OVs in Australia commemorate 30 years of Gac Ma battle

Former Vice President Truong My Hoa grants the certificate to Vietnamese Entrepreneurs’ Association in Australia 

Members of the “For Beloved Hoang Sa – Truong Sa” club met Vietnamese nationals in Melbourne city, the Australian state of Victoria on May 14 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Gac Ma (Johnson South) naval battle. 

At the meeting, overseas Vietnamese spent a minute of silence in commemoration of 64 soldiers who were killed in the naval battle to defend Gac Ma (Johnson South) island in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in 1988. 

Speaking at the event, member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and Chairman of the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs’ Association in Australia, said the Vietnamese community abroad pay much attention to Vietnam’s seas, islands and territorial sovereignty. 

He called on Vietnamese nationals in Australia and the world to stand side by side with people at home to become a firm rear of soldiers who defend the nation’s seas and islands day and night. 

A documentary featuring achievements of the club over the past three years was also screened at the event. 

Former Vice President Truong My Hoa lauded the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs’ Association in Australia, and Vietnamese expatriates in the Pacific country for sharing difficulties with people and soldiers in remote islands. 

On the occasion, she also granted a certificate recognising the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs’ Association in Australia as a collective member of the “For Beloved Hoang Sa – Truong Sa” club.

Guests at the event also donated 2,000 AUD to the club.

UNICEF campaign helps promote breastfeeding in Vietnam

Only 24 percent of infants under six months old in Vietnam are exclusively breastfed and 22 percent of children are breastfed until they reach two years old.

The numbers were released at a launching ceremony of a breastfeeding campaign held by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ho Chi Minh City on May 15. 

The rates are even lower among children whose mothers are workers at factories and have to stop breastfeeding early to return to work, heard the ceremony. 

Lesley Miller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Vietnam, said the campaign, themed “60 minutes working as a mum,” aims to create a better life for Vietnamese children. 

The campaign targets female workers at factories, Lesley Miller said, stressing that nursing workers should receive support in breastfeeding in their workplaces. 

Businesses should give nursing workers a 60-minute break each day in line with the Vietnamese Labour Law and build breastfeeding facilities, she said, noting that efforts made by the enterprises will significantly contribute to raising the breastfeeding rate in Vietnam. 

Yao Cheng Wu, Director of Pouyen Vietnam, said his company set up a breastfeeding room in 2013 and plans to launch mobile breastfeeding facilities to make it more convenient for nursing workers. 

He added that 82 percent out of 74,000 workers in his company are female. Each female worker has 14 days of leave per year to care for their sick children aged under 12 months. 

Meanwhile, breastfeeding enables infants to withstand infections. Therefore, the promotion of breastfeeding helps reduce the number of days off work of female workers, thus increasing the company’s productivity, he said.

Financial mechanism needed to ensure initial health care

Vietnam is striving to build a sustainable, equal and effective financial mechanism to ensure that all people get access to quality healthcare services, said Deputy Minister of Health Pham Le Tuan. 

Speaking at a meeting of the Health Partnership Group (HPG) held by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Hanoi on May 15, Tuan said initial health care has been a priority of the entire political system and the medical sector in particular. 

However, like other countries worldwide, Vietnam is facing a range of challenges in ensuring the quality and effective supply of initial healthcare services, the official said. 

The building and reform of initial health care, towards medical coverage for all people, must go in tandem with the mobilisation of resources from social insurance, State and local budgets, official development assistance (ODA) and private capital, Tuan noted. 

Phan Le Hang, Deputy Director of the Health Ministry’s Planning and Finance Department, said the aging population, burdens caused by non-communicable diseases, inequality in health care and poor public awareness of disease prevention are among barriers and challenges hindering the sector’s efforts to improve medical services at grassroots levels. 

A WHO representative pointed out that Vietnam’s investment in initial health care accounts for less than 4 percent of the health insurance fund, suggesting the number should be raised to 30 percent. 

Specifically, Vietnam should take into account the growth of private medical services and utilise the system to improve the quality of initial health care, the WHO representative said.

Ha Tinh continues efforts to deal with consequences of Formosa incident

Ha Tinh provided 23 billion VND (1.01 million USD) for 5,012 fishing boat owners. 

The central province of Ha Tinh has supported more than 60,800 residents affected by the Formosa-related marine environment incident, with total funding of more than 1.74 trillion VND (76.56 million USD).

About 6,240 tonnes of rice have been allocated to 19,247 households while some 23 billion VND (1.01 million USD) has been provided to 5,012 fishing boat owners. 

Statistics reveal that more than 400 villages of 67 wards, communes and towns in seven districts, towns and Ha Tinh city were affected by the incident, with 6,000 fishing boats, 2,259 hectares of rivers and lakes, 31,692 cu.m of fishing cages and 127 hectares of salt fields subject to compensation.

The province has also issued policies to deal with the polluted marine environment, restore production and generate jobs. 

Thanks to such efforts, Ha Tinh’s aquatic catch and aquaculture output reached 32,000 tonnes and 13,000 tonnes in 2017, representing year-on-year increases of 22.3 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. 

Responding to the province’s efforts to lure investments, many businesses have launched tourism projects in the locality such as Vinpearl-Cua Sot Resort, Quynh Vien tourism area, Xuan Thanh golf course and Dong Noi tourism area, helping attract more visitors. 

Since the beginning of this year, thousands of tourists flocked to beaches in Ha Tinh. The Xuan Hai tourism area and the water park of Vinpearl-Cua Sot Resort welcomed more than 7,000 vacationers each day during the four-day National Reunification and May Day holidays. 

In 2017, Ha Tinh served nearly 1.4 million tourists, up 25.6 percent compared with the previous year’s figure, of which 21,870 were foreigners, up 21.5 percent year-on-year. 

At the same time, the province has helped locals fishermen change their job, with thousands of people assisted to work abroad. 

The Formosa marine environment incident was first reported on April 6, 2016 massive amounts of dead fish washed ashore in Ha Tinh and then in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.

About 70 tonnes of dead fish were found in the four provinces and Thua Thien-Hue alone reported 35 tonnes of farmed fish had died.

The pollution affected more than 260,000 people who earn their living from the sea.

In June 2016, Formosa accepted responsibility for the fish deaths and pledged compensation to local fishermen and to help recover the polluted marine environment.

Trial on medical incident at Hoa Binh General Hospital resumed

Defendants at the court 

The People’s Court of Hoa Binh city in the northern province of Hoa Binh on May 15 resumed the first-instance trial on a medical incident causing eight deaths at the Hoa Binh General Hospital in May last year. 

The trial was delayed on May 7 due to the absence of a number of concerned people and lawyers.

The defendants include Bui Manh Quoc, born in 1986, residing in the northern province of Bac Ninh, Director of the Tram Anh Water Treatment Co. Ltd, who was prosecuted for “unintentionally causing deaths.” 

The others are Tran Van Son, residing in Hoa Binh city, an official of the medical material and equipment division of the Hoa Binh General Hospital; and Hoang Cong Luong, residing in Hoa Binh city, a doctor of the Department of Intensive Care of the Hoa Binh General Hospital. Both Son and Luong were prosecuted for “lacking responsibility causing serious consequences.”

Former Director of the Hoa Binh General Hospital Truong Quy Duong was absent from the trial.

On May 29, 2017, 18 patients suffered from symptoms of anaphylactic shock like breathing difficulty, sudden blood pressure fall, stomach ache and vomiting while receiving kidney dialysis at the kidney dialysis division of the Hoa Binh General Hospital’s Department of Intensive Care. Eight of the patients died in this incident.

According to the indictment of the provincial People’s Procuracy, Quoc directly repaired and maintained the Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter system of dialysis machines.

During the process, however, the machines’ water supply tubes were not purified carefully, leaving chemical residue. After pasteurisation of the RO filter system, Quoc did not check quality of water samples before handing the system over to the hospital. He was charged with “unintentionally causing deaths.” 

28-year-old Son, who was in charge of checking and supervising the replacement and maintenance of the filter system, failed to complete his assigned tasks.

Nephrologist Luong, 32, allowed the dialysis treatment to commence without checking water quality.

Both Son and Luong were charged with “lacking responsibility causing serious consequences.”

The court is scheduled to last until May 18, 2018.

Promotion of gender equality in development discussed

Scene at the event 

Orientations for promoting gender equality in development were tabled at a workshop hosted by the Australia Embassy in Hanoi on May 15. 

Speaking at the function, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, President of the Vietnam Women’s Union, stressed the promotion of gender equality in Vietnam has recorded significant progress in recent years.

Ha revealed that about 26.8 percent of members of the National Assembly are women, adding that Vietnam now has three female members of the Political Bureau and has a chairwoman of the National Assembly for the first time.

Women account for 46.6 percent of university graduates and women make up 48-49 percent of the country’s total workforce, she added.

The official also pointed out shortcomings in the gender equality-related work, including ineffective legal documents, high proportion of female labourers in the unofficial workforce, violence and abuse against women and salary gap between men and women.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Craig Chittick said gender equality and women empowerment are an important part of the Vietnam – Australia partnership.

He added that social-economic benefits created by empowered women are huge, and Vietnam is among leading nations in the region in terms of female participation in the workforce and education. 

At the workshop, participants heard experts talking about global trends involving gender equality, as well as gender equality and women empowerment in Vietnam.

The event marked the opening of Australia Awards Short Courses in Project Implementation to Optimise Gender Outcomes. The short courses enabled mid-level managers from the Ministries of Transport, Industry and Trade, and Investment and Planning, and the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, and other key organizations involved in Aus4Reform and Aus4Transport, to promote and implement gender equality in their programmes.

Participants of the courses are set to continue their training in Australia for two weeks after six days trained in Vietnam. They will be equipped with contemporary knowledge, methods and techniques for effectively integrating gender equality considerations throughout the programme management cycle.

Exhibition honours followers of late President Ho Chi Minh’s example

Scene at the exhibition 

An exhibition opened at the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi on May 15 to share stories of 123 exemplary models in the national campaign on studying and following late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example.

Marking the 128th birth anniversary of Ho Chi Minh (May 19), the exhibition is displaying 300 photographs and articles, which tell moving stories of 58 groups and 70 individuals. These people have overcome their difficulties and contributed to common benefits of the community as well as peace and prosperity of the country.

Among them is Ho Van Vai, a Party member, who donated nearly 290 m2 of his family’s land for the building of a kindergarten in Thuan commune, Huong Hoa district in the central province of Quang Tri. He has also encouraged locals not to practice slash-and-burn agriculture and to apply new technology into their production. He regularly visited families with adolescent members to guide these youths to involve in local cultural activities. 

Another name is Ta Dinh Huy, dubbed a “bare feet inventor”, who was among 17 farmers with best inventions selected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2015.

Vu Manh Ha, director of the museum, said similar exhibitions have been held for the last six years as a meaningful political and cultural activity. 

Through the introduction of real-life examples nationwide, visitors to the exhibition can find their most suitable ways to participate in the national campaign, he added.

The exhibition is opened to the public until September.

Cham Bani people in Binh Thuan celebrate Ramuwan festival

Ethnic Cham people in the central province of Binh Thuan has started celebrations to welcome their traditional Ramuwan festival, the biggest festival for the Cham community in Vietnam 

Ethnic Cham people in the central province of Binh Thuan has started celebrations to welcome their traditional Ramuwan festival, the biggest festival for the Cham community in Vietnam.

The festival began with a visit to ancestors’ graves, which took place on May 14-15. Cham Bani families go to cemeteries to cleanse and decorate their ancestors’ graves and invite them back home for celebrating Ramuwan.

Others rituals held during the festival are Va Ha festival, ancestor worshipping at home and Ramadan month when many Muslims do not eat or drink even water between sunrise and sunset.

Like Vietnamese with the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, the Cham Bani use the Ramuwan festival as an opportunity to visit home and gather together with their families to pay tribute to their ancestors and pray for happiness, bumper crops and peace.

There are also other cultural and sport activities, attracting both local people and tourists on this occasion. In recent years, the Ramuwan festival has drawn a great number of visitors and researchers both at home and abroad to explore the unique culture of the Islamic Cham community in Binh Thuan. 

The chairman of the provincial People’s Committee has asked local departments, sectors and districts to ensure best possible conditions for Cham Bani people to welcome a vibrant festival.

Binh Thuan is currently home to 41,000 ethnic Cham people, including more than 15,000 Cham Bani. The province has outlined a line-up of preferential policies to support ethnic people. To date, all localities of the province have access to electricity.

HCM City honours role models in following Ho Chi Minh’s example

The Party Committee of Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremony on May 15 to honour local role models in the campaign of studying Ho Chi Minh ideology and following the late President’s moral example on the occasion of his 128th birthday (May 19, 1890-2018).

Addressing the ceremony, Politburo member and Secretary of HCM City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan stressed that President Ho Chi Minh is a national liberation hero, a world cultural celebrity. At the same time, he is the beloved leader of the Vietnamese nation and a close friend of progressive mankind.   

Nhan said he is proud of the 397 role models in the campaign of following the President’s moral example, and asked each official and Party member in the city to continue study in order to thoroughly understand his thoughts and unceasingly improve themselves, thus building a really strong and clean Party organisation and maintaining the trust and support of the people. 

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Tai, police chief of Tam Phu Ward (Thu Duc district) is one of the role models. He was the initiator of the idea to cook and distribute free porridge to poor patients, which helped create the image of friendly and helpful police to the public. 

Another honoured person is Dinh Thi Kim Phan, a retired teacher who has taught children patients of cancer at the HCM City Oncology Hospital for more than 10 years. 

On the occasion, 155 individuals and units were conferred with certificates of merit from the municipal Party Committee and 242 were awarded with certificates of merit from the municipal Party Committee’s Commission of Education and Popularisation.

The 10th-tenure Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam issued Directive 06 in 2006 to launch the campaign of studying Ho Chi Minh ideology and following the late President’s moral example, and the 11th-tenure issued Directive 03 in 2011 to push the movement a step further.

Silt in fishing port passage blocks ships’ passage

The passage in and out of Bến Lội – Bình Châu fishing port in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province is thickly silted, affecting hundreds of fishing boats.– Photo baobariavungtau.com.vn

The passage in and out of Bến Lội – Bình Châu fishing port in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu Province is thickly silted, affecting hundreds of fishing boats.

Located in Xuyên Mộc District’s Bình Châu Commune, the passage has not been dredged since 2015 due to lack of funds in the local budget.

Only fishing boats with an engine capacity of under 90 horsepower can enter in and out of the fishing port during high tides. However, if the boats go through the passage, boat owners have to hire two tugboats to pull them.

Nguyễn Đình Luyến, who lives in Bình Châu’s Bình Hòa Hamlet, has two iron-hull fishing boats, one with an engine capacity of 1,050 horsepower for fishing in Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu, where it could not leave the fishing port for more than one month because of the silt.    

He built his boats with a bank loan of VNĐ17 billion ($749,000), and has to pay principal and interest of VNĐ100 million ($4,400) every month.

Nguyễn Văn Triệu, chairman of the Bình Châu Commune People’s Committee, said the passage of the Bến Lội – Bình Châu fishing port is 8 metres wide, so bigger boats with more than 90 horsepower cannot enter or leave.

Of the commune’s nearly 600 fishing boats, more than 200 are docked inside the port, he said.

Because of the silted passage, most fishing boats in Xuyên Mộc District have had to unload their catch at other ports in the province or at the Lagi Port in Bình Thuận Province.

The docking at other ports requires an additional expense of VNĐ10 million ($440) for a fishing trip, according to boat owners.

Thousands of labourers such as porters, traders and fish cleaners who work at the port have also been affected.

Under the district petition, the provincial People’s Committee has approved allocating VNĐ5.5 billion ($242,000) for the district to dredge the passage at fishing port.

Prime land site in District 1 may be recalled

The Government Inspectorate has proposed taking back land at a prime site in HCMC’s District 1 and put it up for auction, with part of proceeds to be used for compensating Lavenue Investment Corporation.

According to a Dan Tri news report, the Government Inspectorate has made a conclusion after examining a high-end mixed-use property development project at 8-12 Le Duan Boulevard, comprising two smaller lots at 8 and 12 Le Duan Street in close proximity to the Reunification Palace and Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral.

The 4,896-square-meter site owned by the State was formerly leased by four companies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The HCMC Housing Development and Trading Joint Stock Company was assigned to manage and lease this site.

The four companies of the ministry, which later became the founding shareholders of Lavenue, agreed to transfer the site to Kido Investment Company Limited in 2010.

The HCMC government in June 2011 agreed to let Lavenue use the site to develop a complex of hotel, retail space and apartments for lease in 50 years. In particular, the lot at 8 Le Duan Boulevard was allocated to the investor with the land use fee charged, while the lot at 12 Le Duan Street was leased with rent to be paid annually.

The approved value of land use and available construction works at 8 Le Duan Street (3,422 square meters) was over VND621.7 billion, whereas the land rent at 12 Le Duan Street was over VND3.5 million per square meter per year.

Lavenue, which had paid all land fees and rents as of June 30, 2016, has got the land use right certificate from the HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

According to the Government Inspectorate’s conclusion report in 2016, the city government did it wrong for not auctioning the land use right and assets at the site.

As the HCMC government explained previously, Lavenue had spent more than VND700 billion paying land use fees and rents, so it is tough to take back the site, as such a move will affect the city’s investment attraction.

The city government’s explanation was viewed by the Government Inspectorate at that time as reasonable. It hence proposed the Prime Minister give a final say.

However, in the conclusion announced early this month, the Government Inspectorate said that in 2009-2010 the city considered developing a high-end hotel-apartment complex at this site. Apart from May Flower and Kido Investment that wanted to invest in this project, Sunwah Vietnam Real Estate Limited has also shown interest in the project.

The investment intention from multiple investors should have been the basis for the city government to put up land at the site for auction, but the city did not do so.

The Government Inspectorate reasoned that it is necessary to impose rates higher than those proposed by the HCMC Department of Finance and approved by the city government, or put the site up for auction.

According to the conclusion, the city government did not refer to opinions of specialized agencies and approved the project for incapable investors, resulting in the four companies transferring the project for a profit. Budget revenues from the project have been reduced and the State stake in the project has therefore dropped from 50% to 20%.

The overall responsibility rests with the then chairman of HCMC, and the one with direct responsibility is Nguyen Thanh Tai, former vice chairman of HCMC in 2011-2015, the Government Inspectorate said.

In addition, the city’s departments of planning-investment, natural resources-environment, finance, planning-architecture, the HCMC Housing Development and Trading Joint Stock Company and the four companies of the industry-trade ministry should also be held responsible.

Such actions of the city government, departments and relevant companies show signs of deliberate violations of State regulations.

Regarding the plan to recall the land site, the Inspectorate says the move is favorable as the project has not been implemented and the site is being used as a parking lot.

The current land price in the downtown area around Le Duan Boulevard is over VND400 million per square meter. Selling the right to the 8-12 Le Duan Street site of 4,896 square meters via auction can generate more than VND2 trillion.

However, the Government Inspectorate admitted the project cancellation can cause losses for the investor and difficulties in determining compensation as well as affect the city’s investment environment.

Danang City to develop new infrastructure to cope with congestion

The central coastal city of Danang is expected to build new pedestrian bridges, overpasses and tunnels with total capital of around VND900 billion (US$39.5 million) in a bid to reduce traffic congestion.

The city government has agreed in principle to develop a pedestrian bridge east of Dien Bien Phu-Nguyen Tri Phuong Tunnel. The bridge costs an estimated VND6.4 billion, financed by the surplus fund from the Sustainable Development Project.

Together with the VND118-billion tunnel which was opened to traffic late last year, the new pedestrian bridge over Dien Bien Phu Street would help facilitate traffic at the intersection, a congestion hotspot at rush hour, said Le Van Trung, director of the municipal Transport Department.

He added the city will build new tunnels and a steel overpass near the Dragon Bridge and Tran Thi Ly Bridge in the downtown.

The department is considering a plan to construct two tunnels worth around VND350 billion around the Dragon Bridge, and a three-section steel flyover west of Tran Thi Ly Bridge. The plan is expected to cost around VND520 billion.

Danang is faced with heavy congestion now due to a rapidly increasing number of motorbikes and cars, said To Van Hung, head of the urban committee at the Danang People’s Council, adding the situation now occurs on all main roads in downtown Danang. Earlier, it only took place in some places.

Data of the local transport department shows the city has seen a marked increase in the number of motorbikes, from 700,000 in 2014 to 850,000 at present. Meanwhile, the number of cars has soared to 73,000 from the previous 47,000.