Social News 18/2 HCMC chairman sets deadline for Thu Thiem site clearance   Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong instructed the management board of Thu Thiem new urban area and relevant agencies to complete site clearance this year at a working session with the board on February 16th. Deputy head of the board Nguyen The Minh reported that site clearance has been stuck with 84 cases comprising three religious establishments. Compensation has met with difficulties because early last year the city’s inspectorate sent a document asking the board to solve petitions involving many people.  Therefore, the board has just mobilized to reclaim land from six cases. The low site clearance has affected citizens’ life as well as investor attraction, slowed construction progress, increased loan interest and resettlement housing management costs. That together with incomplete compensation in District 1 has been reasons for the behind schedule building of Thu Thiem 2 bridge. The bridge’s piles in the middle of the Saigon River have not been built because the wharf of Ba Son shipyard has not been removed.  So far, 150 land plots totaling 185 hectares at Thu Thiem new urban area has had investors and been implemented. Of these, 101 plots will be used for payment of Build-Transfer projects with the total value of VND32 trillion (US$1.41 billion), 24 plots for building public works with state budget without land use fee collection. Twenty five plots will be invested under the form of land delivery with land use fee collection expected to approximate VND8,061 billion ($354.04 million).  The remaining of 26 plots over 36 hectares is expected to bring VND11 trillion ($483.12 million) in land use fee. Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong asked the board to choose investors for these 26 land plots as per plan and instructions by the city Party Standing Committee. Relevant sides should synchronously manage infrastructures to connect Thu Thiem with District 2 and determine directions for the new urban area’s administrative management model and smart urban area management center from now.  The board consulted city leaders about solutions to handle unused resettlement housing fund. Loans for construction of Thu Thiem new urban area has topped VND16 trillion ($703 million) but the value of the remaining 26 land plots nears only VND11 trillion.  Meantime, the resettlement housing fund has been built with demand lower than supply providing a total of 10,529 apartments. Of these 4,903 have been built and transferred to District 2, of these only 3,296 apartments have been arranged for dwellers. The remaining unused apartments have put a burden on management and loan payment. Mr. Phong says that the city will propose the Government to solve the unused apartments to prevent them from running downgraded and reclaim stagnant capital because the matter comes within the Government’s jurisdiction.  Projects have been approved and implemented in Thu Thiem new urban area comprise technical infrastructure for the 38.4 hectare resettlement area in Binh Khanh Ward, four main roads in the new urban area, a central square and riverside park, an eco-forestry park, an embankment along the Saigon River circling the new urban area, Thu Thiem 2 bridge, canal dredging and digging of a central lake and new canals.  All green tree parks have yet to have investors. The board’s leaders have auctioned land plot no 7-1 to build hotels and resorts which have so far attracted registration by eight large businesses. Tougher penalties on food safety violators Head of the Committee for Cultural and Social Affairs Thi Thi Tuyet Nhung proposed tougher penalties on violators of food safety regulation to curb the unhygienic food in the district 1. At a meeting with People’s Committee in district 1 on February 16 upon food safety, Ms. Nhung expected the district administration to develop what its has achieved as well as increase information of food safety not only in traditional markets but also in street eateries and food caterers for industrial parks ands schools. Deputy Chairwoman of people’s committee in district 1 Nguyen Thi Thu Huong said that in 2015 and 2016, the district has implemented the guideline of food safety by organizing month-long action campaign of the matter by varieties of activities aiming to raise people’s awareness of food safety. The district cleared the makeshift markets including markets in Ton That Dam Street, in an alley in Nguyen Van Trang Street and in sidewalk in Co Giang Street. The district concentrated on developing supermarkets. Inspectors conducted quick tests to ensure fresh food sold in markets. Before, the Committee for Cultural and Social Affairs under the municipal People Council’s also liaised with managers of Ben Thanh Market in District. The committee delegators inspected the origin of food and vegetables in the market. Ms. Nhung hoped that the market management board will enhance traders’ awareness of safe food and provide training to staffs, shop assistants to win customers and travelers’ trust. Roundabout