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Social
News Headlines 22/4
Vietnamese
authorities are looking for ways to help millions of overseas Vietnamese
maintain their nationality as the deadline for the regulation approaches,
said a spokesman for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In accordance with
the Nationality Law 2008, overseas Vietnamese who do not have valid
Vietnamese passports, or who had Vietnamese nationality before the law took
effect on July 1, 2009, must re-register with Vietnamese agencies in the
country where they reside in order to maintain their citizenship. The
deadline for re-regislation was set for July 1 of this year.
However, only
around 6,000 out of the total 4.5 million overseas Vietnamese have completed
so far. The figure is much lower than was expected.
“Relevant
authorities are checking into the issues related to the procedures before
working out the best solution to ensure the legal rights and benefits for
overseas Vietnamese communities,” Spokesman of the Vietnamese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Le Hai Binh noted.
Dr. Nguyen Quoc
Vong, an overseas Vietnamese living in
“The regulation
that requires overseas Vietnamese to re-register to maintain their
citizenship is irrational. I decided to return to
Recently, Nguyen
Thanh Son, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the State
Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, said most overseas Vietnamese do
not pay much attention to the requirement for re-registration because they
think they are Vietnamese by default.
“They don't want to
lose their nationality but keep it freely and naturally without being
controlled by burdensome regulations . We’ll propose the removal of the
deadline for re-registration and make it an open issue,” he added.
An old condo
building at the corner of Dong Khoi and Le Thanh Ton streets in HCMC’s
District 1 is being demolished to make room for construction of the city’s
new administrative center, according to HCMC Housing Management and Trading
Company, the investor of the project.
The property in an
18,000-square-meter area bordered by Le Thanh Ton, Pasteur, Ly Tu Trong and
Dong Khoi streets will be removed in preparation for the project. However,
the head office of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee at
Some experts have
suggested retaining a number of works with historical values in the area but
the investor said that only the building at
Nguyen Trong Hoa,
director of the HCMC Development Research Institute, said that the new center
comprises of the offices of departments and the HCMC People’s Committee.
Local government
suggested that the ground floor of the current head office of the People’s
Committee will be upgraded into a public space for cultural activities.
Offices will be placed at the first floor and neighboring buildings.
Hoa said that the
city would attach importance to conservation of architectural and historical
values and a friendly space connecting local authorities with residents in
building the new center.
The city’s
government has told relevant agencies to repair a building on
Minister of
Transport slams the rail industry
The minister of
Transport, Dinh La Thang, strongly criticised the rail sector for its
disorganisation, something which has been widely complained about by
customers.
The problem was
discussed at a conference on April 18 on improving the transport capacity of
rail lines, waterways and air in order to ease the overload of roads.
Although many customers want to switch to other means of transport, most are
frustrated with the rail sector.
The director of
Sugarcane and Sugar Corporation No. 1, Vu Thi Huyen Duc, said, "We
signed a contract to transport 10,000 tonnes of sugar over one week, but
still haven't been given a schedule." Duc had to seek help from the minister
of transport.
Do Doan Hung,
Director of Habac Nitrogenous Fertilizer and Chemicals Company, said,
"It as if the railways are monopolised and don't want to cooperate with
us. They haven't come to transport our goods for a week so we're thinking of
shipping by boat."
Vu Ta Tung,
Director of Saigon Railways, said that the rail sector must take advantage of
this opportunity. In responses to customer complains, the director of Hanoi
Railways, Nguyen Van Chung, said the export route to
Minister Dinh La
Thang accused the sector it self of laziness. He said, "Basically, we
have to improve infrastructure. New plans and strategies must be created to
solve these problems. The sector must improve their capacity, make
administrative reforms and prevent corruption. We have to go after customers,
not sit in one place and wait for them to come to us."
According to the
minister, they can fine firms that do not want to unload their goods and
provide discount policies for customers that allow nighttime unloading. He
also said the railway sector should accept contracts based on their
capabilities.
Cold fronts
and heavy showers sweep across the country
The
The southern
provinces will be experiencing sunny days with thunderstorms and showers in
the evenings with tornadoes, strong wind, and lightening.
The south will
experience temperature highs of 33-35 degrees Celsius and lows of 25-27
degrees Celsius.
Thanh Hoa and Binh
Thuan provinces will experience hot, sunny weather on April 21-26 with
following temperature drops and rain.
VND2.7
billion scholarships for students in
The Southwestern
Region Steering Committee and Quoc Van Education Investment Corporation are
gifting VND 2.7 billion (US $128,113) fo 15 scholarships to impoverished
students in the Mekong Delta.
Each scholarship is
worth VND 180 million (US $8,540) third-year students in Quoc Van Seniro High
School in Can Tho City. Scholarship winners will receive accommodation, food,
and tuition fee exemptions.
Public
works to be removed for downtown metro station
Public works in
front of the Opera House in downtown HCMC will be relocated by May 1 to make
room for construction of an underground section of Metro Line No. 1, which
connects Ben Thanh Market and
The HCMC government
has told the Department of Transport to regulate traffic in the area to
ensure work on the metro section will not cause congestion and affect
business activities.
