Investor banned from dumping 2.3 million cubic metres of soil at sea

A view of the Hòn La Sea Port, which is near the area where the investor intended to bury 2.3 million cubic metres of soil. — Photo baodansinh.vn

The investor of an infrastructure project at the Quảng Trạch Electricity Centre had been told not to dump 2.3 million cubic metres of soil into waters near Hòn La Island, according to Vũ Trường Sơn, deputy director of the Vietnam Administration of Sea and Islands under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE).

Sơn said that MONRE had approved an environmental protection report from the project’s investor that said it should be allowed to dump soil in designated areas providing it did not affect local residents’ lives, but that did not mean it should be allowed to bury all of 2.3 million cubic metres of soil at sea.

Sơn added that the investor must ask for permission from the provincial People’s Committee and MONRE before it treated and disposed of the waste soil. 

Woman arrested for heroin trafficking

Đào at the police station. 

Police in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk arrested a woman on Tuesday morning for illegally carrying 7.7kg of heroin in her luggage.

Phan Thị Đào from Bắc Kạn Province’s Cẩm Giàng Commune was caught on a passenger coach travelling from the central province of Nghệ An to HCM City. The coach was stopped by the police for inspection in Đắk Lắk Province’s Pơng Đrang Commune.

Đào admitted to the police that she had been hired by a woman in HCM City to transport the heroin from Laos to HCM City for VNĐ50 million (US$2,150).

Đào said it was the third time she carried heroin for the woman.

Local police are investigating the case. 

Poverty alleviation work reviewed

A farmer in the northern mountainous province of Tuyên Quang. The National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction has been funded with nearly US$950 million from the State Budget over the period from 2016 to 2018. 

At least 10 per cent of investment capital in rural areas should be spent on improving clean water supplies.

 The idea was proposed yesterday at a working session between National Assembly Social Affairs Committee, Government’s Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee and ministries of planning, investment, agriculture and rural development.

They also suggested money obtained through Official Development Assistance (ODA), State budget and preferential loans should be prioritised for clean water and rural hygiene projects.

The proposal was made at a meeting held to review the implementation of a resolution to reduce poverty over the next two years.

The participants also proposed putting in place a special mechanism for programmes in rural areas, especially in disadvantaged region or areas located in the border and islands.

According to planning and investment deputy minister Nguyễn Văn Trung, nearly VNĐ22 trillion (US$957 million) has been mobilised from State budget for National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the 2016-18 period.

Almost VNĐ2.7 trillion ($117.4 million) over the local state budget was spend in the past two years..

ODA agreements of poverty reduction signed between 2016 and August 2018 were estimated to be worth US$1.24 billion, accounting for nearly 12 per cent of total ODA investment during this period.

That money has been spent on developing small scale infrastructure, agricultural, forestry and fishery production combined with poverty alleviation, hunger eradication, small scale credit assistance and increasing competitiveness of animal breeding products.

According to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, residents of poor districts have been given land and helped with cattle vaccinations.

Representatives of relevant sectors agreed that in the context of State budget limit, the programme needs a combined effort between locals and Government.

Local authorities must realise their commitment of mobilising reciprocal capital to implement national target programmes in general and National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in particular.

Favourable conditions should be created for commune-level authorities and community to conduct small-scale works with simple techniques to cut down on work construction spending from State budget, the officials said.

Deputy chairman of the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee Phan Văn Hùng reported that the average number of poor households nationwide decreased to 6.7 per cent as of the end of 2017, a reduction of 1.53 per cent compared to that of the previous year.

The percentage of poor households in extremely disadvantaged, border communes or those in ethnic and mountainous regions decreased by 3 to 4 per cent last year.

However, the average income per person of ethnic groups and people living in mountainous areas reaches only VNĐ7-8 million each year, as much as one fifth of average income of the nation. Budget has not been poured to implement several poverty alleviation projects and policies approved by the Government.

National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for 2016-2020 issued in 2016 aims to cut the national poverty rate by 1-1.5 per cent each year based on multi-dimensional poverty criteria. In addition, efforts will be made to reduce the poverty rate among ethnic minority households by 3-4 per cent each year. 

Vietnam, Taiwan bolster literature exchange

The translated versions of Vietnamese and Taiwanese literary works (Photo: thanhnien)

Writers from Vietnam and China’s Taiwan expressed their wish to enhance literature exchange, and cooperation in translation of literary works during an exchange held in Hanoi.

The event on August 13 drew the participation of Vietnamese writers and 30 others from Taiwan.

Highlighting similarities in the two cultures, the writers discussed measures to expand their collaboration in the future.

The exchange saw the launch of the Vietnamese version of a book by Taiwanese writer Chen Yingzhen and the Chinese version of the poem collection “Di ngang qua the gian” (Passing through the world) by Vietnamese poet Tran Nhuan Minh.

Also, participants at the event had a chance to enjoy a performance of Taiwan’s glove puppetry (Potehi or Budaixi).

Vietnam strives to build legal base for smart city development by 2020

Ho Chi Minh City is building smart city project 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recently approved a project to develop sustainable and smart cities for 2018-2025 with a vision to 2030.

With the goal of developing sustainable and smart cities, Vietnam hopes to boost green growth and sustainable development, bring into full play its potential and advantages, and increase the efficiency of the use of its resources.

The country also wants to improve locals’ living standards, increase the economy’s competitiveness and step up international integration.

Until 2020, the project will work to build a legal base for sustainable and smart city development, issue policies and mechanisms applied to the regions subject to pilot implementation, build and pilot the application of the ICT framework on smart city development, develop the GIS-based urban space data infrastructure, and build the national city database (first phase).

By 2025, the first phase of the pilot implementation of smart city development will be carried out, focusing on building and finalising legal corridors and regulations, applying the ICT spatial framework to smart city development in Vietnam, announcing national standards prioritised for the pilot building of smart cities, and developing the urban space data infrastructure.

The first-phase pilot is expected to be completed by 2030, towards the duplication by fields and regions, thus forming a network of smart cities nationwide. Hanoi, Da Nang city, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho city will be chosen to be the core of smart city networks in the northern, central, southern and Mekong Delta regions, respectively.

New Hung Kings’ era research centre opens in Da Nang

A ceremony held to launch the national research centre specialising in the Hung Kings’ period in Da Nang city  

The national research centre specialising in the Hung Kings’ period (2879 – 258 BC) launched a branch in the central city of Da Nang on August 14.

The new branch is located at No.89 Yen Bai street of Hai Chau district.

Founded in 2015, the cultural research centre focuses on the era of the Hung Kings, perceived as the founders of Vietnam. In particular, it looks at the tangible and intangible values, along with the history of national foundation and defence so as to promote Vietnamese people’s sense of patriotism.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan (the son of Kinh Duong Vuong and Than Long Nu) married the fairy Au Co (the daughter of Heaven’s God De Lai). Au Co then gave birth to a pouch of 100 eggs, which hatched into 100 sons, believed to be Vietnam’s earliest ancestors.

They decided to separate in order to populate the land. Half of the children followed their mother to the highlands, while the rest went with their father to the sea.

Their eldest son was made the first king, who named the country Van Lang and set up the capital in Phong Chau (nowadays in northern Phu Tho province), starting the 18 reigns of the Hung Kings. 

The worship of the Hung Kings is related to the ancestral worshipping traditions of most Vietnamese families, which forms an important part of local people’s spiritual life. It was recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.

The main commemoration of Lac Long Quan, Au Co, and the Hung Kings is held annually at the Hung Kings’ Temple complex in Phu Tho province.

Australia supports Vietnamese firms with vocational logistics education

The Vietnam Directorate of Vocational Education and the Vietnam -Australia Human Resource Development Partnership (Aus4Skills) signed a cooperation agreement in Ho Chi Minh City on August 14 to implement a project promoting the engagement of businesses in vocational training within the fields of transportation and logistics.

Deputy General Director of the Vietnamese directorate (under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs) Truong Anh Dung said that effective solutions presented in the project will help reform and improve the quality of vocational education in Vietnam.

In particular, the pilot of enterprises’ involvement in the logistics industry will be a good model to expand to other fields in the future, he added.

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Logistics Service Enterprises Le Duy Hiep said that the association pledged to strengthen connectivity between businesses and vocational education establishments to improve the quality of training in logistics, as well as build an effective coordination mechanism.

The project is expected to promote activities connecting schools and enterprises in training highly skilled logistic workers, he added.

Vietnam has 1,974 vocational education facilities, including 388 colleges, 551 intermediate schools, and 1,035 centres.

Efforts increased to reduce poverty nationwide

At the end of 2017, the percentage of poor households nationwide stood at 6.7, down 1.53 percent compared to the same period the previous year, said Vice Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Affairs Phan Van Hung on August 14. 

Speaking at a working session in Hanoi between the Standing Board of the National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, the Committee for Ethnic Affairs, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hung said that the rate of poor districts also dropped to below 40 percent, a year-on-year decrease of about 5 percent. 

Meanwhile, the number in border, ethnic minority-inhabited, and mountainous communes, as well as those in extreme difficulties shrunk by 3-4 percent year-on-year, fulfilling the target set by the Prime Minister, the official added. 

However, he said, poverty reduction has remained unstable, with the annual per capita income of many ethnic minority groups reaching only 7-8 million VND (301-344 USD), equivalent to one-fifth of the national average. 

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Trung said that since 2016, nearly 22 trillion VND (946 million USD) sourced from the State budget has been funneled into the national target programme for sustainable poverty reduction. 

Between 2016 and August 2018, up to 1.24 billion USD in official development assistance (ODA) has been committed to Vietnam in this field, making up more than 11.91 percent of the total ODA capital in the period. 

The capital has been used to develop small-scale rural infrastructure; spur the production of agriculture, forestry, and fishery; reduce poverty; provide credit loans; and improve the competitiveness of farm produce. 

Delegates at the session talked about bottlenecks in mechanisms; policies and resources relating to poverty reduction; and proposed solutions to these issues. 

They called for joint efforts of all of the whole society and the political determination of the State in completing the sustainable development targets during the 2016-2020 period in the face of limited State budget.

Quang Nam activities to celebrate Vietnam-Japan ties

Visitors tour Hoi An ancient city of Quang Nam province 

The Japan Cultural Day in Quang Nam and the 16th Hoi An-Japan Cultural Exchange will take place in Hoi An city, the central province of Quang Nam from August 17-19.

As part of activities marking the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-Japan diplomatic relations (1973-2018), the events will be jointly organised by the provincial People’s Committee, the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, agencies, organisations and businesses in Quang Nam and Japan.

The opening ceremony of these two events at 8pm on August 17 will feature attractive art performances staged by Quang Nam and Japanese artists.

There will be a wide range of cultural activities such as the re-enactment of the wedding of Princess Ngoc Hoa and Japanese businessman Araki Soaro at Hoi An port and the debut of the Goodwill Ambassador of the 16th Hoi An-Japan Cultural Exchange Ueno Yuuka.

A photo exhibition entitled “Invaluable heritages” will also be held together with a boat race, cultural and art exchanges, martial art performances, handicraft display, and culinary activities.

In addition, the organising board will host a meeting between Japanese investors, seminars on building and developing smart cities in combination with environmental protection and Japan’s educational experience, and a Quang Nam-Japan friendship exchange.

USAID-funded project helps people with disabilities in Thua Thien-Hue

A number of headquarters of agencies, railway stations, hotels, and medical centres at communes and districts in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue have been upgraded over the past three years in order to improve their level of disability access. 

This is one of the results of the project on supporting people with disabilities in the province funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) via the Action to the Community Development Centre (ACDC). 

Ho Dan – Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs – said at a meeting to review outcomes of the project in Hue city on August 14, that more than 2,480 people with disabilities would be able to receive free legal consultations under the project. 

The project takes place from October 2015 to September 2018 with a total funding of 5.3 trillion VND (227.9 million USD), aiming to protect the legitimate rights and interests of people with disabilities in the locality. 

In 2019, Thua Thien-Hue will strive to provide services for people with disabilities with funding from the USAID through The International Centre.

18th Vietnam-China youth friendship meeting opens

At the meeting 

The 18th Vietnam-China youth friendship meeting officially kicked off in Hanoi on August 14.

Attending the event were First Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee Le Quoc Phong and Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China Fu Zhenbang.

Addressing the function, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee Bui Quang Huy said the meeting offers a chance for the two countries’ youth unions and youngsters to exchange information on young people’s affairs and share experience in youth union work and teenager movements in each nation. 

Huy expressed his hope that through the event, Chinese youths will understand more about the land, culture and people of Vietnam – a peace-loving country; a good comrade, good friend, good neighbour and good partner of China; and a responsible member of the international community.

He asked the two countries’ youth delegates to continue maintaining their role as a friendship bridge that makes active and responsible contributions to developing the cooperation between Vietnamese and Chinese people, especially youths.

Also at the event, the delegates had a chance to watch a TV report recalling the 18-year journey of Vietnam-China friendship exchanges and enjoy art performances featuring the cultures of both countries.

The 18th Vietnam-China youth friendship meeting is held from August 13-19, with main activities taking place in Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. 

The meeting has been organised in rotation in each country since 2000, aiming to realise the common policy of the leaders of the two Parties and States on enhancing exchanges between the Vietnamese and Chinese people and youths.

Women’s Unions of Quang Nam, Laos’ Sekong foster cooperation

Overview of the talks 

Representatives of the Women’s Unions of the central province of Quang Nam and Laos’ Sekong province held talks in Quang Nam on August 14 to discuss measures to foster cooperation in women movements.

The two sides briefed each other on operations and development of each union.

Under their cooperation in the 2016-2018 period, the unions have made considerable contributions to preserving and fostering the solidarity between people of the two localities. 

The agreement focuses on encouraging members of the unions and women along the border to strictly implement the treaty on border regulations between Vietnam and Laos, not to conduct free migration and undocumented marriage, and actively join hands in safeguarding national sovereignty and border security.

The Women’s Unions of Quang Nam and Sekong have worked together to build houses for poor women of Sekong, while presenting laptops and scholarships to Lao students studying in Quang Nam University with good academic performance.

The two sides also shared experience in launching and developing women’s movements, especially those in strengthening the union, economic development, poverty reduction, and building happy families.

The two unions agreed to continue implementing the contents in their cooperation agreement, while focusing on promoting communications to call on locals and women along the Vietnam-Laos border to abide by the treaty on border regulations between the two countries.

The Women’s Union of Quang Nam will continue building houses for poor women in Sekong and offering scholarships to Lao students in Quang Nam.

Rainy season leads to difficult-to-diagnose Whitmore's Disease

The rainy season brings with it the increased threat of diseases through infections caused by bacteria found in contaminated soil and water between July and November, and so far this year, the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Hà Nội-based Bạch Mai Hospital has received 20 cases of Whitmore’s Disease (Melioidosis), said Associate Professor Đỗ Duy Cường, head of the department.

According to doctors, the disease had a wide range of signs and symptoms that could be mistaken for other diseases such as tuberculosis or more common forms of pneumonia, so it was not easy to diagnose.

One of the most seriously-infected patients was recently saved by doctors at Bạch Mai Hospital.

The 51-year-old patient from Hòa Bình Province was reported to have a high fever and an abscess on his thigh when he was hospitalised on July 2.

He was diagnosed with septicemia and was treated for 12 days at the provincial hospital, but his health did not improve, and he continued to suffer from a high fever and breathing difficulties, while the abscess continued to grow.

After being treated with high-dose antibiotics for nearly two months, he is now in a stable condition and out of hospital.

In Việt Nam, the infection is known as “the forgotten disease” and is highly infectious. It first arrived in the county in the 1950s when a small number of people in the south were infected by the disease.

According to doctors, the disease is predominately a disease found in tropical climates, especially in Southeast Asia and northern Australia where it is widespread. The bacterium causing the infection called Burkholderia pseudomallei appears in contaminated soil and dust. Patients are infected with the bacterium through direct contact with the contaminated source. Signs and symptoms of the disease include localised pain or swelling, fever, abscess, coughing, chest pain, respiratory distress, abdominal discomfort, muscle or joint pain, among others.

Patients have to undergo high doses of antibiotics for up to six months, leading to prolonged and costly treatment. This is one of the reasons many families give up the treatment, and the fatality rate due to the disease remains high at 40 per cent of all patients around the world.

The Centre of Disease Control and Prevention under the US Department of Health and Services has previously advised people with open skin wounds and those with diabetes or chronic renal disease to avoid contact with soil and standing water.

Those who perform agricultural work should wear boots, which can prevent infection through the feet and lower legs. Health care workers can use standard contact precautions (mask, gloves and gowns) to help prevent infection. 

PM demands traffic safety over National Day break

A traffic policeman directs traffic in Hà Nội. 

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has sent a message to traffic agencies ordering them to ensure road safety during the three-day holiday from September 1-3 to celebrate National Day (September 2) and the nation’s new school year ceremony (September 5).

In message No 1038/CĐ-TTg, Phúc said more efforts were needed to improve the capacity of public transport services to meet an increasing demand for travel during the holidays, especially in major cities.

The National Committee for Traffic Safety and administrations across the country were told to instruct transport companies as well as drivers to obey traffic safety regulations.

Drivers needed to ensure passenger safety by driving more carefully on steep roads and through level crossings and water during storms and torrential rain, he added.

Local departments of transport were also asked to remind people of the importance of wearing helmets and obeying regulations to minimise accidents.

They had also been tasked to work with schools to launch “The action month for traffic safety – September”. Accordingly, schools would strengthen education on traffic-safety regulations for students, he said.

Traffic police would be assigned to prevent gridlock around schools on the day of the new school year ceremony, he said.

Chairpersons of municipal and provincial-level people’s committees would have to take full responsibility in the event of railway accidents, he added.

Hotlines to receive traffic complaints should be widely publicised, he said.

Reports on these nationwide efforts would be compiled by the National Committee for Traffic Safety before September 3 and submitted to the Prime Minister.

Statistics from the committee showed that 58 people died and 58 more were injured in traffic accidents nationwide during the three-day holiday to mark National Day last year.