in front of Ben Thanh Market will be demolished The HCMC Management Authority for Urban Railways will start on February 18 to demolish Quach Thi Trang Roundabout and the central bus station in front of Ben Thanh Market to make room for building Ben Thanh Central Station as a key component of the first metro line. From February 18, work will start on a massive scale on the central station project, said a representative of Project 1 Management Unit, which is building Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line. The area in front of Ben Thanh Market will be off limits to vehicle traffic. Ben Thanh Station will include four basements at a depth of 30 meters. The first basement will house a ticket lobby, an office and a control room. The second one will be used as the platform of the metro line, while the third one will be used as a transship ticket lobby afterwards. The last basement will be the platform of the second metro line to be constructed later. The underground station will stretch from the area in front of Ben Thanh Market to September 23 Park. During the construction process, the HCMC Department of Transport will have some traffic adjustments to prevent congestion. Vehicles will be banned on Pham Ngu Lao Street from Yersin to Tran Hung Dao Street. Yersin Street will become one-way in the direction from Tran Hung Dao Street to Pham Ngu Lao Street and Le Thi Hong Gam Street. Similarly, Ky Con Street will be one-way from Le Thi Hong Gam to Tran Hung Dao. Vehicles are not allowed to stop over or park from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Calmette Street from Le Thi Hong Gam to Tran Hung Dao, Tran Hung Dao Street from Quach Thi Trang Roundabout to Yersin Street, Ky Con Street and Yersin Street from Le Thi Hong Gam to Pham Ngu Lao. Can Tho to build Hung Kings Temple The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has announced a project to build Hung Kings Temple, reports Tuoi Tre newspaper. Can Tho is the center of the delta, so the temple will be a sacred place for people from around the delta to come worship the country’s founding fathers. The city will spend an estimated VND50 billion paying site clearance compensation, which will be sourced from the city government, businesses and individuals. The temple will cover nearly 3.7 hectares at the administration zone of Binh Thuy District and take three years to complete. Tran Viet Phuong, director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City, said the city would hold a contest to select the best design for the temple. Hospitals can share medical test results before July 1 Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has asked the Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Medical Association to develop a roadmap to share medical test results among first-grade hospitals and mutually recognize such results before July 1, 2017, the Government Office said. Deputy PM Dam required the Ministry of Health to promptly complete the guidelines to implement the test results management project in 2016-2025. By January 1 next year, test results from special-grade and first-grade hospitals should be shared. In addition, the Vietnam Medical Association is told to appraise and make public the quality of hospitals including such clinics’ testing quality in accordance with criteria of the Ministry of Health. Many experts highly appreciate the connection of hospitals’ computer systems to share medical test results as it will reduce expenses for patients and save doctors’ time. Moreover, it will help address cases in which some hospitals refuse to recognize test results of others. Ministry unit wraps up report on construction of Mekong Delta bridge The Ministry of Transport’s Project Management Unit No 7 has finished an investment report on the proposed cable-stayed Rạch Miễu Bridge No 2 over the Tiền River in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta. The bridge, which will link the provinces of Tiền Giang and Bến Tre, will cost around VNĐ3.5 trillion (US$160 million), be 16 metres wide and have four lanes. Unit No 7 proposes to build it under the public-private partnership mode if official development assistance (ODA) funds are not available. The bridge will actually consist of two sections: one of around 1.8 kilometres from Mỹ Tho City in Tiền Giang to the Thới Sơn sandbank, and the other of 600 metres from the sandbank to Bến Tre. Rạch Miễu Bridge No 2 will be three kilometres upstream of Rạch Miễu Bridge No 1. After the Cổ Chiên Bridge linking Trà Vinh and Bến Tre provinces was built in 2015, the number of vehicles going over Rạch Miễu Bridge No 1 to HCM City from Trà Vinh and neighbouring Vĩnh Long Province during holidays has increased sharply. The Ministry of Transport has tasked Unit No 7 to also raise money to build the bridge.  