The 17km elevated
section of the metro line along
Regarding this
section, Package 1B from the station in front of the Opera House to Ba Son is
having difficulty picking contractors as just one contractor participated in
a tender for this section.
The city government
has told the Department of Transport to upgrade
Lighting systems
will also be arranged in order to harmonize with the lighting at the statue
of President Ho Chi Minh and the City Hall as well as surrounding establishments.
The Department of
Transport has proposed a plan to keep the existing old trees and plant new
ones along the streets nearby.
The city’s
Environmental Protection Fund has announced 100 points for citizens to place
used batteries, light bulbs, chemical containers and other hazardous waste as
part of a program to help protect the environment.
The fund maintains
the program until April 20 after a successful week last year when it
collected some 1,245 kilograms of hazardous trash from households in the
city. The collection points this time are in districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, Binh
Thanh and Phu Nhuan.
The organization
said that the HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment had plans
to carry out major campaigns in July and November this year to gather
hazardous garbage from households.
Apart from
households, the city sees around 500 tons of hazardous waste coming from
enterprises and around 12 tons of medical waste from hospitals and clinics
every day.
The hazardous trash
can be classified as oil, lead-acid batteries, light bulbs, chemicals,
printing ink, waste from processing leather, feather, wood, paper, weaving,
dyeing, medical and metallurgy scrap.
According to the
Due to ineffective
treatment, such waste is impacting on the environment and causing cancer,
fetal malformations and other fatal diseases for the public.
The conferences
will cover a range of topics related to people’s daily lives and feature
experts and doctors of the hospital such as Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tan
Cuong, Dr. Le Tien Dung, Dr. Pham Chi Lang and Dr. Vo Dang Hung.
The conference on
osteoarthritis is scheduled for this Saturday at Liberty Central Saigon
Riverside,
International
Hi-Tech Healthcare
Normal
service resumed at border gate after shooting
The situation has
returned to normal at Bac Phong Sinh border gate in the
Seven people were
killed in the assault, including five illegal Chinese immigrants and two
Vietnamese border guards.
Normal service has
been resumed after the shooting at Bac Phong Sinh border gate (Photo:VNA)
Provincial
authorities instructed relevant agencies to take control of the situation to
ensure social stability and the lives of border guards and people there.
They confirmed the
shooting was not a terrorist attack.
Chairman of the
provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Doc visited and provided financial
support to families whose relatives lost their lives or were injured in the
assault.
Relevant Vietnamese
agencies handed over 11 illegal Chinese immigrants and five dead bodies to
the Chinese side according to the two countries’ laws and international norm.
Two Vietnamese
border guards were killed and four others were injured in the shooting. The
injured are receiving intensive medical treatment at Hai Ha district hospital
and they are showing signs of recovery.
Chinese officials
are verifying the case.
Officials
exhorted to walk in public's shoes
Public officials
need to put themselves in the positions of constituents so they can deal with
their cases more responsibly, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at
his meeting with the Reception Office of the Party Central Committee
yesterday.
Saying authorities
in certain localities had shirked their responsibility, he requested the
Government Inspectorate form groups that would inspect officials in State
agencies and localities in charge of meeting with constituents and dealing
with claims.
He also urged local
leaders to organise meetings with constituents where they would listen to
their opinions in order to protect their rights and avoid group complaints.
Participants at the
meeting attributed the recent deluge of complaints to the fact that the
Government's policies, especially those concerning housing and land use, were
irrelevant to reality or inconsistent. However, they said, many localities
had failed to address constituents' concerns.
During the first
quarter of the year, the Party Central Committee's Reception Office received
5,180 constituents with claims, an increase of over 76 per cent compared to
the same period last year.
The number of group
complaints sent to the office also increased by more than 23 per cent.
Waste
recycling day raises awareness of 3Rs
The seventh annual
Waste Recycling Day was held in Ho Chi Minh City on April 20, aiming to raise
public awareness of reducing, reusing and recycling waste – known as the ‘3Rs’.
Organised by the
municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the event
attracted thousands of students and young people from every corner of the
city.
Nearly 30 pavilions
at an exhibition during the day were set up to feature various environmentally
friendly recycling technologies and products, along with places for the
exchange of recyclable waste for goods.
In addition to
guiding local people how to classify solid and recyclable wastes, the
organising board showed documentaries related to recycling waste in
Dao Anh Kiet,
Director of the department, said through the collection of hazardous
household and solid wastes, the event aims to encourage local people to
conduct 3R activities to protect the environment, and transform the city into
one of the leading localities in the country for limiting the burial of waste
in the ground.
Minister
issues warning on overloaded vehicles
Transport Minister
Dinh La Thang has reiterated the need for strict checks to prevent overloading
of trucks and threatened severe punishment for any ministry staff found
receiving bribes.
