WB project helps Hanoi cut red tape surrounding land use rights

Hanoi has accelerated the process of granting land use rights, with more than 40,500 certificates issued for commercial housing projects in 2014.

The result is attributable to the implementation of the World Bank-funded Vietnam Land Administration Project (VLAP) across Dan Phuong, Quoc Oai and Ung Hoa districts since 2008. To date, the project has processed the registration for 404,481 out of 454,480 local plots and granted 260,418 land use rights certificates.

The VLAP aims to increase stakeholder access to land information services by developing an improved land administration system in selected provinces. The objective is to ensure that land users, including businesses and households, have access to more efficient, reliable, and transparent services from local land administrators.

The municipal VLAP management board is completing a package deal to build digital data for all plots across 66 participating communes and townships. It will also install a land profile management system at the Hanoi land register office and three provincial hubs. Meanwhile, a pilot project is allowing locals to receive information and the legal status of land plots via text message.

According to Nguyen Van Hung, Vice Director of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, this is the first time the city has run such an effective land management system. He praised its quick and smooth procedures, which have received no complaints so far.

Hanoi pledges to establish a fully functional system by June 30, he said.

World Bank (WB) Country Director Victoria Kwakwa lauded Hanoi’s speedy implementation and urged the city to share its experience with other provinces and mobilise resources to expand the model.

The VLAP has a total investment of US$100 million, including US$75 million sourced from the WB. It has been carried out since 2008 in Hanoi and eight provinces across the country.

Vietnam to ease visa, work permit requirements for foreigners

Vietnam's officials have pledged to simplify administrative procedures involving foreign workers in the country, including relaxing work permit and visa requirements for them.

Duong Manh Hung, director of the Foreign Labor Department under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the government has instructed his agency to draft proposals on requirements for foreign professional workers.

“It has been too strict when we require foreigners to have at least a bachelor degree and five years of experience in their field to be able to work in Vietnam,” he told a conference in Ho Chi Minh City April 8.

Hung said amendments to Decree 102 on foreign labor in Vietnam are expected to be approved and enforced in the third quarter this year.

“We are also considering two proposals especially for workers from Southeast Asia, either removing work permit requirements or keeping them to the minimum,” he said.

Policy makers will also propose favorable policies for employees being transferred to Vietnam from the same company abroad. Currently, they have to apply for a work permit just like other employees who are being recruited for the first time.

The conference attracted an audience of more than 200 representatives of foreign businesses, associations and law firms who also shared their concerns on immigration issues.

Benjamin Yap, senior partner at PBC Partners & RHTLaw, said a common concern for many foreigners in Vietnam is not entering Vietnam, but leaving the country.

“If facing a pending civil suit, foreigners cannot leave the country in three years. It’s a good reminder for foreigners to be careful or they can get stuck in Vietnam. But it can be not very positive in case they are victims of sabotage efforts,” he said.

In response, Colonel Nguyen Van Anh, director of the HCMC Immigration Department, said that a foreigner cannot easily be banned from leaving Vietnam.

“There has to be a court decision, which is based on advice from relevant agencies after thorough consideration. And the three-year ban is actually the maximum ban.”

Anh said in reality the government often tries to limit the use of this ban on foreigners.

Study finds large dioxin emissions from waste treatment plants

Many incinerators that burn industrial and medical waste in Vietnam are discharging dangerous amounts of dioxin, some at 5,000 times the safe limit, according to a new research.

Le Ke Son, the lead researcher and a former official at the environment ministry, said the report is the first time “Vietnam admits that there’s dioxin discharged from industrial activities besides from dioxin left from the war.”

The research was conducted by Steering Committee 33, a national committee set up to mitigate the effects of toxic chemicals used by the US during the Vietnam war, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Dioxin, one of the most toxic and persistent compounds which can leave impacts including cancer through generations, can be inhaled or digested.

Environmental group Greenpeace has said it is the most toxic manmade chemical ever identified.

Researchers said dioxin in sewage sludge can easily be absorbed into food through soil and water.

Incinerators are responsible for most of the dioxin discharged in Vietnam, the research has revealed, based on the amount of dioxin and dioxin-related compounds (DRCs) measured in their emissions and sewage sludge.  

Vietnam has not developed technologies to recycle and treat waste properly and mostly burns all of its garbage together.

The research team took 18 emission samples from medical, urban and industrial incinerators and all of them contained dioxin or DRCs, with seven exceeding the safe limit.

Vietnam’s environment ministry allows waste treatment plants to emit dioxin at the toxicity equivalence (TEQ) of 600 picograms per normal cubic meter, or below. Three samples from incinerators in Hanoi exceeded this limit by up to 16 times.

