Social News 5/8 HCM City flyover suffers more damage he flyover has been repaired twice, and yet shows serious damage with many deep potholes on its surface. "Accidents can occur any time and the situation has dragging for months," a truck driver, who regularly uses the road, said. The Thăng Long Construction Corporation, which constructed the bridge, told VNExpress that HCM City's Urban Area Traffic Management No.2 now bore the responsibility of maintaining the bridge as its warranty date had expired. The surface of the flyover started to sink just two months after it was opened to traffic in March 2013, creating potholes on it. In 2014, the problem recurred due to the heavy traffic and overloaded trucks that use the flyover. The 570m Thu Duc flyover has four lanes, linking HCM City with Bien Hoa City. The cost of its construction -- VND277 billion (US$13.32 million) -- was sourced from the city's budget. All kind of vehicles are allowed to use the flyover. Water supplies resume to Ha Long, Cam Pha The Quang Ninh Fresh Water Company resumed water supply to 85,000 households in Ha Long and Cam Pha. Water supply to the two cities had been interrupted for a week after the record torrential rain and floods destroyed the Dien Vong water plant's D800 water pipeline last Tuesday. The construction of a temporary 950m pipeline was completed late yesterday, a day ahead of the deadline set by the provincial People's Committee. However, the temporary pipeline can transport only up to 70 per cent of the Dien Vong water plant's capacity. Therefore, water will be supplied only during certain hours of the day in order to cover all locations in the two cities. Another pipeline is being constructed to replace the D800 pipeline, while water tankers are being employed to deliver water to residents.  Aviation management agency to monitor airline passenger services The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) requested airlines carry out all duties and responsibilities to passengers in light of the growing number of delayed or cancelled flights. The CAAV also asked airlines to adjust their schedules in line with their capacity and airports’ real capability and perform duties and responsibilities diligently if flights are delayed or cancelled. The CAAV said it would improve flight management capacity and increase examinations and supervision of airline behaviour with passengers of delayed or cancelled flights. According to the CAAV, 3,817 out of 17,856 flights were delayed and 76 were cancelled from July 1-28. Vietnam Airlines’ number of delayed flights increased 5.9 percent in July, while that of VietJet Air went up 3.3 percent and Jetstar Pacific, 0.5 percent. According to the agency, there are a number of factors contributing to the increase of delayed and cancelled flights. One of them is that July is the peak of the local tourism season and most major destination airports such as Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang, Cam Ranh and Phu Bai are frequently overcrowded. Compounding the crowding is the closure of the 25R/07L runway at Tan Son Nhat International Airport for upgrades, reducing its capacity. The CAAV said in the first six months of this year, airlines operated about 101,000 flights with 15,176 delayed and 535 cancelled. Social housing projects cater to growing demand in Thai Nguyen Authorities in northern Thai Nguyen province have given the green light to a number of social housing projects in Pho Yen town in a bid to boost the living conditions of low-income labours. At the end of July, the Thai Nguyen People’s Committee approved a project from the Housing and Urban Development Company (HUD) with total investment exceeding 640 billion VND (29.5 million USD). Covering 17 hectares, the construction is set to include 38 five-storey apartment blocks accommodating approximately 7,600 people. It will also entail inner transportation infrastructure, parks, a communal house and a kindergarten, among others. The building complex is scheduled to be operational within the third quarter of 2018. In May, the province authorised a 4-trillion-VND (184.3 million USD) social housing construction, also in Pho Yen town, which covers 35 hectares and will accommodate about 30,000 people. According to Duong Ngoc Long, Chairman of the Thai Nguyen People’s Committee, Samsung and other businesses are expected to invest more than six billion USD in the province and create jobs for approximately 80,000 labourers. As such, huge demand for low-cost accommodation has emerged. Building social housing projects caters to demand, offers additional employment in the construction sector and utilises available land, Long said.- Tay Ninh cares for victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin The southern province of Tay Ninh has made efforts to care for its nearly 9,100 victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, 4,700 of which are completely unable to work. Besides providing monthly allowances to 1,600 victims who were exposed to the chemical substance while fighting in the war and their children and grandchildren who suffered from the substance, the province has also cared for other victims. Vo Thi Dep, Chairman of the Tay Ninh Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, said from 2011-15, philanthropists contributed 17 billion VND (780,000 USD) to repair and build 165 houses and helped households improve their means of support. In addition, the province also opened a rehabilitation and nursery centre for nearly 100 disadvantaged victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin and helped 500 households gain stable incomes. 2 million women to be vaccinated gratis Two million women in the child-bearing ages from 16 to 35 years old in distant areas, border gate districts and industrial zones will receive free-of-charge vaccination against measles and rubella, said Dr. Duong  Thi Hong, deputy chief of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) on August 3. Dr. Hong said that 3 million vaccines are left from the vaccination campaign to provide free immunizations against measles and rubella to 20 million children in the country. The vaccine will be used for women in disadvantaged districts and industrial parks. It is scheduled that the gratis vaccination for women will be carried out from the fourth quarter in 2015 to the first quarter in 2016. Nation gears toward Quang Ninh in flood recovery effort Over 55 billion VND (2.52 million USD) has been handed over to the northern province of Quang Ninh to support its recovery efforts after the heaviest flooding in 40 years. Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan, accompanied by the Vietnam Fund for Child Protection representatives and business players, presented 200 million VND to the families of victims. The fund and the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) chipped in 200 million VND and 100 million VND, respectively. It is the second time PetroVietnam has donated to victims with a previous 500 million VND aid. The provincial authorities were asked to rally all possible resources for recovery, assured visiting Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to affected families. Secretary of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Doc announced on August 1 that Quang Ninh would provide as much as 50 million VND for each collapsed house, 25 million VND for each damaged house and 2 million VND per month to tenants for a duration of about three months. He expressed his determination that the local Party Committee, administration and people would stand united to recover from the calamity and resume normalcy as soon as possible. Earlier, provincial authorities announced the provision of aid worth 5 billion VND to 30,000 workers at the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) who are unable to return to work due to the disaster. Philanthropists from Dien Bien, Thai Binh, Hai Phong and Hanoi presented gifts and cash to Quang Ninh victims. In Ban Sen commune of Van Don District, all 27 households have access to essential items thanks to relief operations by volunteers. Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang has also decided to withdraw 5 billion VND from the fund raised by police officers to the cause. On August 3, Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung visited flood-affected areas in Quang Ninh and a family who lost eight members in the flooding. During a working session with provincial authorities, Dung said resettlement is now the top concern, adding that specialists will be dispatched to the provincial Department of Construction to assist with building proper resettlement areas. The ministry will provide 2,000 tonnes of cement for Quang Ninh, he assured. Also on the same day, about 200 households in the four isolated mountainous communes of Dap Thanh, Luong Mong, Minh Cam and Thanh Lam in Ba Che district were evacuated to safety. The worst rainstorm and floods in 40 years have left 17 people dead, 339 damaged houses and 8,952 others submerged under water. Hau Giang: Khmer language taught to children Some 300 Khmer children in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang have participated in Khmer language classes, organised annually by local Khmer pagodas during the summer holiday, this year. Monk Lam Ut Hien from Po Tum Vong Say Pagoda in Cai Tac town, Chau Thanh A district said the local three-month Khmer language course drew 30 children from the locality and its vicinity at his pagoda this year. Nguyen Thi Nghi from the Him Lam boarding secondary school in Rach Goi town said she has attended the classes for four summers and her Khmer language has improved substantially. Monk Ly Ve, Head of the Hau Giang Patriotic United Buddhist Association, said as many as 15 local Khmer pagodas have participated in the annual Khmer language training activities in an effort to preserve and promote the cultural identity. Hau Giang is home to 5,550 Khmer households with more than 26,250 people, making up of 3.5 percent of the province’s population. The group spans 23 communes in seven districts, towns and cities in the province. HCM City's rural roads ready by 2020 HCM City authorities plan to complete construction of the rural transport network in five outlying districts of HCM City by 2020. Construction of the main roads and bridges in the districts' communes has been completed, after six years of implementation under the National Programme of Building New Rural Areas. All commune-level roads in Cu Chi, Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Nha Be and Can Gio districts have been either asphalted or cemented. The remaining roads to be built are in hamlets. They will connect to the larger main roads in the communes. The road system has greatly benefited local residents and businesses. At least 100 households, for example, in an area in Hamlet 1 in Binh Chanh District's Phong Phu Commune no longer depend on boats to travel. They can now use the Xom Go Bridge, which was built in 2013. Prior to the construction, the Xom Lo area in Hamlet 1 had been isolated when there were heavy rains, according to a local resident. The time to travel from Xom Lo to Phong Phu Commune's central area has fallen from an hour to 20 minutes. Nguyen Van Truong, deputy chairman of the Binh Chanh District People's Committee, said the rural road network would eventually have connections to roads in the central city as well as other outlying districts. In Can Gio District's Ly Nhon Commune, which is HCM City's farthest rural district, roads have been built to hamlets and fields, facilitating the transport of agriculture produce. Duong Minh Hoang, whose family produces salt in Ly Nhon's Ly Thai Buu Hamlet, said: "Thanks to the construction of roads that link to fields, vehicles can travel to the fields to transport salt. My family no longer has to carry salt on a shoulder pole." Under the national programme to build new rural areas, the city has built and upgraded more than 1,500 rural roads with a total length of more than 1,100km. It has also built 18 new large bridges and upgraded 512 bridges on district-level roads. The cost of building roads and bridges came from various sources, including the state budget, investors and local residents. Le Thanh Liem, deputy chairman of municipal People's Committee, said that HCM City was one of the few localities in the country that had fulfilled all the transportation criteria required under the national new rural area programme. The city has received warm support from local residents in implementing the programme, he said. Local residents donated more than 124 ha of land and labour days to help build roads in the five outlying districts. Saigontourist golf tourney raises VND800 million for charity At an award ceremony for a golf tournament held last Saturday at the Caravelle Saigon Hotel in HCMC’s District 1, Saigontourist raised VND800 million for charity. Tran Ngoc Co, Saigontourist deputy general director, presented a symbolic check worth VND600 million to Tran Thanh Long, chairman of the HCMC Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients that manages a scholarship foundation for the future. Co also granted a symbolic check valued at VND200 million to Nguyen Tuan Quang, a representative of Saigontourist’s community program to care for the poor in mountainous and Central Highlands regions. Of the 150 local and foreign contestants in this year’s golf tournament, 17 entered the finale at the East golf course, also known as Thu Duc golf course, in HCMC’s Thu Duc District. This was the 10th year Saigontourist had held this annual golf tournament. From 2006 to 2014, the company raised more than VND4 billion for charity activities, including 2,500 scholarships for the HCMC Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients. This year’s event was sponsored by Vietcombank, Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPP), Rita Vo, Thu Duc golf course, and Parkson, among others. Gov’t orders halt to close tollgates The Ministry of Transport and local authorities have been told to suspend building two new tollgates that are less than 70 kilometers apart on the same road until a master zoning plan for toll stations of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects is approved. The suspension was decided in Document 1237 signed by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai last week. The ministries of transport and planning-investment and local governments are urged to review all road projects implemented under the BOT format and report to the Government this September. The review should focus on investment procedures and efficiency, selection of investors and their capability, costs and project quality. The Government requests the transport ministry to urgently complete the zoning plan for toll stations of BOT projects on national highways. Before this plan is approved, the construction of two tollgates less than 70 kilometers apart on the same road must be put on hold, except for those projects already approved. The ministry and provincial authorities must seek approval from the Government for special cases. The document was issued after experts and people expressed concern over the State’s management role in BOT projects and too many tollgates established to recover investment capital of these projects were not in line with the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 159 and relevant regulations. The decree regulates that two toll stations must be located 70 kilometers apart but many tollgates do not follow this rule. For instance, the distance between a tollgate on Hanoi Highway in HCMC and that of the Dong Nai Bridge project is only 14 kilometers. Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang said in May that toll stations were allowed to go up in a distance of less than 70 kilometers if this was agreed on by the finance ministry and local authorities. Work begins on major motorway connecting Highway 1A with Phu Yen Construction of a motorway connecting National Highway 1A with Hoa Tam Industrial Zone in Dong Hoa district, Phu Yen province commenced on the morning of August 4 with a total investment of VND974 billion (US$44.8 million). The 8.4 km motorway is being invested in by the Phu Yen provincial Department of Transport with VND877 billion (US$40.3 million) funded by the government. The route begins at Km 1348+950 in Phu Khe village, Hoa Xuan Dong commune, Dong Hoa district and ends at Km 8+00 in Phuoc Tan village, Hoa Tam commune, Dong Hoa district. The motorway is 42m wide which includes a railway overpass and two bridges spanning the Dua and Van rivers. The route is considered a major project with strategic meaning to socio-economic development in the south of Phu Yen. Upon its completion in 2017, the project will help facilitate transportation to Hoa Tam Industrial Zone, Vung Ro petrochemical refinery and ease the daily life of thousands of local households in Hoa Tam commune, Dong Hoa district. Family-doctor model brings mixed results The family doctor model has been implemented for two years around the country with uneven results, particularly at grassroots medical stations, healthcare officials have said. Under the programme, a total of 240 family doctor clinics have been opened at public general hospitals, private clinics and community medical stations, according to Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the health ministry's Medical Examination and Treatment Management Department. Most of the family doctor clinics are located at hospitals, general clinics and medical stations, Khue said at a conference held in HCM City yesterday. Although patient care has improved via the family doctor clinics, only four private clinics have taken part in the programme due to strict regulations on granting family-doctor licences to private clinics. Six cities and provinces participate in the programme, including Ha Noi, HCM City, Thua Thien-Hue, Can Tho, Khanh Hoa and Tien Giang. HCM City has 149 family doctor clinics, the highest number in the country, followed by Ha Noi, with 67. The family doctor clinics have provided healthcare services for more than 353,000 patients and emergency services for 2,800 patients. Nearly 2,400 patients have received home visits from family doctors. Family doctor clinics have also referred more than 11,500 patients to central hospitals for specialist treatment. However, the success of the family doctor model has varied, particularly at community medical stations. Nguyen Tan Binh, director of HCM City's Department of Health, said that family doctor clinics at community medical stations had failed to attract patients due to the poor quality of health services at grassroots-level medical stations. Community medical stations also lack medical equipment and have a limited supply of medicine. Only one private clinic in HCM City has taken part in the pilot programme, Binh said. A severe shortage of professionals trained to be family doctor specialists has hindered the development of the model, especially at community medical stations, he said. Although the family doctor model exists in many countries, it is still on a trial basis in Viet Nam, said Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. "The family-doctor model will enhance the quality of primary healthcare services," Tien said. "There will no longer be overcrowding at central-level hospitals, and people will have better health care." The Health Ministry plans to scale up the family-doctor model across the country and promote the training of family-doctor physicians. Hospitals seek to improve workers' behaviour Five more southern hospitals – Cho Ray, Thong Nhat, Nhan Dan 115 and Paediatrics 1, besides Can Tho General – –have committed to improve health workers' behaviour towards patients. The five southern medical facilities signed a commitment on Monday, following a move by the health ministry in April to improve the satisfaction of patients and the reputation of the Vietnamese health worker. MoH Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the move was a vital task of the Vietnamese health sector to ensure ethics in the sector, which had deteriorated due to the misbehavior of several doctors and health workers with their patients. Tien said all health workers, ranging from security guards, motor and car keepers, cashiers and pharmacists, as well as doctors and nurses needed to be trained on medical ethics, particularly their task to ensure the comfort of patients. The MoH on Monday held training courses for 400 representatives from southern hospitals and units, on communication, contact and reception skills. Plans to set up and operate health hotlines were also one of the key targets of the courses. Nguyen Xuan Truong, chief of the MoH's office, said in the first six months of this year, the ministry's hotline received about 8,000 calls via 1900- 9095, about 12 per cent of which were complaints about health workers' attitudes. Truong said the complaints had reduced by 7 per cent compared with the same period last year. He said almost all the complaints had been examined and several health workers were penalised. Earlier this month, the four central hospitals in the North – Bach Mai, Viet Duc, Cancer and Paediatrics hospitals – signed a commitment to improve health workers' attitudes towards patients at a conference held in Ha Noi. They were the country's first medical facilities to sign such a commitment. "A section of healthcare workers still do not follow professional processes and have inappropriate or negative attitudes towards patients in hospitals," Tien said at the conference. Tien said this would badly impact the image of the country's healthcare workers and destroy people's belief in more than 400,000 health workers nationwide. The health minister asked all health workers and staff to overcome their difficulties and be determined to improve their image. Binh Dinh to build large abattoirs The People's Committee of the coastal province of Binh Dinh has approved a plan to open two more large-scale slaughterhouses in Quy Nhon City. The new slaughterhouses will be built on a 30sq.m area in Tran Quang Dieu and Nhon Binh wards. Investment amounts to VND28 billion (US$1.3 million). Combined capacity is projected to be 1,200 slaughters per day, 800 of which will be cattle and 400 of the poultry family. Operations are scheduled to begin in early 2016. Thousands of illegal gas extraction canisters The Ha Noi Market Management Department, in co-ordination with the Ha Noi Police's Department of Economic Security, seized thousands of canisters of illegal gas extract from Thang Long Gas Limited Company at the Quat Dong industrial zone in Ha Noi's Thuong Tin District. During an inspection, competent agencies caught red handed the company's workers while they were illegally extracting gas into canisters with 10 different brands including Venus, Total, Dai Hai and Hoang Long. The competent agencies also discovered that the company manufactured such canisters illegally without having obtained a licence to undertake such activity. The company used to produce a large number of canisters of different brands every day without undergoing any government inspection regarding the quality. An investigation into the issue is underway. Tra Vinh supports production models adaptive to climate change The Climate Change Adaption in the Mekong Delta (AMD) project in Tra Vinh will finance the multiplication of 28 production models deemed adaptive to climate change from now until end of 2015. Director of the project’s coordinating board Huynh Nghia Tho said at a meeting on August 4 that the assistance is line with the project’s goal of improving local capacity to adapt to climate change and developing sustainable livelihoods for rural agricultural communities. Among the selected production models, 13 are in farming, 7 in animal livestock and eight in aquaculture. Organisations and individuals who wish to adopt the verified production models will be assisted with non-refundable aid worth up to 50% of the total production or business costs under the conditions of the Climate Change Adaption (CCA) fund. Households will be provided with maximum assistance of VND30 million (US$1,375) each while maximum aid for groups or teams reaches up to VND750 million (US$34,387). The AMD Tra Vinh project is being implemented from 2014-2020 in 30 communes in seven districts, benefitting 15,000 households living under or just above the poverty line. The total investment capital of the project is VND521 billion (US$23.88 million), a blend of a VND233.5 billion (US$10.8 million) loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a non-refundable aid package of VND126.5 billion (US$5.86 million) and VND79.5 billion (US$3.68 million) in corresponding capital from the Vietnamese Government, while beneficiaries are to contribute VND81.5 billion (US$3.77 million). Stellar achievements from mountainous poverty reduction project Over 800 social infrastructure projects covering rural roads, irrigation systems and fresh water facilities have become operational under the Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project, which aims to improve the livelihoods of mountainous residents. This was just part of the outcomes of the project as reported by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Hieu at a conference to review the project’s second implementation phase (2010-2015) in Hanoi on August 4. Efforts to develop production chains with the involvement of farmers have paid off in raising the local farming techniques, expanding commercial-scale farming and diversifying local products. At the same time, management capacity of local officials has been improved remarkably through training courses and participation in specific poverty reduction projects. At the event, Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank’s (WB) Country Director for Vietnam, highlighted that the Ministry of Planning and Investment needs to improve the dissemination of information among local residents using practical and down-to-earth methods, focusing more on nutrition and environment improvement while maintaining results for sustainable development. The Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project was funded with US$150 million in capital from the WB and corresponding funds from the Vietnamese Government. It has operated in 2,366 villages in six northern provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Son La, Hoa Binh, Yen Bai and Lao Cai. Over 133,000 families, including 67,000 impoverished households, have benefited from the project. The poverty reduction project aims to increase resident living standards in targeted areas, improve the productivity and institutional capacity of local authorities and boost market links and business innovations. Accordingly, it targets to reduce 3% of impoverished households and raise local income by 10% annually. Based on the achievements from 2010-2015, the Ministry is determined to scale up the project’s implementation in 259 communes of the six beneficiary provinces with a focus on impoverished and ethnic families. Fighting violence against women and girls through social media More than 30 members of the Vietnam Volunteer Centre (VVC) are participating in a training course on how to mobilise young men to prevent violence against women and girls through social media. The event, taking place from August 3 to 5 in Hanoi, was organised by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in collaboration with the VVC. At the training course, participants who are leaders of volunteer groups under the VVC, are provided with basic knowledge about gender equality and the forms and consequences of violence against women and girls. Trainers will also teach participants necessary skills to engage with and mobilise other young men to prevent violence against women through social media. The training course is part of a project supported by an initiative fund from Denmark and the Danish Embassy in Thailand. Workshop looks into water, land environmental situation Environmentalists discussed the environmental situation of and challenges to the nation’s land and water during a workshop held in Hue city of central Thua Thien-Hue province on August 4. The event was held by the Vietnam Environmental Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Deputy Head of the administration Hoang Duong Tung said the quality of the land and water environment is being considerably degraded and contaminated due to socio-economic development activities. Water pollution in particular is becoming prominent in not only urban and manufacturing areas but also in rural ones, he said. In addition, the risk of water contamination from cross-border water resources should be promptly followed and controlled, he suggested. Meanwhile, land pollution and degradation as well as the conversion of land uses have caused substantial consequences for local livelihoods and socio-economic growth, Tung said. A report from Thua Thien-Hue province said Nhu Y and An Cuu Rivers in Thua Thien-Hue, for example, are being seriously polluted. The level of iron in the Huong River is likely to increase and other rivers and lakes are contaminated from waste water discharged during local daily activities. The extreme and unreasonable exploitation of aquatic resources is degrading the local biological diversity, while mining activities are affecting underground water sources. During the workshop, participants highlighted directions for policies and laws on environmental protection, including controlling water and land pollution. According to the Vietnam Environmental Administration, the information shared during the event is useful for generating a draft report on the national environment in 2015, which is compiled once every five years. VNS/VNA/VOV/SGT/ND/TT