Vietnamese culture promoted in Cuba

An art performance at the event 

Vietnamese landscapes and culture have been introduced to Cuban friends at an annual gala night recently held by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s chapter in the country. 

With ten performances staged by Vietnamese students in Cuba, the Alma Vietnam 2018 featured the natural beauty of the Southeast Asian nation in four seasons of a year as well as its unique culture with special festivals. 

This year’s event also saw the participation of Cuban artists.

The highlight of the programme was a strong commitment by Vietnamese youth union members to upholding the national traditions. 

First held in 2015, the annual programme has helped intensify the solidarity among Vietnamese students in the Caribbean country.

Tra Vinh spends $88,000 per year for Khmer language teaching

A Khmer class for monks in a pagoda of Tra Vinh 

The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh has spent over 2 billion VND (88,000 USD) each year to support the teaching and studying of the language of the Khmer ethnic minority group in 134 Khmer pagodas across the locality in the 2010-2017 period.

According to the provincial Department of Education and Training, the investment is part of the province’s efforts to realise the Government’s Decree 82/2010/ND-CP dated July 15, 2010 on policies on teaching and studying of languages of ethnic minority groups.

Pagodas in Tra Vinh welcome about 2,000 school students who come to learn to read and write Khmer language in every summer. Nearly 200 teachers and monks are now paid to teach the students.

Tra Vinh currently has 8 boarding schools for ethnic students, along with 121 primary and secondary schools and 8 Pali-Khmer schools that teach Khmer language with about total 19,000 students.

The province has delivered 123,000 textbooks to students at total cost of 1.5 billion VND, while presenting 7,700 scholarships to ethnic students.

Tra Vinh has sent 307 students to educational facilities for training, while focusing on improving capacity of management officials.

The locality now has 2,200 Khmer officials and teachers, of whom 126 are taking post-graduate courses.

HCM City tackles shortage of agricultural land, considers new policies

A farmer harvests orchids in Tân Thông Hội Commune, Củ Chi District in HCM City. Farmers in the city are meeting obstacles in acquiring lands for their work. 

Local residents are finding it difficult to acquire agricultural land for startups or to expand business operations in HCM City.

Nguyễn Văn Vinh, of Hóc Môn District, for example, is renting 1.7ha of land to grow 200,000 pots of orchids, which earns him VNĐ1 billion (US$44,200) per year.

However, over the last 20 years, Vinh has not been able to stay in one place. His current garden is the sixth place he has rented to grow orchids.

He first rented land in 1993 when District 12 was part of Hóc Môn District. After 1997, when District 12 was established, the fast pace of urbanisation resulted in many landlords deciding to take back, divide their land and sell each small piece to different buyers to earn more money.

“I eventually had to move to Hóc Môn District," Vinh said, adding that he wants to buy more land nearby. But at this time, no one wants to sell agricultural land in the district, he said, and land prices are rapidly increasing because of so-called land fever.

Vinh believes that only Củ Chi District would have sufficient agricultural land to offer in years to come, but some city officials disagree with that assessment.  

Nguyễn Hồng Nết, a resident of Hóc Môn District, also wanted to obtain more land to grow herbs but could not find anything available.

Her land, covering more than 1ha, was previously rented by many people, with each contract ranging from three to five years.

Nết would like to rent a piece of land with a long-term contract, at least for five to 10 years, so that she can settle in one place.

Lâm Thanh Hùng, who has invested in 300sq.m of land in Nhà Bè District’s Hiệp Phước Ward to raise shrimp and grow hydroponic vegetables, said his land is part of the Hiệp Phước Industrial Zone and Port project.

According to authorities, locals in Hiệp Phước Ward can only make use of the land until 2020. At that time, Hùng will not be eligible to receive any compensation for his investment.

In a related matter, Nhà Bè District People’s Committee said the district has 280ha of agricultural land in Long Thới and Nhơn Đức wards. However, locals are not interested in agricultural production but instead work in factories or rent their land on a short-term basis.