Notably one incinerator in the nearby Hai Duong Province was found exceeding the limit by 81 times.

Ho Chi Minh City has the worst dioxin pollution caused by the disposal of sewage sludge from incinerators.

Vietnam does not set a dioxin limit for sewage sludge. But based on the Japanese standard of 10 picograms per normal cubic meter, three samples taken from three treatment factories were too polluted, with one exceeding the limit by 5,000 times.

Two other samples in Hanoi were five and 23 times beyond the limit while four samples in Hai Duong were between three and 129 times above the permitted level.

The researchers expressed concern of the high chance of dioxin pollution in the area around the incinerators.

Sad lives adrift on ‘floating slum’ near Hanoi’s iconic bridge

Dozens of households have lived on shabby rafts and in wretched conditions near Hanoi’s hallmark Long Bien Bridge over the Hong (Red) River for years.

Only a stone’s throw from the heart of the capital, twenty-six households with some 100 members in total have called a “floating village” adrift on a section of the river, one of the northern region’s major rivers, their “home-sweet-home” for many years, with some of them having lived there for over two and a half decades.

The residents’ rafts are generally anchored near the Long Bien Bridge, one of the capital’s cultural icons and historical witnesses, which spans over the Hong River and links Hoan Kiem and Long Bien Districts.

These people’s wretched living conditions are a far cry from Hanoi’s hustle and bustle and opulent lifestyle even though they reside just two kilometers from the downtown area.

The residents have no access to electricity or modern comforts.

None of the children there go to high school and most follow their parents’ footsteps as scrap scavengers or hired hands to eke out a meager living.  

As their parents are poor migrant workers, many of the kids do not have birth certificates.

They attend free night classes mostly to learn how to read and write and work by day to earn some money.

Each family has erected a small shed on the river bank near the place where their rafts are anchored.

The sheds, which are well shielded from rain, house the residents’ “treasured” scrap and garbage, which they have scavenged for several days.

When the sheds are filled to the rim, they will sell their contents to scrap dealers in town for some income.

As the tides on the Hong River retreat, these residents’ rafts tend to get stuck near the river bank.

Adults and kids wading in the waters near the bank to push their rafts further into the river is a common sight at this “floating village.”

A five-year-old resident at the "floating village" poses with her granddaughter with some dilapidated rafts in the background. Photo:Tuoi Tre

“We have no choice but to live here, which saves us rent and provides us with shelter though it’s quite ragged and unkempt. We can find no jobs in our hometown and it’s a great humiliation to return to our hometown empty-handed,” Nguyen Thi Hong, the village’s “vice leader,” said.

Elderly villagers, including septuagenarians, cannot enjoy their old age.

They brave biting-cold weather and defy declining health to pick up every piece of garbage or toil hard for some extra money.

Nguyen Thi Thuy, 76, and her 78-year-old husband, Nguyen Van Thanh, got married some 40 years ago.

The couple roamed from place to place across Hanoi and has called the “floating village” home since 2011.

They took shelter in a casually-shielded buoy and have collected garbage and done other grinding work for a skimpy living.

Moved by their story, many people visited the couple last year and helped them build a more decent raft.

Nguyen Dang Duoc, the village’s “head,” and his wife left their hometown for Hanoi in 1989 and “founded” the floating village.  

“There were times when the village was home to some 30 families. Some later landed stable jobs and moved ‘onshore,’” Duoc revealed.

According to Le Dang Le, vice chair of the People’s Committee of Ngoc Thuy Ward, located in Long Bien District, the “floating villagers” do not have a permanent residency certificate and thus are not under his ward’s administration.

The residents are therefore not eligible for aid or loans, except for occasional token gifts.

Goods smuggling cases uncovered in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City’s market management force has detected over 30 smuggling cases and seized approximately 6,250 units of products without import invoices since the beginning of April.

The products are mainly watches, mobile phones, laptops, cosmetics and clothes.

With 17 cases of violation, cosmetics are the most commonly smuggled product. Most originate from Thailand, the US, China and Japan, and are sold in markets across the 24 districts of the city.

Tobacco trafficking is also a primary concern of municipal authorities, as traffickers are using more complicated methods that can be difficult to detect.

More than 2,000 packs of smuggled tobacco have been seized this month.

Tobacco smuggling has expanded due to the availability of cheap tobacco in neighbouring countries with price disparity ranging from 3,000 to 12,000 VND per pack, compared with legally imported products.

Ninh Thuan asked to implement ethnic policies effectively

Minister-Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Affairs Giang Seo Phu has asked the central province of Ninh Thuan to efficiently implement the State’s policies on improving the living standards of people in ethnic minority or mountainous areas.