His comments came
at a meeting held on Thursday to review the performance of the Directorate
for Roads of Viet Nam in an inspection drive launched earlier this month on
load-carrying vehicles.
"Transport
companies that follow the rule on trucks' carrying capacity will not be able
to compete with those who violate the rule and carry more load than
allowed," he said.
Therefore, checking
the weight of trucks is a way to level the field, he added.
Thang said that the
ministry will mete out tough punishments for wrongdoings.
"I promise to
hand out serious punishment if the information on the ministry's staff
receiving bribery is correct," he said.
Yet another adverse
impact was highlighted by Bui Danh Tu, deputy director of Yen Bai Department
of Transport, who said that the Highway 70 section running through his
province had degraded seriously because of overloaded trucks.
Do Xuan Hoa,
General Secretary of Viet Nam Automobiles Transport Association, said that
there are many trucks that transport up to 100 tonnes of construction
material although they are only allowed to carry 22 tonnes.
"We strongly
support the Government in taking aggressive measures so that road transportation
can be improved," he said.
He also noted that
consumers would be affected when trucks are forced to follow the rules on
load carrying because prices of goods would increase.
"But, if we
don't control seriously overloaded trucks, the roads will be damaged and it
is people's tax money that is used to repair and rebuild them," Hoa
said.
Khuat Viet Hung,
head of the ministry's Transport Department, informed the meeting that in 15
days, some 11,000 trucks were checked and 2,100 found carrying excessive
loads.
VN pushes
for forest law pact with EU
Deputy Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said at a national consultant
workshop on the FLEGT VPA on April 17 that negotiations for the agreement
should be finalised to facilitate the trade of Vietnamese wooden products
entering the EU market.
The FLEGT Action
Plan, approved by the EU in 2003, came into effect in March 2013, as one of
the EU's responses to international concerns about illegal logging and
trading.
The plan sets out
measures to combat illegal logging and trading.
The implementation
of the FLEGT VPA aims to establish control and licensing procedures in timber
producing and processing countries to ensure that only products made from
legally harvested timber enter the EU.
Products licensed
the FLEGT or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES) are considered to be legally harvested.
He added that the
agreement would allow Vietnamese timber exporters to apply for the FLEGT
licence with
"The move
would help the exporters avoid situations where they have to bring products
back home if they fail to prove the legality of products to the EU
administrations," he noted.
Exporters could opt
either to apply for the licences in
Head of Viet Nam's
Standing Office for the FLEGT and Lacey Act, under the agriculture ministry,
Nguyen Tuong Van said that
Last year, it
posted a $5.5-billion export turnover in timber products, having exported to
over 100 countries, and the EU was one of its leading export markets.
Van commented that
Vietnamese timber
enterprises imported 40-50 per cent of raw materials, she noted, and
complicated domestic timber flows and different timber sources made it
difficult to control illegal logging, making Viet Nam a high-risk exporter.
"This fact has
urged the country's action plan to adapt, improve awareness and develop a
legal frame work and timber legality assurance system," she added.
These negotiations
would help
Head of the EU
delegation to
It would help
ensure that Vietnamese timber and products could continue to access the EU
and other markets, he remarked.
Viet Nam Timber and
Forest Product Association vice chairman Nguyen Ton Quyen said that improved
awareness and understanding about the FLEGT VPA was necessary for forest growers,
wooden-furniture producing villages and small processors and dealers.
He added that the
implementation of the FLEGT VPA would involve multiple ministries, agencies
and organisations for evidence in field, including customs, taxes, export
permit and product flow.
He urged
co-operation among them to ensure a smooth procedure that would save time and
costs for enterprises.
Prime
Minister calls for holiday traffic safety measures
Prime Minister
Nguyen Tan Dung has urged ministries, sectors and localities to prepare
measures to ensure road safety and tackle traffic jams during the upcoming
holidays for Liberation Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1).
This year,
Liberation Day and May Day together with the weekend will make up a five-day
holiday.
Many people travel
at this time of year, leading to more traffic jams and accidents during the
holidays in the country.
According to the
PM, more traffic officers and inspectors would be on duty during the holidays
at railway, ferry and coach stations, as well as on key transport routes,
which were likely to experience congestion.
Dung urged for more
inspections and supervision to take dangerous vehicles off the roads.
Accident hot spots
and bridges, particularly in rural areas, should also be checked and repaired
where necessary.
During the holiday,
More than 100
people died and 185 were injured in traffic accidents throughout
Police reported
that they handled 41,000 traffic violations during last year's holidays.
Fines totalling more than VND20 billion (US$948,000) were collected. Most
violations involved overloaded coaches and speeding.
Photobook
assists sight-impaired kids
A photobook of more
than 100 black-and-white images of children has been produced by a local
photographer to raise funds for
The photos by Tran
The Phong, now on display at the school, show beautiful moments of visually
impaired children at study, play and at home.
"My
photography aims to encourage people to give more to children who have visual
impairments. Most of them are from poor families and live in difficult conditions,"
said Phong, a member of the city's Photographers Association.