Thua Thien – Hue: fishermen effectively use compensation    Most fishermen in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue have effectively used their compensation for the marine environmental incident, according to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Dinh Duc. Beneficiaries in Phu Vang district and Phu Loc district mainly spent their money on buying fishing tools and upgrading their fishing vessels, Duc said. Phan Tuoc from Thuan An town, Phu Vang district has three offshore fishing ships. He received 440 million VND (19,360 USD) in compensation. He used the money to pay his employees, repair his ships, and buy fishing tools. During a three-day offshore trip, his first in 2017, he caught five tonnes of fish, including 500 kg of tuna, and earned 150 million VND (6,600 USD). Tran Ven from Loc Tri commune, Phu Loc district spent 100 million VND (4,400 USD) of his compensation to repair his ship. He plans to use the second batch of compensation to buy more fishing tools to fish for tuna offshore. According to Nguyen Van Phuong, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, in the second-phase payment of compensation, the province will receive 200 billion VND (8.8 million USD). The locality urged localities and relevant bodies to complete the payment of the first batch while finalising the list of affected households for the second batch. As of February 15, 18,114 out of 19,900 affected households have received compensation worth nearly 322 billion VND (14.17 million USD), accounting for over 80 percent of the total compensation of 400 billion VND (17.6 million USD) in the first phase. Phong Dien district distributed nearly 29 billion VND (1.27 million USD) for 2,046 beneficiaries, Quang Dien district paid over 25 billion VND (1.1 million USD) to 1,329 people; Phu Vang district over 129 billion VND (5.67 million USD) to 7,031 people; Phu Loc over 126 billion VND (5.54 million USD) for 6,156 people; and Huong Tra town over 19 billion VND (836,000 USD) for 1,552 people. In late June 2016, Taiwan-invested Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Limited Company admitted responsibility for the environmental incident, which affected the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. It pledged 11.5 trillion VND (500 million USD) in compensation. The Ministry of Finance transferred 3 trillion VND (134 million USD) to the localities in the initial phase. Of the amount, Thua Thien-Hue got 400 billion VND (17.6 million USD), Quang Binh 1.1 trillion VND (48.5 million USD), Ha Tinh one trillion VND (44.1 million USD), and Quang Tri 500 billion VND (22 million USD). Child dies from meningococcal disease A 30-month-old child with meningococcal meningitis died on Monday, prompting health officials to take preventive measures against the spread of the disease. The child, from the city’s District 8, was admitted to the Pediatrics Hospital No 1 last Friday with a high fever, headache and skin rash, Nguyễn Hữu Hưng, deputy director of the city’s Health Department, said on Wednesday. After six hours of treatment, doctors were unable to save the life of the child. Samples of blood and cerebrospinal fluid were collected and sent to the Pasteur Institute in HCM City for testing, Hưng said. Nguyễn Trí Dũng, director of the Preventive Medicine Centre, said “People who had close contact with the patient received antibiotics to prevent them getting the infection.” “The centre is also closely monitoring the area for cases of meningococcal disease within the last 10 days so that early diagnosis and treatment should be given to infected people,” he added. Meningococcal disease, which is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitides, is spread to other people who have had close contact with the patient. A vaccination, as well as good hygiene practices, can help prevent the disease, Hưng said. Household poverty in northwest region falls 3.4 percent in 2016 The northwest region of Vietnam recorded stable socio-economic development in 2016 with the household poverty rate dropping by 3.4 percent from the previous year.  The Steering Committee for the Northwest Region reported the situation in the region to a delegation of the National Assembly’s Council for Ethnic Affairs at a working session in Yen Bai on February 17. The region comprises 12 provinces (Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Phu Tho and Tuyen Quang) and 21 western districts of central Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces.  Over 62 percent of the region’s population of 11 million are ethnic minorities. The Steering Committee reported that the local material and spiritual life continued to be improved last year thanks to the enforcement of many policies such as those on infrastructure building, medical and educational services promotion, water supply, legal aid, and resident resettlement. All communes in the region have also far been accessible by car while 92 percent of the households have been connected to electricity. However, transport infrastructure has yet to meet the development demand, the committee admitted, adding that unplanned migration still continued, involving nearly 4,500 households between 2011 and 2016. The Committee asked for help in manpower training and job provision, and more investment in transport facilities, especially roads connecting