The province should promote local strengths and ensure social welfare policies for the target groups, Phu said while working with local authorities to inspect the implementation of ethnic policies in Ninh Thuan on April 9.

Discussion was focused on the implementation of ethnic policies such as supporting infrastructure building, production development, providing land for housing and cultivation and programmes on rural modernisation and vocational training.

Provincial Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Duc Thanh suggested supporting farmers with high-yield seeds and technology transfer as well as combining production with forest development.

Phu asked the province to review the benefits and downsides of each policy and make proposals to remove bottlenecks.

Ninh Thuan is now home to 34 ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Kinh people, followed by Cham, Raglay, Coho, and Hoa (Chinese) and a smaller number of Churu, Nung and Tay .

Earlier, Phu had working sessions with authorities from the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau , the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu , and the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region regarding their respective ethnic minority policies.

Vietnam now has 130 policies benefitting ethnic communities, according to the Committee for Ethnic Affairs.

Traditional Asian New Year celebrated in Hanoi

A gathering to celebrate the traditional New Years of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was held in Hanoi on April 9.

The event was hosted by the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organisations in coordination with Embassies of Asian countries to Vietnam, the Hanoi Buddhist Association and the Vietnam Friendship Associations with Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

Congratulating the people of these Asian countries on their New Year, Myanmar’s Ambassador to Vietnam U Win Hlaing expressed his delight at the meaningful event and more importantly, the growing relations between Vietnam and the celebrating countries.

President of the Hanoi Fatherland Front Dao Van Binh hoped the foreign friends felt a warm welcome during the event and fuelled the development of ties between nations in the region.

A number of signature rituals during New Year of the Asian countries were performed including bathing the Buddha statue, tying threads around the wrist, splashing water and colour festival and a concert of folk dance and music.

Mekong Delta sees decline in poverty rate among Khmer families

The poverty rate among Khmer ethnic households in the Mekong Delta region was cut down to 17 percent by the end of 2014 thanks to efforts by authorised agencies in improving their livelihoods and ensuring social welfares.

Vice Standing Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region Nguyen Phong Quang said in Tra Vinh, the committee worked with local authorities to raise funds to build an ethnic boarding school worth more than 20 billion VND (952,380 USD), facilitating access to education for Khmer children.

A hospital in Soc Trang province’s Vinh Chau district, home to a large number of Khmer people, is also under construction and funded by local individuals and organisations.

Meanwhile, relevant agencies have called for financial support for the construction of a Theravada Buddhist academy in Can Tho city to meet the demands for Khmer study, Quang added.

He continued to say that the Steering Committee and local authorities have also visited and offered practical aid to Khmer people on the occasion of their traditional festivals.

In the run up to this year’s Chol Chnam Thmay New Year festival, committee members visited eight provinces and Can Tho city, presenting gifts to eight solidarity associations of patriotic Buddhist monks, 34 Khmer pagodas, and 170 low-income Khmer families.

The Mekong Delta region groups the 13 localities of An Giang, Bac Lieu, Ben Tre, Ca Mau, Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Kien Giang, Long An, Soc Trang, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh and Vinh Long provinces and Can Tho City.

The region is home to more than 1.2 million Khmer people, one of the most populous ethnic groups in Vietnam.

Exchange brings Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao together

Over 400 students from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia converged at a student exchange organised in Ho Chi Minh City on April 9 by the municipal chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to celebrate Laos’s Bun Pi May New Year Festival and Cambodia’s Chol Chnam Thmey New Year Festival.

In her opening remark, Deputy Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council Truong Thi Anh conveyed happy New Year greetings to Cambodian and Lao students pursuing their studies in the City.

She highlighted that students are an important driving force in elevating the traditional relations of the three countries to new heights.

Sodavy, a Cambodian student at Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University, expressed his gratitude for the support from teachers, friends and city leaders in his studies and livelihood, adding that such exchange programmes create opportunities for students to promote understanding and solidarity among the three peoples.

On this occasion, Ho Chi Minh City held a chain of exchange activities for students including a traditional Water Festival commonly held in Laos and Cambodia and a football friendship tournament.

BIDV supports construction of pre-schools in Thai Nguyen

The Bank for the Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) signed a contract on April 9 to sponsor 15 billion VND (700,000 USD) to build five pre-schools in remote, ethnic minority-inhabited communes of northern Thai Nguyen province.

The province has asked the BIDV and relevant agencies to hasten the disbursement process to enable the facilities to go into operation for the 2015-2016 academic year, said Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Duong Ngoc Long.