Some of the
black-and-white photos, including Tinh Ban (Friendship) and Hon Nhien
(Innocence), depict happy and smiling chidlren.
Phong's photobook,
Vuot Qua Bong Toi (Crossing the Dark), promotes a message of love and
compassion.
"I want to
support these kids so they can live more confidently and be happy," said
Phong, who spent several months on the project.
The photos used in
the exhibit will be donated to students and teachers at the school.
Sponsored by the
South African Consulate in
"Phong's
photos left a very strong impression on our teachers who have worked hard to
provide their kids with love, caring and training," said Ha Thanh Van,
headmaster of
"Although
Phong's photos are in black and white, we can see a colourful rainbow in his
art," she added.
Van said the school
was struggling financially to improve its facility.
More than 200 blind
children aged six to 23 from the southern region of the country attend the
school, which has 20 classes from the elementary to junior-high level.
Lessons are taught
in Braille or by audio cassettes. Fees are VND100,000 to more than VND250,000
a month, except for poor children whose families cannot afford to pay.
The 30 teachers,
who are all well-qualified, receive a monthly salary of VND2 million (US$96).
"The task of
teaching the children is not an easy one. We teach them maths, music and
painting, reading and writing, but it is equally important to understand and
prepare them for life in society," said Van.
The special exhibit
at the school is open every day from 8am to 6pm and ends on May 2.
City customs seize
drug precursor
According to the
municipal Express Delivery Customs Department, the 2.9 kg package was sent by
an individual from the southernmost
The sender declared
the package as dried cashew nuts and instant tea.
Skin
disease kills another person in Quang Ngai
A skin disease of
unidentified origins has killed another person in the central
The first case of
the disease, called foot and palm dermatitis by the Ministry of Health, was
discovered in April 2011. Since then, more than 230 people have been affected
by the disease.
The patients belong
to the Ba To and Son Ha districts.
The province has
registered one case of relapse and a new case since the beginning of this
year.
The latest victim,
14-year-old Pham Thi Huy, was from
Huy was the first
to contract the disease in her village.
The Ba To District
Medical Centre, in coordination with the provincial Department of Health,
examined more than 90 villagers, and diagnosed 13 as having increased liver
problems.
All residents of
the Ba Nam Commune will be medically examined today.
Two
motorbike drivers killed in bus collision
Two people were
killed this morning after being struck by a bus, whose driver was cited for
careless driving and speeding in central
According to a
witness, the bus was traveling through the Dinh Huong crossroad at 8 am this
morning when it struck a motorbike. The witness described the bus as being
driven in a reckless manner and speeding as it went through a red traffic
light. A man was reported to have been killed at the intersection.
The bus continued
after the first crash, striking a second motorbike and killing its female
driver, identified as a resident of the province's Dong Cuong Commune.
The identity of the
male victim has not been released.
The police are
investigating the incident.
Fisherman's
body found in Quang Nam
The body of a
fisherman, who went missing after his coracle capsized in Dien Duong Commune
in
Chairman of the
commune, Tran Minh Hoang, said yesterday local rescuers found the body of
Nguyen Mau, 55, a day after the accident.
He said Mau and
five other fishermen were paddling a coracle to their fishing vessel a few
hundreds metres off the coast on Wednesday evening when a big wave struck the
bamboo boat.
Five of the
fishermen managed to swim to shore, but Mau went missing.
A US Senate delegation
led by Senate President pro tempore Patrick Leahy visited and presented gifts
to disadvantaged people, including victims of dioxin, in the central city of
Danang on April 19.
They symbolically
gave 18 wheelchairs to the handicapped, four chairs to mentally retarded
children, and 18 hearing aids to needy people in Hoa Vang district.
They also visited
and presented gifts to a farmer family in Bau Bang village, Hoa Vang
district, whose two children were disabled.
The gifts were
funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and channeled
through the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH).
Earlier the same
day, President Leahy attended the launch of a thermal desorption system at
Danang airport to clean up dioxin-contaminated soil.
At a working
session with municipal authorities, Leahy said his visit was to inspect
US-funded projects on dioxin remediation and address the needs of victims of
unexploded ordnance (UXO).
He said the
Conference
encourages innovation in education
A conference was
held in Ha Long city, northern Quang Ninh province, on Aril 19 to review a
ministerial-level programme on education management innovation in
international integration.
Delegates looked at
change and innovation in educational organisations at all levels, and
suggested ways to carry out the inevitable process of change with as much
success as possible.
Dr. Trinh Thi Anh
Hoa, deputy head of a research centre for education management, proposed
enhancing information dissemination about ongoing education reform efforts,
aimed at meeting students’ needs and the country’s development requirements.
She said it is
necessary to build a forecast system on training need, develop an integrated
training model for students from different schools and professions, and
design a standard quality assessment system.
For his part,
Doctor of Science Pham Do Nhat Tien suggested universalizing primary and
secondary education, and developing a network of vocational high schools
alongside gifted schools.
