Ba Bo Canal still polluted despite costly cleanup

The Ba Bo Canal in Thu Duc District, HCMC is still polluted despite a costly project to clean it up, said Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam, chairwoman of the HCMC People’s Council.

Tam proposed the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment of HCMC and Binh Duong Province cope with wastewater discharged from manufacturing facilities and households along the canal.

HCMC chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong told the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program HCMC to give an explanation about the canal cleanup project.

An official of the Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program HCMC said the project included building a wastewater reservoir and other works along the banks of the canal with a total investment of VND743 billion (US$32.63 million).

Three out of seven items of the project have been put into use, two others have just been finished and three remaining items are under construction. The center said the project would be complete this month.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said two industrial parks, Song Than1 and 2, in Binh Duong Province have built wastewater treatment facilities and that it was household wastewater that is polluting the canal.

Pollution in the Ba Bo Canal has been a hot-button issue at meetings of the city People’s Council for over a decade. 

Photos on Vietnam to go on show

The Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in partnership with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lao Cai Province will open a photo exhibition this Friday at Lao Cai Provincial Museum.

As part of a series of activities to celebrate the Lao Cai - Northwest National Tourism Year 2017, the “Discovering Vietnam” show features 100 photos by 82 photographers around the country. The exhibits highlight sea and island tourism, cultural tourism, and ecological and natural tourism, according to a source from the department. 

The organizer expects the exhibition to contribute to creating a cultural art event to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the establishment of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai and helping international tourists explore the beauty of nature and people in Vietnam.

Through the photos displayed at the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to admire the rich and colorful culture of popular tourist destinations from Ha Giang, a mountainous province in the country’s northeast to Ca Mau, the southern tip of the nation.

Quang Nam opens photo contest

The Quang Nam Tourism Promotion Information Center has launched a photo contest to promote the central province’s tourism sector as well as create a playground for photographers and visitors to capture beautiful moments of the land and people of Quang Nam.

The contest is open to all Vietnamese and international photographers, both professional and amateur, on topics covering the beauty of Quang Nam’s world cultural heritage site of Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary, with its Cham towers, and local landscapes, people, daily life, traditional villages, cuisine, and festivals.

Those interested can visit www.quangnamtourism.com to apply or vote on their favorite photo after logging in via their Facebook account.

The contest is sponsored by Thailand Tourism, AirAsia Airlines, and Koi Hoi An Resort. Different prizes are on offer, such as monthly prizes, the highest vote prize, a prize as selected by the Organizing Board, and prizes for best comments of the month from voters and best comments overall. Prizes are in cash up to VND5 million ($220), and tour vouchers to Thailand (four days and three nights), Quang Nam tour vouchers (three days and two nights), and two-night voucher at a four-star hotel in Hoi An.

The contest will be held from July 1 to November 30 and the awards ceremony in December. For more information, visit www.quangnamtourism.com or contact the Quang Nam Tourism Promotion Information Center at 47 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An.

Da Nang strives to achieve 100 percent health insurance coverage

The central city of Da Nang aims to increase its health insurance coverage to 100 percent by 2020, according to the local Social Insurance Agency.

By June 2017, Da Nang had about 993,444 people, 96.5 percent of its population, in the health insurance scheme, said the agency.

This outcome was attributed to efforts from the city’s political system at all levels, said Le Anh Nhan, Deputy Director of the agency.

The municipal Party Committee and administration worked with the local Health Department to launch programmes and measures to expand the number of participants, he added.

Communications were implemented under various forms, targeting groups with low health insurance coverage rate such as students, workers in private sectors and households, aiming to popularise the rights of health insurance card holders, the director noted.

The healthcare system in Da Nang has developed due to local healthcare facilities investing in infrastructure and modern technologies. 

They have also applied science initiatives to provide effective treatment to patients while the health insurance policy has been expanded with more benefits to participants.

Can Gio sea gate hot because of sand exploitation

Border guard units discovered 12 bargers transporting sand and two vessels illegally exploiting sand at Can Gio sea gate and seized 7,900 cubic meter of sea sand during three days of patroling, reported HCMC’s Border Guard Command yesterday.

Many vessels from other places have come to the sea gate in HCMC to illegally overexploit sand from closed sand exploitation projects, the report said.

Head of Department of Anti-Criminal and Drug Colonel Nguyen Hong Dung said that sand exploiters would illicitly transport sand out of the city for consumption, hence, owners of 14 vessels could not produce any document of sand origin and some of them showed permissions of other dead projects

They will receive proper penalties as per the law, he said.

He added vessel owners will receive fines ranging from VND100 million ($4,400) to VND200 million if the volume of sand without permission is from 50 cubic meter up. 

Moreover, they will face additional fines of VND50-70 million if they exploit sand while their permissions are revoked. the fines will double for organizations who unlawfully exploit sand.

Conference discusses latest treatments for kidney stones, renal tumours

Vietnamese and foreign health experts are meeting at a two-day conference that ends today (July 6) at Bình Dân Hospital in HCM City to discuss the latest techniques used to treat kidney stones and renal tumours.

Prof. Christian Schwentner of the Department of Urology at Deaconess Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany said that laparoscopic nephrectomy was the recommended standard of care. The technique is enhanced with 3-D systems for better effectiveness.

A partial nephrectomy is used for treatment of very small tumours protruding from the kidney’s surface, because renal cell preservation is high, Schwentner said.

Nguyễn Phúc Cẩm Hoàng, deputy head of Bình Dân Hospital, said the hospital used a robot for partial nephrectomy on six patients with small renal tumours between November last year and April this year.

Vietnamese health experts also spoke at the conference about procedures to remove stones with a fiberoptic endoscope.

This technique is used at Bình Dân Hospital to replace traditional open surgery, which can cause bleeding and require long-term post-operative care.

Bình Dân Hospital treats more than 1,500 patients with kidney stones each year, including cases with large stones that can cause damage to kidney function.

If patients do not get timely, professional treatment, large stones can cause complications such as infection and blockages in the urinary tract, kidney failure or even death, according to the hospital.

Hoàng cited reports, including GLOBOCAN 2012, as saying that prevalence of kidney cancer in Việt Nam was 0.9 per 100,000 people.

The number of new incidences of kidney cancer is on average 810 per year, with 630 fatalities each year, in Việt Nam, according to the reports issued in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Hòa Bình police: No catching fish with electricity

Twenty-six households in Vầy Nưa Commune, Đà Bắc District in the northern province of Hòa Bình, volunteered to hand over their electric systems used to illegally catch fish to commune authorities.

Four others destroyed their electric system on their own.

Vầy Nưa Commune is a hot spot for illegally catching fish with electricity along the Hòa Bình River, and the incident was reported by the press.

Upon receiving the information, Hòa Bình Province’s People’s Committee, the provincial police and local authorities began educating residents since May.

A total of 170 households signed a commitment not to use electricity to catch fish.

Bùi Văn Kỳ, chairman of the Vầy Nưa Commune People’s Committee, said if a household intentionally used electricity to catch fish, the committee would cut off all financial support from different projects in the commune provided to the household.

Waterway police, meanwhile, strengthened patrolling along the Hòa Bình River, seized four sets of electricity used to catch fish and administered fines of VNĐ12 million (US$530) on violators.

Colonel Phạm Văn Sử, deputy director of the Hòa Bình Police, said the incident was controlled at the outset.

In the long term, the police will continue to educate residents and impose strict penalties on violators.

“District authorities should set up policies to create jobs for local and help them stabilise their lives,” he said. 

Vietnam, Lao legislative leaders commemorate Tay Tien Regiment

National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, her Lao counterpart Pany Yothotou and high-ranking delegations from both nations offered incense to war heroes and martyrs at the historic relic site of Tay Tien Regiment 52 on Na Bo hill, Moc Chau town, the northern mountainous province of Son La on July 7.

Tay Tien (Marching West) Regiment 52, known as Tay Tien Regiment, was set up on February 27, 1947. The regiment was based in Son La province during the anti-French resistance war (1945-1954). The soldiers were dispatched to the battlefields in the northwest region and Upper Lao, contributing to the glorious victory of the Vietnamese revolution and international missions in Laos.

Writing in the memorial book, NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan noted that the Tay Tien historic relic site plays a significant role in educating Vietnamese younger generations about patriotism.

Meanwhile, Lao NA Chairwoman Pany Yothotou underlined that the relic site is a symbol of the combat alliance between the people’s armies of Vietnam and Laos. Vietnam and Laos will further the special traditional solidarity for benefits of the two peoples.

RoK’s Youngsan University students volunteer in Nghe An

A number of volunteering activities have been held by 34 students of Youngsan University, the Republic of Korea (RoK), in the central province of Nghe An, the hometown of late President Ho Chi Minh.

It is part of the volunteering programme co-organised by the Youth’s Union of the Vietnam-Korea Industrial Technical Vocational College and Youngsan University’s volunteer team from July 3-14.

Various cultural exchange events, clean-up campaigns, wall paintings, water pipe repair and free haircut took place at Lang Sen primary school during the event.

The school also received computers and water filters from the RoK group.

The volunteering activities offered RoK students exciting experiences and interaction opportunities to gain better understanding about Vietnamese people and country, said Sangkeun Jeong, supervisor of the RoK team.

He also hoped the event will contribute to enhancing solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and the RoK.

The group of students of Youngsan University will visit and present gifts to children at Vinh city’s SOS Village and participate in sports and culinary exchange events with students of the local college.

Women’s placement consultancy start-up gets funding

Canavi, a start-up that specialises in job placements for women, has received funding from Singapore’s ESP Capital nearly two years after its launch.

The value of the investment was not revealed, but Hải Nguyễn, CEO of Canavi, told Việt Nam News that Canavi had mobilised funds worth around US$300,000 from angel investors and ESP Capital.

“The fund will be used mainly to hire more talented people to improve the website Canavi.com and the app. We will also invest more in marketing to attract new users,” Hải said. “Our current clients are Pizza4P’s, Women Shoes Juno, Mercedes Benz, DeliveryNow.vn... and we believe that Canavi.com will have many new clients in the future, creating millions of jobs for Asian women.”

This year, the start-up was honoured by Forbes Asia. Canavi offers both part-time and full-time job opportunities in roles such as domestic help, receptionists, models, social influencers, as well as specialised jobs in sales, marketing, accounting and human resources.

The company’s mission is to help women find jobs they like, and navigate their careers by providing part-time and full-time jobs across many sectors. “In Asia, women find it difficult to get suitable jobs compared to men despite their appearances, experiences and outstanding capabilities. Canavi realises that there is a huge discrimination against women in a society that’s looking for gender equality, so the company is trying its best every day to pursue this mission,” said a company representative.

ESP Capital is a $20 million investment company based in Singapore with a branch office in HCM City. The fund focuses on potential early-stage start-ups in various fields in Việt Nam and the ASEAN. It targets investments in pre-seed and seed rounds ranging from $50,000 to $300,000.

Thủ Đức District Hospital first performs angioplasty to treat narrowed carotid artery

HCM City’s Thủ Đức District Hospital on Tuesday performed its first ever angioplasty on a narrowed carotid artery.

The patient, an 86-year-old man, was brought to the hospital with trouble speaking and numbness in the left side of the body.

Doctors at the neurology department diagnosed a narrowed carotid artery caused by blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

They decided to perform an angioplasty in which a balloon is used to widen a vessel before a stent is inserted to keep the artery open.

The procedure will reduce the risk of stroke for the patient and even fatality.

He is recovering and expected to be discharged in the next few days.

Dr Trần Nguyễn Khánh, deputy head of the neurology department, said a narrowed carotid artery is one of the causes of strokes.
 
No poor, near-poor households in Binh Duong province

The southern province of Binh Duong has become the only province in Vietnam that has no poor or near-poor households thanks to the province’s efforts to hit poverty reduction targets.

According to Ha Minh Trung, Vice Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs, poverty alleviation has been at the heart of local socio-economic development policy. Various  
programmes have proved efficient, including credit schemes, housing support, healthcare support, education, vocational training and job introduction, Trung said.

From 2011-2015, the province splashed out more than 1 trillion VND (43.9 million USD) on poverty reduction, including 280 billion VND (12.3 million USD) mobilised from individuals and organisations.  
Meanwhile, some 500 billion VND (21.9 million USD) will be spent during 2016-2020 to support locals with healthcare insurance and tuition fees. In addition, a credit package worth 338 billion VND (14.8  
million USD) was used to develop clean agriculture and vocational training.

Local farmers received financial support for pepper cultivation, poultry and cow husbandry and ornamental plant farming.

The province moved to a multidimensional approach to poverty reduction during 2016-2020 with income criteria 1.5 times higher than the country’s income standard. The local poverty line for rural areas was  
set at 1.2 million VND (52.8 USD) per person per month and the figure for urban areas was 1.4 million VND (61.5 USD) per person per month. 

The multidimensional scale, based on both under-privileged people’s income and their access to fundamental services such as healthcare, education and housing, helped local authorities outline measures  
to support the needy.

Trung said that through the multidimensional approach, management agencies can identify insufficient areas and then build policies to reduce the gap.

The Binh Duong branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies has allocated capital for households escaping from poverty and near poverty to implement clean water and environmental hygiene  
programmes and do business.

Promoting agro-forestry-fishery development and transferring technology for the poor are part of the locality’s efforts to ensure sustainable poverty reduction.

Central city to build solid garbage plant in stone sculpture village

Đà Nẵng has approved a solid garbage treatment project to ease pollution at Non Nước Stone Sculpture Village in Ngũ Hành Sơn District with a total investment of VNĐ10 billion (US$444,000).

City authorities said the project, which covers 1,200sq.m, will also help recycle 70 cubic metres of rubble and dust released from the sculpture centres and households each day into one million useable tiles  
and unbaked bricks for construction per year.

Authorities say the project aims to make the 400-year-old traditional craft village cleaner and greener. Currently, about 20 per cent of craftsmen suffer from lung disease from breathing the dust, according to  
officials.

Đoàn Thanh Thủy, chairman of Chăm Chăm Company, the project’s investor, said it would begin operations in 2018. She said the project will also include treatment of wastewater released from the stone  
sculpture village.

The city has chosen a 37ha area to relocate the stone art production centres and stone sculpture workshops must move to the allocated area for better control of the pollution they produce.

According to the city’s survey, the residential quarters of the village, which is home to more than 400 households with 5,000 craftsmen, are heavily polluted. The production centres operating there release  
more than 21 tonnes of dust and 25,000 litres of sulfuric acid annually, as well as noise, into the environment.

The Stone Arts Sculpture of Non Nước Village was recognised as one of three National Intangible Cultural Heritages after the fish-worshipping festival and Tuồng Xứ Quảng (Quảng Nam’s classic drama). 

Đắk Nông takes back encroached-upon forestry land

Đắk Nông Province People’s Committee will take back nearly 2,000ha of forestry land in Tuy Đức District that was encroached upon by locals.

The land belonged to companies carrying out agricultural and forestry projects and forestry enterprises in the district.

The information was revealed on Tuesday by Ngô Xuân Lộc, chief of the secretariat of the provincial People’s Committee.

The land will then be assigned to local authorities to manage and use based on present law.
Four enterprises must give back land – Kiến Trúc Mới (New Architecture) Construction Joint Stock Company with 679.3ha, Long Sơn Trade and Investment Co Ltd with 751.6ha, No 59 SConstruction and  

Investment Joint Stock Company with 554ha, and Nam Tây Nguyên (South Central Highlands) Forestry Co Ltd with 130ha.

Earlier, Đắk Nông People’s Committee let the companies lease the land to conduct agricultural and forestry projects. However, the land was subsequently encroached upon by locals. The companies were  

unable to resolve the case, so they volunteered to return the land to local authorities.
Đắk Nông Province currently has 43 agricultural and forestry projects with total area of some 33,000ha. But so far, the projects have not been very effective, with many areas destroyed and conflicts taking  place causing public disorder.

Taking back the land and allocating it to local authorities is part of the efforts of the provincial People’s Committee in forest and resident management.

Lôi Âm Pagoda to get cable car system

The Quảng Ninh Province’s People’s Committee on Tuesday approved the sites to set up a cable car system and services zone at Lôi Âm Pagoda.

The proposal to start cable car services at the historical and cultural monument in Đại Yên Commune, Hạ Long City, was made by Thu Hà Construction Co Ltd. The project is part of the Hạ Long City scheme  

till 2030, with vision till of 2050, which got the go-ahead from the provincial People’s Committee in October 2013.

The detailed plan for the cable car system will now be sent to the provincial Department of Construction, the People’s Committee, the Ministry of Construction and other concerned organisations for checks.

Many believe that authorities should consider the idea of building the cable car system at the pagoda carefully as it will mar the landscape. Besides, the access road to the pagoda from Highway 18 is close  

by, no more than one kilometre away, and advantageous.

The northern province already has several cable car systems at the Ngọa Vân Pagoda in Đông Triều Town; at the Yên Tử Pagoda in Uông Bí City; and at the Bãi Cháy International Tourism Zone in Hạ  Long City.

Boy survives after severe allergy to octopus bite

A six-year-old boy, who was in a critical condition after being bitten by an octopus, stabilised on Tuesday under treatment at Đông Hải District General Hospital in Bạc Liêu Province.

When Trần Văn Bắc was brought to the hospital on Monday morning, he was struggling to breathe, vomiting and itching all over, said Dr Đặng Văn Khuông, deputy director of the hospital, adding that the boy  

had a serious allergic reaction and was going into shock.

Nguyễn Hùng Mộng, head of the hospital’s emergency and recuperation ward, said the child may have died if he had not been hospitalised on time.

On Monday morning, Bắc and his mother Tăng Thị Thùy were checking their fish nets in Gành Hào River when he saw an octopus among the catch. When caught, the octopus had bitten the boy.

Local seamen said that of late, many octopus have been spotted in Gành Hào River, and that many people have got bitten. 

Lao NA President meets Lao students in Son La

 Chairwoman of the Lao National Assembly Pany Yathotou met with Lao students who are studying in the northern province of Son La on July 5.

Yathotou is visiting Vietnam for celebrations to mark the 55th anniversary of the Vietnam- Laos diplomatic ties and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Dac Quynh gave her an overview of the Vietnam-Laos cooperation in providing training courses for students from northern Laos in Son La.

Son La has built and implemented plans for human resources training cooperation between the two sides that meets the needs of northern Lao provinces, he said, adding that the locality has issued four resolutions on educational support for Lao students since 2008. 

More than 1,700 Lao students have enrolled in college and university courses in Son La to date; of whom, 150 governmental officials have received training in political theory and state management since 2008. The province also sent 49 officials and students to study in Laos during the period.

Speaking at the event, Chairwoman Pany Yathotou appreciated the province’s support to Lao students in spite of its difficulties, describing it as “limitless and borderless.”

She noted that about 12,000 Lao students are studying across Vietnam while many of the alumni have become key officials of the Lao Party and Government.

She also urged the Lao students to study hard as they are the future generations of Laos who are responsible for lifting Laos out of poverty by 2020 and turning the country into a developed nation by 2030.

Activities mark 55th anniversary of VN -Laos friendship in Son La

A range of activities marking the Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year 2017 are underway in the northern mountainous province of Son La, which borders two northern Lao provinces. 

A photo exhibition capturing achievements in development cooperation between Vietnam and Laos kicked off in Son La city on July 5 as part of the second culture, sports and tourism festival in the Vietnam-Laos border area. 

With 150 photos, the exhibition aims to raise awareness of officials, Party members, soldiers and people of ethnic groups of the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. 

It also affirms guidelines and policies on maintaining and enhancing the Vietnam-Laos special relationship. 

Another exhibition displaying cultural and tourism products of the ten Vietnamese provinces bordering Laos and five others in the expanded northwestern region opened in Son La city the same day. 

The three-day event is to boost trade promotion, cooperation and connectivity between the localities while bringing into full play their potential and strengths.

The ten provinces bordering Laos include Dien Bien and Son La in the north, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam in the central region an the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.

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