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Tiger trafficker busted by police in Hanoi
On November 13, Pham Hai Nam, who is 39 years old and live in Van Quan Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi, was discovered to be working in a frozen tiger transport ring from foreign countries to Vietnam.
On November 14, the police caught Nam red-handed transporting the tiger, which weighed some 150 kilogrammes and was 1.60 metres long. It was being transported in a seven-seat vehicle. The tiger was covered wrapped with nylon bags.
Nam admitted buying the tiger at a price of VND600 million (USD30,000) from a partner in Haiphong City, then transporting it to Hanoi to sell at an expected price of VND900 million (USD45,000). If failing to find customers, he would cook the tiger bone to sell.
The police said the tiger was identified as being from a foreign country to Vietnam for sale.
The tiger has been sent to the Vietnam National Museum of Nature for research and also expanded the inspection.
Tobacco and ethanol petrol spared from new environment taxes
The National Assembly has decided that new environment taxes will not be applied to cigarettes or ethanol petrol.
A bill on environment tax, which went through November 15 at the on-going 8th National Assembly session in Hanoi, removed the items from the list of tax levied products.
According to a report by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam, some deputies suggested including cigarettes on to that list because they harm the environment.
However, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Vietnam stated that they needed synchronous and comprehensive measures to prevent and fight the harms of cigarettes. The law on preventing the harmful effects of cigarettes, which is being drafted, would apply more measures to prevent and punish those polluting the environment with cigarettes. According to the committee, these measures would be more appropriate than tax tools, which would virtually legalise the polluting effects of cigarettes.
In addition, the special consumer tax levied on cigarettes are already high at present 65%. Therefore, the standing Committee proposed not to apply environment taxes on cigarettes.
Regarding petrol, a deputy suggested to specify the kind of petrol to apply reasonable tax rate. The standing Committee has decided to spare taxing ethanol petrol E5, which is being recommended to use as it’s less harmful to the environment.
Five groups of products to be subject to the new tax are petrol and oil, coal, freezing substances containing hydro-cloro-fluoro-carbon (HCFC), plastic bags and substances for plant protection.
While some deputies proposed raising the taxes on plastic bags others argued there weren’t better alternatives.
However, seeing the urgent threat in the rampant use of plastic bags, the standing committee increased tax rates on the product by VND 20,000-30,000 (USD 1-1.5) per kilogram, to VND 30,000-50,000 (USD 1.5-2.5) per kilogram compared to the rate proposed at the 7th session.
Regarding coal, some deputies said the law makers should carefully consider each level of environment tax on particular coal products in accordance with the degree of harm to the environment. For example, atraxit coal is producing the biggest number of toxic substances so it was argued that taxes need to be raised. The standing committee has proposed an increased tax rate on atraxit coal by VND 10,000-30,000 (USD 0.5 - 1.5)/tonne, to VND20,000 – 50,000 (USD 1-2.5)/tonne.
The new laws on environment tax will become effective on January 1, 2012
Delta to face long period of flooding
Thirty-eight per cent of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta could be under water for six to eight months each year by 2020 as the climate changes, warns deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Dao Xuan Hoc.
Ministry measurements showed the sea could inundate 90 per cent of the delta with about 8.5 million local residents driven from their homes, he told a high-ranking conference, a response to climate change, in HCM City last week.
The Mekong was one of the world's three deltas most vulnerable to climate with 93 per cent of the 840-kilometre coast below sea level, said the deputy minister.
Sea water had already encroached land; caused difficulties for flood discharge and prolonged droughts.
Hydropower dams also affected water flow and reduced alluvia in river-beds.
The deputy minister said climate change was responsible for the high tides in HCM City and the sea encroaching southern Ben Tre, Ca Mau and Soc Trang provinces.
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry had forecast that about 70 per cent of the delta could be inundated and 2 million hectares of rice crop threatened if the sea rose one metre.
The deputy minister argued for the building of more dykes and the planting of more trees to mitigate against climate change.
Former Dutch Water Resources Minister said Professor Cees Veerman said the private sector could play an important role in reducing the damage.
The Viet Nam Government, scientists, academics and domestic and international specialists as well as business should co-operate to provide an effective response, he said.
Southern Institute for Sustainable Development studies show that about 50 percent of the delta's population have no knowledge of climate change.
Improving their awareness and providing ways to mitigate against the change would be an enormous challenge, said overseer of the studies, Nguyen Thanh Sang.
The media was crucial to increasing awareness people learned about climate change through TV, radio and the press, he said.
The institute's Nguyen Ngoc Tran argued that personnel training should be given more attention and municipal administrations should guide residents to adapt to climate change.
The National Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change had spent VND222 billion (US$11.1 million) to improve people's awareness of climate change, he said.
The southern delta is the country's granary; it grows 50 per cent of Viet Nam's rice; 70 per cent of its fruits and provides 90 per cent of rice exports.
Source: VNS
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