The national
education system should be regulated by law and by-law documents, and
education and vocational training development policies.
He also said it is
critically important to have special policies on education management in
regions experiencing unusual difficulties and those with high ethnic minority
and social policy beneficiary populations.
The final round of
a singing contest for Vietnamese students in
The event was
attended by the Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Luong Thanh Nghi and a large
number of Vietnamese students studying in
The audience was
enthralled by sparkling, dramatic performances from 13 famous universities
including Ballarat, Deakin, Monash, RMIT, La Trobe and Baxter.
Ambassador Luong
Thanh Nghi spoke highly of the MOVSA ‘s initiative to host the event and
expressed his hope that they will continue to excel in study, contributing to
promoting the country’s land and people to Australian friends.
Nghi also awarded
certificates of merit to the MOVSA, and Dang Thi Huong who won the
prestigious award foreign students from the state of
Established 10
years ago, MOVSA GALA has become an annual music playground for Vietnamese
students in
Dry spell
causes water shortage
More than 1,600
households in Tinh Ky Commune,
Droughts usually
affect water resources in June and July but this year the dry spell has come
early.
Many of the
residents in the commune, which has a population of over 10,000 people, are
being forced to buy clean water for cooking and household use.
Nguyen Thi Tam, who
sells clean water from her shop, said most local households had wells, but
many were contaminated.
Deputy Chairman of
the Tinh Ky Commune People's Committee, Nguyen Xi, said the water shortage
would become more serious with summer fast approaching.
The committee had
invited companies to conduct a survey in order to drill more wells, but they
could not drill because water sources in the commune remained contaminated
with alum, said Xi.
The committee has
asked Quang Ngai authorities to quickly create a plan to supply water to
local residents.
Building of a
reservoir in the commune had been planned, but there was a shortage of funds
for the VND5 billion (US$238,000) project, said Xi.
Wild
mushrooms send 9 to hospital
Nine members of a
family were treated at
The victims were
H'mong residents of Sin Suoi Ho border commune in Phong Tho District of Lai
Chau Province.
Officials report
that the head of the household, Vang A Hoa, had gathered nearly 1 kg of white
mushrooms in the forest. After eating the mushrooms, the family members
developed symptoms, including vomiting and dizziness.
The family members
are improving after receiving medical treatment.
Officials have
repeatedly warned residents not to eat mushroom of unknown origin from the
forest.
The Viet Nam Food
Administration estimates that about 60 people were killed in the past five
years due to mushroom poisoning.
Family of
missing Vietnamese gets help
The Vietnamese
Embassy in the
Phan Ngoc Thanh,
born in 1985 in Ca Mau Province, boarded the ferry with her Korean husband
and their two children to seek employment on
Thanh and her
husband are missing, along with their six-year-old son. Their five-year-old
daughter was the youngest survivor of the disaster.
The embassy also
sent officials to the accident site to learn more about the incident and
support Thanh's family.
Nonprofit
funds reproductive care
The non-profit organisation
Maries Stopes International will contribute US$15 million to provide sexual
reproductive healthcare services and family-planning products and services to
The services are
expected to help create 5.5 million CYPs (Couple Years of Protection) for
more than 8 million people by the end of 2015, the organisation said.
The CYP is the
estimated protection provided by a particular contraceptive method (such as
an intra-uterine device or an oral contraceptive) during a one-year period.
CYP is used to
measure programme performance, and is calculated from data that programmes
routinely collect.
It reflects
distribution and is a way to estimate coverage and not actual use or impact,
according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which uses
the measurement.
Last year, Marie
Stopes in
The investments for
the CYP effort come from businesses in
Marie Stopes
International works with
Korean,
Vietnamese students promote exchange
Fifty-seven
students from the
These students from
While staying in
the capital city, the students had the opportunity to gain valuable life
experiences, deepening their understanding of the cultural and historical
values of the Vietnamese people. They even took some time off to practice
Vietnamese martial arts (Vovinam).
They visited a
number of museums, cultural heritage sites and tourist destinations in
At the graduation
ceremony on April 18, a representative of
The Hanoi-based
university has maintained exchange programmes with its Korean counterpart
over the past six years.
National
action plan on green growth released
The Ministry of
Planning and Investment on April 18 announced a national action plan on green
growth, aiming reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of clean
and renewable energy.
Deputy Minister
Nguyen The Phuong said that green growth is an important goal in the
country’s industrialisation and modernisation, and the world’s common
development tendency of green production, environmental protection and energy
conservationin the 21st century.
It attracts the
attention of the international community as well as domestic and foreign
development organisations as it focuses on support and cooperation in coping
with climate change, a global issue, he added.
The official said
that
He urged businesses
to apply environmentally friendly technologies to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, saying that they are a decisive factor in the country’s green
growth strategy.
Representatives
from international organisations shared their experience in studying and
implementing green growth-related activities in different countries, and
affirmed their continued support for
Experts from
The seminar is part
of a cooperative agreement between the two localities’ Departments of Science
and Technology to share real experience in solar energy technology
application and promote technology transfer.
Delegates presented
solar energy development trends in
A representative
from the HCM City Energy Conservation Centre introduced
Phan Minh Tan,
Director of the municipal Department of Science and Technology, said the city
has implemented a number of scientific technological programmes on energy and
encouraged businesses to invest in developing new and renewable energy. However,
the new energy industry is in its infancy and lack funding.
The seminar is
expected to help domestic businesses access new solar energy technologies and
acquire opportunities to cooperate with Chinese partners in this field.
At the seminar, the
China-ASEAN Technology Transfer Centre and Guangxi province’ businesses
shared experience in developing solar energy in
WB improves
sanitary conditions for
A safe water supply
and rural sanitation project, funded by the World Bank (WB), is being
implemented in eight Red River Delta provinces from 2013-2017.
The project aims to
help local people in Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Quang Ninh,
At a meeting with
the WB working delegation on April 18, Ha
However, limited
financial support for poor families is one of the main causes for slow
progress of the project.
The provincial
leaders proposed the WB increase finance and raise subsidies for poor
families to ensure the project is undertaken on schedule.
The WB delegation
shared experience in implementing the project, such as management and
operation of water supply stations post-investment and land clearance
compensation for local people.
They asked the
province to pay more attention to the quality of water sources and
information dissemination to raise local people’s awareness of environmental
sanitation and implementation process.
As scheduled, an
additional 10,000 households in Ha
People's
needs should guide forest allocation
The people and
community should be given priority in the forest allocating policy to help
ensure social welfare, reduce poverty, and improve the efficiency of land use
and forest protection.
This was jointly
agreed by participants at a recent conference on the role of forest
allocation in restructuring the forestry sector, which was held in Ha Noi
recently by Tropenbos International Vietnam, Forest Trends and Sustainable
Forest Management Institute.
According to the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,
The policy of
allocating forest land to households living in the areas has been launched
for over a decade, improving the livelihoods of local residents, and
protecting the ecosystem.
However,
Dr To Xuan Phuc, an
expert from Forest Trends, an international non-profit organisation promoting
sustainable forest management, claimed that one of the key reasons was the
people's lack of access to production land and concurrently, some SFEs were
not able to generate effective economic use of forest land due to a shortage
of human resources coupled with poor means of production, among several other
factors.
The participants
also raised concerns that in some localities, the authorities allocated
forest land belonging to SFEs to private companies instead of using them for
poverty reduction efforts.
Nguyen Van Tien,
the head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Areas of the Party
Central Committee's Economic Commission, remarked that the management of
forests should be reformed and transferred from the state to households and
communities living around the forests.
He pointed out that
the management capacity of the beneficiaries, forest conditions,
infrastructure, and the state investment policies must be meticulously
evaluated.
Moreover, there are
rising concerns over the issue of some local governments being rather slow to
allocate land to the people for production. Currently, there are about 3.2
million hectares of unallocated forest land under the management of People's
Committees of communes.
The forestry
restructuring scheme targets that the state agencies manage 50 per cent of
forests nationwide instead of the current 60 per cent.
Farmers
abandon fish ponds as snakehead prices plunge
Hundreds of
households in southern
The problem was
exacerbated by oversupply and a rash that leaves many fish with ulcerated
skin.
So far, more than
one million fish have died from the rash and from problems caused by high
density farming.
Farmers in the
province are reported to have suffered individual losses of between VND80
million and VND500 million ($3,800-23,800).
Nguyen Van Ut,
Chairman of the People's Committee in Tra Cu District where fish farms
dominate, said that nearly 2,000 households in the district had raised
snake-head fish on about 200 hectares of water.
As supplies started
flooding to market, the price of fish fell from VND42,000 (US$2) to VND26,000
($1.23) per kilo. However, production costs were reported to be VND30,000
($1.4) per kilo.
Ngo Van Nghiem, a
farmer in Tra Cu District's Dinh An Commune, said he earned VND100 million
($4,760) in five months of raising snake-head fish last year.
But this year was a
big failure. Nghiem said traders only paid between VND27,000-28,000
($1.28-1.3)d per kilo. In the ponds stocked with the rash-affected fish, the
price was even lower.
Phan Van Giang,
another farmer in Ngai Xuyen Commune, complained that he quit his sugarcane
field to dig a fish pond to raise snake-head fish. He saw villagers getting
rich from raising fish last year. Profits were 50 times higher than from
farming sugarcane.
But he had created
nothing but debt.
Tran Van Dong,
deputy director of the district's Sub-department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, said the authority had warned farmers of possible diseases and
losses after farmers in the districts of Tra Cu, Tieu Can and Cau Ke removed
their crops to dig fish ponds last year.
The provincial
authority has asked agricultural officers to guide farmers on switching to
other crops, such as green shrimps or tilapia.
Clam farmers in
The Cuu Long (
The farms are in
Chau Thanh, Cau Ngang, and Duyen Hai districts.
At current prices
of VND23,000-28,000 (US$1.09-1.3) for a kilogramme of clam, the farmers stand
to make a profit of nearly 50 per cent.
Nguyen Van Sanh,
chairman of the Dong Tien Clam Co-operative in Cau Ngang, said his
co-operative expects to harvest more than 400 tonnes this season, 40-50
tonnes higher than in 2012-13.
The co-operative
has a 40ha farm.
If prices remain
stable at around VND25,000, each member will earn a profit of VND10-60
million ($476-2,800), according to the co-operatives.
Tra Vinh has around
1,200ha of coastal alluvial grounds and 800ha are suitable for clam farming.
Since 2005 the
province People's Committee has encouraged locals, especially poor families
without crop lands, to set up clam farming co-operatives and co-operative
teams in these areas.
The co-operatives
and teams have attracted more than 21,000 members, 6,000 of them poor, who
have managed to rise above the poverty level now.
Last year the
province approved a plan to farm clam and blood cockle for export on an area
of 1,500ha in Cau Ngang, Duyen Hai, and Chau Thanh districts.
The VND750 million
($35,700) programme provided clam fry and farming techniques to poor farmers.
Central
Highlands aims to give more land to ethnic communities
Central Highlands
provinces are striving to provide farmland and residential land to almost all
ethnic minority households in the region by 2015.
According to the
Steering Committee for the Central Highlands, there are more than 30,000
ethnic minority households in the region in need of farmland and residential
land, which amounts to 17,000ha.
The worst
situations have been recorded in Gia Lai, Lam Dong and Dak Lak provinces, due
to the underperformance of local authorities in devising measures to overcome
land deficiencies. Meanwhile, spontaneous migration has put further pressure
on land provision.
To tackle the
problem, the regional provinces plan to reclaim agricultural and forest land
that has been used inefficiently or for the wrong purposes in order to give
it to the target group.
The localities will
continue to involve communities in protecting forests, while providing them
with jobs at plantations and offering them vocational training.
Since 2002, the
Central Highlands provinces – Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Lam
Dong – have provided over 30,000ha of land for some 74,970 ethnic minority
households.
Thai Nguyen
discusses poverty reduction programme
A conference has
been held in the
The locality is
home to seven ethnic minority groups, residing in 1,985 hamlets with over
660,000 people, and making up nearly 60 percent of the total provincial
population, the function on April 18 heard.
Work has already
done to improve the lives of local people. As a result of the 2012-2015
ethnic development work, the ratio of poor households was reduced to 15.9
percent in 2013 from 27 percent in 2011, while 80 percent of the population
gained access to clean water and 62 percent of schools met the national
standards.
Local authorities
have prioritised investment to building infrastructure and supporting
production for poverty-stricken Mong families. Twenty out of the 47 hamlets
where Mong people live see over 40 percent of households living under the
poverty line.
Participants cited
lack of education in these areas for low living standards and said
inefficient poverty-reduction work there was responsible for the high
proportion of poor households.
Local authorities
plan to build 18 agriculture and forestry models worth 555 million VND
(26,085 USD) at 12 poor Mong-inhabited areas in Dong Hy, Phu Luong, Vo Nhai,
and Dinh Hoa districts.
Relevant agencies
were asked to increase the number of officers involved in ethnic development
work to help the beneficiaries during the realisation of ethnic policies in
the coming time.
Gateway for
soldiers, supplies to
Located in Yen Bai
city, capital of the northern mountainous province of the same name, 200km of
Hanoi, the Au Lau wharf is one of the most famous historical relics
associated with the Dien Bien Phu victory as it is a gateway for
reinforcement and supplies to the Dien Bien Phu campaign 60 years ago,
reported radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV).
The Au Lau wharf
remains busy today. For nearby residents, the sound of boats evokes the
glorious years of the anti-French resistance and its pinnacle - the victory
of
Sixty years ago, Au
Lau wharf was a pipeline for reinforcement and supplies to the
Pham Trung Ton was
one of the ferry drivers in those days. For him, memories of those hard days
in Au Lau wharf remain fresh: “At about 4 in the afternoon, both banks of the
river were crowded with ferries and boats carrying artillery, weapons, and
soldiers. People were very excited. Artillery and heavy weapons were
transported by ferry at night. At the time, enemy planes dropped bombs and
flares, but the soldiers were very brave”.
Au Lau wharf was
the place from which a bicycle transport team from Phu Tho province carried
rice to Pha Din Pass. Au Lau wharf was also the place where soldiers of a
regiment brought heavy 105-mm artillery for transport to
Da ng Ngoc Chi, 87,
a former political commissar of Company 395, still remembers clearly the
soldiers marching through Au Lau 60 years ago.
“At that time, the
only way to the battlefield was to cross the river at Au Lau wharf. The enemy
were heavily bombing that area. We were assisted by hundreds of local boats.
Within an hour, our regiment crossed the river to advance to the battle
field,” he said.
