Ben En National Park moves to protect rare water birds

A project was carried out in Ben En National Park in the central province of Thanh Hoa to evaluate the preservation of rare water birds from 2013-2016 as part of efforts to devise solutions to protect the animals.

The management board of Ben En National Park also worked with local youth unions, women’s union and schools to raise public awareness of water bird conservation while organising training for forest rangers.

Preventing the encroachment of mimosa pigra into Muc Lake and controlling local burn-and-slash farming as well as fishing were also on the table.

Le Dinh Phuong, vice director of the park management board, said that the board will take further measures to preserve the water bird population while asking authorities to recognise the 3,500-hectare Muc wetland, where the birds nest and look for food, as a Ramsar site.

According to the board’s survey, Ben En National Park is currently home to 40 species of water birds with a total of around 3,270 individuals. Of these, there are many animals listed in the Vietnam Red book, including the great cormorant, woolly-necked stork, Chinese egret, Asian openbill and crested kingfisher.

Ben En National Park was established in 1992 and has gradually expanded. It is not only a protected breeding ground for many rare creatures but also an attractive destination for ecotourism. Ben En has a diverse system of lakes, caves, mountains and forests.

Tourism to become HCM City’s key economic sector

Being one of the leading tourism hubs of Vietnam, the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City has planned to turn the “non-smoke” industry into the city’s key economic sector.

To develop tourism industry, besides building a strategic development plan, the city also plans to improve facilities, service quality and intensify human resource training.

Annually, the average number of foreign visitors to the city accounts for 56.6 percent of the total foreign visitors to the country, while earnings from the sector make up about 39 percent of the country’s total figure. However, the city’s tourism development has not tapped its potential. 

Experts said the city should settle current shortcomings which hinder the sector’s growth to turn tourism into its key industry by 2020, helping create driving force for other economic sectors.

Additional trains to run during coming holidays

The Hà Nội Railway Joint Stock Company will run an additional 31 passenger trains between April 27 and May 2 to serve commuters’ needs during the Reunification Day and May Day holidays.

The company has announced that it would run 14 more trains on the Hà Nội-Vinh route, nine more trains on the Hà Nội-Đồng Hới route, and four additional trains each on the Hà Nội-Đà Nẵng and Hà Nội-Lào Cai routes.

The company said it would be selling a total of 15,500 railway tickets for the holiday period. The sale of tickets started from 8am on Friday.

Passengers can book tickets on the website dsvn.vn, through agencies, or by calling the ticket office on 19000109. Tickets will be delivered free of cost to passengers who buy tickets via telephone and live in the seven-km radius from the city centre. 

Massive VN war mine forum meets

More than 100 representatives of relevant Government and non-governmental agencies and organisations convened in Hà Nội yesterday to discuss plans for ridding Việt Nam of all unexploded war-time bombs and mines.

The first meeting of the Mine Action Partnership Groups (MAPG) was co-hosted by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Steering Committee of the National Mine Action Programme.

MAPG, established in October last year, is co-chaired by Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Thế Phương and representatives from the international community at the ambassadorial level. The first annual term has been co-chaired by US Ambassador to Việt Nam, Ted Osius.

“The Vietnamese Government has approved a National Action Programme on mitigating consequences of mine and bombs in the period of 2010 and 2025 to reduce and eventually eradicate the bombs, mines and explosive remnants in Việt Nam,” Phương said.

The programme is expected to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development, support victims in re-integrating into the community, and raise public awareness of mine and bomb incident prevention. It is also designed to promote science and technology research to mitigate mine and bomb consequences and expand post-war international co-operation, he said.

MAPG Group is a diversified forum to discuss policies and management mechanisms for such tasks, as well as share information, knowledge and experience related to mine and bomb consequence mitigation, he said.

Ambassador Osius expressed thanks to fellow donors, international organisations, and the private corporations and citizens who have worked in the group toward a common goal.

“Even in a country as heavily impacted as Việt Nam, we know from our international experience, from the lessons we have learned in Quảng Trị, that it is possible to make Việt Nam impact free. We know from decades of experience it takes time, it takes money, and it takes experts and hard work to identify and clear UXO, and to educate the local population about the dangers,” he said.

Right after its establishment, in 2016, the group launched a series of activities, including the introduction of project results on UXO impact survey across the country; setting up information management systems on mine action; training personnel how to handle explosive ramnants via defence co-operation with the US.

In 2017, with the support of the secretariat and thematic working groups, the group’s priorities focus on the completion of plans and documents, strengthening collaboration with international partners, research activities and research mobilisation.

Ministries, provinces, civil society organisations, private sectors, international organisations are encouraged to fill in the registration form to participate in the group by March 31.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, more than 800,000 tonnes of unexploded bombs and mines are buried across 21 per cent of the country, mainly in the central provinces of Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, and Thừa Thiên-Huế, in addition to Quảng Ngãi.

Over the past 40-some years, wartime bombs and mines have killed about 42,130 people and injured  62,160.

Internet stars to play roles in fresh romantic comedy

Private film studio Chánh Phương Film has taken a risk by using several amateur actors famous on the internet to perform in the teenage romantic comedy Em Chưa 18 (I’m Not 18).

“The film is a risky project. The cast includes young amateur actors with little acting experience,” said Charlie Nguyễn, the film’s Vietnamese-American producer and director, at a recent press meeting in HCM City.

The director invited 18-year-old high school student Kaity Nguyễn to play the leading role in the film. Kaity is famous on the internet as a beauty blogger with nearly 250,000 followers on her Facebook page and over 80,000 followers on Instagram.

“Em Chưa 18 is my first step in the film industry,” she said. “I really appreciate the opportunity. After reading the screenplay, I was impressed with my character. We share similar characteristics, which inspired me.”

Directed by Lê Thanh Sơn, the film is a love story between a high school student Linh Đan and a playboy named Hoàng (played by Kiều Minh Tuấn).

After meeting in a pub, Đan and Hoàng have a one-night stand. After that, Đan, an 18-year-old girl with a strong personality, finds a way to seek revenge and becomes stuck in a love triangle with Hoàng and his former girlfriend.

Speaking at the meeting, Sơn said: “The film’s plot is interesting. It contains meaningful lessons about young love, friendship and lifestyle.”

Sơn became famous with the action movie Bẫy Rồng (Clash) starring Vietnamese action movie stars Johnny Trí Nguyễn and Ngô Thanh Vân.

The producer also asked other young people who are popular on the internet, including Ngọc Trai, Kiều Trinh Xíu and Châu Bùi, to play roles in the film.

Most of them are TV hosts and fashionistas who have hundreds of thousands of followers on social network sites.

The film also features amateur actors Will and Kiều Minh Tuấn, and experienced artists Kathy Uyên and Huy Khánh.

“I felt young and happy working with young actors,” Sơn said, adding that the cast had a professional attitude and good acting skills.

Kaity said that she and her colleagues were lucky to work with experienced filmmakers like Sơn and Charlie Nguyễn.

“We learned and improved day by day during the filmmaking,” she said.

Charlie Nguyễn, known in Việt Nam for the comedy movies Để Mai Tính (Fool for Love), Tèo Em (Little Tèo) and Fan Cuồng (Fanatic), said: “We don’t have any bankable stars, but these young actors were an inspiration for our staff and our film.”

“Fortunately, I discovered a few faces who will become talented and are potential actors for the movie industry,” he added.

Charlie said the actors would bring a breath of fresh air to the film and help lure audiences, particularly teenagers, to the cinema.

Em Chưa 18 is in post-production and is expected to be released on April 28.

Sculpture contest features folk art of Tây Nguyên

A 26-year-old artist from Đắk Nông Province won first prize for his wood sculpture at the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) Folk Statue and Carving Contest in Buôn Ma Thuột City this week. 

Y Ân Byă used trunks of fruit trees to carve his sculpture Gấu Bẻ Măng (Bear Eats Bamboo) to emphasise the natural world.  

He said that he hoped his style would attract visitors who have no knowledge of traditional Central Highlands art.

“All of the contest’s artists worked hard to depict their culture and lifestyle,” said Byă, adding that artworks depict their peoples’ past, present and future.

Dozens of wooden sculptures created by the 70 participants, mostly unknown artists living in the region, are on display at the Kotam Eco-Tourist Park in Kotam Village in Buôn Ma Thuột City’s Ea Tu Commune. 

The exhibition is part of the sixth Buôn Ma Thuột Coffee Festival and Cồng Chiêng (gongs) Cultural Festival 2017, which opened in Buôn Ma Thuột City on March 11.

Among the event’s highlights were works by Y Thái Êban of Đắk Lắk and Ksor Krôh of Gia Lai, who shared the second prize.

“I like Êban’s Thầy Cúng Và Người Đàn Bà Phụ Cúng (The Wizard and His Female Assistant) and Krôh’s Đôi Vợ Chồng (Married Couple) because the two works are vibrant and talk to those who see them,” said visitor Trần Thị Xuân of HCM City.

Organised by the Đắk Lắk Province’s People’s Committee, the contest provided artists from remote provinces, especially ethnic minorities, a place to create and display their work.

Vietnam News Agency boosts cooperation with Australian media

The State-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Australian Associated Press (AAP) have signed an agreement on enhancing cooperation in the exchange of information in the coming time. 

The agreement was inked by VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi and APP CEO Bruce Davidson at the AAP headquarters in Sydney, Australia, on March 16.

The agreement is hoped to help further foster links between the two news agencies in particular, as well as strengthen the partnership and effective cooperation between media firms in Vietnam and Australia in general. 

Under the agreement, the two sides will exchange news stories in English and photos, thus meeting the increasing information demand of both countries’ people. 

At their talks before the signing ceremony, VNA General Director and APP CEO Bruce Davidson discussed future bilateral cooperation, which will focus on providing support for each other’s correspondents, towards co-organising training programmes for their reporters and technicians. 

As members of the executive board of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), the two sides highlighted professional cooperation in a practical and effective manner in the time ahead.

They also compared notes on challenges facing news agencies and media firms worldwide at present.

During his stay in Australia, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi had a working session with representatives from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 

VNA has signed cooperation agreements with 40 news agencies over the world.-

Quang Ngai commemorates Son My massacre victims

Hundreds of local people on March 16 offered incense at My Son relic site in Tinh Khe commune, the central province of Quang Ngai to commemorate victims of a bloody massacre by US troops 49 years ago.

The killings that occurred on March 16, 1968 in My Lai hamlet (now Son My village, Tinh Khe commune) prompted widespread outrage around the world. The massacre is also credited with advancing the end of the American War because it significantly undermined public support in the United States for the war effort.           

Some 504 unarmed civilians in Tinh Khe commune were slaughtered, mostly elderly villagers, women and children. Hundreds of houses, along with thousands of heads of cattle and poultry, and all food, were burned and destroyed that day.        

At the ceremony, Billy Kelly, a US war veteran, placed 504 roses to commemorate the victims.       

Meanwhile, another war veteran Mike Boehm, who is also Managing Director of the Madison Quakers charitable organisation, played a piece of music named “The sound of the violin in My Lai” in memory of the victims. 

Boehm has visited Son My Memorial frequently, where he plays his violin to pray for the souls of the massacre victims and to send out a message of peace.      

Over the past 50 years, Son My people have joined hands to revive their land after wars and push socio-cultural-economic development.

Quang Nam builds new bridges in disadvantaged areas

The central province of Quang Nam is building bridges in disadvantaged and frequently flood-hit areas to facilitate local people’s livelihoods.

It will spend nearly 72 billion VND (3.16 million USD) sourced from the LRAMP project of the Transport Ministry on the effort.

Some 36 new bridges will be built in the mountainous districts of Tay Giang, Phuoc Son, Que Son, Hiep Duc, Nong Son, Bac Tra My and Nam Tra My, and in flood-hit localities in lowland areas of Phu Ninh, Duy Xuyen and Tien Phuoc.

Fifteen bridges are expected to come into use before the rainy season of 2017, while the remainder will be completed by 2018.

The province has invested more than 100 billion VND (4.39 million USD) over the last three years to build bridges in disadvantaged areas of mountainous districts.

In 2016, 59 suspension and steel-reinforced concrete bridges were constructed in those areas, mainly resided by the ethnic minorities groups. The province also renewed 170km of concrete roads and built over 250 sewers.

According to statistics, Quang Nam currently has about 140 downgraded bridges, of which 76 in Nam Tra My and Bac Tra My districts need to be urgently repaired.

Quan The Am festival takes place in Da Nang

The Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) festival, one of the country’s largest festivals, officially opened in Quan The Am Pagoda in Ngu Hanh district, the central city of Da Nang, on March 16. 

The Buddhist festival, which fell on March 14-16 (on the 17th-19th day of second lunar month), honours Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, while praying for peace and prosperity for the country. 

The festival includes incense-offering ceremony, traditional boat- racing, a praying ceremony, Buddhism indoctrination, and exhibitions of paintings, photos and calligraphy.

Listed among the country’s 15 biggest festivals since 2000, the festival has become a spiritual tourism product of Da Nang, welcoming Buddhist followers from across Vietnam.

It contributes to preserving the national cultural identities and promoting Da Nang’s tourism to domestic and foreign visitors.

Quan The Am Pagoda, built in 1957, is located at the foot of the Kim Son (Metal Mountain) in the Ngu Hanh Son (Five Element Mountains), which boasts wonderful natural landscapes with several ancient pagodas, mysterious caves and picturesque scenery.

Phu Tho prepares for an epitomised Hung Kings Temple Festival

The northern midland province of Phu Tho is aiming to hold a hugely successful Hung Kings Temple festival in 2017, heard a conference to review planning for the festival on March 15.

To achieve the target, measures were taken to ensure security, environmental sanitation, order and safety for the festival.

Agencies and departments were asked to resolve difficulties of sub-departments and localities in organising this year’s festival, according to Ha Ke San, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee and Head of the organising board.

The province will work with Hanoi and three other provinces of Ben Tre, Binh Phuoc and Thai Binh to hold the festival, which is set to take place from April 1 – 6.

This year’s event will feature various activities such as photo exhibitions, water puppet shows and displays of documents on Xoan Singing Heritage.

Vietnamese legend has it that Lac Long Quan, son of Kinh Duong Vuong, married Au Co, daughter of King De Lai. Au Co gave birth to a sack containing 100 eggs from which 100 children were born. The couple then decided to separate to populate the land, so half the children followed their mother to the highlands and the rest went with their father to the sea.                                     

The first child went with mother Au Co to Phong Chau, now Phu Tho province. He then became King Hung and founded the first nation in the history of Vietnam, Van Lang.       

Ruling the country for 18 generations, the Hung Kings taught the people how to grow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for lush crops.                           

To honour the Hung Kings, a complex of temples dedicated to them was built on Nghia Linh Mountain, and the tenth day of the third lunar month serves as their anniversary

The worshipping rituals of the Hung Kings are closely related to the ancestral worship traditions of most Vietnamese families, an important part of people's spiritual lives. It was recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.

Conference shares successful drug recovery models

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs held a conference on treatment on drug abuse and addiction in northern Thai Nguyen province on March 15.

The event was attended by outstanding rehabilitation support volunteers alongside delegates from 21 cities and provinces nationwide.

In his opening remarks, head of the ministry’s Social Evils Prevention Department Nguyen Xuan Lap said the conference aims to embrace innovative approaches of drug rehabilitation by sharing experience from successful treatment methods and post-rehabilitation support. Provincial authorities will learn from these successful models to develop their own treatment programmes, he added.

The event also honoured drug recovery support volunteers who had made great efforts to help drug users. Many of the volunteers previously had their own drug problems.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs estimated that Vietnam had more than 210,000 drug addicts by the end of 2016, with Dong Nai, Da Nang and An Giang having the highest rates of drug users in the country.

The country is home to 80 centres for compulsory drug treatment and 24 for voluntary treatment.-

Zigzag sidewalk separation lines create confusion in Hanoi

Several sidewalks in Hanoi have been marked in a way that negatively impacts urban aesthetics and creates confusion.

As part of local authorities’ ongoing efforts to reclaim sidewalks in the city, multiple promenades have been separated into two sections with painted white lines; one allowing businesses to park their motorcycles, the other reserved for pedestrians.

However, along the pavements of several streets, the lines have been painted in a zigzag fashion, causing confusion as well as compromising the aesthetics of the street.

Some citizens have expressed fierce opposition to such a disorganized way of marking the sidewalks.

“I noticed local officers drawing the lines the other day. We don’t agree with the approach as it creates a negative look to the footpath,” Huong, one resident on Nguyen Trai Street, Thanh Xuan District, complained.

“If the sidewalks are marked with zigzag lines, I would prefer if there are no lines at all. No one will find them attractive,” Le Xuan Ba, a motorbike taxi driver based on Nguyen Trai Street, said.

Other residents believed that marking the sidewalks in a zigzag fashion would create confusion for vendors along the street as their allotted space is unequal.

According to an official of the local administration, businesses along pavements over 3.5 meters wide are allowed a 2-meter wide section to operate in.

However, houses along the street are not built in a straight line, resulting in the zigzag-ing lines.

“We are erasing the old lines and marking new ones in a more organized manner,” he said.

Meanwhile, along Doi Can Street in Ba Dinh District, thanks to the new ‘white line,’ pedestrians are only allowed a 20-centimeter wide space to walk on, and have begun walking on the road instead.

According to Bui Thanh Binh, head of the office of the People’s Committee in Ba Dinh, authorized units shall be tasked with inspecting and fixing the issue.

German health project a proven success

The Vietnamese-German Health Programme, with the theme “Strengthening Provincial Health Systems” and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft for Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Government, held its final workshop in Hanoi on March 14.

The workshop gathered 200 attendees, including experts from GIZ, the Ministry of Health, Departments of Health (DoH), health practitioners, health managers at health facilities in provinces where the program was conducted, and representatives from international, bilateral, and non-governmental organizations.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien acknowledged the successful ending of the health program, which was targeted at improving health service delivery in the provinces of Phu Yen, Thanh Hoa, Yen Bai, Nghe An and Thai Binh. The results of eight years of project activities in hospital management and quality improvements to health services at the provincial and district level were also presented.

Selected hospitals and other partners spoke of their program-supported activities, such as Continuous Medical Education, Telemedicine, Cervical Cancer Screening, and Hospital Hygiene.

“The project has achieved many results,” Associate Professor Dr. Tran Quy Tuong, National Program Director, said. “It has contributed to improved health management, medical care services, and preventive health in the provinces.”

The project’s success, he went on, demonstrates the effective cooperation between Vietnamese and German partners as well as the two governments. “This is one brick in building the friendship bridge between Vietnam and Germany,” he said.

The project supported Vietnamese partners for eight years and was commissioned and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

During implementation, from 2009 to 2017, the program aimed at strengthening the capacity of provincial DoHs and decentralized health facilities in cost-effective management and needs-based delivery of quality health services, with a major focus on preventive and curative services.

Since 2009, in cooperation with KfW Development Bank, GIZ has supported the implementation of Vietnam's strategy to improve access to high-quality health services. The program operates at several levels. It provides advisory services to provincial and district health authorities and 29 hospitals in needs-based, cost-effective planning and modern management methods.

In the course of the economic boom in Vietnam, the health sector has made impressive progress. However, there are still considerable differences between the regions of the country. Good national averages obscure deficits in rural regions, where it remains difficult to gain access to needs-driven, evidence-based health services of reliable quality, especially for disadvantaged sections of the population, such as ethnic minorities, women, and children.

In addition, demographic developments and changing lifestyles are placing an extra burden on the health system. Accidents, chronic illnesses, and cardio-vascular diseases are some of the most frequent causes of death today. Medical facilities in rural areas cannot adequately screen for diseases such as cancer and hepatitis B and there is an increasing need for modern diagnostic tools and treatments in general. This in turn poses enormous challenges for hospitals at the provincial and district level in particular.

Spring Book Festival 2017 kicks off

The Spring Book Festival 2017, themed “Small Book, Big Mind,” kicked off on March 15 at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum at 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Street in Hanoi.

The festival is a joint activity of three publishing houses, including Phu Nu (Women), Tuoi Tre (The Youth) and Kim Dong.

The event features books from different genres, including literary works, history books, manga, science textbooks and cookbooks, which are the latest releases of Kim Dong, Women and The Youth Publishing Houses.

The publishing houses also hosted a book launch to introduce the book Dan ong cung co diem G (Men Have G Spots Too) by Di Li, Tam Phan and Hoang Anh Tu at 10 am on March 15. Readers participating in the event will have the chance to speak with the authors.

The autobiography Decisive by Japanese authors Chip and Dan Health were also launched. In addition, an event exploring Japanese culture through folk games was held.

The festival offered thousands of book with attractive prices and discounts from 15 to 50 percent for readers.

On this occasion, Phu Nu Publishing House will introduce a Japanese book series and a set of books entitled “All about Japan,” and a set of books using software for readers to watch 3D pictures on mobile phones at 9:00 am on March 18.

The book festival will run through March 19.

Dong Nai, HCMC to cooperate in pork origin tracking effort

Pig farm owners in Dong Nai Province this Friday will have a meeting with the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the HCMC Department of Industry and Trade to further discuss the possibility of cooperation in tracking the origin of pork.

The cooperation between the city and the neighboring province to check the origin of pork is expected to help secure outlets for pig farming households in the province.

As complained by farm owners and traders, pigs shipped from the southeastern province into the city have recently faced a slew of difficulties in consumption due to a lack of traceability information.

Nguyen Tri Cong, chairman of the Dong Nai Livestock Association, said the association has expressed support for a pork origin tracking project of the city and will cooperate with the city authorities to deal with the above issue.

The province provides around 5,000 pigs a day for the city, meeting around 50% of daily demand there, Cong added.

Temporarily, the association will give codes of pig breeding farms to the city for pre-control activities before the relevant sides sit down together for the cooperation plan to monitor the origin of pork, Cong added.

The municipal department from December 16 last year launched the pork origin tracking project via a mobile app at nearly 350 selling points around the city.

Consumers could check pork information including slaughterhouses, breeding farms and distribution facilities with a free Te-food app on their smartphones at www.te-food.com, or use devices set up at markets.

Denunciations required to be “orthodox”

The draft Law on Denunciation stipulates only direct denunciations or those submitted in official forms are to be accepted and considered, whereas denunciations by fax, email, phone and anonymous ones are out of the question, said Government Inspector General Phan Van Sau.

This rule is to clearly determine the responsibility of the denouncers, prevent the abuse of this action for rampant or deliberately false condemnation from affecting the honor and the credit of the accused, he said.

State agencies have dealt with 87.4% of the total denunciations identified by name. Of those, 59.3% are false accusations and 28.3% are a mix of both correct and incorrect claims, Sau informed when reporting on the draft law to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) in Hanoi on March 14.

There are now two threads of comment on the Law on Denunciation, said the NA Legislation Committee, the body examining the draft.

The first one agrees with the draft and the current law that there should not be any provisions for the resolution of anonymous denunciations now.

The second one presents an opposing view, arguing that the purpose of denunciation is to protect the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of citizens.

In many cases, even though the denunciations are anonymous, they come with clear evidence such as documents, photos, video tapes or voice records. Thus, authorities need to verify, review and deal with such cases to avoid leaving out illegal acts, and also to add regulations on anonymous denunciations.

NA General Secretary Nguyen Hanh Phuc said one who had stood up to denounce wrongdoing committed by others should be fair and square rather than hiding behind a mask. Chairman of the NA Ethnic Council Ha Ngoc Chien added the draft should only provide for direct denunciations and those submitted in official forms.

Chairman of the NA Committee on Economic Affairs Vu Hong Thanh expressed concern that without a mechanism to protect the denouncers, one must still make anonymous denunciations. Even so, he said accepting anonymous denunciations would make it “very complicated”.

Chairman of the NA Committee for Culture, Education, Adolescents and Children Phan Thanh Binh remarked not everyone in society had the courage to issue a denunciation.

“We cannot ignore all the information provided by unidentified sources. Our problem is a mechanism for screening information, rather than leaving it all out,” he said.

Vo Trong Viet, chairman of the NA Committee on National Security and Defense, said the mechanism for the protection of denouncers was now very weak so many people chose to keep silent. Yet, he agreed with the Government’s report that there should be no regulations on anonymous denunciations.

Book Street lacks of parking space, restrooms

A survey of customers’ satisfaction with 450 visitors conducted in February by HCMC Book Street Co Ltd shows that many people find it inconvenient as the book street is short of parking space and restrooms.

The survey was conducted to figure out how to ensure sustainable development for Saigon Book Street on Nguyen Van Binh Street, adjacent to the landmark Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral.

Up to 39.6% of visitors say they are unhappy with limited parking space and 30.7% complain about the lack of restrooms. The book street currently has two parking lots at the two ends but they only meet part of the demand.

Deputy Director of HCMC Book Street Co Quach Thu Nguyet told the Daily that the company had contacted nearby shopping centers for parking space but failed since their parking lots had become overwhelmed as well.

Besides, the company has been facing the restroom issue since the inauguration of the book street. The company has to rent mobile restrooms whenever they hold big events.

“The city has plans to connect the upcoming Music Street with the Book Street. Therefore, when the Music Street is put into operation, parking and restroom issues will worsen. The city needs to quickly fix these two shortcomings,” Nguyet said.

Despite more and more foreign tourists visiting the venue, there are few book stands selling foreign books. This is a potential market that book sellers may consider to sell suitable books to meet foreign visitors’ demand, Nguyet said.

However, many visitors give thumb-ups for the Book Street.

Some 36.7% of respondents said they are satisfied with the venue. The result, though relatively acceptable for HCMC Book Street Co, should increase to 50% -70% to deserve the scale of the Book Street and readers can find more favorite books.

The venue landscape sees 76.4% of visitors’ satisfaction. However, limited space and unclear reading policy make 65% of guests hesitate to read books at the stands. The Book Street management encourages sellers to have clear notice boards saying that visitors can freely read at their stands.

In 2017, the Book Street will target children and parents; especially a children’s mini library will be built at the site.

The company reported book sales of nearly VND27 billion in 2016, with about 500,000 books sold, serving over 1.5 million visitors at an average of 4,000-4,500 visitors per day.

Currently, HCMC is considering establishing four other book streets around the city.

Satisfaction with public services will be gauged annually

All ministries and provincial agencies will measure the level of people’s satisfaction with their services, and by 2020, specific approval ratings on public services should be made available, said Nguyen Thien Nhan, Politburo member and President of the Central Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, at a meeting on March 14.

The national administrative reform program for the period of 2011-2020 has set the goal of 80% of citizens being happy with public services at all levels by 2020.

“If we do not manage to measure people’s satisfaction with public services now, we cannot have a specific approval rating by 2020,” emphasized Nhan.

The Government has assigned the Ministry of Home Affairs to gauge people’s satisfaction in six pilot services including identity card issuance, land use rights, housing construction, document verification, and marriage and birth certificate registrations in ten localities, including Hanoi, HCMC, Danang, Quang Ninh, Tay Ninh and Ca Mau.

Besides the ten localities, four ministries and 32 provinces and cities across the country as of June 2016 had proactively carried out the public service satisfaction evaluation based on the guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Recently, the program steering committee conducted a survey and found that although the four ministries and 32 localities have actively made a lot of efforts and initiatives, their approaches are not synchronous for comparison.

Therefore, it is time to sum up the measurement of people’s satisfaction in the ten provinces and cities mandated to launch the program as well as study the results at the four ministries and 32 other provinces, Nhan emphasized.

The forthcoming goal is to develop a synchronous approach across the country as a basis for ministries and local agencies to measure citizens’ satisfaction with public services every year. Towards 2020, the Government should be able to answer how many people are happy with public administrative services, Nhan said.

Broken tailing pond leads to mass fish deaths in north-central Vietnam

Mass fish deaths have been reported in north-central Vietnam after a local tin mining company’s tailing pond gave way on March 9, causing the toxic refuse to flow into a nearby stream.

The incident occurred at around 9:00 pm at the mining site of Suoi Bac Tin Mining Enterprise in Chau Thanh Commune, Quy Hop District, Nghe An Province, when 12 meters of wall near the drain of its tailing pond broke.

Close to 100 cubic meters of mud and leach residue flowed into the nearby stream of Nam Huong following the incident.

The stream water was still murky two days after the leakage, and black residues could still be seen building up along the banks of Nam Huong Stream on March 11.

Fish began floating lifelessly on the stream’s surface on Friday morning, and on Saturday they started to die en masse, according to Sam Thi Thuy, a local in Quy Hop.

Two hundred kilograms of fish in Thuy’s pond has been killed since the incident.

The muddy water also affected over 300 hectares of paddy field on either side of Nam Huong Stream across 22 of Chau Quang’s villages.

Locals have been advised to abstain from eating fish and rice tainted by the leakage, while local authorities have put together an inspection team to evaluate the damage caused by the incident.

“Authorities have collected water samples to assess the scale of the environmental impact and determine the responsibility of relevant parties,” said Vi Thanh Tuong, deputy chairman of the Quy Hop People’s Committee.

Suoi Bac is a tin mining enterprise owned by Chau Thanh-based Nghe Tinh Ferrous Metal Company, which has been in operation for the past five years, producing between seven and eight metric tons of processed tin every month.

Tin ore leak kills fish in central Vietnam

There are concerns that the affected area might have been enduring lead and arsenic poisoning following the leakage.

Hundreds of kilograms of fish went belly up in a stream in Nghe An Province after a waste pond at a tin ore plant collapsed.

Roughly 12 meters of the storage system ruptured on March 8, leaking nearly 100 cubic meters of mud and wastewater into nearby Nam Huong stream in Quy Hop District, Voice of Vietnam reported on March 12.

Vi Thanh Tuong, vice chairman of Quy Hop, told reporters he had asked Nghe Tinh Nonferrous Metal Company to quickly address the incident in Suoi Bac.

Local authorities have taken samples of the waste from the stream to determine the extent of the contamination.

Fish began dying in the stream on March 10; by March 12, local residents had collected hundreds of kilograms of dead fish.

The leak affected over 300 hectares of rice along the stream, the news site said, adding that residents of Nam Huong may be exposed to lead and arsenic poisoning.

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