The decision by Chairman of Ha Tinh Province People's Committee Vo Kim Cu to use VND1 billion (USD47,610) from the local budget to subsidise a local private nursery school has stirred public ire.



Some years ago, Nguyen Du private nursery school in Ha Tinh Town asked for local authority approval to repair and upgrade its infrastructure. The school also asked to borrow VND1.8 billion from the provincial investment and development fund for the work.

After giving the permission on the school's proposal, on December 4, 2013, the committee chairman Vo Kim Cu signed a decision to instruct the local Department of Finance to gift USD47,610 for the school.

Speaking to Dantri/DTiNews reporter, headmaster of Nguyen Du private nursery school Nguyen Thi Bich Hao repeated that USD47,610 in assistance had been already used up to repair the front roof of the school's building.

"When attending the school's ceremony for a new academic year in September 2013, Cu recognised that many facilities had deteriorated, so, he told me to submit a proposal to ask for the financial support as at that time the province had a policy to assist enterprises," Hao added.

According to Nguyen Huu Nghia, head of Ha Tinh Department of Education and Training, he only knew that the school received the financial support from the province, but was not aware of how much was given to the school and where the money came from.

Regarding this, chairman Vo Kim Cu explained that Nguyen Du private nursery school is the province's pioneer in education privatisation and had gained remarkable results. So, he wanted to encourage them to further development which could set a good example for other private schools.

However, the support of one private school in a province with a struggling state school sector is controversial.

Cu also signed the decision to licence Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Limited Company at Vung Ang Economic Zone for 70 years, instead of 50 years as regulated in the country’s Law on Investment. 

This became a very hot topic at the time of the mass fish deaths caused by Formosa.
After dodging to reporters' questions related to the licence, Vo Kim Cu was urged by National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan to talk to the press. He eventually claimed that he did nothing wrong in licensing Formosa.

The project was also reviewed by 12 ministries and then assessed and reported to the government and finally, the government allowed Ha Tinh to licence the project, Cu explained.

Dtinews