During the
From April, 1952 to
May 7, 1954, when the
“We mobilised
hundreds of boats to assist the transport of weapons, ammunition and
soldiers. During the day, we hid the boats, and rowed them when night fell.
It was dangerous but we were all determined to do this work,” said
85-year-old Nguye n Thi Phe, a resident in Nguyen Phuc ward, Yen Bai city.
“Everything for the
victory" was the motto of everybody who worked at Au Lau wharf.
In 2012 the wharf
was designated a national historical relic site. A monument was built to
commemorate the glorious past and remind younger generations of the historic
significance of the site. Au Lau wharf will always be a symbol of resolute
spirit and a source of pride for Vietnamese people.
Capital
city sponsors Dien Bien’s school building
Secretary of the
Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi on April 20 presented the city’s 10
billion VND to the northern mountainous
Nghi, who is
accompanied by other officials in a working trip to Dien Bien, also met with
provincial leaders.
He praised their
efforts to develop the locality and preparations for the celebration of the
upcoming 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, which helped end
French colonial rule in
By giving spiritual
and material support to Dien Bien, Ha Noi and the rest of the country have
shown special sentiments to the land of revolutionary tradition, he said.
On the occasion,
the municipal Fatherland Front Committee presented 1 billion VND to poor
students in Dien Bien.
Lo Mai Trinh,
Secretary of the provincial Party Committee thanked
Also on April 20,
Nghi and the
Quang Ninh
starts to connect Van Don island with grid
The
The work, which is
expected to be completed by 2015, will be undertaken by the Electricity of
Vietnam and the Northern Power Corporation, which sent representatives to the
launching ceremony.
The beneficiaries
include Quan Lan, Minh Chau, Ban Sen, Ngọc Vung and Thang Loi communes.
Over 311 billion
VND is poured into the project, of which 100 billion VND comes from the
provincial budget, 100 billion VND from the Electricity of Vietnam and the
rest of 112 billion VND from the Northern Power Corporation.
Vice Chairman of
the provincial People’s Committee Do Thong said the project boasts immense
political, social and economical meanings, helping realise the development of
the Van Don Special Economic Zone in the future.
Van Don was
selected by the Vietnamese government to grow into a special administrative
and economic zone.
It is the biggest
island in the north of
A Van Don special
administrative and economic zone is seen as the driving force of economic
growth in Quang Ninh, contributing to the locality’s transition of an economy
based on agriculture to one of tourism services.
The province
outlined preparatory steps. By 2015, it will complete the legal framework,
administrative structure and select strategic investors for key projects.
From 2016 to 2025, it will finish the infrastructure system and promote
tourism and entertainment projects. And, from 2026 to 2030, the province is
to complete the zone and make it effectively operational.-
Lam Dong
subsidises vocational training
The Province
People's Committee of Central Highlands Lam Dong province has approved a
project to provide vocational training for rural labourers at a cost of more
than 115 billion VND (5.5 million USD) from 2014 to 2020.
About 7,000 -
10,000 rural labourers will be trained each year, with 60 percent of them
expected to take jobs in the agriculture sector. The remaining 40 percent
will work in industrial, non-agricultural sectors or as guest labourers in
other countries.
Under the project,
at least 80 percent of the trainees will either continue their current job at
a higher income or be hired by another company.
Each worker will be
offered a grant of 2-3 million VND (95 – 140 USD) to take a three-month
short-term training course.
The province has 10
vocational training centres and over 50 vocational training establishments.
About 70 percent of vocational training courses focus on the agricultural and
rural sectors.
Since 2010, Lam
Dong has provided vocational skill training for about 30,000 labourers, most
of whom live in rural areas.
Conference
seeks to improve hydro-meteorological forecast quality
A conference
discussing how to improve the quality of hydro-meteorological forecasts in
the country was held in Vinh city, the central
The event saw the
participation of representatives from the National Steering Committee for
Flood Prevention and Control, the National Committee for Search and Rescue,
the High Command of Border Guards, and forecasters across the country.
Participants
discussed measures and plans to better the work, especially on the velocity,
direction, timing and place that storms and tropical low pressures will make
landfall.
Le Cong Thanh,
General Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting
(NCHMF), asked the centres across the country to pay more attention to
raising public awareness on dangerous phenomena as well as measures to cope
with them and minimise their damage.
New
generation e-textbook debuted
A new generation
electronic textbook named Classbook was released in
The device contains
the full content, which can be updated free of charge, of more than 300
textbooks from grade 1 to 12, plus a number of reference books in accordance
with the curriculum standards of the Ministry of Education and Training.
The product is also
loaded up with a number of applications helping users at different grades
interact with the content of many subjects.
Notably, it is
integrated with the Vietnamese version of the “Shaping the way we teach
English” programme of the
It is hoped to provide
Vietnamese students with a modern way of study in the digitalisation era.
The launching
ceremony was held by the Vietnam Education Publishing House, Intel
Corporation, the US Embassy and the
Source: VNA/VNS/SGGP/SGT/Dantri/VOV
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Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 4, 2014
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