Inferno destroys huge warehouse space in Bình Thuận Province

The scene of the fire which destroyed 200 tonnes of dragon fruit in the central province of Bình Thuận. — Photo news.zing.vn

A blazing inferno destroyed hundreds of square metres of a warehouse containing over 200 tonnes of dragon fruit  in Hàm Mỹ Commune in the central coastal province of Bình Thuận’s Hàm Thuận Nam District on Thursday morning.

The fruit was scheduled to be exported to China.

Warehouse guard Nguyễn Trúc Lâm detected the blaze and called for help from other staff and local residents to extinguish the blaze. Dozens of firefighters and five trucks were sent to the scene but could not prevent the fire from spreading.

It eventually took them five hours to bring the blaze under control. One firefighter who was reportedly injured in the incident and was sent to hospital for emergency treatment

An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway. 

Free breast cancer screening for women aged 35 or more

A woman is screened for breast cancer in a free programme.

HCM City Oncology Hospital and the Supportive Fund for Cancer Patients - Bright Future are offering free breast cancer screening for 1,200 women aged 35 or more.

The programme is held on the occasion of Vietnamese Women’s Day on October 20.

Women who have had relatives diagnosed with breast cancer are encouraged to take part in the screening.

The screenings will be done at the hospital’s hi-tech health examination and treatment room on Nguyễn Huy Lượng Street in Bình Thạnh District from 1:30pm to 4pm every Saturday this month and the first week of November.

The screening will include either an ultrasound or a mammography. People at high risk will be offered counselling.

On October 18, the hospital will launch a club for patients to share their problems, according to the hospital.

Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women in the world.

It is the most common cancer in women in Việt Nam, and in 2000, the incidences of breast cancer in Việt Nam totalled more than 5,500, doubling in 2010.

The prevalence of breast cancer per 100,000 people in the country was 29.9 in 2010. Of these, 64.7 per cent were under 50 years old.

It is forecast that the number of incidences will increase to over 22,600 by 2020.

More than 80 per cent of breast cancer patients could be treated effectively if they are detected in the early stage of the disease, according to experts.

Dozens of houses affected by construction on National Highway 15B

Cracks have developed in the walls of about 30 houses that border the construction on National Highway 15B in Hà Tĩnh Province. — baohatinh.vn

The expansion of National Highway 15B across Xuân Lộc Commune in Hà Tĩnh Province’s Can Lộc District has affected dozens of local households, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Residents said cracks have developed along the walls of 30 houses, resulting in leaks when it rains. They blamed the damage on heavy vibrations caused by the nearby construction.

The construction on National Highway 15B spans over 11 kilometres from Đồng Lộc junction to Phú Việt Commune in Thạch Hà District.

Hà Tĩnh Province’s Department of Transport is funding the project with total investment of nearly VNĐ250 billion (US$10.7 million).

Local resident Phan Thị Huyền said road rollers and heavy machinery have been operating day and night since early June.

“My house is fine if it’s sunny,” she said. “But when it rains, water leaks in through the roof.”

Trần Xuân Hải, acting chairman of Xuân Lộc Commune’s People’s Committee, said local authorities are working with insurance agencies to assess the damage and determine how much compensation residents should receive.

So far, residents of 14 households have accepted payments ranging from VNĐ1-11 million (US$43-472).

Others refused the payments, maintaining they were entitled to more compensation.

Deputy Head of Hà Tĩnh Province’s transport project management unit Lê Viết Hòa said Hà Tĩnh Insurance Company was contracted to conduct inspections of houses along the road before construction started.

He said a dialogue between local residents and relevant agencies would be held soon to settle the incident. 

Local complaint handling work still unsatisfactory

Thousands of exasperated citizens have been forced to travel to the capital Ha Noi over the past five years to get a fair answer to their complaints as local officials fail to do so, a meeting heard on Thursday.

The meeting, organised by the Ministry of Justice, the Central Committee of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front and the Government Inspection (GI), aimed to review the efficiency of complaint handling at local level and revealed that the Central Citizen Reception Centre in Hà Nội had received more than 21,259 complaints for the last five years.

The centre, the go-to place for citizens when their complaints are not resolved in their hometowns, served more than 72,601 citizens, including 2,023 mass groups.

More than 70 per cent of the complaints were delivered to the GI.

Government Inspector General Lê Minh Khái said though the number of complaints filed to the central level had fallen since 2015, the cases were bigger and growing more complicated.

“Complainers in mass groups were getting more extreme, and in some serious cases, threatened or offended the ombudsmen (at the centre) and security forces,” he said.

The Central Committee of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn said there were 187 inspections carried out at localities by central-level complaint handling bodies in the last five years.

They citizen reception work at several localities was performed for appearances only. The role of the head of the local citizen reception body was also often not performed well.

Khái suggested all central complaint handling bodies join forces to carry out inspections in the near future to cover a wider range of localities.

“Take the Thủ Thiêm case in HCM City for example. It was not resolved for more than 20 years until the Prime Minister asked the GI to inspect and report on the case in two months,” he said.

“If in the past we could have had sent inspectors to examine whether the complaints were handled properly or whether citizen reception work was done well, the case would surely have been resolved much more quickly.”

The miserable livelihoods of more than 100 households who were driven out of their home in Thủ Thiêm to save land for the construction of a new urban area shocked the nation this summer when reports of their 20-year-long journey to file complaints spread on the media.

PM Nguyễn Xuân Phúc ordered an inspection following intense public pressure on the case, and a GI report in September found the local government had committed several serious violations in land management. 

Broken electrical wire in front of a school which killed two students and injured four others in the southern province of Long An on Saturday. — Photo dantri.com.vn

Two students from An Lục  Secondary School in Châu Thành District, southern province of Long An died and four others were burnt after being hit by broken electrical wire in front of the school on Saturday.

The accident happened when the students were leaving school in the afternoon.

Director of the Châu Thành District Power Company said the wire was broken due to lightening in rain and that was a natural disaster accident.

Chairman of Châu Thành District People’s Committee Nguyễn Văn Thình said the committee has asked the power company to examine electrical wire network, particularly those near schools. 

Fire at mattress warehouse kills one man

A man has died after a fire at this four-storey building in Trung Văn Urban Area, Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội.

A man has died after a fire at a mattress warehouse on Sunday.

Four people, including a child, needed to be rescued after the blaze in Trung Văn Urban Area, Hà Nội’s Nam Từ Liêm District.

The fire was detected at about 10.30am and extinguished about one hour later.

Six fire fighting engines and nearly 40 fire fighters tackled the blaze. As of Sunday afternoon, the warehouse owner who rents the two 4-storey building remains unknown.  

Relevant agencies are investigating the cause of the fire.

48th edition of world’s letter-writing contest launched

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Minh Hong addresses the ceremony 

The 48th International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People was launched at a ceremony held in Vinh city of the central province of Nghe An on October 12.

The contest, organised by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), tasks students to “Write a letter about your hero”.

Vietnamese students under 15 years old are eligible for the competition. Each contestant is required to submit a handwritten letter of less than 1,000 words before February 15, 2019.

At the event, organisers honoured Nguyen Thi Bach Duong, a 14-year-old Vietnamese student who won third prize at the previous international competition.

Duong is an eighth grader at the Nguyen Trai Junior High School in Nam Sach district, Hai Duong province. Her letter won the top prize of the national UPU contest in May this year.

She received a prize worth 15 million VND (about 640 USD) from the national organising board and certificates of merit from the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee.

The 47th competition challenged contestants to “Imagine you are a letter travelling through time, what message do you wish to convey to your readers?”

The first prize was presented to a 13-year-old Cypriot student, while the second prize went to a 10-year-old Portuguese child.

In her letter, Duong imagined up an editorial letter from the US-based The Sun newspaper in response to an eight year old reader’s question of “Is there a Santa Claus?” in 1987.

With a natural, pure, and empathetic writing style, the letter combined messages calling for love and respect for children along with attention to disadvantaged and unprotected children. It allowed readers to think of a world free of war, violence, poverty, and injustice. 

So far, Vietnamese students have won 14 prizes at the international competition, including two first prizes, one second prize, four third prizes, and seven consolation prizes.

Vietnam became a member of the UPU in 1976 and has taken part in the UPU letter-writing contest since 1987. 

HCM City gears toward violence-free society

More than 30 non-profitable organisations, social businesses and universities in the locality joined hands in organising diverse activities during the day. 

The Peace and Development Foundation and the Peace Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on October 13 jointly held the Day of Culture of Peace themed “For a non-violent society.”

The event responded to the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence launched by the UNESCO. 

More than 30 non-profitable organisations, social businesses and universities in the locality joined hands in organising diverse activities, along with a seminar on a violence-free society and an art performance. 

Ton Nu Thi Ninh, Chairwoman of the foundation, expressed her hope that the event will help improve public awareness of building peace in a peaceful period. 

Huynh Minh Thien, President of the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations, said the locality has organised a range of activities for all-level agencies, organisations and international friends to promote the building of culture of peace and sustainable development. 

HCM City has approved a cooperation plan with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for 2017-2021, aiming to become the first child-friendly city in Vietnam, the official said. 

The initiative will improve living standards of local children, while directly contributing to completing UN sustainable development goals, Thien noted.

Library offers resources for visually-impaired students

Children at Dong Nai province School for Students with Disabilities enjoy reading (Photo courtesy of HCM City General Sciences Library)

Despite suffering from 90 percent visual impairment, 37-year-old Truong Phuoc Khai of Hau Giang province in the Mekong Delta has a passion for making books.

After a severe childhood disease took away his ability to see, Khai started learning Braille at home at age 15. He continued learning in Ho Chi Minh City, eventually graduating from the University of Social Science and Humanities there. Now, Khai works at the city’s Library of General Sciences, crafting books for visually impaired readers and processing audio books.

“Acquiring new knowledge used to be a real challenge for me because not every book is accessible for people without good vision,” Khai said. “I used to record my friends reading textbooks and listen to the recordings at home. I decided to purse a book-making career to help visually impaired students gain access to learning materials.”

Composing books is not an easy profession, even with perfect vision. Khai’s first challenge was learning to operate a Braille typewriter. Now, he types quickly and only spends 15 minutes on each page.

Khai edits audio books on a computer. Thanks to accessibility tools such as screen readers, he can trim and mix recordings of professionals who volunteer their time.

“The biggest challenge at the moment is to have to work harder than normal people to make up for my shortcomings,” he said.

Nguyen Cao Hoang, 33, from Dong Nai province is another visually impaired worker at the library. After graduating from Ton Duc Thang University, he took charge of transcribing texts into Braille.

“Working with machines is not a big deal to me, but I sometimes need to use a magnifier to see clearly,” Hoang said. “I find it annoying that Braille printers are so loud.”

Hoang also follows the library’s bookmobile, serving visually impaired students.

“The students remember every one of us,” he said. “When someone is missing, they hold hands of the others and ask about them. It is such a warm feeling.”

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, 61, is a library volunteer responsible for recording audio books. Among various genres the library offers, she is interested in sex education documents for girls.

“It is a pity for visually impaired girls not to be properly educated about sex,” Ha said. “I hope my books can help them gain essential knowledge.”

Library officer Hong Thi Kim Vy told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the bookmobile was first launched in 2007.

Each internet-connected bookmobile is equipped with a Braille printer, Braille books, handheld media players and audio books.

The initiative is sponsored by a 66,000 USD investment from the Netherlands-based Force Foundation and South Africa’s Standard Bank.

Each year, they visit schools and hold open houses for visually impaired students in HCM City and the neighbouring provinces of Tay Ninh, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh to offer readers better access to books and encourage their love of learning.

Hanoi inaugurates factory using Duong River’s surface water

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Duong River surface water plant on October 13 

A factory treating surface water of the Duong River to supply for about one-third of Hanoi’s population was officially put into operation on October 13.

The plant, located in Trung Mau and Phu Dong communes of the suburban district of Gia Lam, is invested with almost 5 trillion VND (214.1 million USD) in the first phase by the Duong River Surface Water JSC.

In this phase, it will provide about 150,000 cub.m. of water per day for about 3 million people in northeastern and southern areas of Hanoi, industrial parks along Road 179, and some adjacent areas in Bac Ninh and Hung Yen provinces.

The plant is hoped to help the capital city gradually replace polluted underground water with surface water to serve local demand.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung applauded the investor’s efforts to put the plant into use ahead of schedule, adding that it will help improve the living standards and health of local residents.

He asked the company to continue harnessing resources to raise the factory’s daily capacity to 300,000 cub.m. of water in the second phase, and prepare to increase the output to 600,000 cub.m. by 2020 and 900,000 cub.m. by 2022.

He also requested relevant agencies, especially the municipal Department of Construction, to instruct districts, businesses and residents to use water from this factory so as to gradually reduce the use of groundwater.

Also at the ceremony, work on the second phase of the plant began.

Thousands of tourists flock to Muong Lo Tourism-Culture Week

An art performance at the event. 

Thousands of local people and tourists attended the opening ceremony of the Muong Lo Tourism - Culture Week 2018 held on October 12 in Nghia Lo town, the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai.

Festival goers were immersed in the beauty of the nature and people of Muong Lo - Nghia Lo, the land of the National Intangible Heritages and the Vietnam Guinness Book of Records. 

People explored the typical cultural values of Muong Lo such as Han Khuong folk festival, wedding customs, folk games, ancient Thai words, and culinary art. 

Especially, 1,300 artisans performed six splendid xoe dances which will be documented and submitted to UNESCO for recognition as intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

As part of the Muong Lo Tourism – Culture Week, the final of the Miss Muong Lo contest is scheduled for October 13, while the “Yen Bai - Heritage Journey” programme takes place on October 13 and 14.

Smart cities need more infrastructure

The science conference on urban management in HCM City on October 11 

Around 100 architects, master planners and officials have discussed the latest smart-city strategies and solutions at the Science Conference of Urban Management in Ho Chi Minh City: Reality, Problem and Solutions.

The conference which opened in HCM City on October 11 is focusing on smart city solutions in six categories: community, governance, urban planning, infrastructure, city education and mobility.

Tran Ngoc Chinh, chairman of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association, said the conference’s purpose was to disseminate professional knowledge, share practical experiences and increase the capability of regional and urban experts.

The sharply increasing population has exerted enormous pressure on HCM City’s infrastructure, and smart city development will be able to transform urban management by using technology.

However, since the city still lacks sufficient capital for development, it needs to attract more investment and place a high value on its most important resources. 

Growing urban problems such as land subsidence, flooding, waste, traffic congestion and affordable housing all need to be addressed.

The city also should build modern satellite towns and develop new housing programmes, especially for poor residents, one expert suggested.

Besides developing infrastructure, city authorities should focus on education and investment in human resources as they are the most important factor in HCM City’s future development, experts said.

High-quality human resources will be the driving force in economic development of the city, which is a leader in attracting a large number of workers, professionals, artists and people from other localities in the country. 

“HCM City should have special policies to encourage science and technology research," an expert noted.

More than 70 studies about the knowledge economy, innovation and creativity were presented at the meeting.

‘Let’s clean up the ocean’ campaign wins public support

Young police officers in Phu Yen province join in a beach cleanup activity 

An event took place in Tuy Hoa city, the central coastal province of Phu Yen, on October 12 to review the three-month “Let’s clean up the ocean” campaign across Vietnam.

The event was organised by the Vietnam Youth Federation Central Committee, the Vietnam National Volunteer Centre, the VTV24 news centre of the Vietnam Television, and the US Embassy in the country.

In the 28 coastal provinces and cities nationwide, the campaign from June through August attracted the participation of almost 99,400 young people to cleanup activities. They collected nearly 1,300 tonnes of waste and also successfully turn cleanup efforts into weekly activities at 367 areas.

Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Youth Federation Central Committee Nguyen Kim Quy said the campaign won high evaluation from the public. Organisations and businesses’ support in distributing “Let’s clean up the ocean” posters also greatly helped with the protection of marine environment in the country.

On this occasion, the Secretariat of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee presented certificates of merit to the union’s committees in Ben Tre, Quang Binh, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen provinces, and of the Border Guard High Command in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the campaign implementation.

Also on October 12, organisers presented prizes of a poster design and initiative contest on reducing daily waste pollution. The contest received 40 initiatives and 120 posters sent by young people nationwide.

Deputy PM: Cooperatives must connect farmers with businesses

At the forum 

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has highlighted the leading role of cooperatives in connecting farmers with businesses, towards promoting strong and effective agricultural production and consumption. 

Addressing the 3rd National Farmers Forum in Hanoi on October 14 which was part of activities in the “Proud of Vietnamese farmers” programme, the Deputy PM stressed that it is necessary to fully tap potential of each regions and localities, and enhance links between the domestic and foreign markets.

The Government promises to perfect policies to foster agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, he said. 

Hue praised the organisation of the forum and its theme, saying that Vietnam currently has 10 farm products with export turnover of 1 billion USD upwards. 

Vietnam has also witnessed remarkable events of the agriculture sector, especially as the country held the world rice conference for the first time. 

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union Thao Xuan Sung emphasised the great and proud achievements of the agriculture sector over the past 32 years of reform. 

The export of farm products has recorded continuous growth, creating impressive breakthroughs, he said. 

In the first four months of this year, Vietnam’s export value of vegetables and fruits surpassed those of crude oil. The country’s agro-forestry-aquatic product exports are forecast to reach 40 billion USD in 2018. 

However, Sung also mentioned challenges facing Vietnam’s agriculture sector such as climate change and internal difficulties of the national economy. 

At the forum, participants voiced their concern about how to improve the quality and image of Vietnamese agricultural products, and expand more markets for and reduce production cost and prices of farm produce. They also discussed policies to cope with the protection of agricultural products in importing countries. 

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh underlined the need to build brand names for Vietnamese farm produce, saying that it is necessary  for Vietnam to improve the quality and ensure food safety of agricultural products if it wants to build sustainable trademarks for those.

He added that the ministry has built a project to develop 15,000 new-style cooperatives, which are hoped to help farmers develop their production and make it easier for them in selling their products. 

Director of the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Vu Ba Phu said through programmes to support farmers and enterprises in building brand names for their farm produce, the MoIT and other relevant ministries will promote Vietnamese trademarks to international markets through Vietnam’s agencies abroad.

Vietnam-Japan health examination centre inaugurated in HCM City

Participants at the innauguration ceremony 

A health examination centre was put into operation at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on October 14 as part of activities to mark the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties. 

The inauguration ceremony, which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, was jointly held by the Cho Ray Hospital and Japan’s International University of Health and Welfare. 

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Truong Son, Director of the Cho Ray Hospital said the centre will provide high-quality health check-ups, meeting the demand of local residents. 

Results collected by the centre can help detect implicit diseases and health risks, which will serve in-depth health examinations and monitoring, and prevention of diseases and health improvement; and contribute to reducing overload in the Cho Ray Hospital. 

With a team of doctors and medical staff trained in Japan and a modern medical equipment system, the centre is aiming to become one of the international standard medical establishments to serve locals, those from other southern localities and foreigners, including the Japanese community living in Vietnam. 

The centre will provide the highest standard-health diagnostic services in the world like those provided in Japan under the model of “Ningen Dock”, which targets prevention instead of treatment. 

One of the advantages of the centre is that it offers the dual and remote diagnosis with the support from Japanese experts. 

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio highlighted the significance of the project, saying that the project’s investment certificate was handed over at the APEC Summit in Da Nang in 2017. 

He expressed his hope that the centre will contribute to improving the health of Vietnamese people, especially in raising the life expectancy. 

While showing his gratitude for the Japanese side’s support for the health sector in recent years, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien highly valued Japan’s coordination to help Vietnam develop its health sector.  

He affirmed that the screening and detection of dangerous and chronic diseases  are very necessary in the current situation in Vietnam, hoping that Japan will continue to assist Vietnam in opening more similar centres in the time to come.

Vietnam-Uzbekistan Friendship Association holds national congress

Illustrative image: A child painting on bilateral relations posted on the Facebook Page of the Vietnam-Uzbekistan Friendship Association (Photo: Facebook Page of the VUFA)

The Vietnam-Uzbekistan Friendship Association (VUFA) convened its fifth national congress for the 2018-2023 term in Hanoi on October 14.

The congress voted 51 members to the association’s executive committee for 2018-2023 term, with Luong Phan Cu re-elected as its president.

During the past tenure, the VUFA, consisting of over 300 members nationwide, had made efforts to diversify external activities and boost relations between the Vietnamese and Uzbek people via the communications work and the exchange of delegations as well as various cooperation and people-to-people activities.

Setting goals for the new tenure, participants agreed to enhance the association’s operations and expand the Vietnam-Uzbekistan traditional ties and comprehensive cooperation. 

New tasks mentioned at the congress included building its cooperation plan and programme for 2018-2023 and an annual cooperation plan with the Uzbekistan-Vietnam Friendship Association, and spreading information on Vietnam among Uzbek people through delegation exchanges, economic partnerships, and cultural and tourism exchanges.

Lauding the VUFA’s performance and agreeing with its new tasks, Don Tuan Phong, Vice President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), suggested a number of measures to step up people-to-people diplomacy with Uzbekistan in the coming time.

He said the association should focus on supporting the development of trade-investment partnerships between the two countries’ enterprises, diversifying its activities, expanding membership, and promoting Vietnam’s images among Uzbek people.

VUFA members and Vietnamese people should also get frequent updates on Uzbekistan and its relations with Vietnam, he noted.

Speaking at the congress, Ishanxodjaev Kamoliddin Nuriddinovich, vice chairman of the Uzbekistan committee for friendship and cooperation with foreign countries, said the Uzbek people always stand side-by-side with their Vietnamese counterparts in order to push up bilateral cooperation across all spheres.

On the occasion, the VUFA received a Friendship Order bestowed by the Vietnamese President for its contributions to Vietnam-Uzbekistan friendship and solidarity in the past time.