villages and linking communes with provincial and national roads. It also urged a law on ethnic groups to be built. Chairman of the NA Ethnic Affairs Council Ha Ngoc Chien spoke highly of the committee’s efforts, stressing that the northwest remains the poorest region in Vietnam. He requested the committee to review the effectiveness of existing policies and programmes targeting mountainous regions and ethnic minority groups, and suggest ideas about developing human resources and training ethnic minority officials. Yen Bai develops agro-forestry-fishery product processing    The northern mountainous province of Yen Bai aims to develop comprehensive raw material and hi-tech processing facilities to boost the development of its agro-forestry-fishery sector. According to the province’s industrial development plan to 2020, with a vision to 2025, the province will focus on the processing industry, developing trademarks and expanding markets for local products. Yen Bai is blessed with material resources for wood processing, with 430,000 hectares of forests, including nearly 300,000 hectares of production forests, producing more than 450,000 cubic metres of wood and over 25 million bamboo trees. Between 14,000 – 15,000 hectares of new forest are planted every year.  Currently, there are 104 wood processing facilities, with a combined annual capacity exceeding 176,000 cubic metres, and hundreds of other wood peeling and slicing facilities, producing over 200,000 cubic metres per year. However, most of them use low-tech production lines, resulting in low quality products. To improve this situation, the province wants investment in producing high-quality furniture for export, aiming to increase an annual capacity to 300,000 products. The wood processing sector aims to earn 850 billion VND (37.4 million USD) by 2020, and double this by 2025. The province has also zoned off areas for industrial tree plantation to produce raw material for wood processing. The province has more than 11,000 hectares of tea trees, mainly in Van Chan, Tran Yen, and Yen Binh district, producing 85,000 tonnes of tea per year. It also has over 40,000 hectares of cinnamon trees, producing over 7,400 tonnes of dry cinnamon bark. Its 16,000 hectares of cassava also produce more than 300,000 tonnes of cassava per year. Van Yen district has huge potential for agri-forestry processing. The district has 30 firms, cooperatives and over 70 households involving in processing cinnamon; six firms and cooperatives, and over 1,000 households processing cassava; and 15 firms, cooperatives, and 70 private facilities processing timber. The district aims to earn 900 billion VND (39.6 million USD) from industrial production by 2020. According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, there are 99 tea-processing facilities with a combined daily capacity of 1,200 tonnes of fresh tea leaves, producing over 25,000 tonnes of dry tea per year. The four local cassava processing factories also produce 66,000 tonnes of flour per year. The province has 13 cinnamon oil extracting factories with a total annual capacity of 955 tonnes, and 120 family facilities. Yen Bai aims to develop its local facilities while calling for investment in hi-tech processing factories to use its huge supplies of raw material and increase the quality of its products. The province also wants investment in processing camellia fruits and bamboo shoots, in an effort to raise the economic value of these products to 50 billion VND (2.2 million USD) by 2020 and 200 billion VND (8.8 million USD) by 2025. Several cattle meat processing facilities will be built with a combined capacity exceeding 3,000 tonnes per year. Death in the air: Pollution-related fatalities see sharp rise in Vietnam Air pollution fatalities in Vietnam are the second highest in Southeast Asia, a new study has found. A new environment study paints a very bleak picture of Vietnam, measuring its air pollution as the second deadliest in Southeast Asia in terms of the raw number of premature deaths. Deaths attributable to dangerous air particles in Vietnam jumped 60% from 26,300 in 1990 to 42,200 in 2015, according to the report issued jointly on February 14 by the Health Effects Institute, a Boston research institute focused on the health impacts of air pollution, and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle. In Southeast Asia, the country's fatalities came second only to Indonesia’s, the study found. Vietnam has the third largest population in the region. Ambient particulate matter ranks fifth among risk factors for total deaths around the world, after high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and high cholesterol. Ambient air pollution is measured by the concentration of PM2.5, a fraction of the width of a human hair which is released from vehicles, industry, as well as from natural sources like dust. Pollution in Vietnam worsened between 2000 and 2005, but improved later and thus stayed almost unchanged over the surveyed period. The study named India as the world’s new deadliest country as its rapidly worsening air pollution has surpassed China’s. About 1.1 million people die prematurely each year in India, with nearly a 50% increase in premature deaths from particulate matter between 1990 and 2015, the study found. It found air pollution worsened in most parts of South Asia but improved in the United States and Europe, thanks to policies to curb emissions. Can Tho to host Mekong Delta farm festival next month      The first International Agriculture Festival and Fair of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta will be organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology from March 9 to 13 in Can Tho City. It will feature 300-500 booths set up by local and international exhibitors operating in agricultural and agricultural-related sectors. The event aims to support agricultural development in the delta through research and use of technology and building trademarks. It will include an exhibition of farm produce and technologies, a seminar on using technologies to improve productivity and quality, a programme to connect suppliers and buyers of agricultural technologies and equipment, a cooking contest, and other events. Truong Quang Hoai Nam, deputy chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, said the festival is an important event that would create opportunities for enterprises, scientists and officials to meet, share experiences and enhance co-operation in research and use of technology to increase the agricultural sector’s competitiveness. In a letter to the organisers, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said amidst the farm sector’s restructuring efforts to increase value addition and ensure development in line with the new-style rural area building, the festival is expected to promote smart production in the region as envisaged by the Party and State. The delta, which has 13 cities and provinces, plays an important role in the country’s agrarian economy, accounting for 80 per cent of rice exports and nearly 60 per cent seafood exports.  Book on Hanoi’s Renewal process debuts A ceremony was held by the Hanoi municipal Party Committee on February 14 to launch a book entitled ‘Hanoi – 30 years of Doi Moi (Renewal) and Development (1986-2016)’. The chief authors of the book are Dr. Pham Quang Nghi, former Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee; and Professor, Dr. Phung Huu Phu, Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council and former Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee (PCC)’s Commission for Communication and Education. Articles featured in the book were written by professors, doctors, scientific researchers and journalists who have a strong attachment to and special sentiment for Hanoi. At almost 700 pages, the book is divided into five chapters, providing readers with an objective and comprehensive overview of the capital’s achievements during 30 years of the Renewal process. The book focuses on highlighting the results in Party building, socio-economic developments, urban management, defence and security, and international co-operation. The appendix, which consists of 32 pages of photos, features outstanding activities held in Hanoi before and during the Renewal process. Most notably, numerous articles openly point out the limitations and shortcomings in all fields that the capital must overcome as well as valuable lessons for managers. The book is expected to raise awareness of the great achievements that Hanoi’s Party, government and people have gained over the past 30 years as well as the city’s contributions to national construction and development. HCMC copes with chickenpox In these days, cases of chickenpox have surged in medical facilities in Ho Chi Minh City and the trend is forecast to rise in the next time. In the Children Hospital No.1’s Infection Ward, since the beginning of the year, inpatients with chickenpox have reported to reach 24 and many of them have suffered serious illness though it is early in the chickenpox season. Head of the Ward Dr. Truong Huu Khanh said that in recent years, the rate of adults who get disease is much more than children. Before, children in kindergartens and primary schools were usually infected with the disease, now adults in the age of 25 - 30 have chickenpox and then transmit to kids. In the Children Hospital No.2, cases of chickenpox taken to the hospital continuously skyrocketed after the Tet holiday ( the Lunar New Year), the hospital treated 240 outpatients and six inpatients. Head of Infection Ward Dr. Do Chau Viet explained unpredictable weather resulted in increased cases of chicken pox and complicated development. Chickenpox develops in Vietnam during transition from spring to summer, usually lasting from February to June. Peak season falls in April and May and widely spread. Accordingly, medical experts forecast without preventative measures, the disease will break out widely in the next time. The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health issued warning of the chickenpox. Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine Tran Dac Phu said that chickenpox is an acute disease caused by Varicella Zoter virus which causes a blister-like rash. The virus spreads easily from people with chickenpox to others who have never had the disease or been vaccinated. The virus spreads mainly by touching or breathing in the virus particles that come from chickenpox blisters, and possibly through tiny droplets from infected people that get into the air after they breathe or talk, for example.  A person with chickenpox can spread the disease from 1 to 2 days before they get the rash until all their chickenpox blisters have formed scabs. Chickenpox is usually mild and passes without causing any serious problems, said medical workers, but sometimes complications including skin infections, lung infections, and infections of brain or nerves can occur. Chickenpox can cause deaths on little children, blood cancer kids, or else children will suffer serious encephalitis. Therefore, parents should absolutely spread any drugs on rash without doctor’s prescription to prevent infections. Dr. Khanh warned that the older people are, the more chance people get the disease seriously. Deputy Head of the municipal Department of Preventive Medicine Dr. Le Hong Nga said vaccine is the best way to prevent the disease. Women should inject vaccine against chickenpox one month before becoming a mother. People should wash their hands before feeding kids. HCMC to improve farmers’ income with biological technology Chairman of the Vietnam Biology Association Professor Nguyen Lan Dung suggested Ho Chi Minh City to apply biological technology in agricultural development at a meeting with city Party Chief Dinh La Thang on February 13th. Talking about the overview of the country’s biological technology procedure, Professor Dung pointed out the strength and the weakness of the agriculture sector in the city and the city position in comparison with the agriculture in the world. He mentioned the importance of the technology in agriculture as well as provided consultation of models and applications for the government rural area development  plan in HCMC. To help improve the agriculture sector, Professor Dung proposed HCMC to set up a plan for a factory to plant seaweed in freshwater. Another thing suggested by Professor Dung was to invite Taiwanese experts who will give consultation on raising virus-resistant virus. Last but not least he convinced the municipal authority to transfer from growing rice to growing fresh vegetables in outlying districts. Party Chief Thang thanked the professor for the his practical suggestions and asked relevant agencies and the Biotechnology Center in HCMC to work with the professor and his Association to make research and application of biology into production, aiming to improve farmers’ life. Biological technology not only plays a vital role in limiting greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural activities but also boost farm productivity which help increase farmers’ income, said Party Chief Thang.  Accordingly, he asked the Association and Professor Dung to enhance researches and create genetically modified foods for long-term strategy as well as build connection between areas of growing trees and areas to process materials.  At first, the city place orders for researches on orchid seeding plants and milk cow. Scientists should make researches on orchids seeding plants and milk cow to raise productivity, aiming to raise farmers’ income especially those in outlying districts Can Gio and Cu Chi, said Party Chief Thang. Weird weather causes massive damage for nearly 39,000 hectares of fruits Unseasonable rains and cold weather influenced agricultural production and caused extreme damages for farmers in the southeastern region for previous couple days. According to the Dong Nai Agriculture Extension Center, nearly 20,000 hectares of cashew plantation in the province were dry and its fruits were fallen, including around 1,582 hectares of cashew trees were inflicted with disease of Colletotrichum gloeosprioides and 2,039 hectares were completely destroyed by stinkbug. Additionally, baby mango fruits fell from trees in an area of nearly 7,000 hectares and durian flowered prematurely in an area of around 12,000 hectares and that was estimated total damage of  nearly VND 10 billion.  To deal with the unusual weather and complicated disease, the provincial Agriculture Extension Center collaborated with Department of Agriculture and Rural Development have often opened courses of training and instructing technology for caring and preventing diseases for trees. Pink eye outbreak reported in North Vietnam Since early February, 2017, there have been increased cases of pink eye disease in the North Vietnam, said the National Eye Hospital. The hospital said that more people with pink eye disease have arrived in the hospital for examination and treatment since early February. The hospital admits 150-200 pink eye patients each day and most of them are kids and adults with weak resistance. Medical workers said the disease usually breaks out in September and October annually but it unpredictably occurred in early this year. Patients are most residents in Hanoi and its neighboring provinces. Dr. Hoang Minh Anh from the National Eye Hospital said that the virus causing the disease has been spreading widely in the air in the present weather; hence many people who catch the disease have spread it to others through respiratory droplets,  saliva and shaking hands. To prevent the wide spreading, medical workers warned people with the disease not to contact with others and stay at homes. Once experiencing serious illness, they should go to nearby medical facilities for treatment without buying drugs of their own choice because there are many eye drops in the market containing corticoid which can reduce eye sight without doctors’ guideline. Overpass to go up at Dau Giay Intersection Work started on Sunday to build an overpass at Dau Giay Intersection where national highways 1A and 20 meet, which will ease congestion at a major traffic hotspot in Dong Nai Province when completed in early 2018. The four-lane overpass at Dau Giay Intersection is constructed along National Highway 1A, including 10 spans of 34.6 meters in length and 16 meters in width each. Auxiliary facilities will also be built at the junction to smooth traffic and allow vehicles to travel at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour. The project to upgrade Dau Giay Intersection is part of a project to upgrade and expand National Highway 20, which connects Dau Giay in Dong Nai with Bao Loc City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. BT20-Cuu Long Joint Stock Company as the contractor, which joined forces with the authorities of Dong Nai Province to break ground for the project, will also widen a 1.5-kilometer-long section of National Highway 20 in Thong Nhat District of Dong Nai Province from Dau Giay Intersection towards Dalat City. The road section measuring 20.5 meters in width has four lanes for automobiles and two lanes for rudimentary vehicles, in addition to roadside drainage ditches, and lights along the median strip. The project requires a total investment of around VND299 billion (US$13.2 billion) sourced from the remaining capital of the restoration and renovation project of National Highway 20 stretching from Dau Giay to Bao Loc. It is scheduled for completion in March next year. Dau Giay Intersection is the converging point of national highways 20 and 1A, and Provincial Road 769. Therefore, traffic is very heavy there. The expansion of National Highway 20 will contribute to the growth of the new urban area in Thong Nhat District, said Tran Van Vinh, deputy chairman of Dong Nai Province, at the launch ceremony. When the intersection upgrade project is in place, the chronic traffic congestion in the National Highway 1A section through the province will be eased. Earlier, the National Highway 20 upgrade and renovation project was earmarked a total investment of VND5.26 trillion (US$231.7 million). Completed in April 2015, its remaining capital is around VND1.2 trillion (US$52.8 million). Dong Nai Province got the go-ahead from the Ministry of Transport to use the capital for construction of Dau Giay Intersection in order to reduce traffic congestion there. The money is also used to build a 15-kilometer-long bypass around Bao Loc City with an aim to reduce heavy trucks driving through the city center. National Highway 20 through the provinces of Dong Nai and Lam Dong is the main road linking HCMC and the Central Highlands. More than VND2 trillion planned for rural vocational training The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to spend over VND2 trillion on vocational training in rural areas in 2017-2020, focusing on sectors supporting agricultural restructuring and high-tech agriculture. Ma Quang Trung, head of the Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said around VND400 billion will be disbursed in 2017, including VND250 billion from the State budget, VND145 billion from provincial coffers, and the balance from other sources. Besides, the Government calls for private enterprises to invest in rural vocational training to ease the strain on the State budget. According to Decision 71/QD-TT, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development targets to give training to 1.4 million rural laborers until 2020, including one million people getting short-term training courses of less than three months and 400,000 others undergoing more in-depth training. The training programs will be made more practical to suit the actual situation in each locality. “Farmers cannot practice high-tech agricultural methods without training from enterprises and co-operatives. We will supervise and guide enterprises and co-operatives to ensure effectiveness. 2017 will be the year for working out high-tech agriculture models,” Trung added. Some large corporations actually have their own training centers. The ministry will coordinate with these centers to provide workshops for rural workers by financing their training programs.   VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE