Social News 17/5 27 tonnes of frozen meat stuck at port   Customs officers check a package of frozen meat in Hai Phong Port. Nearly 27 tonnes of frozen meat have been left unclaimed at Chùa Vẽ Port in Hải Phòng City for two years, the Tiền Phong (Vanguard) online newspaper reported today. Vũ Quốc Dương, head of the Hải Phòng Port Customs Division, said the imported frozen meat was stored in two containers and had been at the port since 2014. The meat is now rotting, producing a foul odour. Dương said the name printed on the bill of consignment was Minh Khuê Seafood Joint Stock Company, located in Quảng Ninh Province’s Móng Cái City. However, the company had sent a notice to the division in August 2014 insisting they did not own the goods. The shipping agent of the consignment was CTL Maritime Co., Ltd., based in Hải Phòng. Dương said if no one claims the goods, the port would destroy the consignment, but only after the shipping agent pays fees for warehousing and destroying the items. The warehousing fee alone amounts to VNĐ1 billion (US$44,800), he said. The shipping agent has said it cannot afford the fee. Therefore, negotiations between the division and the shipping agent are still underway. HCM City hospital holds workshop on gallbladder stones People aged more than 40, especially women, should have a low-fat, high-fibre diet to avoid conditions like gallbladder stones, doctors told a workshop in HCM City. Speaking at what was a counselling session on Saturday at Bình Dân Hospital in District 3, Dr Nguyễn Cao Cương of the hospital’s liver and gallbladder surgery ward said people are more likely to develop stones in the gallbladder after 40, and women are at higher risk. Other doctors said pregnancy and birth control pills could increase estrogen secretion in women, which is likely to raise cholesterol levels in bile and decrease gallbladder contractions, leading to the risk of stones. Cương said most patients with stones do not know they have it because there are no symptoms, and they are discovered only by chance through abdominal ultrasound and x-ray. Drugs are not prescribed usually for dissolving gallstones because of their low effectiveness and many side effects, he said. On the other hand, stones that cause a sudden and intense pain in the upper right abdomen are treated by removing the gallbladder, he said. Of patients with gallbladder stones, only 2 per cent develop pain within a year. The figure increases to 15 per cent over 10 years. If the pain is not treated in time, it could create complications such as acute cholecystitis which causes serious infection or injury to the gallbladder and even death. The gallbladder should be removed through laparoscopic surgery, which is common in Việt Nam, to avoid a recurrence of the stones, he said. “If the stones are taken out without removing the gallbladder, 50 per cent of patients could get stones again after two years.” Dr Võ Văn Hùng, the ward’s deputy head, said his hospital performs 1,000-1,200 surgeries each year for gallbladder stones. A screening programme in 30 wards in the city more than 10 years ago found 6.44 per cent of the population had stones. Ministry requests raising awareness of injury, drowning prevention The Ministry of Education and Training has called for more education campaigns to raise students’ awareness of injury and drowning prevention, following a number of drowning cases involving many children recently. The ministry asked schools to work closely with families to teach their children about how to prevent injuries and drowning, add this content into the curricula and warn students against swimming in dangerous and unhygienic areas. Schools are also urged to coordinate with local Departments of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and relevant agencies to organise healthy and safe activities for children during summer break, as well as mobilize all possible resources to equip students with necessary protection skills. Localities are required to place warning signs in dangerous areas. Local Departments of Education and Training should coordinate with the Departments of Culture, Sport and Tourism to train gym teachers in swimming teaching skills, and encourage swimming training. Accidental injuries among children are a pressing problem around the world, especially in Vietnam, where the rate of accidental injuries and deaths is among the highest in the world. By 2020, the government wants at least 90 percent of children to use buoyancy aids while travelling on waterways, and public pools and beaches to have safety licences. VND9.6 billion awards for Mathematics Ph.D thesis, scholarships for Math students The National University - Hanoi yesterday held a ceremony to give 86 awards from 168 entries of Math projects and announced scholarships for major maths works. In the framework of the national major programs, the Ministry of Education and Training approved the program to train Mathematical Ph.D candidates in the Advanced Applied Mathematics Institute last October. Basing on the program, the award-giving council selected 86 math works which were published in international math magazines and candidates or one of candidate of thesis are university lecturers. No author has been written three works. At the same time, the program steering board decided to give scholarships to 184 students amongst 251 Math students from 12 universities and 291 senior high school students of 382 students in 71 schools for gifted students across the country. Each award for Math thesis published internationally is worth VND28.75 million (US$1,285) and each scholarship is worth VND8.05 million for a term of an academic year. The sum of money for awards and scholarships for math students for the academic year 2015-2016 is VND9.6 billion (US$429,408). According to Education Deputy Minister Pham Manh Hung, the executive board of the program and the Advanced Applied Mathematics Institute will carry out training courses for teachers, students in senior high schools of gifted students and university students, organize seminars on Math and sponsor Math application projects for socioeconomic development, as well as send university lecturers to take part in short term training courses abroad. “Hoian nostalgia” exhibition to be opened in HCMC Vietnamese artist Bui Tien Tuan will launch his solo exhibition titled “Hoian nostalgia” in HCMC on May 20. Bui Tien Tuan was born & grown up in Hoi An. He left his hometown for 25 years and this is his first solo exhibition about Hoi An after as many as over 7 solo exhibitions in the country and many group exhibition abroad. 18 paintings painted by watercolor on do paper feature the beauty of Hoian city, landscapes, lifestyle and small streets… Artist Bui Tien Tuan graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City Fines & Art College in 1998. He ever achieved success with his solo paintings on silk named “Frivolity” in 2011. The exhibition will last till May 31 at 46 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, HCMC. Competition “Water and Life” launched to increase young people’s awareness The Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) and the Communist Youth Union yesterday launched a competition named “Water and Life” in Ho Chi Minh City aiming to raise community’s awareness, especially among young people in protecting and using water resource sustainably. Vietnamese students at the age from 16 to 25 are eligible for the competition. Students can partake in the competition in groups or individual. Entries can be solution, initiates, design or changes for available solutions to deal with environment and natural resources management, including three fields such as salinity, drought and water pollution. In salinity management field, competitors must have solution for saline water sources, solution to reduce salinity and limit infiltration of the salt water as well as solution to manage and forecast development of salt water infiltration. In drought management, candidates must propose solution to cope with the severe temperature as well as solution to manage and forecast the development of drought, how to effectively use water resources in agriculture, in industry, fisheries and factories.   In polluted water management, entries must point out measures to treat polluted water source, solutions to minimize and reduce water pollution as well as prediction of development of further water pollution. The award-giving ceremony will be held in December, 2016. HCM City plans activities to mark Uncle Ho’s birthday Ho Chi Minh City will hold several activities to mark the 126th birth anniversary of the late president Ho Chi Minh, which falls on May 19 (1890-2016). Accordingly, a photo exhibition will open on Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi streets on May 17 morning. A ceremony will be held on May 18 to honour outstanding individuals and units in the campaign of studying and following the moral example of President Ho Chi Minh. High-ranking officials of the municipal Party Committee, People’s Council, People’s Committee and Vietnam Fatherland Front chapter will offer incense and flower in tribute to the late president at the city branch of the Ho Chi Minh Museum, and the Ho Chi Minh Statue Park on May 19. On the same day, several performing art activities to mark the late president’s birthday will be organised in many places, including the September 23rd Prk and the Gia Dinh 2 Park. Besides, a “Vietnam’s Ao dai” fashion show entitled “Thanh pho Ao dai” (The City of long dress) and a lotus offering ceremony will be held on Nguyen Hue pedestrian street. On the occasion, a tree planting event to commemorate the late president will also be held at the city’s University of Economics and Law. PM urges prompt delivery of relief following mass fish deaths The Prime Minister has ordered concerned ministries and provinces to promptly carry out Decision No. 772/QD-TTg dated May 9, 2016 on providing emergency support for people affected by the mass fish deaths in central provinces. The order involves the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development; Finance; Industry and Trade; Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; and Information and Communications; the State Bank of Vietnam; and the People’s Committees of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces. The ministries and local governments must ensure the relief will be delivered to those in need without delay and in compliance with related regulations, in order to help fishermen, farmers and traders return to normal life and production and business activities. The mass fish deaths began in Ky Anh township, Ha Tinh province on April 6, then spread to Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, aquacultural farms reported 67 tonnes of dead fish while the volume of natural fish found dead was estimated at 100 tonnes. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 9 signed a decision to provide urgent assistance for farmers in the affected provinces. Accordingly, family members of fishing vessel owners and workers working on vessels and fishing logistics households are each eligible for 15kg of rice per month over the course of one and a half month. Up to 5 million VND (227 USD) will be offered to fishing vessels below 90CV which are forced to temporarily stop going out to sea. Fishery business owners and fishing logistics vessels are able to enjoy interest-free loans within six months to stockpile seafood from May 5 – June 5. Vietnam intends increasing ethnic minority deputies in new parliament Vietnam aims to increase the number of ethic minority deputies at the 14th National Assembly (NA) so that the assembly has appropriate representation from all social strata. Ethnic minorities have been encouraged to participate in the NA during recent tenures. The rate of parliamentarians from ethnic minorities was 17.33 percent of the 450 deputies in the 10th NA, 17.27 percent of the 498 deputies in the 11th term, and 17.6 percent of the 493 deputies in the following NA. In the 13th NA, 15.5 percent of the 500 parliamentarians were ethnic minorities. Lu Van Que, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s Advisory Council on Ethnic Minorities, said the rate of ethnic minority deputies in people-elected agencies during recent tenures had been higher than the ratio of ethnics to Kinh people. He admitted that some ethnic minorities have never been represented in the NA, and it is necessary to increase the number of ethnic minority deputies in parliament to ensure equality among ethnic groups. The 13th NA Standing Committee targets at least 162 candidates or 18 percent of those nominated for seats in the 14th NA coming from ethnic minorities. It looks to have at least 90 ethnic minority deputies or 18 percent of the total number in the new parliament, which will be elected on May 22. There are 204 ethnic minority people among the 870 NA deputy candidates, accounting for 23.45 percent, according to NA Secretary-General and member of the National Election Council Nguyen Hanh Phuc. However, there remain difficulties in reaching the targeted number of ethnic minority deputies. Hoang Quoc Khanh is a Giay ethnic resident in Lai Chau province. This is the first time he has run for parliament. He said though he has been helped to participate in training courses, it is still difficult for ethnic minority candidates in mountainous areas like him to acquire canvassing skills and build action plans. Nguyen Lam Thanh, Vice Chairman of the NA’s Council for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said to assist minority candidates, the council opened training classes in late April to provide electioneering skills for those in northern and southern provinces. They are nominees for the 14th NA and all-level People’s Councils in the 2016 – 2021 tenure. Vietnam is a multi-nationality with 54 ethnic groups. Among them, the Viet (Kinh) people account for 86.83 percent of the country’s population. Hanoi: Free check-ups offered to the elderly in Son Tay town Free medical check-ups and medicines will be provided for 14,000 old people in Son Tay town, Hanoi from May 11-20. The health checks are conducted by doctors from Son Tay medical centre, Son Tay General Hospital, Ha Dong Eye Hospital, Ha Dong General Hospital and Duc Giang General Hospital. Along with receiving examinations on hypertension, diabetes and cataract, 1,300 old people in Xuan Son and Vien Son communes received consultancy from doctors on May 12-13. Dr. Nguyen Khac Hien, Director of the municipal Department of Health, spoke highly of the efforts made by the doctors while asking them to instruct patients with chronic diseases to have further check-ups at Son Tay General Hospital on Sundays and Saturdays. Kien Giang: More than 2.3 trillion VND needed for irrigation work The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang needs more than 2.3 trillion VND (103 million USD) by 2020 to build irrigation facilities to prevent saline intrusion, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The province will ask the Government for financial support for the construction of 25 anti-salinity drains to adapt to climate change and rising sea levels, said director of the department Nguyen Van Tam. Poor drainage, stemming from shortages of capital, led to production losses in the locality during 2016’s dry season, he said. The anti-salinity drains will be built along An Bien-An Minh sea dyke and Chau Thanh-Rach Gia-Kien Luong sea dyke. In past years, the province has used investment capital to construct sea dykes and irrigation drains to control saltwater levels. Some 46 irrigation facilities have been built in Rach Gia city and Hon Dat and Kien Luong districts. Drains at the Kien river and Cut canal are also being built, helping control salinity in Long Xuyen Quarangular and neighbouring localities. Construction of six out of 31 planned drains along An Bien-An Minh sea dyke are also underway to protect the U Minh Thuong area. Honda plants 80 hectares of forest in Bac Kan Honda Vietnam (HVN) will work with people in the northern province of Bac Kan to plant more than 80 hectares of forest this year, the fourth year in the HVN-sponsored forest-growing project in the province. On the fourth “Tree Planting Day” held on May 15, 1,500 trees were planted in an area of two hectares by some 200 HVN workers and locals. The event is part of the eight-year project (2013-2020) developed by the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development with consultancy from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Vietnam Forestry University. According to HVN Deputy General Director Kiwamu Kayano, as a sole sponsor of the project, HVN provides 4.9 billion VND (219,600 USD) for greening 490 hectares of land in Nong Thuong and Xuat Hoa communes. The money covers the costs of project building, technical training for forestry officials and local farmers and the purchase of high-quality seedlings and fertilizer. Exploitation of the trees will start in 2020. The project is expected to yield 73,500 cubic metres of wood, bringing a total profit of about 50 billion VND (2.24 million USD). Chairman of the Bac Kan city People’s Committee Dinh Quang Tuyen said that 408.62 hectares had been put under trees during 2013-2015. The average height of the trees is between one and four metres. Along with protecting the environment and increasing living standards for locals, the project also raises public awareness on the importance of forests in development as well as providing farmers with forest cultivation and protection techniques. “Dialogue with river” photo contest launched The second photography contest on environment protection has just been launched by the Organization of Vietnam Rivers Network. The photo contest will take place at 13 provinces of Mekong Delta from June 1 to September 30, 2016, with the participation of amateur and professional photographers across Vietnam and overseas. The event is a useful playground and chance to introduce all art works, featuring community duties, attitude and awareness about rive protection and water resource management at 13 southern provinces of Mekong Delta. The organization board comprises leading domestic and foreign experts and photographers. The photo exhibition and award ceremony are scheduled to take place at Can Tho city in November, 2016 VNese talent awards 2016 launched The Vietnamese Talent Awards 2016 (Nhan tai dat Viet) was launched this morning in Hanoi with theme of "For the quality of life". The organization board hoped to seek and honor authors whose create breakthroughs in Information and Technology (IT) products which can be applied in the life, contributing enhance the quality of life and solve hot issues in traffic safety, food safety... The contestants will have chance to receive one first prize worth VND 100million, one second prize of VND 50million and one third prize worth VND 30million The contestants can send IT products to the organization board from now to September 30. The award ceremony will be taken place in Hanoi and broadcast live on VTV. New measures needed to green fast-growing aviation Vietnam’s civil aviation sector was called to introduce new measures to meet the global goal of carbon neutral growth in aviation by 2020, including mobilising finance for the greening of the industry. “With upwards of 35 million passengers a year, a small ‘green’ fee applied to every passenger ticket would generate a new source of targeted revenue to green the industry while sustaining its competitiveness,” said Bakhodir Burkhanov, deputy country director of the UNDP. “These funds can help co-finance, for example, the conversion to electric vehicles in all airport operations across the country, the scale-up of energy efficient technology in all airports, and the introduction of renewable energy to power the growing number of airports.” With year-on-year growth of 14 percent, Vietnam’s civil aviation sector is one of the fastest growing in the world. The aviation sector has been a key driver of the country’s overall economic progress. But its rapid growth puts in jeopardy the achievements of the country’s target to reduce its national CO2 emissions. It is therefore critical to build a competitive, environmentally-responsible industry committed to addressing the climate change challenges of the 21st century. Strategy on environment protection launched A strategy on environmental protection until 2020, with a vision through 2030, has just been launched. According to the plan, management of waste and environment polluting activities will be strengthened in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 2295/QD-TTg dated December 17, 2014. Supervision and inspection will be boosted across high pollution risk facilities, particularly in urban areas, industrial parks, aquatic farming and processing areas, tourism and trading zones along the coast and on islands. The plan will handle the environmental polluting facilities, while taking samples in Vietnam’s sea area. Relevant ministries and localities will develop projects on environmental protection and sustainable use of local resources. Focus will also be put natural disaster forecasting and climate change adaptation to serve socio-economic development in coastal areas and on islands. Monitoring systems will be developed to evaluate climate change, saltwater intrusion and the sea and coastal ecosystem while sea dike systems will be developed in high-risk localities. Efforts will be made to ensure preserve maritime biodiversity and enhance ecosystem’s tolerance to climate change. Other objectives of the plan include developing a database on natural resources and sea environment for relevant ministries, sectors and localities. Special Friendship Ambassador to sponor 100 children in Vietnam The Vietnam-Japan Special Friendship Ambassador, Ryotaro Sugi has decided to sponsor 10 more Vietnamese children from Birla Children's Village in Hanoi, bringing the number of children he has helped over the years to100 children since starting 28 years ago. Ryotaro Sugi, 71, is a well-known actor and singer in Japan has special feelings for Vietnam. He has helped 90 children since his first visit to Vietnam since 1988. During to visit to Vietnam in May, Sugi said he decided to sponsor 10 more in July. Even though Sugi has visited Vietnam dozens of times in the past 28 years, he still shows his excitement when returning to the country. The children at Birla Children's Village welcomed him on May 14. Bearing gifts, Sugi called himself father to all the children and has given both psychological and material support to them. Not only did he upgrade the equipment but he also helped pay for the children's tuition, daily expenses and treatments costs for ill children who had heart diseases or cancer. "I hope you will study hard so that you can find work in Japan in the future. The more I see all of you in Japan, the happier I am," he said. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, a Japanese Language Teacher, was also raised at Birla and met Sugi since she was only nine years old. Sugi said, "When I gave Nga sweets, she didn't eat it but only held it in her hands. I asked her why you hadn't eaten, she told me that she only want to have mum and dad. And I decided to be a father to Nga and all the children there." Thanks to Sugi's help, Nga has a bachelor degree in Vietnam and went to Japan to learn the language. Sugi has been visiting the children at Birla at least once every year. According to Sugi, the children did not have parents' love so he wants to give them at least a father's affection and warmth. Chu Dinh Hiep, Birla's director, said over 500 children had grown up and had their own families. Many of them learned Japanese and have been employed at Japanese firms in Vietnam. To promote Vietnam-Japan relationship, Sugi established the Japan-Viet Nam Cultural Exchange Association in 1991 and Japanese Language Centre in Hanoi in 1995. He was appointed as Viet Nam-Japan Special Friendship Ambassador in 2005. He is the first Japanese who was awarded with Friendship Medal in Vietnam in 1997 and also the first to be awarded a title as honorary citizen in the capital in 2014. Food safety permits hard to get Food service enterprises must apply for food safety and hygiene permits, but many enterprises complain it is too hard to get permits due to complicated procedures. Hoàng Ngọc Tuấn, who lives in HCM City’s District 10, founded a restaurant in 2014. But he still has not completed procedures to get a food safety and hygiene permit. His restaurant is operating in the district’s Lý Thái Tổ Street without a food safety and hygiene permit. He worries that he could be fined if the restaurant is inspected. To get a permit, enterprises must have a lot of different papers, such as the owner’s good health certificate, certificate of food safety and hygiene training, and commitments related to food safety. The most complicated procedure is that a food service enterprise must have a report proving its infrastructure and food processing ensure food safety and hygiene. Because of the difficulties, many enterprises must pay fees for law companies to help them apply for the permit. Research conducted by a Vietnam News Agency correspondent shows each enterprise must pay VNĐ20-30 million (US$800-1,300) to a law firm to get a permit. The Director of the HCM City Department of Food Safety and Hygiene, Huỳnh Lê Thái Hòa, said the city now has about 60,000 food service enterprises. The number of food enterprises is so large, that food safety and hygiene standards have not achieved targeted goals yet, he said. The city does not require food safety and hygiene permits for small restaurants or street vendors. Such places only need to commit to ensuring food safety. But if they violate food safety regulations, they are fined. Relevant experts say the documents guiding the implemention of the Law on Food Safety and Hygiene by concerned ministries and sectors were insufficent. There is a lack of guidance on collecting fees confirming one’s understanding of food safety. Inspection and punishment of small restaurants was not enforced strongly enough. Highway subsidence requires urgent fix The Transport Ministry asked highway investors to take urgent measures to deal with cracks and subsidence found on National Highway 1, which runs from Phan Thiết City in southern Bình Thuận Province to Đồng Nai Province. The ministry said contractors will not be allowed to collect toll fees if repairs are not completed before May 20. The request was made following last week’s ministry inspection of a series of road surface cracks reported by local media recently. The project to upgrade the 114km national highway was funded by Corporation 319 under the Build-Operate-Transfer model at a total cost of more than VNĐ2 trillion (US$89 million). The highway has suffered from subsidence since it opened a year and a half ago. The worse damage includes serious cracks close to toll booths and traffic lights, where vehicles usually stop for a long time, Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported. Highway investors have observed and repaired sunken areas more than than 2.5cm deep by leveling the road to ensure traffic safety. But many new cracks are continuously found on the road. The cracks and subsidence are thought to be caused by the weight of vehicles stopping for a long time and by the effect of heat on the road surface, said Trần Xuân Bình, the deputy director of Sông Phan company under Corporation 319. But many transport experts reject these claims, saying the quality of the road before the highway upgrade was better than the quality of the newly-funded road. These experts blame the sinking on sub-standard construction procedures, poor-quality construction materials, and lax supervision from investors and contractors. Nguyễn Việt Dũng, the director of Sông Phan company, confessed to the inpsection team the slow progress in repairing the road, despite receiving upgrade requirements from the Transport Ministry. According to Đặng Trung Thành, the deputy head of Transport Engineering Construction and Quality Management Bureau, the head of the Transport Ministry inspection team, the ministry set up a specilised team to study the caving in and shifting of the land along the highway, immediately after the cracks were first noticed. He said leveling the road is only a temporary measure. The damages need repair. And traffic safety and construction quality must be ensured during the repairs. The Burea also ordered the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam - and concerned units - to repair subsidence on the road surface of the Đồng Nai Bridge construction project before May 30. The Directorate will propose that the Transport Ministry stop collecting toll fees, unless the damages are properly repaired. HCM City steps up safety at construction sites The HCM City Party Committee has urged relevant authorities to check the safety of all construction works. In a communication on May 12, it said oversight of construction activities and periodic inspections to ensure workplace safety and project quality were less than optimal and so accidents continue to occur at construction sites and nearby areas. To ensure safety and the urban order, district party executive committees should improve oversight of construction works and educate citizens about construction laws, it said. The Party Committee also called on relevant agencies to identify weaknesses in legal regulations related to quality of construction works and recommend amendments to establish proper standards for better managing them. It urged the construction department to collaborate with relevant agencies to inspect construction works. It said district people’s committees should monitor construction projects in their localities to make sure they scrupulously abide by all technical and workplace safety regulations. The Party Committee’s instructions come amid a rash of construction-related accidents nation-wide, especially in major cities like Hà Nội and HCM City, seriously threatening lives. Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Phạm Minh Huân said workplace accidents in the construction industry have increased to alarming levels in recent years both in terms of numbers and losses. Last year it led the country in terms of both number of accidents and deaths, accounting for a whopping 35.2 per cent and 37.9 per cent respectively. The main reasons for the accidents were employers’ low compliance with labour laws and workers’ lack of knowledge, Huân said. Huỳnh Tấn Dũng, chief inspector at the HCM City labour department, said over 500 high-rise buildings are under construction, 300 in densely populated areas, with 200 tower cranes being used. The number of people died in the construction area in the city accounted for between 50 and 65 per cent of the accidents that caused death. This year the city has witnessed 19 workplace accidents, 17 at construction sites. Faced with the dangerous situation, the Department of Construction carried out 18,725 checks of construction works and discovered 500 violations of regulations. In particular, 85 out of the inspected 224 cases were reported without construction licenses. Many were found to be seriously violating technical regulations. In addition to stepping up checks, the department is also co-ordinating with the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the police to educate developers, contractors and workers about legal provisions on labour safety. They will carry out inspections and closely monitor labour safety at construction works to prevent accidents. $8,900 reward offered for reporting smuggling case Any person who provides information to authorised agencies on smuggling or a trade fraud case will receive a reward of up to VNĐ200 million (US$8,900). Under a newly-approved regulation by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, personnel from the anti-smuggling and trade fraud agencies will get financial support of VNĐ100,000 ($4.5) per day if they actively participate in investigating, hunting and catching suspects. In case the person is killed or injured in the line of duty, support equal to the total salary for 10 months will be given. This financial support will be drawn from the State budget. The regulation will be valid from June 26. Food supplier suspended over food poisoning Happy Spoon Ltd Co, which supplies food to workers at the Minh Hưng industrial zone in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, has been forced to temporarily suspended operations after 243 workers suffered from food poisoning. On April 21, workers of the Sung Ju Vina Company in Chơn Thành District fell ill after eating their lunch meal. Six food samples provided by the company and some samples of patients’ vomit were sent to the Institute of Public Health in HCM City for testing. Test results revealed microorganisms in the tofu, which was mixed with meat, had led to the food poisoning. The microorganism that caused the poisoning is called Staphylococcus aureus. The company will be strictly penalised according to the law for the food safety violations. During a probe into the incident, the company told the provincial inspection team that they were on their way to complete documents to get the certification for food safety. The provincial People’s Committee of Hygiene and Food Safety Department has asked the relevant agencies to strictly handle food safety violations. The agencies will publicly announce the names of those units that provide unsafe food to the community. Meanwhile, the market management department in the central Nghệ An province yesterday reported the detection and the seizure of nearly 900 packs of seasoning with the forged trademark of the Miwon Vietnam Ltd Co. The department’s officials seized the goods after inspecting two private businesses in Quy Hop and Que Phong districts. Goods worth VNĐ14.3 million (US$635) were destroyed by the department. The two businesses also had to pay administrative penalties amounting to VNĐ17.5 million ($770). Patient with thalassemia renews vows, this time in public Nguyen Thien Huong, who has an inherited blood disorder called thalassemia, finally got her wish: She and her husband, who have been married for 10 years, took their wedding vows at a public ceremony on International Thalassaemia Day (May 8). The wedding ceremony was sponsored by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. Hương, 36, of the Red River province of Vĩnh Phúc, discovered that she had the disorder when she was 13 years old. She has to receive two blood transfusions each month for the rest of her life. Hương met her husband Hoàng Dũng of Hà Nội 10 years ago. They wanted to get married, but their parents opposed the union. They went ahead with it, anyway. Now, they have a nine-year-old son. After hearing about Hương’s story, Nguyen Anh Tri, the head of the national institute, worked with the Vietnam Thalassemia Association to arrange the ceremony. Tri said that discrimination against patients with a severe form of the disease, which can cause physical weakness, still exists in Vietnam. However, if the disorder, which can be passed on to patients’ children, is detected early, they can live a normal life. Trí said 1,800 patients with the disease had visited the institute for examination and treatment. But only 42 per cent of them had strictly followed the treatment guidelines. The remaining return for treatment only when their symptoms become much worse, he said. Ho Chi Minh City to build smart parking lots Ho Chi Minh City is exploring possibilities to invest in smart parking lots to meet growing demand for parking space, as experts and transport officials gathered at a recent conference in the city to discuss the prospects. The conference on ‘Building En-Parking Systems in Ho Chi Minh City and Southern Provinces’ was co-organized by the municipal Department of Transport and the Association of Bridges, Roads and Seaports, with the attendance of experts and officials. An en-parking system is a cylinder-shaped glass-walled multistory module equipped with a pallet lifting system to raise and lower cars in and out of parking slots. Experts said at the conference that each module occupying an area of 400m2 can accommodate up to 120 cars, which is ten times the capacity of a similar ground parking lot. The cost for installing one en-parking system was estimated at US$3.2 million, and the fee for an hour of parking is expected to be US$1.5. Most conference attendees agreed to the city undertaking to invest in these parking lots, praising their land-efficiency and quick investment time. Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the transport department, said the city would mobilize investment from the private sector to quickly meet public demand. According to Tran Van Chin, chairman of the Management Board of VMC JSC, his company has conducted research to build these smart parking lots at 23/9 Park, Lam Son Square, and Le Van Tam Park in District 1. The city plans to construct a total of 17 bus garages, 15 taxi parking lots, and 42 car parking lots covering a total area of 520 hectares in the coming years, according to Ngo Hai Duong, head of the municipal Division of Infrastructure Management and Operation. Ninety-five high-rises in the downtown area currently have from one to five stories reserved for parking with the total area of over 570m2, Duong said, adding their capacity still fails to meet the real need. Proceedings taken against untruthful release of fish death information Police in the northern province of Thai Binh on May 13 decided to launch criminal proceedings against the illegal use of information on the Internet regarding the mass fish deaths in Con Vanh beach, Tien Hai district, which is worrying the public and hurting local economy. Earlier on May 9, police summoned Bui Duc Hai, 22, native of Quynh Phu district, over the release of untruthful information about the case. Hai admitted that he hatched an idea of posting similar articles about fish deaths with unknown causes, which have been of public interest recently. He confessed to copying four pictures of dead fish and jellyfish and another one depicting a woman sitting on the beach and a dead fish ahead, later fabricating an article claiming that dead fish, oyster and jellyfish are drifting on shore of Con Vanh beach. On July 5 afternoon, Hai posted the article and copied pictures on his website thaibinhplus.vn, which has yet to be licensed by the Ministry of Information and Communications. The case is under investigation in line with the law. Con Vanh is located inside the Red River Delta Biosphere Reserve recognised by UNESCO in 2004. It is blessed with a system of rich and primitive mangrove forests, a well-known tourism area with a 7km-long beach and a 450sq.m swimming area. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri