Hanoi invests 20 trln VND in Nhat Tan-Noi Bai urban areas

Hanoi has sketched out a 20 trillion VND (940 million USD) project to develop urban areas along the Nhat Tan –Noi Bai axis, which is expected to become a driving force for the development of the city’s northern region.

Currently, the city is making necessary preparations for the project to be commenced in 2015. It is expected to be completed within 10 years.

Under the project, the urban areas will cover more than 2,000 ha along 12 kilometers of Dong Anh and Soc Son districts, with a total population of 140,000.

They will consist of a gateway area focusing on industry-trade-agriculture, an ASEAN city, a riverside urban zone, and an ecological urban area. An ASEAN cultural village and exhibition centre, and a financial tower will be also constructed.

According to Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao, the project is significant for the development of the city’s strategic region so the city has directed all relevant departments and agencies to work together to ensure the progress of the project.

Six sentenced to death in drug case

The People's Court of Dien Bien yesterday sentenced to death six defendants in the biggest drug trafficking case in the northern province to date.

According to the indictment, ten persons formed a network that transported more than 120 kilogrammes of heroin via Laos to Ha Noi and Lang Son en route to China, between November 2012 and May 2013.

Eight of them are from Thanh Yen Commune of Dien Bien Province and two others are from Cao Loc District in Lang Son Province.

Four others were handed sentences that ranged from life terms to 17 to 20 years in jail.

In related news, yesterday, Hai Phong police and security officers from Cat Bi Airport announced they had temporarily detained Nguyen The Anh, a 30-year-old, from Hai Phong city, who was transporting 3 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.

The case is being investigated further.

Heart-lung technology saves A/H1N1 patient

Doctors from the National Tropical Disease Hospital in Ha Noi have successfully saved a patient infected with A/H1N1 flu using a modified heart-lung machine that pumps and oxygenates the patient's blood, allowing the organs to rest.

Trinh Xuan Tu, 64, from the northern province of Hai Duong was the first patient to be successfully treated using this method at the hospital. This technology is called ECMO and is used to help patients with devastating lung injuries or heart failure.

He was hospitalised in a serious condition in April, experiencing breathing problems and pneumonia owing to A/H1N1 infection.

After ten day using the ECMO technology, the patient's lungs gradually recovered and doctors were able to apply other treatment to save him.

The patient was discharged from hospital on Wednesday in a stable condition after four months of treatment.

Men seized for theft in capital city

The Ha Noi Police seized two men yesterday for several alleged thefts in Ha Noi.

Doan Anh Tu, 30, and Nguyen Trong Hoang, 30, residents of Ba Dinh District, allegedly conducted the robberies to obtain spending money.

They drove a motorbike to Tay Ho District and stole a bag from a Spanish citizen. The bag contained an iPhone, VND4 million (US$190) and some other papers.

Tu and Hoang admitted to the police that they had committed two other robberies in the city, both times stealing from women.

Flash floods leave 1 dead, another missing

Floods triggered by torrential rains in northern mountainous provinces killed one person and left another missing on Wednesday, according to the Central Steering Committee on Flood and Storm Control.

The victim was a ten-year-old boy in Lai Chau Province who was killed as he passed a dam spillway. A 19-year-old man in Lao Cai Province was also swept away while he was crossing a stream.

Heavy rains and floods have also destroyed houses and damaged rice fields and many sections of roads in the provinces of Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Lai Chau.

Earlier on Tuesday, five people were killed by floods in Lai Chau.

Mooncake inspection teams established

Eight inspection teams from the National Steering Committee on Food Safety and Hygiene have been established to check the quality of big moon-cake producers in 16 major provinces and cities throughout the country from next Wednesday.

The localities include Ha Noi, HCM City, Da Nang, Bac Ninh, Binh Duong, Long An and Kon Tum, announced the Viet Nam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health yesterday.

The one-month long inspections would also check the implementation of regulations on food safety and hygiene at big producers and restaurants that process or sell candy, beer, soft drinks, fruit or food during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the administration said.

The inspectors have been asked to inform the administration within 24 hours to deal with any major food incidents during their inspections.

The administration also ordered the inspectors to send a report to the Health Ministry before September 30.

In Ha Noi, the city's Market Watch Department was starting to inspect individuals and organisations that produce and trade, Nguyen Cong San, deputy head of the department, told the Kinh te do thi (Urban Economy) newspaper.

Producers would be asked to produce their business licences, certificates of food safety and hygiene and legal documents to prove the origin of their ingredients, San said.

Shops that produce or sell food additives used to make moon cakes would also be checked, he said.

Highway 1 traffic accidents increase

The number of traffic accidents in some central provinces have increased since the project of upgrading and widening the Highway 1 was conducted, provincial traffic safety committees have said.

More than 200 traffic accidents were reported in the central province of Quang Nam from the beginning of this year to the middle of last month, an increase by 56 cases compared with the same period last year, said the province's traffic safety committee.

The accidents left 132 people dead and 206 injured, up from by 119 and 150 last year, respectively.

Truong Khue, chief of the committee's secretariat, told the Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper that the increase was partially caused by the project to upgrade Highway 1.

In Quang Ngai Province, the most serious accident this year occurred on Monday at a section of the highway passing through Pho Cuong Commune in Duc Pho District. Two coaches collided, leaving 23 people injured. Two deep holes that had been dug on both sides of the highway were located at the site of crash, while the remaining road was described by experts as being too narrow for two automobiles to pass by one another.

The number of patients hospitalised at the Phu Yen Province General Hospital also increased sharply, particularly at night time. On average, between two to eight patients were being hospitalised per night.

Resident Ho Thi Thanh, 33, who lives in Tuy Hoa City's An Phu Commune, was hospitalised at the beginning of this week unconscious due to brain trauma. Her mother said the road-bed at the highway's construction site was too narrow, and said she was hit by two automobiles while they were trying to pass each other.

An observation by a Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper reporter showed that along the Highway 1 passing Quang Ngai Province and the Quang Nam Province's Thang Binh, Phu Ninh and Nui Thanh districts, hundreds of machines were digging up lots of dust and reducing drivers' line of vision.

Soil was also lining the highway and holes had been dug on both sides, with few warning signs installed to warn drivers.

Nguyen Thanh Tri, director of the Phu Yen Department of Transport, said that enterprises carrying out the construction work needed to adhere to the Ministry of Transport's regulations, which stipulates road works must be conducted from one side at a time.

Abiding by the regulation would help reduce the number of accidents, he said.

Nguyen Phi Luong, deputy head of the Transport Police Division under the Phu Yen Province Police, said that most accidents happened at night when coaches and lorries would use their high-beam headlights.

Motorbike drivers would be blinded by the lights and fall into holes, he said.

The lack of signage indicating road works to motorcycle riders was also said to be linked to the accidents, particularly collisions with oncoming traffic.

Bac Ninh timber tycoon arrested

Director of the northern Bac Ninh Province-based Dai An Company Ltd Nguyen Ngoc Minh was arrested yesterday for alleged appropriation of assets and illegally storing military equipment, according to the Security Ministry.

The police also arrested eight others who were members of the company. From 2.30 pm to 11 pm, more than 100 policemen searched the premises of the company -- which is involved in real estate and construction, and makes wooden luxury furniture -- and seized guns.

The police also searched the Thanh Hung Ltd Company where Minh was company director. According to the police, the search operations and arrests are part of a long investigation.

Taipei club funds heart surgeries for dioxin victims

Representatives from Taipei’s Rotary Club on August 14 granted VND400 million to the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA) to support surgeries of dioxin children with congenital heart diseases in Ba Ria Vung Tau province.

Chuang Wen Te, head of the Rotary Club, said this is the 17th year the club has worked with VAVA Ba Ria Vung Tau to provide total funding of US$68,000 and more than VND100 million to assist AO victims in overcoming daily hardships.

Nguyen Van Nhan, President of VAVA Ba Ria Vung Tau, said since the establishment, the association has mobilised some VND20 billion to support dioxin victims. It has also co-ordinated with the health sector to perform free surgeries worth VND50-100 million each for 49 AO victims.

Since the beginning of the year, eight dioxin children with congenital heart diseases have received free surgeries and other four will get free operations in the coming time.

At the ceremony, Hy Vong Garment Co, Ltd and Hai Viet Joint Stock Company also donated a total of VND100 million to the provincial VAVA chapter.

Korean doctors provide check-ups for the poor

A delegation of Korean doctors from YERAM GLOBAL Corps are giving free medicine and check-ups to disabled people and orphans in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan from August 14-15.

Nearly 1,000 underprivileged patients, mostly from ethnic minority groups, benefit from the charitable programme with an estimated cost of over VND1 billion.

Man Tan Dung, Chairman of the Binh Thuan provincial association in support of the disabled and orphans, appreciated Korean doctors’ valuable assistance, helping local poor people early detect serious illnesses and receive timely treatment.

Apart from check-ups, Korean doctors also provided the beneficiaries with medical advice to increase their awareness of health care.

On this occasion, YERAM GLOBAL Corps donated 3 tonnes of rice to needy people in Binh Thuan province.

Foreign-funded project helps disabled people

Nearly 250 disabled people in southern Dong Nai province benefit from a project that is being carried out by the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs under the support of the Handicap International in Vietnam.

It was reported at a meeting in the locality on August 13 that the project has focused on giving vocational training to disabled people with working capacity in 18 communes. Following training, the beneficiaries were provided with capital for starting their own production or business, or introduced to job opportunities.

After three years of implementation, as many as 198 local people with disabilities were provided with non-refundable capital worth nearly VND1.5 billion (US$70,500), which aids them in beginning production and business by themselves. Meanwhile, 49 others have found jobs in 18 enterprises operating in Dong Nai so far.

A representative from San Lim Furniture Vietnam Co., Ltd said the firm has started recruiting disabled employees since 2009, and currently 36 workers with disabilities are working in the enterprise with a monthly average salary of VND5-6 million.

To give best support to disabled people, the project’s workers have conducted surveys on the need for jobs and social welfare for the disabled in the locality, provided training and consultation for vocational training centres’ staffs on how to work with the disabled.

They have also called on enterprises to employ disabled workers and make it easier for the disabled to access start-up investment.

 Measures taken to prevent children from drowning

Authorities of Mekong Delta Dong Thap province are taking all necessary measures to minimise the drowning mortality rate among children and help children protect themselves from drowning, especially during the current flood season.

The provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has cooperated with relevant sectors and agencies to open more swimming courses and further enhance public awareness of the issue.

In the 2014-2015 school year, the province has maintained over 400 community-based places to take care of some 7,000 children in rural areas.

Since the beginning of this year, 35 local children have drowned, nearly doubling the figure of 2013. More than 75% of the fatalities were six-year-old children.

Drowning is one of the leading child killers in Vietnam, with over 3,300 deaths in 2012, equivalent to about nine cases every day. The figure is 10 times higher than the average figure of regional developing countries. Half of the victims were bathing in ponds, lakes, rivers or the sea without adult supervision.

Germany supports developing biomass power development

The Vietnamese-German Development Cooperation’s Renewable Energy Support Project (RESP) coordinates with the New and Renewable Energy Department under General Directorate of Energy (GDE) to organize the consultation workshop on biomass power investment guidelines for Vietnam on August 14.

The workshop, part of the Renewable Energy Support Project and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conversation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), has been implemented in Vietnam by GIZ in close cooperation with GDE since 2012 to help improve the regulatory framework for grid-connected renewable energy in Vietnam with focus on biomass, biogas and municipal solid waste.

The biomass power investment guidelines for Vietnam provide information on Biomass Power investment procedures including all relevant steps of the preparation, development and operation of the biomass power plant. Additionally, estimated duration and incurred fee as well as associated barriers and potential risks for each step will also be described. It is expected that comments and the discussion among relevant stakeholders will help to reflect the real situation of the Investment process in the Biomass Power sector in Vietnam, which will be finally reflected and publicized as an E-Guide Book for Biomass Power Investment for Vietnam.

“Our goal is to make it easier and less risky for investors to invest in the biomass power sector in Vietnam, hence to contribute to the achievement of the target set out in the National Power Development Plan No. 7 (NPDP7) on power generation from biomass sources," explained Mr Werner Kossmann – Chief Technical Advisor of GIZ’s RESP. “The generation of biomass power is environment friendly and can help to solve the energy problems of Vietnam on one hand and contributes to the mitigation of CO2 emission on the other hand”.

As a primarily agricultural based country, Vietnam has huge potential for biomass resources which can be exploited for energy production, including electricity. According to research findings, the total amount of agricultural residues in 2010 was estimated at 60 million tons of which approximately 40, 8, 7.8 and 10 million tons of rice straw, rice husk, bagasse and other types of agricultural residues respectively are potentially available.

As indicated in the NPDP7 the targeted share of biomass power in the total power mix is 0.6% and 1.1% in 2020 and 2030 respectively with an installed capacity of 500MW and 2000MW, respectively.

Vietnam, Malaysia share urban planning experience

A delegation of the Ministry of Construction led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Tran Nam has paid a working visit to Malaysia to learn experience in urban development, planning and management.

The delegation had a working session with the Ministry of Urban wellbeing, Housing and Local Government headed by Deputy Minister Halimah Mohd Saddique on August 13.

They discussed issues of common concern such as commercial and social house planning and development, land purchase and allotment, house designing and constructing standards, licences, and settlement of house-related complaints.

Deputy Minister Nam said the there are similarities in social housing development and regulations permitting foreigners to purchase houses. Vietnam would learn Malaysia’s experience in housing and land management at levels, he added.

Deputy Minister Halimah said the visit to Malaysia by the Vietnamese Construction Ministry delegation is a beginning for cooperation and partnership between the two ministries. She expressed her wish for further development of the bilateral ties as well as the two countries’ relations.

During the August 13-14 trip, the Vietnamese delegation also had a working session with leading officials of Desa Park City district, and visited urban development and infrastructure projects in Malaysia.

Vice President presents scholarships to Ninh Thuan students

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Children Support Fund Council, on August 14 presented 120 scholarships worth 380 million VND (17,860 USD) to needy students in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan, as part of the “Together with children to school” programme.

On the occasion, the Vice President gave gifts to Vietnamese heroic mothers and social welfare beneficiary families in Cong Hai commune, Thuan Bac district, and presented 50 million VND to the communal scholarship fund to assist poor students from ethnic minority groups.

Hoang Van Tien, Director of the Vietnam Children Support Fund, said two programmes aiming to encourage students to overcome their difficulties to go to school were launched in September 2012 and received support from donors.

They have granted scholarships worth nearly 30 billion VND (over 1.4 million USD) to disadvantaged children in 56 out of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

According to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, more than 200,000 children in Vietnam drop out of school each year with reasons varied, including to live too far away from school, with many from remote and mountainous areas having to walk around 5-10 km or even further to reach their school.

Nearly 1.5 million children are living in disadvantageous living conditions and over 2.5 million others are likely to fall victim to economic difficulties.-

President hails programme to donate cows to poor people

As many as 50 cows were donated to poor households in the northern province of Lang Son as part of a programme to reduce poverty in local border areas.

President Truong Tan Sang hailed the "Cows for the Poor" initiative at the granting ceremony yesterday, saying it would help improve living standards.

The programme plans to give 36,000 cows to poor households in 11 northern border provinces by October 2016.

The programme is being carried out by the Border Guard High Command, the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee, the Central Committee of Viet Nam Red Cross Society, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viettel telecommunications group, the State Bank of Viet Nam and the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies.

Gov’t says no easy lending to building fishing boats

The Government has stressed that the VND16-trillion soft loan package for fishermen to build new offshore fishing vessels will be strictly supervised and only those borrowers who meet criteria and are approved by local authorities can take out such low-interest loans, according to the Government portal chinhphu.vn.

In a meeting with relevant ministries and departments to prepare circulars providing guidelines for Decree 67/2014/ND-CP on seafood development policy on August 13, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh said only fishermen who run business efficiently, have sound financial plans and specific production strategies, and secure approval from local authorities can borrow.

At its latest sitting in June, the National Assembly approved the resolution on balancing the State budget and decided to extract VND16 trillion (around US$754.5 million) to help fishermen build new offshore fishing boats, and for Vietnam Coast Guard and Vietnam Fisheries Resources Surveillance Force to buy new equipment and build new ships.

Apart from the loan package, Decree 67, which will come into force on August 25, regulates preferential treatment of fishermen, including insurance for fishing vessels and crew, and financial support to help them build new steel-hulk vessels and upgrade old ones.

The agriculture ministry said it is working on three circulars regulating technology requirements for building fishing vessels; facilities eligible to build new vessels or upgrade old ships; and technical norms for periodic maintenance and repairs of used vessels.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is working on draft circulars on insurance and credit policies for fishermen while the State Bank of Vietnam is drafting a regulation guiding banks to join in a program for giving soft loans to fishermen.

Deputy Prime Minister Ninh suggested that the agriculture ministry work with local fishermen in the process of designing and building vessels to avoid the situation in which designs recommended by the ministry are not suitable for fishing.

He demanded the finance ministry to build its insurance policies in a way that the Government will directly cover insurance fees for fishermen.

Migrant women workers lack sexual health services

There is a huge gap in sexual and reproductive health services for women workers, particularly migrants working in labour-intensive industries, experts have said.

Women made up a large part of the workforce in labour-intensive industries such as garment and textile, where 80 per cent of the workers were female, Vo Tan Thanh, director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's office in HCM City, said.

"Enterprises have made many efforts to improve working conditions for workers and build sound relations in their factories. This is a key to increasing labour productivity and maintaining a sustainable business operation.

"However, sexual and reproductive health services for female workers are yet to meet the need," he told a workshop held on Tuesday in HCM City.

Most enterprises fail to fully comply with regulations and policies on female workers, especially sexual and reproductive health care, he said.

Lack of specific and practical regulations, professional officials, and effective information support for female workers hindered improvement to working conditions and sexual and reproductive health services for women workers, he added.

Nguyen Van Tan, deputy head of the General Department for Population and Family Planning, said the proportion of migrant women workers without access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health remained high.

Poor living conditions and working environment as well as poor knowledge and limited access to information and services related to sexual and reproductive health and family planning increased the risks of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, unsafe abortions, and infertility among other potential risks, he said.

He called for co-operation among enterprises for improving sexual and reproductive health of workers and family planning.

This would benefit them since it helped increase productivity and reduce absenteeism and turnover rate among workers, he added.

Pham Nguyen Cuong, former deputy head of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs's Gender Equality Department, said most migrant workers were not supported legally by local authorities and they were out of reach of basic social services.

"They are vulnerable and can hardly get access to social protection programmes.

"Most social services are for those who have permanent residence, making it difficult for migrant workers to access land, credit, entertainment, education, or healthcare," Cuong said.

In order to increase their incomes to send back home, they had to accept heavy, hazardous, or dangerous jobs involving long working hours. They lived in poor conditions and were unable to afford expenditure on living and health care costs, leading to risk of declining health and debilitation, he said.

Nguyen Tuan Kiet, a corporate social responsibility expert at Marie Stopes International Vietnam, said social insurance did not cover essential sexual and reproductive health services and family planning.

Clinics at factories fail to provide sexual and reproductive health or family planning services, he said.

The workshop was held as part of a project called "Advancing social and economic empowerment of female migrant workers through development and implementation of gender-sensitive initiatives in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces," which is being implemented by Marie Stopes International Vietnam in 2013-15 and funded by the European Commission.

Migrants need better policy support

In 2005, Hang A De and his H'mong family lost all of their farmland after a storm caused a major landslide in Muong Thai Commune. Like other families in their commune, situated in Son La Province's Phu Yen District, they decided to migrate to the Central Highlands region.

"It was fortunate that we had relatives who came to the Central Highlands area in 1996. We decided to settle down in Dak Ha Commune, Dak G'Long District of Dak Nong," he said.

Since the family did not have any farmland there, they survived by reclaiming land in the forest and growing coffee plants. Three years later, his family was given residency status by local officials, but he still does not have any paperwork to prove his ownership of the reclaimed land.

"We don't have trouble integrating with the locals because there are many H'mong residents in the area," De said. "However, we live about 15km from the communal healthcare centre and 15km from the downtown area of the commune, so accessing basic services like school and healthcare is very difficult."

An increasing number of families are migrating to the Central Highlands to escape harsh living conditions and natural disasters. The Central Highlands' population was only about 1 million in 1976 but is currently around 5 million, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Most of them are "spontaneous migrants," meaning they migrate freely rather than following a Government programme.

At a conference on Wednesday organised by MARD, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked localities in the Central Highlands and Northwest region to create policies to deal with migration-related problems, such as poverty, lack of access to basic services and overloaded infrastructure.

During the 2005-14 period, nearly 1,000 households migrated out of Ha Giang Province, Nguyen Minh Tien, deputy chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said at the conference. He suggested that the Government implement policies to resettle them.

Uncontrolled spontaneous migration has altered localities' socio-economic development plans, affecting their efforts to reduce poverty and reform rural development, according to representatives at the conference. In Gia Lai Province, authorities said spontaneous migration led to deforestation, land disputes and community health problems.

Nguyen Duc Luyen, deputy chairman of Dak Nong Province People's Committee, said most of the migrants lacked skills, which made it difficult for the province to meet targets in poverty reduction and rural area reform.

Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat said that although 87 per cent of migrant households to the Central Highlands had been relocated and their lives were somewhat stable, nearly 1,000 households still lacked production land.

He advised limiting deforestation, including migrants in economic support programmes for locals and increasing local officials' awareness of the situation.

Deputy PM Phuc also asked MARD to collect suggestions from localities and ordered the Finance Ministry to provide enough funding for urgent community infrastructure programmes.

Canada to aid gender equality in Southeast Asia

Canada’s International Development and La Francophonie Ministry has announced the country’s support for a project that aims to improve equality between women and men before the law in several Southeast Asian countries.

In the statement on August 13, Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Christian Paradis, said the project will help ensure women have more equal access to judicial and adjudicatory mechanisms.

Countries benefiting from the project will be Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Timor Leste, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Brown stressed that the sustainable gender equality development is the need of all countries worldwide, adding that women's status must be improved, their rights must be respected, and their contributions must be recognised.

He noted the United Nations Convention also recognises women’s right to equally participate in the sustainable development of the society.

The official affirmed that his country is a world leader in promoting and protecting women’s rights, and that Canada is proud to help the Southeast Asian nations achieve greater gender equality before the law.-

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