Social News 19/6 HCMC proposes to demolish 14 old apartment blocks   Co Giang Apartment Block locating in district 1, HCMC has been downgraded seriously (Photo: SGGP). The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction proposed to tear down 14 old apartment blocks within the next five years at conference hosted by the Ministry of Construction in the city yesterday. HCMC has nearly 450 apartment blocks built before 1975. Most of them have the occupancy rate of only 30 percent and 12 blocks are estimated to be dangerous including 11 Vo Van Tan in District 3 and 6bis Nguyen Tat Thanh in District 4, the department reported. The conference was hosted to popularize the Prime Minister’s Directive 05 on reviewing and estimating the structural safety of old housing and public works in urban areas. According to the directive, cities and provinces must complete the review and estimation by the end of this year. VN Photos Exhibition & Film Week to be held in Slovakia Center for Press and International Communications Cooperation (CPICC) under Ministry of Information & Communications in collaboration with Vietnamese Embassy in Slovak Republic will launch photo exhibition and Vietnamese film week, aiming to introduce image of Vietnam to the world, contributing boosting the two countries' traditional, friendly and long-standing relations. Nearly 300 photos and over 100 documentary films produced by CPICC with themes of the relations between Vietnam and Slovakia; Vietnam -Integration and Development; Vietnam's Sea tourism; Vietnam -Country & People; World Heritage sites in Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisines; Vietnamese festivals...will be on display at the exhibition. Visitors will have chance to understand about Vietnam through films and photos. The event will start on June 20 to 26 in Bratislava capital of the Slovak Republic. Vietnamese housing projects to be granted EDGE green building certification Capital House and SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) Vietnam is expected to sign a consulting contract on granting EDGE green building certification to the EcoLife Capitol project in Nam Tu Liem precinct and EcoHome Phuc Loi project in Long Bien precinct, Hanoi. EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) certification is initiated by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – World Bank for emerging markets, aiming at providing on-site solutions for the construction of green buildings.   Nguyen Trung Hoa, director of the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment under the Ministry of Construction emphasised that this trend will significantly reduce the cost of using natural resources and greenhouse emissions. Vietnam government exceeds spending limit again Discussions on weak fiscal discipline began to pop up again after new data revealed that the government in 2014 did not just spend more than it had, but also broke an overspending cap imposed by legislators. At a meeting with the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on June 15, Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung reported a state budget deficit of more than VND260.14 trillion (US$11.5 billion) in 2014, or 6.61% of the country's gross domestic product, local media said. That was an increase of 16.1% from the maximum deficit level approved by the National Assembly that year. Legislators wanted the deficit to stay below 5.7% of GDP. Explaining the higher-than-allowed spending, Dung said many infrastructure projects had to be sped up and the government had to borrow more. He urged the legislature to approve the spending figures so that the government can wrap up accounting work for the year 2014. This practice of breaching expenditure limits is not rare in Vietnam. But this time, many top legislators demanded the government present a detailed report on its spending, otherwise official fiscal figures will not be accepted. "Our finances are not transparent with many unaccounted expenses," Phan Trung Ly, chairman of the National Assembly's legal committee, was quoted as saying at the meeting. "We need to abide by laws; there must be no leniency," he said, calling on the legislature to carefully consider the figures. In 2013, the state budget deficit amounted to more than VND236.76 trillion, or 6.6% of GDP, exceeding the 5.3% cap set by the National Assembly. Under existing rules, the government is allowed to borrow money to make up for its deficit. This year, for instance, it plans to borrow VND254 trillion (US$11.23 billion). Latest figures released by the government last month showed Vietnam's public debt was equivalent to 62.2% of GDP. It will rise to 63.8% at the end of this year, and then 64.7% in 2018, or slightly lower than the threshold of 65%, according to the World Bank's projections. Only one in ten residents believes HCM City is safe: survey Only one out of ten respondents to a recent survey believes that Ho Chi Minh City is a safe place to live, with high crime rates seeming to be a huge factor in the dominance of negative feedback. A Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper contributor conducted a