Youth colour obstacle rush in Hanoi promises to be loads of fun

Approximately 3,000 young runners are expected to turn out for this year’s annual charity colour obstacle run on August 6 at the Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi, which promises to be bigger, better, louder and more colourful than ever.

Unlike a typical run there will also be loads of obstacles to manoeuvre around on the course including such things as car tires, ropes, water balls, and coloured powder, say the organizers.

All proceeds will be used to support children suffering from cancer and those at the National Institute of Haematology of Blood Transfusion as well as to build schools for remote communities in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien.

The annual run is part of the Connecting Vietnam Youth project founded by Global Shapers Community - Hanoi Hub in collaboration with the Vietnamese Student Associations in the UK, US, Australia, France, the Republic of Korea, Hungary, Singapore and Veoxbridge.

Kon Tum border guards seize over 10,000 synthetic pills

Border guards in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum have arrested a Lao man on July 31 for trafficking in over 10,000 tablets of synthetic drugs.

Theo Ef, 49, from Thaphabath District, Borikhamxay Province, Laos was caught red-handed at 5.30pm at Iec village, Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province when he was transporting 10,020 tablets of synthetic drugs.

The border guards also detected many sharp knives and other weapons while searching his car.

All legal procedures are being completed to, together with evidence, be handed over to relevant agencies for further investigations. This is the largest amount of drugs that has been seized in recent years in the Central Highlands region.

1 person dies after brakes fail on car in northern Vietnam

A 29-year old man was pinned against the roadway, killing him, after the brakes on a car failed, reported the Zing online newspaper.

The crash happened on National Highway 1A in the district of Quang Xuong in Thanh Hoa Province shortly before 10:45am on Monday, July 31.

According to police officials, the driver of the car, Nguyen Bac Ha, 59, from the district of Dong Da in Hanoi crashed into a rickshaw and three people after its brakes failed.

Bui Van Duong, 29, died at the scene, while Bui Thi Tra My, 19, and Bui Van Nghia, 41, were rushed to the Thanh Hoa General Hospital.

The driver did not suffer any injuries.

Alcohol appears to not be a factor in this crash.

No other information was immediately available.

Ben Tre: Company fined for violating regulations on environmental protection

The Bến Tre People’s Committee has fined a company in Bến Tre City more than VNĐ350 million (US$15,400) for violations related to environmental and water protection.

The Trung Nhạc Co Ltd was fined more than VNĐ350 million (US$15,400) for violations related to environmental and water protection.

The information was released by Nguyễn Văn Chinh, director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

The People’s Committee also asked Trung Nhạc Co Ltd in Sơn Đông Commune to strictly implement waste water treatment based on its commitment.

Earlier, from January 20 to February 21 this year, the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment conducted an inspection at the company on environment protection, water and land use and management.

The inspection showed that the company had several faults, including not conducting regulations related to environmental protection, discharging waste water exceeding regulated level by five times and repeating its violations five times despite penalties from the department. 

The company processes fruits and vegetables, manufactures products from coconuts and sells agricultural material. The company started operations in January 15, 2013, with capacity of 40-50 tonnes of raw coconuts per month, equaling 480-600 tonnes per year.

The company submitted a detailed proposal on environment protection to the provincial authority in 2015 to get approval for raising its capacity to 800 tonnes per year. However, the proposal was not approved by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, because even with a capacity of 600 tonnes per year, the company did not comply with regulations related to environmental protection and regularly discharged untreated waste water into the environment.

Specific support needed for disadvantaged labourers

Policies that aim to support disadvantaged labourers should cater to each type of labourer in society, experts have said.

Some 13 million disadvantaged labourers were recorded in the country until the end of last year, accounting for 25 per cent of the total labour force, according to the Institute of Workers and Trade Union.

Out of those 13 million, some 4.2 million are labourers with disabilities, 6.5 million are poor and one million are migrant workers. Some 180,000 have HIV/AIDS and 190,000 others are drug addicts and sex workers.

Eighty per cent of disadvantaged labourers in Việt Nam reside in rural areas, with low education levels and no vocational training. Some 21.8 per cent are illiterate and 40 per cent have never had a job, Dr Vũ Minh Tiến, vice director of the union, said.

“Without stable jobs, income and business capital, their lives are approaching a dead-end,” he said at a conference on policy recommendations to ensure the livelihoods of disadvantaged labourers in the 2015-30 period and beyond on Monday in HCM City.

Despite the State’s loan support policies, there were no markets for the products produced by these disadvantaged labourers, hence they got stuck in the vicious circle of debt, unemployment and poverty, Võ Văn Tấn, chairman of the labour federation of the city’s Cần Giờ District, said.

The migrant workers were having trouble with household registration policies, lecturer Vũ Văn Hiệu from Tôn Đức Thắng University said.

“The household registration book should not be used as a tool to classify citizens, discriminating against migrant workers and preventing them from approaching job opportunities and basic social services,” he said.

The vulnerability of disadvantaged labourers should be the central point of policies that aim to support and sustain their livelihoods, according to experts.

Occupations provided for these labourers should be recoverable from occurrences, not dependent on outside support, and able to yield sustainable productivity and long-term benefits, they said.

Efforts made to supply power to southern island communes

The Electricity of Vietnam’s Southern Power Corporation (EVN SPC) has conducting a number of projects to provide power services to island communes in the southern region. 

EVN SPC is working with Sun Group in implementing a project to connect Hon Thom commune in Phu Quoc district in Kien Giang province with a total investment of 283 billion VND (12.45 million USD). 

The project will build 9.27km underwater cable and 22kV transmission line to provide power for 97 households in Hon Roi and about 1,000 others in Hon Thom island commune, which is expected to complete in late 2017.

At the same time, EVN SPC is carrying out another project in Kien Giang’s island communes with a total investment of 1.35 trillion VND (59.4 million USD), which is scheduled to complete by 2020.

Meanwhile, the second 220kV Kien Binh-Phu Quoc transmission line in Kien Giang is scheduled to be launched this year. The 73km line has total investment of about 2.43 trillion VND (106.92 million USD).

The EVN SPC is also reviewing the power network in Kien Giang, aiming to ensure safe and stable power supply to Phu Quoc in 2018 at a cost of 250 billion VND (11 million USD).

Last year, the firm finished two project bringing electricity to 1,956 households in Lai Son island commune and over 500 households in Hon Nghe island commune of Kien Giang province.

Earlier this year, the firm also put into operation a power supply project in Son Hai island commune of Kien Giang to serve 560 households.

Traffic congestion around Tan Son Nhat airport hard to solve

Traffic congestion in the area around Tan Son Nhat International Airport will be hard to solve overnight as the number of passengers going through the airport this year is estimated at 36 million, far exceeding the airport’s capacity, said Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the HCMC Department of Transport.

At a conference on HCMC’s social and economic performance on Friday, Cuong said the airport has a designed capacity of 25 million passengers and one million tons of cargo until 2020, but that capacity is far outpaced by the current demand. He said the city has plans to invest in 22 projects to upgrade traffic infrastructure around the airport.

“Some of the projects have been put into service but traffic congestion in the airport area remains grave. Therefore, the city should speed up the construction of the remaining projects, both inside and outside the airport,” he said.

On the morning of July 28, a heavy traffic snarl occurred on the roads leading to the airport, including Cong Hoa, Truong Son and Tran Quoc Hoan streets as well as Lang Cha Ca intersection and Hoang Hoa Tham overpass. From 9 a.m., thousands of vehicles could hardly move from and to the airport although traffic police were there to help guide and redirect traffic.

Footwear factory in HCM City catches fire

A fire continues to rage at a footwear production company in HCM City early this morning, August 1.

At around 4 am this morning, the fire started at Tuan Thong Footwear Company at Vinh Loc B, Binh Chanh District.   

At 9 am the fire seemed to have been nearly curbed, but suddenly spread to an underground oil tank, causing the blames to become more violent.

Many fire engines and more than 100 fire fighters have been sent to the site, but to date, the fire has not yet been dowsed. It continues to threaten dozens of neighbouring households.   

Colonel Le Tan Buu, Director of the HCM City’s Fire Prevention and Control Police was on site to monitor the situation.

Under the instruction of Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Le Thanh Liem, more than 10 nearby households have been moved to avoid the possible dangers caused by the fire.   

More than 10 nearby households have been moved to avoid the possible dangers caused by the fire.

The cause of the incident has not yet been identified.

Some days ago, fire also destroyed a confectionery facility in Hanoi’s outlying district of Hoai Duc on Saturday morning, killing eight and seriously injuring two.

A worker of the company Kieu Tien Vinh was detained after being blamed for setting fire to a styrofoam ceiling while he was welding, resulting in the fire.

Tay Ninh looks to develop sustainable tourism industry

The People’s Committee of southwestern Tay Ninh province held an international seminar on July 31 to introduce its tourism potential, advantages, and development prospects.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Pham Van Tan told participants that located within the southern key economic zone, Tay Ninh shares a 240-km border line with three provinces of Cambodia. It is home to a series of tourist destinations, including Ba Den mountain,  Dau Tieng lake, Cao Dai Holy See, and Lo Go-Xa Mat National Park.

Tay Ninh has defined tourism as an important economic sector, which has accounted for about 2.75 percent of its gross regional domestic product in recent years, he said.

However, the industry has yet to fully tap its potential, Tan added, citing a number of reasons, including the lack of a long-term strategy, infrastructure facilities and appealing tourism products.

Dr. Nguyen The Du from the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management talked about shortcomings of tourism services in Tay Ninh.

According to him, local tourism infrastructure facilities, such as hotels and restaurants, remain inexpensive and cater mainly to residents and irregular visitors, while travel agencies lack capacity to offer professional services.

Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Nguyen Huu Tho made suggestions for the development of the local tourism sector, which include building a green Tay Ninh city, teaching English for young people, and preserving the Cao Dai Holy See.

Huynh Vinh Ai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, recommended the province to seek consultancy from domestic and international experts to design a sustainable tourism development plan.