Three children drown in Quang Ngai

Three children drowned while swimming in a reservoir in Ba Trang Commune in the central province of Quang Ngai last Saturday.

Authorities confirmed yesterday that the three victims, Pham Van My, Pham Van Thuong, Pham Van Duy, went for a swim in Liet Son Reservoir with Pham Van Thuong's father, Pham Van Say.

The three children, all seven years old, went swimming while Say was fishing in the lake.

Vietnam to dole out US$2.75 million for HIV response this year

Vietnam will spend VND60 billion (US$2.75 million) this year on paying for medications for people with HIV in the country following international donors' funding cutback.

Those covered by public health insurance can receive the medical treatments for free, according to a prime minister's decree.

Vietnam is having 219,163 HIV patients and a third of them have developed AIDS. HIV/AIDS have killed nearly 69,500 people in the country, according to official figures.

The first five months of this year saw 3,204 new cases and 438 deaths of AIDS-related causes.

Firm fined for providing games without approved content

The Ministry of Information and Communications has fined VTC Online Co. Ltd VND60 million (more than US$2,700) for providing online games with unapproved content.

The multiplayer games were provided on the servers of the company. The penalty was imposed in line with regulations in Decree 174, issued in November 2013, on handling administrative violations related to the post, telecommunications, technology and radio frequencies.

On June 30, the ministry had sent letters to provincial departments and online game providers asking them to ensure that the management, provision and use of online games in Viet Nam was in compliance with the law.

Unions can help guest workers

The role of trade unions should be enhanced to protect guest workers, a conference held by the Viet Nam General Labour Confederation (VGLC) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Ha Noi said at a workshop on Friday.

A report released by the VGLC said about 70 per cent of guest workers were from rural areas and had low vocational skills and experience. This created high risks in their jobs.

The workshop was told that many Vietnamese workers who paid substantial sums to receive jobs abroad had to return home before scheduled time and fell into debt.

The VGLC said that the number of Vietnamese guest workers was likely to rise.

Many workers refused to return to Viet Nam when theirs contracts expired, affecting Viet Nam's labour exports and the workers themselves.

The VGLC said the situation was due to a lack of effective policies to protect guest workers coupled with inefficient laws and poor collaboration among relevant parties.

Ineffective law enforcement and limited worker access to the judicial system also contributed to the situation, according to the confederation.

Ahn Pong-sul, an expert from the ILO, said experiences from other countries showed that the role of trade unions in observing labour rights was significant due to union capacity to supervise migration and working conditions as well as giving legal support to labourers.

Participants agreed that it was necessary to add a regulation on the rights of workers to receive support in negotiating recruitment deals. Trade unions should also strengthen supervision over the implementation of contracts.

New highway opens to traffic

The Ho Chi Minh Highway running from the Central Highland province of Kon Tum to the southeast province of Binh Phuoc has been opened to traffic at a ceremony in Buon Ma Thuot City.

The completion of the road cuts travel times between the Central Highlands and HCM City and DaNang.

The national highway expansion project aims to reduce traffic accidents and increase the flow of traffic.

The road is expected to facilitate social-economic development as well as ensuring security and defence in the Central Highlands .

The 663km section of the road starts in Dak Zon in Kon Tum Province and ends in Chon Thanh in Binh Phuoc Province.

The 110km section from Dak Zon to Tan Canh in Kon Tum Province was completed in 2007.

Around 134km running through urban areas in the Central Highlands as well as the section from Kon Tum to Pleiku were completed in 2013.

The remaining 419km was completed between 2013 and 2015 with total investment of VND13.1 trillion (US$600 million).

The build-operate-transfer project accounted for VND5.99 trillion (US$275 million), while the rest was sourced from Government bonds.

Smuggling cases on the increase at border posts

The number of smuggling cases handled in the first six months of the year rose by 35 per cent compared to the same period last year, reported the National 389 Steering Committee.

The statistics were released on Friday at an online meeting of the committee, which leads the national fight against smuggling, commercial fraud and counterfeiting.

The committee added that more than VND4.3 trillion (US$198.3 million) was added to the State budget by selling seized goods.

Drugs continued to be the most popular goods trafficked across borders, both by land and air.

Meanwhile, natural resources such as oil, coal and timber were smuggled by sea from the coasts of northeastern, central and southwestern regions.

Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Chairman of the committee, said a lot of work still needed to be done.

"We missed many cases in several localities and sectors," Phuc said.

Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung said that all corrupt officers should be removed to improve the outcomes of the fight.

Administrative procedures should also be refined by using the electronic network to close existing loopholes.

Over 1.1 mln access social policy loans

The Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) provided preferential loans totalling 23.8 trillion VND (1.1 billion USD) for 1.1 million clients in the first six months of this year.

According to the VBSP, the loans enabled 660,000 students to pursue their studies, created 162,000 jobs including 3,400 abroad, and helped build 8,000 flood-proof houses in the Mekong Delta region.

By June 30, 2015, the bank’s total capital reached 141 trillion VND (6.52 billion USD), up 3.6 percent compared to 2014. Of which, entrusted capital from local budgets amounted to 4.4 trillion VND (203 million USD).

The bank’s outstanding loans were valued at 136 trillion VND (6.3 billion USD), up 6.23 trillion VND (291 million USD) from the end of 2014 and accounting for 78 percent of the plan approved by the Prime Minister. The rate of overdue debt was 0.84 percent.

Through the end of the year, VBSP targets a 10 percent credit growth.

Agricultural restructuring brings satisfactory results in Dong Thap

Agricultural restructuring has reduced rice production costs, increased farmers’ income and profit and yielded higher productivity in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap after two years of implementation of an agriculture plan, the province People’s Committee reported to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat on Friday.

The province has chosen five mainstay farm produce with competitive advantages to develop including rice, ornamental flowers, pangasius fish, mango and ducks.

So far, Dong Thap has developed large-scale paddy field modal over 87,000 hectares. Production has been mechanized to reduce cost price by VND600-750 a kilogram.

Farmers profit VND22-23 million per hectare a crop from the new modal, VND4-5 million higher than that from traditional production modals.

Farming production connectivity has been sped up. Hundreds of billion of dong loans have been disbursed to Loc Anh Export Import Company to link with three agricultural cooperatives Tan Tien, Tan Cuong and Phu Binh in Tam Nong district to develop 1,730 hectares of rice under value chain form.

Besides, the province has worked with South Korean KRC Group to plan 28,000 hectares of rice farming land under large-scale and modern production modals in districts like Thanh Binh and Tam Nong.

Local authorities have also cooperated with Japan and the Netherlands to apply advanced production technologies in the province.

Secretary of Dong Thap Party Committee Le Minh Hoan said that agricultural restructuring was an urgent matter, which the province considered as its top important duty. Connectivity in production and consumption was vital to modernize production mode and reduce costs to improve competitiveness.

Recording the province’s achievements, Minister Phat said Dong Thap was the pioneering province in agricultural restructuring. Other provinces can learn from experience from its successes.

However, there are many things needed to do ahead, requiring further efforts from the province to more succeed in the agricultural restructuring, he added.

Ho Chi Minh Highway opens to traffic in Central Highlands, Binh Phuoc

Ho Chi Minh Highway through the Central Highlands and the southeastern province of Binh Phuoc was opened to traffic at an inauguration ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Transport in Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province this morning.

The highway’s stretch covers a total length of 663 kilometers from Dak Lak to Binh Phuoc with about 134 kilometers passing urban areas.

Of the rest 419 kilometers of the highway, 212 kilometers have been funded with government bonds and over 207 kilometers has been built under BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) form.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said that the highway had been built in the Central Highlands one year before schedule, saving VND2 trillion (US$91.7 million) and shorten one third of travel time from the area to the southern region.

The highway upgrading project plays significant role as backbone route connecting the Central Highlands to Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city.

Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang displayed the Ministry of Transport, the Central Highlands Steering Board, investors, consultant and supervisory units and contractors for their great efforts and initiatives in the project’s implementation.

He proposed the Transport Ministry to soon study ways and find capital source to upgrade the highway section from Kon Tum province to Da Nang city, which has been built in the first phase of the project but the road face is too narrow at only seven meters. It is unsafe for traffic vehicular because the bendy area comprises many mountain passes and slopes, he said.

On this occasion, the Central Highlands Steering Board gave certificates of merit to five teams and 14 individuals for excellently fulfilling their duties in constructing the Ho Chi Minh Highway. The Ministry of Transport also commended and rewarded eight teams and individuals.

Dengue fever cases increasing in Binh Duong, Dong Nai Provinces

The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday said that through investigation, outbreaks of dengue fever has remained in the two southern provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai.

Through a report by heath inspectors in some districts and Bien Hoa city of Dong Nai Province, it showed that health officials  in the province and local government have not implemented the prevention mission thoroughly.

Health inspectors noticed that many families have had water-holding containers including flower vase where mosquitoes are favorite to choose to lay their eggs.

Many houses in the two provinces have been   rented by workers who go out to work all day so spraying chemicals to kill mosquitoes and larva could not be carried out.

The Department of Health in Dong Nai said that total cases of dengue fever infections in 2015 increased higher than the same period last year, most cases have been from Bien Hoa city and districts Trang Bom, Long Khanh and Tan Phu.

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong aims to help 99 percent of its rural population have access to hygienic water by 2020, 73 percent of which will use water that meets the Ministry of Health’s standards.

The target is part of a local programme costing more than 3.25 trillion VND (152.4 million USD) on improving living conditions for rural residents, according to a statement made by the provincial People’s Committee on July 12.

Local authorities are also working to ensure hygienic water and sanitary facilities for all local schools and medical stations.

To reach the target, the locality plans to build 40 concentrated water supply systems and upgrade 36 systems for residents and 30 for schools and medical stations.

Thousands of local schools and medical stations across the province will also be equipped with water filter systems.

Tens of thousands of concentrated water wells will be drilled, built and repaired to ensure adequate water supply for rural areas across the province.

The budget also covers the construction of three waste treatment factories.

Lam Dong is home to 40 ethnic minority groups with over 286,000 people, or 24.1 percent of the province’s population.

To drive development of ethnic areas, Lam Dong will continue to prioritise rural infrastructure, road networks, markets, healthcare and education facilities.

Son La: 6,000 drug addicts to access methadone treatment

The Government will subsidise a health programme using methadone therapy to treat approximately 6,000 drug addicts across northern Son La province through 2020.

The province seeks to gradually curb reliance on current drugs with methadone. Within 2015, 18 new medical facilities will be established for methadone treatment and distribution, while free drugs will be delivered to healthcare units in Yen Chau, Quynh Nhai, Bac Yen, Phu Yen, and Sop Cop districts.

According to Dam Van Huong, Head of the Son La Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention, local addicts will be able to receive free treatment under the sponsorship of a global fund for preventing and curbing the addiction.

If they correctly follow the treatment process, it will accelerate the patients’ rehabilitation, he said.

Statistically, only 665 out of 7,763 drug abusers in Son La have accessed the therapy thus far.

President examines water shortage impacts in Khanh Hoa

State President Truong Tan Sang toured central coastal Khanh Hoa province on July 11 to examine impacts of water shortages in the locality over the past few months.

President Sang made a field trip to the Cam Ranh reservoir in Cam Lam district, capable of supplying 22 million cubic metres of water to about 5,000 people in the district and northern Cam Ranh peninsula.

Blistering heat waves have nearly dried up the reservoir, which now only contains 1.5 million cubic metres or 5 percent of its capacity.

According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, many other local reservoirs are suffering the similar situation; some even have water levels below the “dead” threshold.

The State leader urged provincial authorities to properly manage water reserves and undertake various measures to ensure sufficient water supply for daily life and production.

He recommended the province switch to other crops and animals more suitable to the severe condition and call for foreign investment in large reservoir projects to help resolve water shortages in the long-term.

The same day, State President Truong Tan Sang visited Nguyen Ngoc Duc and his family, who successfully shifted from low-yield mango trees to high-yield Australian mango production in Cam Hiep Bac commune, Cam Lam district.

He earned about 600 million VND (27,520 USD) from two hectares of mango trees last season.

Also the day, the State President inspected the construction of the Gac Ma memorial statue in Cam Ranh City.

He hailed the symbolic meaning of the project dedicated to 64 naval soldiers killed in a battle to defend Gac Ma Island in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago 27 years ago.

Vice President offers gifts to revolution contributors

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan offered nearly 200 gifts to contributors to the nation’s revolution on July 12 in northern Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh provinces on the occasion of the upcoming War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27).

The beneficiaries include heroic mothers, wounded ex-servicemen, war veterans, war invalids and relatives of martyrs from My Loc district in Nam Dinh province and from Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province.

Addressing the ceremonies, Vice President Doan hailed their contributions and urged localities to pay more attention to families and individuals benefitting from social welfare policies and ensure no one slips through the cracks.

The same day, she also presented 200 scholarships to children of servicemen stationed on islands and border areas as well as impoverished students as part of the “Together to School”, co-funded by the National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC).

The programme has come to 61 cities and provinces, benefiting underprivileged kids with over 22 billion VND (1.1 million USD) since its launch in 2012.

Over 4 million children are in need of assistance, including 1.5 million orphaned, disabled and homeless.

In recent years, the NFVC has raised over 4 trillion VND (190 million USD) and offered aid to more than 28 million children.-

The luxury yacht, jet ski pastime of the rich in Saigon

Over recent years, the affluent and better-off in Ho Chi Minh City have taken on a new, exorbitant indulgence of owning jet skis, recreational boats and yachts, which may cost a whopping US$4 million apiece.

It takes a few hundred million dong to dozens of billions of dong to own such sumptuous boats (VND1 million = US$46).

Thanh, who lives in District 2, often takes his family on a waterway cruise on his newly bought recreational boat on Sundays.

Each outing, which costs VND3-5 million (US$137- US$229), including petrol and parking fees, offers his family priceless experiences.

The wharf near Thu Thiem Bridge in Binh Thanh District is teeming with commotion on weekends.

Sang, one of the enthusiasts, was refilling his recreational boat with petrol and getting ready for his family’s trip on the Saigon River one recent day.

His favorite destinations are Thanh Da Peninsula and the Binh Quoi relaxation area in Binh Thanh.

Meanwhile, Van and her husband were expectantly waiting to have their brand-new US-imported recreational boat launched at a wharf near Phu My Bridge in District 7.

Van revealed she was hooked on the vessel during a voyage with her friends along the Saigon River.

Huy, a Ho Chi Minh City resident, has just bought a VND2.5 billion ($114,521) yacht. Photo: Tuoi Tre

She then talked her husband, who runs a garment business, into making the purchase.

Owning jet skis is also a trendy fad among local youths.

Hao, 25, divulged that his jet ski club currently draws over 200 standing members and is expanding fast.

On weekends, the members maneuver their watercrafts to such scenic spots as Vung Tau, some 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City.

Though owning yachts remains exclusive to the affluent, the trend has also picked up steam among less wealthy buffs.

More people are not hesitant about spending from several billion dong (VND1 billion = US$45,808) to some million dollars to satisfy their exorbitant indulgence.

One of the most over-the-top yachts in Ho Chi Minh City now is a US$4-million Azimut 70, which is owned by a wealthy local man.

The sailboat boasts luxury décor just like a five-star hotel.

Other well-heeled people have also bought yachts worth between a few billion to dozens of billions of dong from the US and Italy.

Hai, 40, who resides in District 7, said he recently purchased a gorgeous yacht for VND3 billion (US$137,426).

His waterway ‘toy’ collection also includes an speedboat and a brand new jet ski.

Hai said that the fad of owning luxury cars is waning in appeal.

In addition, lavish cars usually attract the public eye, while yachts often go unnoticed.

Local companies have purchased such vessels as well, on board which they treat their key clients and partners to a taste of extravagance.

S., a local banker, owns a US$1-million Meridian 408, while T., director of a large company based in the city, bought two similar yachts at the same time.

Y., another Vietnamese entrepreneur, also joined the fleet with a US$2 million Princess 58.

The local market for recreational boats, jet skis and yachts pulsates with activity.

On a recent day, two young friends named Tan and Hai decided to buy a pair of jet skis for VND340 million (US$15,575) apiece.

A former member of a high-capacity motorbike club based in District 2, Tan has switched to jet skis for a change.

A foreigner is pictured getting aboard a boat for a cruise on the Saigon River. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Huy, 38, was completing paperwork for his US$100,000 yacht at a company on Nguyen Van Quy Street in District 7.

The shiny sailboat boasts two living rooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, and lovely furnishings and décor.

According to An, the director of a local boating service company, an increasing number of city residents have paid for deluxe vessels.

There were times when his imported supplies failed to meet demand, and his clients have to place orders well in advance.

An added that people spend around VND3-5 million (US$137-229) a month having their prized watercrafts docked and tended to at wharfs along the Saigon River.

Those who cannot afford such exorbitant buys can still relish their waterway voyages by renting the watercrafts from individuals and local travel firms.

The boats can be leased from numerous shops along the Saigon River by hour, day or voyage.

According to Toan, the owner of a speedboat rental shop near Thu Thiem Bridge, a seven-seat boat is leased for VND4 million (US$183) per hour.

He receives clients on a daily basis.

Voyagers can also buy tickets for around VND1.3 million (US$60) for a two-hour ride along the Saigon River.

Discounts are offered for longer trips to scenic spots located in the outlying districts of Can Gio and Cu Chi, and other surrounding provinces.

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