the statues.
They now
throw money and parents prepare offerings along with their childrens' names
and examination number, hoping the deities will give them special favour.
Quang
Tri asks polluting company to shut down
Authorities
in the central
Following
complaints by local residents in the province's Gio Linh District that the
Hong Duc Vuong Company was polluting the environment by releasing untreated
wastewater, environmental authorities came to check and found the reports
were correct.
The
company, which is based in the district's Quan Ngang industrial unit and
produces animal feed from fish powder, has an inefficient waste treatment
system. It discharges wastewater into the environment without fully treating
it.
Inspectors
from the local department of natural resources and environment found the
company was polluting the air too.
Tap
water loss reaches 30 percent in
The
heavy loss of tap water which has taken place for decades in Ho Chi Minh City
and other localities across Vietnam has emerged on the agenda of the meeting
today of the city’s Party Committee.
The rate
of loss reaches 30 percent on average, meaning every a million cubic meters
of tap water produced, 300,000 cubic meters are lost due to leakage of water
pipes, according to the city Party Secretary Le Thanh Hai.
This is
an urgent issue that must be improved, he stressed.
The Saigon
Water Corporation (SAWACO) had plans to pull down the rate of loss to 25
percent by 2025.
Hai also
mentioned the quality of tap water in the city.
Our
people are always warned to use cooking water for drinking while in other
countries, tap water is always ready for drinking, Hai said.
At the
meeting, authorities set a target to provide clean tap water to all city
residents by the end of this year. To reach this target, water supply
companies in
Hai
confirmed that this target must be completed this year.
“It is
painful when local residents have no clean water to drink especially after 40
years of liberation,” he told the meeting.
In
April, SAWACO, which is tasked with managing and supplying tap water in the
city, proposed increasing the prices of tap water by 10.5 percent a year from
now till 2019.
As
proposed, the prices will top VND9,612 a cubic meter this year and VND14,357
a cubic meter in 2019, or an over 50 percent rise after five years. Now, US$1
equals VND21,555.
Buying
live crabs in
The next
time you choose live crabs at eateries in
Live
crabs are usually on sale with such strings in the country, with traders
saying they help prevent attacks by the crustaceans, whereas the twine is in
fact meant to increase the weight of the crabs.
And the
strings can sometimes make a huge difference when it comes to payment, as An
Chi, a
The
tourist had intended to have dinner at a different place, but her pedicab
driver insisted she try the Lang Chai on Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, and Chi
eventually had to agree reluctantly, she wrote to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper
on Tuesday.
Chi then
ordered some dishes and chose a crab, weighing 1.2kg, and had it boiled by
the eatery.
“The
crab did not look like it would weigh 1.2kg, plus the high price of
VND350,000 [US$16] per kilo, I still ordered the dish as I was so craving for
boiled crab then,” she said.
When her
favorite dish was served, Chi was shocked to see a much smaller crab,
apparently weighing less than 0.5kg.
“I asked
the waiter if there was a mistake in the kitchen, and he came back later with
yet another small crab, plus a big crack on its body,” Chi recalled.
The angered
tourist thus demanded to speak to the manager, who told her that the crab
just lost weight during the boiling process.
“Other
customers told me to put the crab on the scale again, which I did in the
presence of the manager and waiters and waitresses,” Chi said.
The
result is the boiled crab weighed only 420 grams.
The
boiled crab and the meal bill are seen in this photo taken by An Chi.
“The
manager then explained that the crab became lighter because it was boiled and
the strings were removed,” Chi said.
“I would
never agree to eat a 420g crab while having to pay for 780g of the strings.”
The
strings turned out to be nearly twice as heavy as the crab so she requested
the restaurant manager to charge her based on the real weight of the crab.
The
manager turned her down, saying she had agreed to the crab being weighed with
the strings attached and made no complaint about it then.
“They
said they had not forced me to buy [the crab],” she said.
So the
cheated tourist had to pay VND420,000 ($20) for a 420g crab.
In her
complaint sent to Tuoi Tre, Chi also recounted how her call for help to the
Khanh Hoa tourism promotion center was largely ignored.
Upon
failing to claim a refund, Chi called the hotline of the center, whose
director told the tourist in her third attempt that they could only receive
the complaint and forward it to relevant agencies.
“[The
director] said they could not send officials to the eatery because it was not
working hours then, and that they were afraid of getting into a quarrel with
the waiters and waitresses there,” Chi said.
The
tourist ended up taking a photo of the crab and the bill for the meal, and
sent them to the Khanh Hoa market surveillance agency.
On June
26, when she had already returned to
The
market watchdog said they had worked with the Lang Chai eatery, whose owner,
Vo Hoang Son Hai, admitted that the strings used to tie the crab were as
heavy as 0.5kg when soaked in water.
Hai thus
asserted that the kitchen did not replace the crab Chi had chosen with a
smaller crustacean.
The
market surveillance agency, meanwhile, said selling crabs tied with strings
is a common practice at seafood suppliers, and Chi and Lang Chai had agreed
on the price when she chose the crab.
The
agency thus concluded that “there are not enough grounds to accuse the eatery
of dishonestly changing the crab.”
“As a
customer, would you ever accept such an explanation?” Chi asked on ending her
complaint.
Firms
should join disaster management
Disaster
preparedness needed co-operation between government, businesses and
humanitarian organisations, according to a forum held in
The
forum, titled Creating Value Through Strategic Partnership, aims to increase
awareness of people and enterprises about being ready for disasters.
Participants
said co-operation was necessary to reduce losses and hasten recovery.
Richard
Welfort, CSR Asia's chairman, said it was no longer about whether the
business sector should play a role in building preparedness, but about how to
best collaborate.
The most
successful collaborations involved using each sector's unique capabilities,
he said. Identifying these capabilities would allow each partner to
contribute what they do best.
Participants
recognised that Asian-Pacific countries, in recent years, had suffered many
natural calamities, from typhoons and floods, to droughts and volcanoes.
The
vulnerability of the region to natural disasters was highlighted by the
recent earthquake in
The
forum agreed that the significant social and economic cost of disasters
emphasised the need to invest in being prepared.
In
In 2014,
the country was hit by more than 10 storms and typhoons that killed 133
people and caused an estimated VND2.83 trillion (about US$129.7 million) in
damage.
Speaking
at the forum, general secretary of the Vietnam Red Cross, Doan Van Thai,
said,
He said
that in recent weeks, the south central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands)
regions had suffered serious drought, while the
Thai
added that it was time
The
business community could be a major force in building up infrastructure
facilities for transport works, clinics and disaster prevention work, Thai
said.
The
forum attracted more than 100 participants from the Asia-Pacific region,
Previous gatherings have been held in
Deputy
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the Vietnam Association for
Anti-Counterfeiting and Trademark Protection (VATAP) and its enterprise
members to intensify the fight against counterfeit goods and intellectual
property infringement.
In the
past few years, the Government has achieved positive results in combating
trade fraud, making contributions to stabilising the society and improving
investment climate. However, the sale of low-quality goods remains rife in
the country.
VATAP
has been requested to collaborate with the National Steering Committee on the
Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Commodities (also
called Steering Committee 389) and relevant ministries and organisations to
disseminate information and policies on preventing trade fraud and
intellectual property infringement.
Meanwhile,
VATAP business members are required to follow current technical regulations
on managing product quality and intellectual property rights and register
industrial designs and product origin.
In
addition, they are urged to collaborate with authorities to tackle the
production and trade of fake goods and intellectual property infringement.
In the
first quarter of 2015 alone, authorised forces detected nearly 50,000
violations, retrieving around 3 trillion VND (137.5 million) in taxes. They
also began legal proceedings against over 430 offenders involved in 351
cases.
Nearly
two bln USD for programme 135 from 2016-2020
The
Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs proposed a fund of 39.4 trillion VND
(1.806 billion USD) for Programme 135 from 2016-2020 during a meeting with
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh on July 2.
Programme
135 for the 2016-2026 is to improve infrastructure and boost production
capacity in extremely disadvantaged areas including border communes, communes
in war safety zones and extremely disadvantaged hamlets.
The
committee proposed that the programme focus on three areas from 2016-2020:
investing in infrastructure, boosting production capability and improving
capacity of community and grassroots employees benefitting from the
programme.
The
committee also suggested the Government allocate 56.9 trillion VND (2.610
billion USD) for policies supporting social-economic development.
Addressing
the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said that the 135 programme
has achieved encouraging results in the past years, helping reduce the
country’s poverty rate to 5.97 percent in 2014.
He asked
the committee to review policies and make adjustments to avoid overlapping
and increase effectiveness.
From
2011-2015, the total capital of for the implementation of ethnic affairs
policies presided over by the committee amounted to 24.57 trillion VND (1.13
billion USD).
He
instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to allocate more
capital from the National Target Programme on New Rural Development to
impoverished communes.
Unitel
supports school building in Laos
Star
Telecom (Unitel), a joint venture between the Laos-Asia telecom company and
Chairman
of the Bolikhamsay province Kongkeo Xaysongkham, Vietnamese Ambassador to
Laos Nguyen Manh Hung,
The
two-storey school is built across 250 square meters and includes six
classrooms with a total investment of 500 million kip (around 62,000 USD).
Over the
past five years, Unitel has actively provided telecom to Lao nationals and
offered free internet access for over 600 schools and health stations.
By the
end of 2014, the venture had provided an aid package of up to 9.2 million USD
to implement social activities in
During a
working session with the Hanoi Taxation Department on July 1, Deputy Minister
of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan urged the Department to boost the application of
information technology and online procedures to facilitate the tax payment
process.
He also
stressed the need for a data base on taxpayers connecting all tax bureaus to
facilitate the monitoring of tax collection.
The
deputy minister put particular emphasis on reforming administrative
procedures relating to taxation, saying that it contributes to improve the
local business climate and enhance the competitiveness of the capital city.
According
to Deputy Director of the Department Thai Phuc Tien, total tax collection in
The
Department aims to surpass this year’s target by 6 trillion VND (280.37
million USD) to make up for the shortage in 2013 and to fulfill the five-year
target between 2010-2015.
VGCL
to improve Inspection Committee efficiency
The
sixth conference of the
Reviewing
activities carried out in the first half of this year, the conference spoke
highly of trade unions nationwide for their strong shift to grassroots
activities, particularly their role in addressing problems arising in
relation to the one-time payment of social insurance. The trade unions’
recommendations on making changes to the 2014 Law on Social Insurance were
accepted by the Government and the National Assembly, which helps enhance
workers’ trust in the trade union organisation.
Trade
unions at all levels also play an important role in promoting patriotic
emulation campaigns, attracting thousands of ideas and solutions to stimulate
national development.
Despite
this, trade union activities are still affected by economic troubles and
complicated developments in the regional security situation. In the first
five months of 2015 alone, over 3,800 businesses filed for bankruptcy while
more than 22,700 suspended their operations, forcing 180,000 workers to
register as unemployed.
In
January-June, there were 235 labour disputes, 59 more than the same period
last year, many of which resulted in strikes.
In such
situations, trade unions and relevant authorities made timely interferences
by explaining the law to workers, reassuring them about their prospects and
preventing strikes.
In his
speech, VGCL President Dang Ngoc Tung asked trade union activists at all
levels to stay close to the workers, especially in industrial and processing
zones to timely notice emerging issues.
Trade
unions at all levels were requested to improve and spread trade union
activities within their organisations to successfully realising socio-economic
goals.
The
conference also elected members to the VGCL Executive Committee and
Presidium.
War
martyrs’ remains reburied in Binh Thuan
Thirteen
soldiers who died in the war against the US were reburied in central Binh
Thuan provincial war martyr on July 2.
Earlier,
a resident in An Thanh village, Binh An commune in Bac Binh district reported
to authorities her finding of three sets of remains when she dug holes to
plant fruit trees.
The
provincial Military Command searched the area and found 10 more sets of
remains together with personal items buried in three mass graves.
During
the war against the US, the area was the site of many fierce battles between
the revolutionary army and US and southern government forces.
Since
the liberation of the south, Binh Thuan province has proactively carried out
the search for fallen soldiers’ remains, with over 9,000 sets found in the
locality so far.
As many
as 67 collectives and 20 individuals in Binh Thuan were granted with the
title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces and the Heroic Mother title were
bestowed to 1,563 local women in the locality for their contributions to the
national struggle for independence.
Son
La promotes ethnic languages
Forty
officials and residents in Moc Chau district in the northern mountainous
province of Son La have signed up for Mong and Thai ethnic minority language
classes, run by the local education centre.
From
July until late 2015 onwards, learners will be taught the basics in how to
speak, read and write these languages.
Being
able to understand ethnic minority languages helps Government officials and
local residents develop a deeper understanding of local’s ethnic minority
cultures and traditions.
The
language courses will help local Government employees disseminate Government
policies and laws to local ethnic minority residents, as well as knowledge on
improving living conditions, reducing poverty and eliminating hunger in
ethnic minority areas.
Additionally,
the programme will also help local ethnic minorities promote and preserve
their own native languages.
According
to the Provincial People’s Committee, Son La has a total population of 1.15
million, comprising 12 ethnic groups, including Thai, Muong, Dao, Mong and
Kinh.
To date,
hundreds of ancient Thai, Mong and Dao books have yet to be translated into
Vietnamese, failing to capture crucial indigenous knowledge.
AusAID
helps coastal residents adapt to climate change
An
internationally-funded climate change response project in the Mekong Delta
province Tien Giang has proved effective, providing local authorities and
residents with a fundamental understanding of the issue.
The
“partnership for equitable resilience to the impacts of climate change of the
coastal communities in Vietnam” (PRC) project is geared towards Vietnamese
coastal provinces that are affected by poverty, making them highly vulnerable
to climate change.
The 10.8
billion VND (around 513,000 USD) project, financed by Oxfam and the
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), aims to improve the
capacity of Vietnam’s most vulnerable citizens, especially women and
children, to adapt to climate change.
During
the 2012-2015 period, around 1,000 households in ten communes in Go Cong Tay
and Tan Phu Dong districts were provided access to loans of up to five
million VND (238 USD) to develop their own businesses, with a focus on being
resilient to climate change.
Additionally,
the project also benefitted ov er 10,000 local households by providing
training. And consultations.
The
project’s Deputy Director Nguyen Thien Phap said the province aims for over
80 percent of the total community population to have fundamental knowledge of
climate change adaptation by the end of 2015.
Thua-Thien
Hue reveals transport plan for 2020 and beyond
The
central province of Thua Thien-Hue will set aside over 36 trillion VND (1.71
billion USD) for transport infrastructure between now and 2020, targeting to
handle 15 million tonnes of cargo and serve 24 million passengers.
According
to its master plan, the amount of infrastructure investment will near 47
trillion VND (2.23 billion USD) from 2021-2030.
By 2020,
the province will allocate more than 17,800 hectares for transport
development, or 16-26 percent of land for urban construction, compared to
22,000 hectares by 2030.
Regarding
river transport, the Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon route will be utilised for
eco-tourism.
Chan May
port will directly serve the Chan May industrial zone, transit cargo hailing
from Laos and northeast Thailand, vessels of 30,000-50,000 tonnes and passenger
ships weighing 100,000 tonnes and more.
In the
meantime, Thua Thien-Hue will also upgrade the north-south railway route and
Phu Bai international airport to operate flights to ASEAN member countries
and northeast nations.
By 2030,
all roads in communes and districts will be asphalted or covered with cement
while Phu Bai airport will be capable of handling 4,000 passengers per hour
at peak times and 8-10 million passengers per year.
HCM
City shows resolve to solve urban problems
HCMC
chairman Le Hoang Quan said the city government will have to exert greater
effort to deal with problems with flood control, clean water supply for rural
areas and transportation in the second half of the year.
Speaking
at a HCMC Party Committee meeting on July 1, Quan said the city’s economy in
the first half of this year registered the highest growth in three years but
issues concerning the lives of local residents like urban flooding and clean
water have been solved slowly.
Quan
said the city’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at around VND417 trillion
(more than US$19.1 billion) in January-June, up 8.55% year-on-year. Budget
collections and investment approvals were positive in the period.
However,
Quan said the city has not solved issues involving urban flooding, clean
water supply, traffic accidents and fires.
This
year, the HCMC government plans to make it possible for all local households
to gain access to clean water by investing in more water pipelines and tanks
and water filtering equipment, thus ensuring the same water price applies to
all.
As of
last month, clean water had reached 1,557,101 households, equivalent to
83.08% of the city’s total and up 0.15% against last year.
As
targeted, 1,736,863 (92.7%) out of 1,874,114 households will be assisted to
get access to clean water while 137,251 households (7.3%) will use water
purified by private equipment towards the year-end.
Regarding
poverty reduction in 2014-2015 and 2016-2020, HCMC vice chairman Hua Ngoc
Thuan said the city’s number of poor households with annual incomes lower
than VND16 million per person had dropped to 20,243 as of last month (1.03%)
and there were 51,955 near-poor households (2.64%) whose incomes are below
VND21 million per person per year.
Districts
1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, Tan Binh and Binh Tan no longer have poor households.
Next
month, three more districts 2, Tan Phu and Binh Thanh will be recognized as
having no poor families.
The
poverty rate in HCMC will be lowered to below 1% at the year-end and that of
near-poor households below 2%.
The city
will continue implementing its sustainable poverty reduction program in the
2016-2020 period with a focus on the areas of income, house, access to health
services, education and clean water, and use of telecom service.
In
addition, the city aims for annual incomes of VND21-28 million per person for
near-poor households in HCMC in the next five years.
Quan
said the major tasks of the city government toward the year-end were to
further improve the business environment, support trading and production, and
help remove barriers to local business.
Endangered
monkey sent to Cuc Phuong national park
The
Department of Forest Management of Quang Ngai province is working to hand
over a grey-shanked douc langur to the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in
Cuc Phuong national park.
The
one-year-old monkey, weighing roughly one kilogramme, was found in a forest
between Quang Ngai and the neighbouring province of Kon Tum by a local from
Ba To district.
He then
handed over the monkey to forest protection authorities on July 2.
The
grey-shanked douc (Pygathrix cinerea) is native to the central provinces of
Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh and the Central Highlands provinces of
Kon Tum and Gia Lai.
It is
listed in Vietnam’s Red Book of threatened and endangered species.
The
International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Primate Specialist Group
rates the grey-shanked douc as one of the world’s 25 most endangered monkeys.
Source: VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri
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Thứ Bảy, 4 tháng 7, 2015
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