survey of 120 Ho Chi Minh City residents in order to evaluate the city’s security situation, with only 10.8% responding with the "safe" remark compared with 45.8% of respondents who said they believe the southern metropolis is unsafe. The surveyed city dwellers were adults residing in District 1, District 2, District 3, District 7, Binh Thanh District, Tan Binh District, and Go Vap District. Women were more pessimistic about the city’s security than men, accounting for 49.2% of the "unsafe" responses, most likely because most crime victims are female. There were also enormous variations in security optimism by age and residence. The older the respondents were, the more likely they were to give negative feedback with regard to the city’s safety. Similarly, those living in more central districts, such as District 1 and District 3, feel worse about their safety than those in more distant neighborhoods, such as Go Vap District or Binh Thanh District. More than a third of respondents said they witnessed at least one street robbery or bag snatching case in the city, with 37.5% of those living in central districts, compared to 26.8% in remote locations. Moreover, 17.5% of respondents said they were not just eyewitnesses but victims of street crime. More than half of this group of respondents said they felt panic and nervousness after the incident. “Falling victim to a robber was a frightening feeling,” one of the respondents said. “I felt psychologically hurt to see such brazen robbers in a modern city like Ho Chi Minh City and I am terrified whenever I have to go out in the street.” In tracking the root of robbery, 57.5% of the surveyed residents pointed to other social ills, such as drugs, illegal gambling, and online gaming. Another 52.5% of respondents blamed unemployment, and 15% believe the lack of surveillance cameras is a contributing factor. The respondents suggested solutions to curb street crimes, with 55.8% recommending imposing tougher penalties on robbers or bag snatchers and 47.5% calling for more police crackdowns. 45% of the surveyed city dwellers also advised people not to “show off their valuable assets” in public and 43.3% recommended people leave their home with “tools to protect themselves." Finally, 41.7% proposed “learning some basic self-defense techniques” to stay safe on Ho Chi Minh City streets. Curbing crimes is one of the top priorities of Dinh La Thang, secretary of the city’s Party Committee. On February 18, only a fortnight after the former minister of transport took the new position, Thang requested that Ho Chi Minh City police take steps to reduce crime rates over the next three months. The city’s police presented the results of the three-month campaign during a meeting with the Standing Committee of the Party Committee on Tuesday. Le Dong Phong, director of the municipal police department, highlighted at the meeting that criminal offences in March-May dropped 6.83% from the same period last year and 5.40% from the previous three-month period. There were fewer cases of robberies, asset snatching and burglaries.  Murder cases were also resolved more quickly, contributing safety and security for the city, Phong said. However, the police chief admitted that these improvements still fail to satisfy both local residents and the police department. “Despite combating efforts, robberies and thefts are still predominant crimes, frequently occurring in many localities across the city,” Phong said. Local residents and tourists are still frightened by brazen robberies and sophisticated break-ins, he added. Phong said the police force will continue their efforts to reduce crimes. Commenting on the anti-crime campaign, Thang spoke highly of the efforts made by the city’s police, even though the crime rates were only modestly reduced. “What matters is identifying the reasons why criminals are unfazed by the added police effort,” Thang said. The party chief then pressed that the fight against criminals should also be viewed under other perspectives, such as economics, society, and education so that the “problems can be solved at their roots.” Burglar breaks into Hanoi police station, takes gun Police in Hanoi say they are investigating a burglary at one of their stations a week ago in which a gun and a motorbike were taken when all officers were out on duty. The motorbike belongs to Pham Van Chien, head of Nhi Khe Commune’s police station, local media reported. He kept a gun and handcuffs in the motorbike's underseat storage. “All the officers were mobilized to deal with a traffic jam nearby, and they forgot to lock the door,” Chien said of the incident June 8. District police are looking into the case. Education for hearing-impaired children improved The Intergenerational Deaf Education Outreach (IDEO) project has enabled hearing-impaired children from underprivileged families to access essential early education that boost their full growth. The IDEO project is funded by the Japanese Social Development Fund, administered by the World Bank, and implemented by World Concern Development Organisation. From 2011 to 2016, it provided home-based sign language lessons for 255 hearing-impaired children under six years old in Hanoi , Thai Nguyen, Quang Binh, and Ho Chi Minh City . It also helped train hundreds of hearing teachers and people in the use of sign language. The project also launched an interactive website ( http://ideo.org.vn ) to provide online sign language learning videos, sign language vocabulary, games, and other materials on deaf education for hearing-impaired children and their families, educators and the public. A series of short sign language videos is expected to be broadcast on the national education channel (VTV7) to reach out to a wider audience. The project was reviewed by the Ministry of Education and Training and the World Bank (WB) in Hanoi on June 16. Most of hearing-impaired children in Vietnam do not have access to early childhood education and their parents lack professional support, said Achim Fock, the World Bank’s Acting Country Director for Vietnam . According to him, the positive results of IDEO affirm that the support of learning in schools with trained hearing and hearing-impaired teachers and sign language interpreters is essential for the hearing-impaired children to develop to their full potential. Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nghia said that the IDEO project has opened a new and appropriate method to teach sign language for hearing-impaired children and also strengthened the participating schools and other relevant organisations in supporting education for hearing-impaired children in Vietnam . There are about 15,500 hearing-impaired children in Vietnam. Ka Don church comes second at sacred architecture competition Brimming with novel structures such as a tile roof and a wood-framed glass wall system doubling with a series of sliding doors, Ka Don Church in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has won second prize at the 6th International Prize for Sacred Architecture for Christian Religious Buildings worldwide. The church, which features the culture of the Chu-ru ethnic minority group, was designed by architects Vu Thi Thu Huong and Nguyen Tuan Dung. Using simple local materials like pine wood, the church enhances its relationship with nature by the opening of spaces outward. The ecclesiastical building opened in July, 2014 after four years of construction, to offer a place of worship for the faithful. Previously, in 2011, the design of the church won the European Prize for Sacred Architecture. First prize in this recent architectural competition went to the church of San Sebastian in Spain, while the new Saint Trinitatis Church in Germany came in third place, after the Vietnamese entry. The award was held by the Frate Sole Foundation, which was created with the aim of stimulating awareness of the need for excellent churches and with the intention of giving active encouragement to their construction. Vietnam makes first presence in WHO anti-TB advisory group A Vietnamese representative was elected to the World Health Organisation Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis (STAG-TB) for the first time during the group’s 16th meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 13-15. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhung, Director of the National Lung Hospital and head of the national anti-tuberculosis programme, was appointed by the WHO Director-General as one of 23 members of the STAG TB for the 2016-2018 period. He will have the opportunity to continue with the group until 2021. During the meeting, an important topic was to map out a new strategy to eliminate tuberculosis between 2016-2035, Vietnam was mentioned as a leading country in the efforts against the disease. Vietnam has showed strong political commitment to the work with a national strategy against tuberculosis approved by the Prime Minister in 2014, heard the meeting. Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Geneva after the appointment, Prof. Dr. Nhung said the STAG TB has set ambitious goals, with research and renovation being important pillars in the strategy to put an end to the disease. Vietnam , one of the leading countries in the field, will share lessons for the effective implementation of tuberculosis prevention and control, he said. Regarding the new role that Vietnam will play in global efforts against tuberculosis, he said that in recent years, Vietnam’s achievements in the field have been recognised internationally. Each year, over 100,000 tuberculosis cases are diagnosed and treated, with 90 percent of them recovering, he said. Since 2000, the number of cases has been reducing by 4.6 percent annually, higher than the world average drop. With updated treatment technology, nearly 6,000 drug-resistance tuberculosis patients have so far been successfully treated. In 2016, Vietnam started using a new treatment drug and course to tackle the fatal drug-resistance variants of tuberculosis. Highways to use more tech The Transport Ministry is promoting the use of technology in an effort to better manage the country’s highways, a ministry official said. Accordingly, technology will be deployed in non-stop toll collection and vehicle weight supervision. The ministry’s plans were presented last week by Vũ Anh Tuấn, deputy head of Việt Nam Expressway Administration, to ministry officials, the traffic police and transportation experts. So far, 12 highways covering 745 kms have been put into operation nationwide. However, all is not smoooth running. Residents have been removing road barriers, walking or waiting on highways and even opening food stalls along some roads. Controversially high toll fees are also among the problems, experts at the conference agreed. Transport Deputy Minister Nguyễn Hồng Trường said that highways help reduce travel time, cut down expenses and accelerate socio-economic development, security and defence in many regions. However, the management of highways is a relatively new job and has its own difficulties. Nguyễn Văn Nhi, deputy director of Việt Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC), management of the Nội Bài-Lào Cai expressway has been particularly difficult, including challenges in policies, sign systems and user awareness. VEC will continue to cooperate with local authorities to raise awareness among residents living along highways and stiffen punishments for theft and throwing rocks at vehicles, while clamping down on overloaded vehicles and those which pick up passengers illegally on the way, he said. Trịnh Văn Sỹ, deputy head of Hà Nội traffic police, suggested installing cameras to capture license plates of drivers violating traffic laws. Vietnam’s north-to-south trains soon back to full operation The north-to-south train service interrupted by the collapse of the Ghenh bridge on March 20 will be back in operation on June 26. Nearly three months ago on March 20, 2016, the Ghenh railway bridge located in the southern province of Dong Nai was hit by a passing barge and collapsed, causing mass interruption to many train routes. Trains heading toward Ho Chi Minh City from Hanoi have had to stop at Bien Hoa Railway Station in Dong Nai, while those going in the opposite direction have not been able to go further than Song Than Station in the southern province of Binh Duong. The Ghenh bridge in Dong Nai Province is being repaired. Since the incident, many agencies have been involved in the repair of the bridge and restoration of train operations. During the repair process, multiple solutions have been implemented such as a shuttle bus service from Song Than Station to Dong Nai. “Thankfully, the inconvenience caused by the collapse of the bridge will end soon,” Do Quang Van, branch director of Saigon Railways Transport Company, said on June 14, confirming that the Ghenh bridge is scheduled to be put back into service on June 26. According to Van, all routes named TN1, SE3, SE1, SE7 and SE5 will depart from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on June 24 and June 25. The train SNT1 from the south-central city of Nha Trang and SE25 from the central province of Quang Ngai to Ho Chi Minh City will also commence running on June 25. All trains departing Saigon Station will be able to re-operate on June 26, and departure times will be put back one hour, according to Van. Crystal meth kits openly sold in HCM City An increasing number of street vendors and medical shops in Ho Chi Minh City have been openly selling tools used for smoking crystal meth, as authorities struggle to come up with a permanent solution. According to several users, the kits can be easily purchased from cigarette and drink vendors on the streets or at shops that sell medical equipment. At an outlet on Bui Vien Street, in the ‘backpacker area’ of the southern metropolis, users can acquire the tools simply by asking short, direct questions. One vendor quickly produced a glass pipe, about 20 centimeters long, contained in a paper box and offered it for sale at VND35,000 (US$1.6). Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters approached another drinks vendor near the Le Dai Hanh roundabout in District 11 and were offered similar instruments for VND30,000 (US$1.3) each. The vendor in question even demonstrated how to fix cracks in the tools, adding that his shop stocked full kits for smoking crystal meth, consisting of a glass container and pipe, available for between VND120,000 (US$5) and VND150,000 (US$6.7) per set. Crystal meth pipes were also being sold by one sticky rice vendor on Cach Mang Thang 8 Street in District 10, for VND45,000 (US$2) each. “Take a quick look. All of them are the same,” the female dealer said after unwrapping the products. At another store trading in medical supplies on Thanh Thai Street, also in District 10, the instruments are offered for VND20,000 (US$1), with the shopkeeper saying that they were made in Vietnam. The tools for smoking the drug also come in different shapes and sizes, with prices varying dependent on the quality and design of the products. At a street stall selling cigarettes along Truong Chinh Street, Tan Binh District, one woman showed the undercover journalists a glass container that included a flashlight in multiple colors, available for sale at VND100,000 (US$4.5). According to the vendor, the tools are either produced in Vietnam or imported from China. Selling a premium version of the equipment at a much higher price, a nearby shopkeeper named To advertised his crystal meth tool kits with shapes ranging from tigers to a pair of dragons. The sets were being sold for between VND2.2 million (US$98.5) and VND22 million (US$985), To said, adding that they could be used for other stimulants, namely cocaine and marijuana. According to Senior Lieutenant Colonel Vo Van Trai, an official at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Police, regular inspections have been carried out and penalties imposed upon those facilities that were selling the illegal items. First timers are slapped with a predetermined fine amount and given a warning while those who repeat the crime are punished depending on the severity of the individual case, the police official stated. HCM City steps up food safety inspection amid more poisoning cases Ho Chi Minh City authorities are planning to set up a major food safety agency as the number of food poisoning victims has been on the rise this year. The new agency, directly managed by the city's administration, will have more authority in coordinating with relevant agencies and handling violations, according to the plan. The current food safety agency of the city, managed by the Department of Health, has limited personnel and authority, the city’s Interior Department said in the plan. A total of 248 people were hospitalized for food poisoning in the first four months this year, according to the Food Safety Agency. That was nearly equal to the number of patients with food poisoning in 2015. An undated file photo shows workers of a factory in Ho Chi Minh City being hospitalized for food poisoning Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, the agency’s vice chief, said food poisoning has been on the rise in the past five years, mostly involving school and factory meals. Last year, there were 171 cases of food poisoning, killing 23 and sending nearly 5,000 others to hospital. Official statistics show the city of around 10 million people consumes 287,000 tons of meat, 1 billion eggs, one million tons of vegetables and 170,000 tons of seafood a year. Food safety remains a major concern as many farmers and traders are not equipped with relevant knowledge while others deliberately engage in unsafe practices for higher profits. The city can supply up to 20% of its food demand and imports the rest from other localities and abroad, according to the food safety agency. Good luck finding these houses in HCM City If you think moving around in Ho Chi Minh City is tough with all the street crossing nightmares and the traffic rules that do not seem to apply to those running late for work, you clearly have not tried finding one of these houses. In Ho Chi Minh City, houses are numbered following a tree-root style, meaning your address will be determined by how many levels of alley down you are from the main street, with each new level represented by a slash (/). It seems at first glance to be a fairly simple numbering system to remember and follow, but wait until you encounter one of these addresses which reads ‘36/45/32/49/13/54’. That is an actual house number of a household on Bui Tu Toan Street in An Lac Ward, Binh Tan District, where several others are also struggling with the complexity of their addresses. Truong Cong Huan, head of the local neighborhood group, said the long and complex addresses have made it difficult for residents to receive delivery or postal mails. Huan said he had often had to walk all the way to the main street to receive deliveries, while all his mails had to be sent to the local post office, as mailmen could never find his house with such an address. “Not even local ‘xe om’ [motorbike taxi] drivers could find houses in this area, let alone strangers,” Huan said. On To Ky Street that runs through District 12 and Hoc Mon District, houses seem to be numbered at random, as house numbers can jump from 129 to 282, 350, and then drop down to 252 despite sitting next to each other. On several other streets in Nha Be District, Go Vap District, District 12, and District 2, house numbers do not follow any rule, and some homes can even have from two to three numbers. When asked for direction to a house on Nguyen Van Qua Street in District 12, a local resident advised, “You can search for it until next morning without any result if you only know the address. You’re better off staying at one place and call the house owner out to show you the way.” Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the Housing and Office Management Division at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, attributed the problem to uncontrolled urbanization in the past when residents freely divided their land into an interlacing network of small alleys. Hai said local authorities are looking to address the problem by grouping small alleys into neighborhoods with a standardized numbering system. Anti-flooding project in HCMC waiting for approval The Economics and Budget Committee under the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council and some agencies yesterday surveyed an anti-flooding project on the right bank of Saigon river that has been delayed since 2011. According to the HCMC Steering Center for Urban Flood Control Program, the project aims to cope with high tide triggered flooding in Saigon river and climate change to protect 1,600 hectares of urban land with about 25,000 citizens. The project will build 8.2 kilometers of concrete embankment together with drain system from Rach Ngang bridge to Thu Thiem new urban area at the total capital of VND993 billion (US$44.52 million). It locates in Truong Tho ward, Thu Duc and An Phu, Thao Dien and Binh An wards in District 2. Despite being approved since 2011, the project has not been carried out because of boundary overlapping with other projects in the area. Some adjustments have been made to reduce compensation and site clearance costs. Afterwards, the center has five times submitted the adjusted project to authorized agencies for approval with no success from October 2012 to December 2015 although the city People’s Council has approved the investment policy of the project. The center proposed to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to soon access and approve the changed project. Deputy head of the Economics and Budget Committee Nguyen Van Lam required the project’s investor to do more specific surveys and send a document to the city People’s Committee to apply sanctions to individuals and businesses with houses approaching land along the right bank of Saigon river. He asked the center to build the work in accordance with other projects that had been passed before in the area and dyke sections built by local citizens. In addition, the investor and management board of Thu Thiem new urban area should coordinate with investors of other real estate projects alongside the river to build the embankment encompassing Thu Thiem peninsular synchronously, he said. He also required the Department of Planning and Investment to consult for the city People’s Committee to facilitate the attendance by BT (Build-Transfer) investors in the project. Unsafe boats to be suspended operation: Ministry Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has just sent a document to municipal and provincial people’s committees asking to guarantee the safety of tourists who travel on boats. The document said that lately, several serious accidents took place in river; for instance, the ship carrying foreign tourists burst into flames in Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh on May 6 and the ship capsized in Han River in the central city of Da Nang on June 4. These accidents resulted in losses and deaths. This may cause concerns among Vietnamese and international holiday-makers leading to negative impacts on the country’s image and tourism sector. To address the government’s management and ensure tourists’ safety in travelling in rivers, the Ministry urged chairpersons of people’s committees across the country to tighten regulation of river traffic. In addition, related agencies should quickly check the quality of tourist boats and harbors. Authorities must be determined to suspend the operation of the low quality of tourist boats. Over VND8.17 bil spent on reducing poverty in HCMC Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has approved the project for Poverty Reduction in HCMC’s urban in 2016. As per the project, it will support the city’s Statistics Office to conduct a survey on the poverty rate and carry out Vietnamese people’s living standard including immigrants. In addition, it will list poverty households, families whose economic condition is close to poverty line. Moreover, it will build up data of poor households and support the government's all levels as well as issue new mechanism for the city’s living quality and modernization. The United Nations Development Program-funded project costs VND8.17 billion (US$366,285), focusing on supervising and analyzing poverty-related matters to provide information for adopting new policies, poverty-reduction program and eco-society growth from which effectively resolve poverty-related issues. If it is successful as planned, the project will be used to serve for new poverty reduction policies in other cities and urbans. Domestic violence increases in Vietnam Currently the public has raise voice over a question that why family violence in Vietnam has increased in modern time? The rate of divorce over marriage in big cities was 3/1 in 2014. The cause of divorce may be different views in lifestyle, including economic factors, adultery and family violence. Among them, domestic violence accounts for 60 percent of all cases. Domestic violence is culprit of criminal cases; for instance, a man drove the corpse of his son-in-law to police station to give himself up after he had killed his son-in-law because the son-in-law beats his daughter many times. According to statistics of the Committees for Social Affairs showed that 25 percent of spiritual violence takes place in Vietnamese families; around 15 percent women were beaten by her husband; nearly 80 percent of women were insulted by her husband, 70 percent of women were left abandoned and 30 percent of women were forced to have sex by her husband. The consequences of domestic violence caused spiritual hurt; suicide and other consequences. There have been several causes of family violence including drinking alcohol, drug addiction, adultery and difficult economic condition and even wrong conception of gender equality. Hue reinforces waterway safety and improve folk singing Local authorities in Hue has tightened management on waterways safety to prevent possible accidents and improve the quality of folk singing shows on boats. The authorities will inspect business licences, the quality of the vessels, permits as well as the captain's licence before letting boats leave the docks, especially from Thien Mu, Le Loi and Toa Kham docks. There are currently 128 boats on the Huong River that provide folk singing performances. In the coming time, those boats will be required to experience full maintenance every three years. In an attempt to improve the quality of folk singing performances on boats, the local authorities regulated that each programme must be at least one hour long, has at least three traditional instruments, seven to eight actors or musicians. Until now, 457 musicians in Hue City have been granted performance licences that are valid for three years. The local authorities ban boat owners from fighting for tourists, overloading their boats or illegally selling music albums on boats in order to make the folk singing service more professional. Statistics show that over 10,000 shows of Hue singing are held every year to serve 250,000 audiences on Huong River or at local attractions. HCMC to execute phase three of water environment improvement project Phase three of a project to improve the water environment and control floods in the basin of Tau Hu-Ben Nghe-Doi-Te canal in HCMC will be carried out at a cost of VND9.8 trillion (US$438.8 million), according to the city’s proposal sent to the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Components of phase three of the project consist of water drainage and wastewater treatment facilities in districts 7 and Nha Be, as well as rehabilitation and dredging of the Doi-Te canal from the Can Giuoc River to Tan Thuan. The third phase also includes building bridges and roads along the Doi-Te canal. Tran Xuan Soan, Ton That Thuyet, Luu Huu Phuoc, Hoai Thuong, and Nguyen Duy streets and roads running parallel to Pham The Hien Street will be upgraded and expanded. In addition, four bridges along the canal, two bridges spanning the Doi canal and two bridges spanning the Te canal will be also constructed. Total investment capital for phase three excludes VND5.7 trillion (US$255.2 million) needed for compensation, site clearance and resettlement. Relevant districts will be assigned to carry out these works. The project to improve the water environment in the basin of the Tau Hu-Ben Nghe-Doi-Te canal covers 3,060 hectares and comprises upgrading and building sewers, and developing wastewater pumping stations, wastewater treatment facilities and other auxiliary works. The first phase of the project on 910 hectares of the canal basin was completed in 2013. The second phase covering 2,150 hectares has been implemented since 2015 and is scheduled for completion in 2021. The project, which was proposed in the city’s master zoning plan for wastewater treatment systems until 2020, is one of the priority projects in HCMC. The project is expected to help the city better control floods and improve wastewater drainage. Flood control center says hard to employ qualified staff The HCMC Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program has complained that low wages have made it difficult to retain talent and recruit competent employees to efficiently carry out anti-flooding projects in the city. A report the center sent to the HCMC government last week said 70% of its employees earn less than VND4 million (US$179.96) each a month. “With this low pay, it is hard to retain qualified employees and attract experts,” the center said. The center’s director Nguyen Ngoc Cong proposed the city government raise wages for employees of the center. About 226 employees work at the center’s eight functional divisions comprising planning and investment, drainage system control, wastewater management, research and development (R&D) and public relations. It has four management units responsible for urban drainage and public construction. This year, the center has been allocated VND21 billion to cover operation costs, over VND713 billion to maintain the city’s drainage system and VND725 billion for development investment. The center bemoaned that flood control projects have moved slowly due to the 2014 Public Investment Law and time-consuming procedures. Bosch presents new tool for traffic accident prevention Bosch Vietnam said it had recently presented a new tool called ABS which can help prevent motorcycle accidents. Speaking at the ASEAN Automobile Safety Forum 2016/004 organized recently by the New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia (ASEAN NCAP) at HCMC University of Technology, Vo Quang Hue, managing director of Bosch Vietnam, said: “Vietnam has over three million registered motorcycles a year, hence there is a great need to promote safer riding in the country. An innovation such as motorcycle antilock braking system (ABS) is a crucial safety system that is able to reduce the fatality rate”. Analysis of accidents by GIDAS (German Accident Database, 2001-2004) shows that motorcycle ABS is able to prevent a quarter of all serious and fatal motorcycle accidents, the company said. This active safety system prevents wheels from locking, thus keeping motorcycles stable while ensuring optimal deceleration during braking. Motorcycle ABS therefore significantly reduces the risk of falling and shortens the stopping distance when braking hard or when braking on slippery surface. In many countries, motorcycle ABS has been mandated for all new vehicle types with an engine displacement over 125 cc. Currently, the Indian government has announced that motorcycle ABS will be introduced as a standard inclusion for all new vehicle types in India from April 2018. Similar legislation will also be applicable in Japan from 2018 and in Taiwan from 2019. In the Vietnamese market, Piaggio has opted for the Bosch ABS system in its Liberty ABS and Medley ABS, the new motor-scooter generation. Vietnam keen to develop intellectual property Up to 1,000 individuals from institutes, universities and enterprises will be trained on intellectual property from 2016-2020 under a programme which has just been approved by the Prime Minister. The programme aims to raise the awareness of intellectual property rights among units and individuals in the context of the country’s intensive international integration. Under the programme, intellectual property rights will be reserved, managed and developed for 70 signature products of trade villages across the nation. At least 100 enterprises and science-technology organisations will be assisted to build and implement an intellectual property rights management and development model and approved national brands will be helped to register intellectual property rights at home and abroad, among others. To that end, a database will be developed to facilitate the access of units and individuals to information on intellectual property rights. Numerous other activities will also be organised to promote and enhance the value and the competitiveness of Vietnam’s intellectual properties at home and abroad. Phan Thiet Airport construction speeds up South central Binh Thuan Province authorities have stepped up efforts to speedily acquire and clear land for Phan Thiet Airport. Nguyen Ngoc Hai, Chairman of the People’s Committee, said the work has been progressing at a snail’s pace, and ordered relevant agencies to quickly remove resolve all problems related to land compensation payments. The 543ha airport with a 5,000sq.m terminal in Thien Nghiep Commune in the north-east of Phan Thiet will be used for both civil and military purposes. It will be constructed in build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode in two phases with an initial cost of about 5.6 trillion VND (251 million USD). The Phan Thiet Airport will become operational in 2018, initially capable of handling small aircraft like ATR72 and F70 and 500,000 passengers annually. By 2030 it can handle large aircraft such as A320s and A321s and serve a million passengers. Binh Thuan has commissioned Rang Dong JSC to build the civil section of the airport at a cost of more than 1.64 trillion VND (73.5 million USD). The airport is expected to bring in more investors and tourists by connecting Phan Thiet City with the rest of the country. According to the chairman of the commune, Tran Tu Minh, local residents are looking forward to the construction of the airport because while the commune is mainly agricultural it can only grow one crop a year. “Construction of Phan Thiet Airport will create favourable conditions for Thien Nghiep Commune to develop tourism and other service sectors and revamp its production system,” he said. Ninh Thuan present gifts to poor households The Good Neighbours International (GNI) in Vietnam and Ninh Thuan People’s Committee presented gifts to poor households in Bac Ai and Ninh Phuoc districts. More than 500 gift packages of necessities for daily life were given to poor households in Phuc Trung commune in Bai Ai district, while households in need in An Hai commune in Ninh Phuc district received water tanks of 500 litres and primary schools and health centres got 10 tanks of 1,000 litres. According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, from the beginning of this year, many consecutive sunny months have left many localities in the province short of water for production and daily use. As of now, Ninh Thuan has over 1,600 households with 6,045 people in need of water for daily use, 31,433 households with 129,159 people in need of food aid, more than 9,600 hectares of land unfit to cultivate and 3,200 animals have died of dehydration. Earlier, the provincial People’s Committee decided to announce a state of drought disaster at 34 communes in Ninh Hai, Ninh Phuc, Ninh Son, Thuan Bac, Bac Ai and Thuan Nam.- VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri