Residents of Đắc Đoa and Mang Yang districts in the central highland province of Gia Lai have been evacuated after an explosion occured at a military bullet warehouse late Wednesday.

Soldiers at military camps around the area have also been evacuated.

According to local authorities, the explosion did not cause any casualty.

On Thursday morning, the local military command requested residents in the affected area to stay at home as a precautionary measure.

The incident is being investigated. 

Litres of petrol seized in quality probe

Cần Thơ City police on Wednesday announced they were testing petrol samples of three local fuel providers, following a police bust seizing petroleum of questionable quality.
 
The police on the previous day caught red-handed a staff member of Vạn Nguyên 2 Petrol Company pumping some 6,000 litres of detergent solvent from a tanker into another one, which contained 3,000 litres of the solvent mixed with 3,000 litres of petrol.
 
The solvent was identified as Solmix industrial detergent.
 
The company manager, Nguyễn Văn Trung, failed to present official documents proving the origin of the liquid detergent and the petrol.
 
Busting another Vạn Nguyên warehouse, managed by Trung’s father Nguyễn Văn Nguyện, the police found another thousands of litres of petrol without proper documents and thousands of litres more at a different petrol provider, Khải Hà.
 
Detergent is often added to petrol before it is brought into the market in order to reduce the buildup of deposits in engines. However, the use of detergent should be permitted by the authorities and the final petrol product must meet fuel standards.
 
Solmix detergent was found in a number of cases previously, where the petrol mixed with the detergent was sub-standard.

Programme provides health care to 6 million people

A community health care programme has provided free checkups, treatment and medicines to more than 6 million people in nearly 13,500 campaigns nationwide, heard a conference held in Hà Nội on Thursday to review its outcomes.

The 2014-17 programme, worth more than VNĐ1.318 trillion (US$58.5 million), is aimed at mobilising resources and the participation of society towards humanitarian health checkups and treatment in an effort to provide primary health care to at least 1 million impoverished people yearly.

Deputy minister of health Nguyễn Viết Tiến said that the programme has contributed remarkably in providing primary health care services and medicines to needy people at the grassroots level, especially to the poor, disadvantaged people in island, mountainous and remote areas.   

“The programme, a good policy of the Party and the government, should be expanded in the country with new mechanisms to mobilise more human and financial resources from local and international communities,” said Tiến.

The programme, entitled Joining hands for community health, was implemented by the Việt Nam Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defence’s General Political Department and the Việt Nam Young Physician Association.

Over the past four years, the programme has also organised 11,362 drives to provide checkups and consultations to nearly 3 million people and donated over 3.1 million gifts worth more than VNĐ448 billion to poor and disadvantaged households.

In addition, it also organised 7,578 training courses to improve emergency aid skills to more than 341,000 people, provided charity meals to poor patients and donated cows, houses and money for heart surgeries to more than 7.7 million poor and needy people.      

The programme mobilised the participation of more than 250,000 people, including 64,700 doctors and physicians from hospitals belonging to the ministries of health and defence and red cross members and volunteers. 

Hoa Hao followers celebrate 98th birthday of the sect’s founder

The 98th birth anniversary of Hoa Hao Buddhism founder, Prophet Huynh Phu So, was celebrated at An Hoa temple, Phu My town, Phu Tan district, the southern province of An Giang, on January 11 (the 25th day of the 11th lunar month).

The event was attended by Head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Vu Chien Thang, representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, Military Zone 9 High Command and An Giang authorities, along with over 20,000 Hoa Hao Buddhism followers inside and outside the province.

Truong Hoang Trong, Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front – An Giang chapter, said that since it was recognised by the State, Hoa Hao Buddhism has upheld the patriotic tradition and promoted national unity.

In 2017, Hoa Hao Buddhism followers donated about 372 billion VND (16.3 million USD) to charity activities, contributing to the success in fulfilling socio-economic development tasks and building new-style rural areas.

Prophet Huynh Phu So was born on January 15, 1920 in Hoa Hao village, Chau Doc province (now An Giang province).   

Hoa Hao Buddhism now has 391 executive committees in 17 cities and provinces and over 2 million followers nationwide, mostly in An Giang.

Volunteer medics help rural poor

Sixty two poor districts across the country lack a total of almost 600 doctors with specialisations in 15 different areas, including obstetrics, paediatrics, emergencies and infectious diseases.

This was revealed by Phạm Văn Tác, director of the Personnel Department under the Ministry of Health at a conference on Tuesday. The conference was held at the Hà Nội Medical University to present a group of seven young doctors who will work in those districts.

They are the second group of graduates to have done post graduate studies and been sent to rural areas.

The doctors’ activities are part of a project to send young medicos to work in poor districts and island areas. The project was approved by the ministry in 2013.

Under the project, young doctors who perform well at medical universities are asked to volunteer.

After being trained for two years in a medical speciality, the men practice in hospitals in poor areas for three years. Female doctors are asked to do two years..

The project, running since February 2013, aims to improve the number and quality of medical staff in disadvantaged areas. Volunteers are provided with priority conditions in terms of salary, allowance and working conditions during their missions - and acfter they complete them.

This time, the seven doctors will go to poor districts in Cao Bằng, Lai Châu, Hà Giang and Điện Biên provinces.

It is expected that by 2020, about 300-500 doctors will have helped out in poor remote areas.

At present, a total of 154 young doctors with a 10 different specialities are being trained.

In June last year, the ministry in troduced the first seven young doctors to Bắc Kạn, Lào Cai, Điện Biên and Sơn La provinces.

Director Tác highly said he greatly appreciated their work so far. “The graduates conducted difficult techniques and surgeries well, including endoscopies, appendectomies, ovary tumours, and ectopic pregnancy,” said Tác.

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến told the conference that the project was a great initiative by the health sector.

It was creating better health opportunities for poor people to access good quality health services, decrease overloading at central hospitals and prevent waste for patients, the community and society, she said. 

HCM City continues administrative reforms

HCM City plans to improve its administrative procedures by using smartphone apps for tracking citizens’ submissions and forming working groups, according to Trần Vĩnh Tuyến, deputy chairman of HCM City People’s Committee.

In a meeting on improving administrative procedures held on Tuesday (Jan 9), Tuyến said the city should focus on developing apps that could help people and businesses keep track of procedures more easily, as opposed to relying on the government website and other traditional means.

In a related matter, the city has formed interdisciplinary working groups to deal with investment proposals and projects more efficiently.

The meeting reviewed administrative reform in 2017 and its accomplishments, such as speeding up procedures for services like business registration and building certificates in addition to the use of more electronic documents rather than paper, which has saved the city billions of đồng.

Several outstanding administrative units received awards at the meeting.

However, Tuyến noted that in 2017 around eight per cent of the city’s administrative units still did not have plans to improve administrative procedures.

He said that such units need to improve their services this year, including dealing with applications more thoroughly by keeping applicants informed and processing applications more quickly, and listening to people’s feedback. 

As for administrative reform, the city targets reaching a satisfactory level of 90 per cent, and completing more than 90 per cent of submitted applications on time.

UK vocational education providers to seek partnership in Vietnam

Leading providers of technical and vocational training and education from the United Kingdom will visit HCM City and Hanoi from January 15-18 to set up and extend partnerships with local companies, schools, colleges, universities and government organisations.

According to the British Embassy in Vietnam, the British delegation includes representatives from colleges, private training providers and companies specializing in providing business solutions such as professional development programmes, vocational qualifications, teacher training, courses with industry recognised accreditation and management consultancy.

With a young population and a dynamic business environment, Vietnam stands out as a country with great potential for partnership with the UK, which is a centre of excellence for technical and vocational training, said Ian Gibbons, British Consul General in HCM City and Director of the Department for International Trade in Vietnam.

“I’m confident that the partnerships established will endure and help equip Vietnam’s students, workers and companies with the 21st century knowledge and skills for them to prosper in the global marketplace”, he stressed.   

The Department for International Trade Vietnam, in cooperation with the Vietnam Directorate for Vocational Education and Training, will organise seminars in HCM City on January 15 and in Hanoi on January 17. 

The seminars will offer opportunities to share the UK’s expertise in technical and vocational training and education and introduce its technology and equipment in the fields of automotive, textile-garment and construction, hospitality, English, ICT and soft skills to local stakeholders.

In addition, B2B meetings with members of the delegation will also take place in both cities.

Thanh Hoa works to combat IUU fishing

After Vietnam received a “yellow-card” from the European Commission (EC) because of its failure to meet standards over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, the central province of Thanh Hoa is rushing off its feet to minimise IUU fishing activities in the locality.

Accordingly, the province has prioritised the popularisation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Direction No.3727 on enhancing management over seafood exploitation and ensuring safety for fishermen and fishing vessels as well as the Government’s Direction No.45 on actions in response to the EC’s warning.

Inspections have been increased to address IUU fishing. Permanent revocation of fishing license is the most severe punishment meted out for ship owners and captains who take their vessels to illegally fish in foreign waters.

The local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development asks for the installation and operation of vessel monitoring system in fishing boats and orders captains to keep journals of seafood exploitation. It also carries out a database system which gathers information about fishing vessels, catching activities, fishermen, registration and licensing of fishing boats in the locality.

According to Nguyen Duc Cuong, head of the provincial Bureau of Aquatic Resources Exploitation and Protection, the agency has joined hands with the Directorate of Fisheries, local border guards and the people’s committees of coastal districts to organise 15 training courses on seas and islands, safety for fishermen and fishing vessels, food safety and protection of aquatic resources.

Also, it has delivered leaflets and hung banners to raise public awareness of aquatic resources safeguarding and food safety on fishing vessels.

Party committees’ responsibility for grassroots-level democracy urged

Politburo member Truong Thi Mai, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation Truong Thi Mai has requested raising responsibility of Party committees and authorities for exercising the regulations on democracy at grassroots level. 

During a meeting in Hanoi on January 11 reviewing the exercise of grassroots-level democracy in 2017, Mai lauded improvements in administrative reform and settlement of complaints and denunciations in many localities. 

She said lives in remote, mountainous and ethnic minority regions need to be improved via socio-economic development while relations between the Party committees, authorities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), socio-political organisations and the people need to be stronger via dialogues. 

Mai suggested strengthening the monitoring of responsibility of heads of units, adding that three inspection groups led by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, President of the VFF Central Committee Tran Thanh Man, and deputy head of the Commission for Mass Mobilisation Tran Thi Bich Thuy will oversee the exercise of democracy regulations in the southeast, northern border provinces, the Government Inspectorate, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Health Ministry, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour in the first half of this year. 

In 2017, Party committees, authorities, VFF and socio-political organisations directed the enforcement of the Party’s guidelines and State laws on democracy regulations at grassroots level, the Resolution adopted by the fourth plenum of the 12th National Party Congress and Decree No.05-CT/TW on strengthening corruption and wastefulness prevention and control, campaigns on developing new style rural areas and building cultural life. 

Awareness of Party committees and authorities of democracy and democracy exercise has also been improved, bringing into full play the role, potential and creativity of people and encouraging them to join patriotic movements, and contributing to maintaining political stability and social order and building a pure and strong grassroots political system, heard the meeting.