Traffic accidents, casualties up in HCMC after 8-year dip

There have been 2,919 road accidents in HCM City this year in which 607 died and 2,377 others were injured, the Department of Transport reported.

The number of accidents and deaths were up 8.8 per cent and 15.4 per cent year-on-year.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Tung, deputy director of Traffic Safety Committee, after falling for eight straight years, 2016 witnessed a sharp rise in accidents, fatalities and injuries.

Besides poor awareness of laws and an increasing incidence of drunken driving, he also blamed the increasing number of accidents on authorities’ poor management of infrastructure.

The Ministry of Transport admitted at a recent conference that it should have factored in the increasing number of vehicles in the city in recent months and managed roads more competently.

The city People’s Committee has instructed relevant agencies to install more cameras on the streets to monitor traffic.

HCM City stench caused by landfill: official

The Ða Phu?c Waste Treatment Complex causes the foul odour that plagues some southern districts of HCM City, head of the office of HCM City People’s Committee, Võ Van Hoan, said yesterday.

Hoan said at press conference that the smells come from the complex’s landfill and the lake treating water leaking from dumped waste.

The committee asked Vi?t Nam Waste Solution - the investor – to grow trees on an area of 46ha in the complex to isolate the landfill from outside, he said.

The city would also speed up land clearance on an area of 100ha to develop a green belt, he added. 

The investor was also asked to cover the liquid waste area, treat smells and complete work required by the environmental impact assessment, he said.

“Waste heaps at Ða Phu?c landfill are up to 25m high and the landfill will be full in the next five or seven years. The city will call on relevant agencies to speed up development of the Tân Thành Waste Treatment Area in southern Long An Province to reduce the burden for the Ða Phu?c landfill,” Hoan said.

The construction of  Ða Phu?c Waste Treatment Complex - known as the Ða Phu?c landfill - was started in mid-2005 with an investment of US$100 million on an area of 138ha in the city’s Bình Chánh District.

Between 2007, when it opened, and 2014, the complex buried 3,000 tonnes of waste from HCM City and 20 tonnes of waste from southern Long An Province every day.

The volume increased to 5,000 tonnes a day after the city closed the Phu?c Hi?p Waste Complex in C? Chi District at the end of 2014.

According to reports from authorities in Bình Chánh, Nhà Bè and seven other city districts, the odour worsens during the rainy season.

This year the smells were particularly bad, they added.

Many local residents have complained to the city’s environment department about the stink in Hung Long and Ða Phu?c communes in Bình Chánh District, Phú M? Hung City Centre in District 7, and Phu?c Long and Phu?c Ki?ng communes in Nhà Bè District.

Although the city has paid more for waste treatment at the Ða Phu?c landfill, improper waste treatment technology is blamed for spreading the stench.

The city paid $16.4 for treating a tonne of waste there in 2007, $19 in 2013, $20.16 in late 2014 and $21.1 in 2016

Early this month, Prime Minsiter Nguy?n Xuân Phúc ordered the city’s authorities to locate the source of the air pollution and implement solutions.

Minority farmers rely on ’black’ credit

Agricultural credit policy in rural areas of Vi?t Nam is inadequate so that 86 per cent of ethnic minority farmers in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) region are borrowing “black” credit to develop production.

This is the finding of a research team of the Institute for Studies of Society, Economics and Environment (iSEE) presented at the seventh Vi?t Nam Agriculture Policy Forum yesterday.

“Black credit” refers to a practice of borrowing from individuals at high interest rates agreed on between borrower and lender, wiithout collateral and with only the borrower’s signature.         

Dr Hoàng C?m from the iSEE research team said most ethnic minority farmers in Tây Nguyên had to borrow large sums in black credit for three reasons: they fear regular banking procedures, can borrow bigger sums of money and think individual lenders easily extend deadlines while banks can confiscate assets if they can’t pay the money back.

Lê Ð?c Th?nh, deputy director of the Rural Development and Economic Co-orporation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said bank loans are not really suitable for farmers in rural areas.

Although banks offer incentives, the proportion of credit loan in rural area is still low.

This is due to the low profits of agricultural production, high risk and small scale, according to Th?nh.    

A professional small agricultural credit system for rural areas has not been established and only 0.67 per cent of agricultural co-operatives nationwide have access to banking credit loans.        

Organised by the Vi?t Nam Institute for Economic and Policy Research, the forum entitled "Credit Policy for Agriculture and Rural Development – Current Situation and Solutions" drew some 100 participants from NGOs, Japan’s Kyoto University, the agriculture ministry and research organisations.

Large-scale violations of public smoking ban

Despite smoking bans in public areas, many smokers ignore the prohibition. Non-smokers in crowded places, with children and the elderly present, still have to breathe in cigarette smoke. This has been blamed on punishments that are “not tough enough” by authorities.

The law on preventing the damaging effects of cigarettes, which was enforced in 2013, bans smoking while driving, at medical and educational facilities, nursing houses, children’s playgrounds and places deemed a fire risk.

It regulates a warning or a fine worth VNÐ100,000-300,000 (US$4.5-13) on smoking in these prohibited areas.

More than three years since the law took effect, it has not been shown to be an effective deterrent.

Tu?ng Vi, a student from HCM City told Tu?i Tr? (Youth) newspaper “Smoking is not allowed on means of public transport like buses but I still see passengers, even drivers smoking on buses. I have to wear air mask but the smoke is still overwhelming.”

Tu?n Hùng, a HCM City local is annoyed by the smell of cigarettes each time he stops at traffic lights.

“People parking in front of me blow smoke. My children breathe it all in,” he said.

Despite warning signs being put up, smoking remains popular at hospitals and schools.

Hospital visitors usually stand under staircases or private corners to smoke, doctor Lê Bích Liên, deputy head of HCM City Paediatrics Hospital No1 said.

The hospital has cameras at places where people often smoke and security guards will warn them, however, the warnings are usually met with hostility.

The hospital only supervises and warns smokers but has yet to impose any punishment. There are no feasible measures, she said.

Lawyer Nguy?n Ð?c Chánh from HCM City Bar Association said that the fine of VNÐ100,000-300,000 is not severe enough.

“Smoking in public areas affects many people’s health. Giving a warning is not strict enough, and the lightweight fine cannot ensure obedience and avoid violations,” he said.

Vu Cao Khuong, head of medical specialist skill of Hà N?i’s Department of Health said that imposing fines on smokers can cause hardships for them. Many violators refuse to present their real identification cards, claiming that they do not have them or they provide fake personal information, preventing the police from imposing fines.

Luu Th? Liên, deputy head of the health department said that the effects of the Law on Tobacco Harm-reduction’s implementation have not met expectations. Officials and residents’ awareness remains low while some heads of agencies and units have not paid attention to the campaign. Many of them even smoke themselves.

Doctor Ph?m Th? Hoàng Anh, director of Ohio-based non-profit HealthBridge Canada in Vi?t Nam, who has gained experience in smoking effects’ prevention, said that the law on preventing the damaging effects of cigarettes has some limitations but it is not the reason why the law’s implementation has been weak. The problem lies in the commitment and awareness of leaders, officials of organisations and agencies.

Unequal treatment, in which those holding high positions are often ignored when violating smoking laws prevents the law from being implemented strictly, she said.

Many experts suggested that Vi?t Nam should learn from other countries such as Singapore to impose fines not only on smokers but also on owners of restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

Vi?t Nam is among 15 countries with the highest number of smokers. Smoking is the cause of 40,000 Vietnamese deaths per year, according to Associate Prof. Dr.Luong Ng?c Khuê, head of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment under Ministry of Health and director of the fund on preventing the damaging effects of cigarettes.

Smoking also creates financial burdens not only on smokers and their families but also the whole society. In 2013, more than VNÐ23 trillion ($1.02 billion) was estimated to have been spent on medical treatment and expenses for workers being harmed or dying early due to smoke-related diseases, the ministry said.

Hand-foot-mouth virus early this year

The hand, foot and mouth disease season has barely begun in HCM City but hospitals are already seeing a rush of patients, many of them severely affected, according to paediatrics hospitals.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral illness that afflicts children aged under five and has no vaccine or specific treatment.

The disease peaks between October and November.

Fifty-two children were being treated yesterday at the Paediatrics Hospital 1 compared to 30 in the whole of August.

An 18-month-old girl from southern Ti?n Giang Province has been placed on a ventilator after being diagnosed with grade three - with grade four being the highest - of the disease.

Her mother, Tr?n Th? Thành, said she had fever of 39 degrees Celsius and was taken to a private clinic.

But with the fever not breaking and the child getting convulsions, Thành said she was rushed to the provincial hospital.

With her condition steadily worsening, the provincial hospital sent her to the Paediatrics Hospital 1.

Dr Truong H?u Khanh, head of the hospital’s neurology and infectious diseases ward, said continuous fever of 39 degrees is a symptom of hand, foot and mouth disease, and parents should pay attention to this.

“When children have fever for three days, they should be taken to the nearest hospital. They will have a sore throat and rash with vesicles on the hands, feet and diaper area.”

Early detection of the disease is vital to reduce fatalities though many children with low resistance could succumb to the virus’ virulence, he said.

The disease causes complications such as pulmonary oedema, meningitis and encephalitis, he said.

The best way to prevent the disease is by parents washing their own and their children’s hands frequently, he said.

Though public awareness of the disease has improved, many parents ignore preventive measures.  

At the Paediatrics Hospital 2, the number of inpatients with the disease has increased by 10 per cent in September.

Between September 16 and 22 there were 130 patients with hand, foot and mouth disease, 23 per cent higher than last month, the city Preventive Health Centre reported.

Khanh said if children get the disease they should stay at home to avoid spreading it.

First HATCH! Fair for startups to be held in City

The first HATCH! Fair on start-up development will be held at the Grand Palace Convention Centre on October 7 and 8 in HCM City.

Around 120 start-ups will display their products and services at HATCH!Fair 2016.

Seminars and roundtable discussions will focus on developing, operating and managing business in the fields of IT, automation and social innovation. Sixty foreign experts are expected to attend as guest speakers.

The final rounds of HATCH! BATTLE and HATCH! BATTLE JUNIOR, as well as a Social Innovation Camp, will be held during the fair.

Campaign helps 74,000 households overcome drought, saline intrusion

A Viet Nam Red Cross (VNRC) campaign has helped over 74,000 households overcome consequences of a drought and saline intrusion in the Central, Central Highland and C?u Long Delta regions.

This was stated in a report of the VNRC.

Through local and international donations, including the United States Agency for International Development, the society has provided VNÐ93.6 billion (US$4.16 million) in emergency and rehabilitation aid to support disaster victims, including cash, clean water, water containers and tanks, as well as Aquatabs pills and water purification machines.

The campaign has also helped improve awareness and behaviour on personal and environmental hygiene for locals in 15 of 21 provinces and cities that were hit by the severe drought and saline intrusion in 2016. They include Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Ð?k L?k and Ninh Thu?n, as well as Bình Thu?n, Long An, Ti?n Giang and B?n Tre, along with Vinh Long, Trà Vinh, Kiên Giang and Sóc Trang, in addition to B?c Liêu, Cà Mau and Khánh Hòa provinces. 

To help people in areas affected by drought and saline intrusion, VNRC and the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Control and Prevention had appealed for donations for help victims of the severe drought and salt intrusion from March to end of August this year.

On March 18, the society called its members, local and international organisations and individuals to donate money or goods to help victims of the natural disaster in the Central, Central Highland and C?u Long Delta regions.

Till the end of 2015, El Nino caused serious drought and saline intrusion in several provinces, damaging crops and affecting the lives of millions of people in Vi?t Nam. Up to 43 of 63 provinces and cities nationwide were affected by drought and salt intrusion.

Consequently, more than 900,000 people faced a shortage of clean water, especially in the Central, Central Highland and Mekong Delta regions. It is believed to be the most severe drought over the past 100 years in Vi?t Nam.

Viet Nam sees significant advances in sustainable development goals

Viet Nam has made significant advances in achieving the United Nation’s health-related sustainable development goals (SDG) as its SDG index score increased 59 last year, up from 38 in 2000, according to a baseline analysis from the international Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 published in the The Lancet journal last week.

A national SDG index score is based on a scale of zero to 100. Iceland tops the list with a score of 85.

The lowest-scoring nation was the Central African Republic, at 20. The United States has a score of 75, just behind Slovenia, Greece, and Japan, all at 76.

Vi?t Nam ranks 94 out of the 188 studied countries when benchmarked by a battery of indicators of achievement against SDGs.

Compared to countries in Southeast Asia, Vi?t Nam is the fifth highest – ahead of Thailand (56) and closely following Indonesia (60).

The country achieved the three best indicators on the prevalence of overweight children aged 2 to 4, the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel and the incidence of deaths due to war.

However, Vi?t Nam needs further effort to improve the achievement of SDG indicators on incidence of malaria in areas where transmission is known to occur, and on hepatitis B and HIV.

In a press release on September 23, Dr Justin Beardsley of Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in HCM City, said the raw score only tells part of the story. “Vi?t Nam has made significant progress. Behind these increasing numbers is an important human reality: higher scores mean healthier people.”

The study is a comprehensive epidemiological effort to quantify health loss across places and over time.

Last year, the UN General Assembly established the SDGs specifying 17 universal goals, 169 targets and 230 indicators leading up to 2030.

A/H1N1 flu primarily controlled in Kiên Giang

The southern province of Kiên Giang’s Gò Quao District has essentially controlled A/H1N1 flu, with the number of cases decreasing gradually, Nguyen Xuyên Viet, director of the district medical centre, said.
Last Wednesday, the medical centre was informed that more than 100 workers of the Vinatex Kiên Giang Plant had high temperature and suffered from coughing, runny nose and muscle pain.
The centre, in coordination with the Gò Quao Hospital, examined the patients and determined that more than 100 people were suspected of having the A/H1N1 flu.
Five samples from the patients eventually tested positive for the flu.
Lê Quang Trung, director of the Gò Quao Hospital, said the patients were hospitalised, isolated and were receiving proper treatment.
Currently, they are all in stable condition.
Within a week of the disease making its appearance at the Vinatex Kiên Giang Plant, the district reported a total of 150 cases.
By yesterday, 28 patients were discharged from hospital.
The district medical centre assigned medical workers to educate workers at the plant on the disease to assuage fears. Medical substances were also sprayed to sterilise the affected areas.
Nguy?n Van Quý, deputy director of the Kiên Giang Preventive Medicine Centre, said the centre was trying to find out the reason for the spread of the disease, but the number of workers was too large, there were close to 1,000, and the speed with which the disease had spread was too quick, so the centre had not been able to determine the cause.

Six hurt as brick kiln collapses

Six workers were injured in the southern province of Ð?ng Tháp yesterday afternoon when the wall of a brick kiln where they were working collapsed.

Four male and two female workers fell from a height of 10m and were trapped in the debris. It took about 10 minutes to pull them out from the debris.

The injured have been rushed to the Sa Ðéc General Hospital for emergency treatment. The four that suffered serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injury and bone fracture, were later transferred to the Ch? R?y Hospital in HCM City for further treatment.

 "I was passing bricks to another worker when everything suddenly started shaking, and then it all collapsed with a big noise, Hu?nh Van Giàu, 25, one of the injured, told the Ngu?i lao d?ng (Labourer) newspaper.

“After I fell, I couldn’t breathe for some time. I have injuries all over my body,” he said.

The brick factory is located in M? An Hung A Commune in L?p Vò District of Ð?ng Tháp Province.

The incident is under investigation.

Bicycle project faces challenges

More incentives are required to encourage citizens to use bicycles instead of motorbikes, Khu?t Vi?t Hùng, vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said. 
“We should come up with more incentives so that bicycles become a means of transportation to work, especially on roads where the speed limit is 30km per hour,” Hùng said during a conference promoting a bicycle sharing model in Hà N?i this morning.
He said the Vietnamese were too dependent on motorbikes, which were the cause of traffic jams in major cities.
Tr?n H?u Minh, deputy chief of the committee, said the country’s infrastructure needed to develop further for cycling to become common. For example, there should be lanes specified for bicycles, bicycle stops, parking lots and maintenance locations, he said.
Nguy?n Xuân Th?y, an independent traffic expert, said it was unlikely that bicycles would become a principal means of transportation in the city.
“Those who live in the suburbs can’t cycle from there to the city’s centre every day,” he said. “It will not be until 2025-30, when the city’s metro and bus systems have advanced, that citizens will be able to cycle to work on a daily basis.”
The conference was held to raise concerns and increase participation in a public multi-point bicycle sharing project, which piloted the use of solar energy and electric motorbikes in the city.
A report from the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre showed that the project reduced some 20 tonnes of CO2 compared with the use of diesel motorbikes after just two years of implementation.
The project, titled “BK-Ebike,” was implemented by a development company under the Hà N?i Polytechnic University.
It aims to put some 12.000 bicycles and electric motorbikes in use and install 400 electric motorbike recharging and rental stations at universities by 2020. 

No respite from rain for HCM City

Heavy rainfall is expected in HCM City until September 30, with the rainy season extending into early November, according to the Southern Regional Hydro Meteorological Centre in the city.

Lê Van Khoa, deputy head of the city’s People’s Committee, said the city would send SMS phone messages to the public about possible flooding caused by heavy rains.

The Centre for Urban Flood Control Programme said that a map of flood-prone areas would also be completed. The map is part of a project on flood risk management being implemented with a loan from the World Bank.

If approved, the map will be completed before the rainy season next year.

An extraordinary amount of rainfall, a clogged drainage system, and on-going construction projects all contributed to causing the historic flooding in HCM City on Monday (September 26), the heaviest in 40 years.

According to the city’s Centre for Urban Flood Control Programme, the city’s drainage system could not accommodate the amount of rainfall within a short time, causing flooding throughout all  the city’s districts.  

Prime Ministerial Decision 752, which gave approval to HCM City’s Drainage System Master Plan to 2020, had called for a designed capacity of 95 mm of rainfall within three hours for the city.

However, the decision is now out of date because rainfall of over 100mm occurs more frequently and flood tides have increased from 1.5 metres in 2006 to 1.68 metres.

The torrential rain on Monday was measured at 179 mm in District 1 and over 100 mm in other districts.

Uncontrolled waste and canals encroached on by illegal housing are two other factors that have worsened flooding.

In addition, residents continue to drop all kinds of waste in canals and at gates of drainage systems. When heavy rains begin to fall, the water pressure causes waste to clog drains.

“Before the rain, we collected waste and arranged staff at places prone to flooding,” a representative of the Centre for Urban Flood Control Programme said.

The city has issued many decisions to impose stiff fines on those who drop waste without permission, but few residents have actually been fined.

Though encroachment on canals and water drainage systems is common, local authorities have not been able to solve the problem, with many projects progressing slowly.

During a recent check of the drainage system and canals near Tân Son Nh?t Airport, the city’s People’s Committee chairman Nguy?n Thành Phong noticed that houses had been built illegally on the canal. On the bed of canal, waste and construction materials clogged the water flow.

The slow progress of flood prevention projects is another reason behind continued flooding incidents.

Many flood-prevention projects during the 2016 – 2020 period have been behind schedule due to administrative procedures.

For example, the VNÐ5.1 trillion (US$230 million) project to improve the Xuyên Tâm canal to reduce floods on an area of 700 hectares in Bình Th?nh and Gò V?p districts was handed over to a private company in 2015, but the bidder had yet to do anything

“Projects supporting water drainage under the impact of climate change have not been implemented,” a representative of the Centre for Urban Flood Control Programme said.

Though many of the projects were approved by the Prime Minister as far back as eight years ago, they have yet to be completed.

Only one (Nhiêu L?c - Th? Nghè) of 10 drains to control flood tides and 40 per cent of dykes (60 km in total of 149km) have been built. The delay has been caused by a lack of money.

Total capital for such a project would cost several hundred trillion (several billion US dollars) but the city has only $1.1 billion for it.

Several water drainage projects now under construction are believed to be affecting the entire drainage system.

The two-hour torrential rain caused serious flooding on 59 streets in HCM City, causing traffic chaos, flooding houses and delaying 12 flights at Tân Son Nh?t airport that had to be diverted to other airports.

According to initial statistics of insurance companies, more than VNÐ4 billion-10 billion ( $180,000 - 450,000) was spent for compensation on automobiles that broke down due to heavy rains in the last two days.

Tourists flock to Ninh Thuan wine festival

More than 50,000 tourists and locals took part in the Grapes and Wine Festival in central province of Ninh Thu?n, which will end today (Oct 1).

Speaking at the festival’s opening ceremony on Thursday, Lê Xuân Vinh, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said: “The festival aims to introduce Ninh Thu?n’s most signature specialties – grape and wine – to local and foreign tourists.”

“It also honours grape farmers, companies and scientists who contribute to the province’s grape growing, and create opportunities for them to share experiences, as well as seek partners.”

The festival, held at tourist attractions and heritage sites, includes a fair of 160 stalls introducing different grape varieties, products from grapes and wine, and cuisine.

A grape and wine conference was organised to discuss technologies and promotion of grape products. Tours to grape fields in the countries were featured as well.

Nguy?n Phuong Lan, a tourist from HCM City, said: “The festival is amazing. I have a chance to learn more about grape and wine.”

Lan said she visited Ba M?i grape field, one of the first grape fields in Ninh Thu?n.

“I’m interested in how all products from grapes are made. All of the products are very good. The wine is incredible,” she said.

The organisers also hosted a seminar to call for support from foreign embassies and international organisations to preserve the Cham Towers System as well as the Cham people’s culture and tradition.

According to the province’s Agriculture and Rural Development, Ninh Thu?n has 1,200 hectares of grape fields with an average yield of 30,000 tonnes of fresh grapes per year.

The province produces 60 tonnes of wine each year. It also provides a variety of grape products such as syrup, jelly, jam and raisins.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri/VNE