BIDV is one of the top banks in Vietnam with total assets of more than 655 trillion VND (30.5 billion USD).

It has also been involved in a number of social welfare activities and national target programmes, focusing on the healthcare, education and emergency aid relief to constituents affected by natural disasters.

Scholarships granted to poor ethnic minority students in HCM City

The Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund granted 220 scholarships to outstanding students from ethnic minority regions in Ho Chi Minh City on April 9, each worth around 1-1.5 million VND (47-71 USD).

Former Vice President and Chairwoman of the Fund Truong My Hoa said the fund has assisted ethnic minority students nationwide over the past 16 years.

Since 2014, the fund has presented thousands of scholarships to students across the country.

It plans to grant 5,000 scholarships for students in ethnic minority region annually while simultaneously investing in projects to brighten their future.

Ho Chi Minh City ’s largest minority ethnic group are the Hoa (Chinese), accounting for 5.78 percent of the city’s total population.

The Cho Lon market in District 5 and parts of Districts 6, 10 and 11, is home to the largest Hoa community in Vietnam . Other ethnic minorities include Khmer with 0.34 percent and Cham at 0.1 percent.-

Conference talks enhancing agricultural development

Enhancing the competitiveness of domestic agricultural products was discussed at an online conference on integrating the agricultural sector internationally on April 9 in Hanoi.

Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat urged local businesses to improve their performance in both international and domestic markets by increasing product competitiveness.

A number of domestic products have weak competitiveness, including livestock, fruit, soybean, corn and cotton, Phat said.

He also stressed the need for the sector to restructure its agricultural production, focusing on improving major products to meet requirements of key export markets.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee of central Ha Tinh province Le Dinh Son called for publicity campaigns to facilitate access to information for businesses and residents.

Echoing Son’s opinion, Vice Chairman of the provincial People Committee of Mekong Delta Kien Giang province Mai Anh Nhi said a number of low quality products stem from insufficient information on international markets.

He also attributed the situation to a lack of technology application.-

14 provinces vulnerable to forest fires

The Forest Ranger Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has urged local authorities in the central, Central Highlands and southern regions to take measures to prevent forest fires.

They warned of the risk of serious blazes across 14 provinces nationwide including An Giang, Binh Phuoc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Kon Tum, Long An, Ninh Thuan and Tay Ninh – all of which are experiencing prolonged drought.

Specific warnings have also been put out over 10,000 hectares of forest in the southern Kien Giang province, stretching across Phu Quoc National Park, Giang Thanh, Hon Dat and U Minh Thuong.

Since the outset of the current dry season, Kien Giang province has suffered 16 forest fires, damaging nearly 93 hectares of forest.

To deal with the risks of fire, the province has implemented a number of precautionary programmes including around-the-clock patrols and logistics planning.

Phu Yen strives for 29,000 trained workers until 2020

The central province of Phu Yen has set a target to provide vocational training for 29,000 people, 80 percent of which will find jobs post-training from now to 2020.

To achieve that goal, the provincial People’s Committee has asked authorities at district and commune levels to investigate the local demand for vocational training, particularly in mountainous and ethnic minority areas, to help them choose suitable job training topics.

It has also requested 18 vocational education facilities coordinate with businesses in the training.

Additionally, the People’s Committee has decided to increase the number of jobs on the curriculum of training facilities from 68 to 127.

From 2010-2014, 22,274 locals received vocation training, 16,840 of which have since held sustainable jobs, representing 75.6 percent.-

War remains found in Binh Duong

Remains of fallen soldiers were recently found buried together in Dinh Hiep commune of Dau Tieng district, southern Binh Duong province.

A ceremony to inter their remains is scheduled to take place on April 21.

During a battle in the locality 50 years ago, more than 100 soldiers from Regiment 3, Division 7 lost their lives and were buried on the spot.

Search efforts have thus far recovered bones and some belongings, including 35 rubber sandals, two wallets, and a silver ring.

Hanoi enlarges wastewater treatment plant

The Hanoi City People’s Committee has agreed to invest over 310 billion VND (14.5 million USD) in expanding the Ho Tay wastewater treatment plant, aiming to ensure environmental hygiene around the West Lake.

The Phu Dien Construction Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company and SFC Vietnam Environment Investment and Development Joint Stock Company are the investors under a build-transfer (BT) contract.

The construction, scheduled to be carried out during the first and third quarters of this year, includes drains and pumping stations to collect wastewater.

The city asked the investors to implement the project in line with Government and City regulations in construction management and BT contracts.

The municipal Department of Planning and Architecture was urged to perform procedures in accordance with the city’s planning site as well as other plans related to the wastewater collection area of the Ho Tay wastewater treatment plant.-

Deputy PM asks for more efforts in forestry sector restructuring

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked localities nationwide to focus on forestry restructuring by improving productivity, quality and value of forest production; increasing added value for processed wood; boosting the forestry value chain and expanding the wood market.

Deputy PM Hai made the request while chairing a meeting of the National Steering Committee on the Forest Protection and Development Plan for 2011-2020 in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak on April 9.

Hai urged localities to strictly implement forest planting project to replace damaged areas while reshuffling forestry enterprises and rolling out measures to prevent and fight forest fires.

He also requested additional efforts in forest protection and strengthened state management over forest land, adding that all violations are to be strictly handled.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, last year, almost all targets for forest conservation and development were fulfilled, with forestry production growth reaching 7.09 percent and exports hitting 6.54 billion USD.

As many as 2.037 million hectares of forest are currently under protection. During the first three months of this year, 3,941 law violations were detected, a decrease of 41.9 percent over the same period last year.

Total damaged forest areas amounted to 31.92 hectares, a drop of nearly 569 hectares from 2014. Meanwhile, localities nationwide planted 13,416 additional hectares of forest, completing 6 percent of the yearly target and equivalent to 167 percent of last years’ figure.

As the end of 2014, the forest stocktaking project for 2013-2016 was completed, revealing a total recorded forest areas of over 2.5 million hectares in the five Central Highlands localities, including 2.2 million hectares of natural areas and more than 313 million hectares of planted forests. Total wood reserve was 302 million cubic metres.

Contaminated fried fish cause food poisoning

The Food Administration of Vietnam yesterday announced fried egg fish goldfish to poison 107 workers of Star Company in Phu Nghia Industrial Park in Chuong My District in Hanoi.

107 workers of Star Company were hospitalized on April 8 after eating lunch with fried egg fish goldfish at the company in April 7. The fried fish was contaminated with E.coli. Inspectors said that unsafe food processing and preservation has led to poisoning.

Accordingly, the Administration and the Department of Health in Hanoi asked the company to disinfect the kitchen and ensure the food processing and preservation for food safety and hygiene.

Nearly 6,000 children inoculated with vaccine Quinvaxem safely.

After one month, nearly 6,000 children across the country were vaccinated with vaccine Quinvaxem in more than 40 medical clinics, said the Department of Preventive Medicine, a part of the Ministry of Health on April 9.

Through statistics, 3,603 kids have been inoculated in 34 clinics in Hanoi.  Most parents took 2,034 children to the Preventive Medicine Center meanwhile 2,328 kids in Ho Chi Minh City have been immunized in 11 clinics.

Before, on March 9, Deputy Health Minister sent an urgent document to director of municipal and provincial departments of health and leaders of institutes of epidemiology, Pasteur institutes and hospitals asking to implement expanded immunization program in serviced medical clinics to ensure all children to receive enough routine vaccine as  many parents are waiting for serviced vaccines which they thought to be better.

Microsoft Corporation is reaching out to its customers in Vietnam to advise that time is running out for organisations still with Windows Server 2003 with less than 100 days to the end of support deadline on July 14, 2015.

This is already an extended date and is based on its standard lifecycle support policies. IT leaders need to move quickly to protect the applications and information residing on old servers and to use it as an opportunity to realise the business benefits of moving to modern platforms like Windows Server 2012 as outlined in a recently commissioned report by IDC Asia Pacific1.

According to Spiceworks, a global professional network of more than five million IT professionals, 59.8 per cent of organisations who use its tools in Asia Pacific are still running at least one instance of Windows Server 2003 as of March 2015. This represents a 5 per cent drop in Windows Server 2003 usage since June 2014.

In Asia Pacific region, there are approximately 60 per cent of organisations which use Spiceworks tools are still running at least one instance of Windows Server 2003 as of March 2015. This represents a 5 per cent percentage point drop since June 2014.

For companies still using Windows Server 2003 after the end of support deadline, these servers will be particularly vulnerable as no new security patches will be made available.

This is especially critical, given the fast-paced evolution of security threats. In fact, since January 2014, 47 new vulnerabilities were identified on Windows Server 2003 according to Secunia, a global player in software vulnerability management.

“IT demands have changed dramatically since the launch of Windows Server 2003 more than 11 years ago. IT leaders across all industries are now managing an infrastructure that demands support for cloud, mobility, social and data-intensive applications,” said Hoang Song Nga, C&E Lead, Microsoft Vietnam.

“In addition, the increasing security and privacy threats are pressuring businesses of all sizes to transform in this new mobile-first, cloud-first world. All of which cannot be met with old technology platforms,” Nga added.

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