According to vice chairman of the city’s People’s Council Trương Thị Ánh, HCM City still has a lot of agricultural land.

Recently, a delegation from the city’s People’s Council inspected Sài Gòn Agricultural Corporation’s (SAGRI) management of land use on 6,200ha of land in Củ Chi and Bình Chánh districts.

SAGRI previously signed 672 land rental contracts in 672 cases. About 188 contracts were due to expire last year, and most of them had asked SAGRI to extend their contract.

However, SAGRI asked authorities to carry out inspections of all land rental contracts, as many people, including non-residents of the area, had not been using their land for appropriate purposes and had failed to fulfill their annual land rental obligations.

According to SAGRI, some agricultural land should be re-purposed for more effective use and the city should have solutions to upgrade transport infrastructure for high-tech agricultural land areas.

Trần Trường Sơn, vice chairman of the HCM City Farmers Association, said the city’s agricultural land fund should be more closely monitored. Land should be rented out to cooperatives and agricultural firms that want to pursue long-term agricultural production.

He said it was necessary to come up with a land leasing plan so that renters can get loans under HCM City’s support policies. 

Kiên Giang to shift rice fields to aquaculture

Shrimp breeding and rice cultivation are rotated on the same field in Kiên Giang Province’s An Biên District. - Photo nhandan.com.vn

Kiên Giang Province, the country’s largest rice producer, plans to shift 86,625ha of unproductive rice fields to aquaculture and cultivation of other high-value crops from now to 2020.

Of the rice fields, 3,420ha will be used to grow perennial trees, 10,492ha for short-term crops, and 72,713ha for rotating shrimp and rice or fish and rice on the same field, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Mai An Nhịn, deputy director of the department, said the conversion of rice fields was being done to suit the ecology of each area. This will increase income for farmers and establish concentrated agricultural and aquaculture areas that meet market demand, he said.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province has instructed agencies to set up detailed plans to convert the rice fields and has also encouraged the establishment of agricultural co-operatives to produce a large quantity of agricultural products and improve profits for farmers.

In the 2017-18 winter- spring rice crop, about 150 rice co-operatives signed contracts with 10 companies to grow more than 32,000ha of rice, and were guaranteed outlets.   

The province has improved the transfer of advanced techniques to farmers so they can produce high-quality agricultural and aquatic products for export.

In the past, Kiên Giang specialised in planting only rice, and in recent years, under the encouragement of local authorities, more farmers have rotated shrimp and rice in fields which lack fresh water in the dry season.  

The province now has nearly 90,000ha devoted to the shrimp - rice rotation model, the largest area of its kind in the delta.

Dương Tuyết Nga, who has rotated farming shrimp and rice in her field in Hòn Đất District’s Thổ Sơn Commune, said the model had helped her family escape poverty.

“Rotating shrimp and rice has a higher profit than planting only rice, so many households have switched to this model,” she said.

Under the model, farmers plant rice in the rainy season and breed shrimp in the dry season on the same field.

The model offers farmers an average profit of VNĐ21 million (US$925) per ha for a rice crop and an average profit of VNĐ29 million ($1,300) per ha for a shrimp crop.  

Đào Xuân Nha, head of the Hòn Đất District’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau, said the model had reduced pollution and disease among shrimp.

The province’s shrimp-rice farming model includes one crop of black tiger shrimp and one rice crop a year, and two crops of white-legged shrimp and one rice crop a year.

The model produces clean rice and shrimp as farmers use less chemicals and the shrimp eat natural food in the fields. The model is suitable for areas affected by saltwater intrusion in the dry season.

The model produces about 300 - 500 kilo of shrimp and four to seven tonnes of rice per ha a year.

However, irrigation systems at shrimp- rice farming areas have not been perfected, so saltwater intrusion has entered deep inland.

In addition, farmers’ profits from a shrimp crop are much higher than that of a rice crop, so many farmers breed two shrimp crops in their fields and do not grow a rice crop.

The province plans to focus on investing in infrastructure and farming techniques for the shrimp- rice farming model and establish a brand name for these areas, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The province aims to have 90,000ha devoted to shrimp-rice rotation by 2030.

Officials meet with citizens in land dispute

Nguyễn Hồng Điệp, head of the Central Citizens’ Board of the Government Inspectorate, talks with residents who were not allowed to attend a meeting about a land dispute in the Thu Thiem new urban area. Photo tuoitre.vn

The head of the Central Citizen Board of the Government Inspectorate on Friday met with resident representatives in the Thủ Thiêm new urban area in HCM City’s District 2 to settle a contentious land dispute in the locality.

Nguyễn Hồng Điệp, accompanied by Huỳnh Cách Mạng, vice-chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the board would report the outcome of the meeting to the Prime Minister before July 15 as requested by the PM.  

The Government and central agencies have paid close attention to the Thủ Thiêm land dispute, but many problems could arise during the process of resolving the dispute, which needs the direction of the Prime Minister, Điệp said.

It will take a lot of time to collect evidence, and more discussions with residents will have to be scheduled in the near future, he added.

“We hope you can sympathise with us. We are here now. Do not worry,” Điệp said to representatives of the seven households who were allowed to attend the meeting.

Lê Thị The, of Bình An Ward, said that the longstanding problem should be resolved as soon as possible.

She also asked the Government to set up an inspection team for the Thủ Thiêm new urban area dispute. 

Meanwhile, resident Lê Văn Lung, of Bình An Ward, said that, before reporting to the PM, the inspection team must contact residents to receive evidence about the new urban area.

“We are willing to cooperate with the new leadership of the city People’s Committee because this mistake lies in the previous city leadership,” Lung said. 

He also asked Huỳnh Cách Mạng, vice chairman of the city People’s Committee, about a series of maps related to the planning of the Thủ Thiêm urban area that were previously released by Võ Viết Thanh, former chairman of the city People’s Committee. 

“So far, we have heard nothing from the city government on the legal value of the maps,” he said. “Residents want to hear what the city has to say about this issue.”

Mạng said the PM has urged the city to resolve the issue and that he has been assigned by city leaders to coordinate with the Central Citizen Board of the Government Inspectorate to resolve the issue for the residents.

Secretary of HCM City Party Committee Nguyễn Thiện Nhân also promised to meet Thủ Thiêm residents after the fifth session of the XIV National Assembly, which will end on June 15. 

Nhân also promised that there would be a satisfactory solution for the Thủ Thiêm land dispute. 

Last month, a delegation from the HCM City National Assembly, including Nguyễn Thị Quyết Tâm, chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Council; Phan Nguyễn Như Khuê, deputy head of the delegation; and Trịnh Ngọc Thúy, deputy chief judge of the People’s Court of HCM City, held an eight-hour meeting with the residents. 

More than 50 opinions from the residents were reported to the National Assembly delegation. 

Recently, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc also ordered HCM City authorities and relevant agencies to quickly settle the land disputes involving the Thủ Thiêm new urban area.

The Thủ Thiêm new urban area project was approved by the then-Prime Minister on June 4, 1996 in Decision No 367. 

For many years, residents in the project area have been submitting complaints about land reclamation and site clearance for construction of the Thủ Thiêm new urban area to the city and central governments.

Covering a total area of 657ha, the Thủ Thiêm new urban area is located on Thủ Thiêm peninsula in HCM City’s District 2, which faces downtown District 1 across the Sài Gòn River.

Approved by the Government in 1996, the proposed financial district and mixed-use urban area of HCM City is set to become the largest inner-city development in Southeast Asia.

To develop such a project, it has taken more than 10 years to complete site clearance of most of Thủ Thiêm peninsula, with nearly 15,000 households already resettled. 

More than 99 per cent of land in the proposed area has been cleared.

HCM City mulls flood prevention at airport

Officials from various agencies held a meeting to discuss solutions to prevent flooding at HCM City’s Tân Sơn Nhất Airport. — Photo tienphong.vn

The Civil Aviation Authority of Việt Nam, the HCM City Department of Transport and other agencies held a meeting on Thursday to discuss solutions to Tân Sơn Nhất Airport’s flooding problem.

According to a recent report by the Steering Centre of the Urban Flood Control Programme, drainage systems both inside and outside the airport have been blocked by trash and construction debris.

Bùi Xuân Cường, director of the department, told the meeting that three main drainage systems, the Hy Vọng, Nhật Bản and A41 canals, require widening and dredging.

However, the works would be completed only by the next rainy season, he said.

The upgrade of A41 is awaiting land acquisition and expected to begin soon, while work on one branch of Nhật Bản has been completed and the other is expected to be finished next year, he said.

Võ Huy Cường, CAAV deputy director, saying flood prevention activities lacked cohesion in the past, promised to direct the Airports Corporation of Việt Nam to ensure flood prevention works are synchronised in future.

The CAAV has instructed related units to deploy temporary measures to prevent floods until the canal works are finished.

Hứa Quốc Hưng, deputy chairman of the Tân Bình District People’s Committee, said the drainage systems inside and outside the airport were not built simultaneously and so are not properly linked, leading to flooding.

The People’s Committee has proposed to build open drains to improve the aircraft parking area’s drainage capacity, he said.

The Southern Airport Authority is planning to build a lake at the nearby Chảo Lửa football field to drain water from the airport. 

Vietnamese, Lao youths boost cooperation

Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian youths sit together at an event (Photo: chinhphu.vn)

Youth unions in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak and Lao province of Champasak signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for 2018 – 2022 at a meeting yesterday in Dak Lak’s Buon Ma Thuot city.

Secretary of the Dak Lak provincial committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) Y Nhuan Bya said the MoU on cooperation in work related to  young people and young entrepreneurs is a tradition of the HCYU and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Youth Union. 

Under the MoU, the sides agreed to increase communication campaigns on Vietnam – Laos time-honoured relations and political-security collaboration. They said they will hold youth exchanges to help their young people learn from each other in starting their own business and build their career. 

The two unions agreed to encourage the youths to join socio-economic cooperation activities in their respective localities, while stressed that cultural and sport exchanges to boost mutual understanding are also necessary.

The two sides also pledged to hold trade promotion events, provide each other with information on trade fairs and business workshops, and support products introduction activities to help young entrepreneurs in the two provinces. 

The sides said they will take turns in organising capacity-building courses and business exchanges for their youths.

Youth activities of both sides took the occasion to discuss issues related to the freshly signed MoU, concerning support in tertiary education and vocational training for young people and youth union activists.

Children design smarter, child-friendly city

Children talk about their ideas for a smarter and more child-friendly city 

More than 270 children aged 8 to 14 are taking part in a summer programme to design a “smarter and more child-friendly” city.

The programme called “Children Innovate: a Smart and Child-friendly City” kicked off yesterday.

It was organised by UNICEF Vietnam in collaboration with the Saigon Innovation Hub (SiHub) under the city’s Department of Science and Technology, Department of Planning and Architecture, and Arkki - School of Architecture for Children and Youth in Finland.

“The programme creates an environment for children to express their opinions about decisions that may affect them,” said Marianne Oehlers, chief of programme partnerships office at UNICEF Vietnam.

It consists of 11 creative thinking workshops during this summer for children, including vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Each workshop lasts for five days with a daily schedule from 9am to 4pm. There will be three hands-on working sessions during each day.

Participants will use clay, wood, computers, Sketch up and Microsoft Hololens to express their ideas.

Nguyen Phi Van, chairwoman of Saigon Innovation Hub’s Board of Advisors, said: “Our aim is to provide kids with human-centered design thinking, important skills for the 21st century, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) knowledge.”

Twenty-five children took part in the first workshop, she said.

"I find the program a lot of fun. We have learned many ways to build a child-friendly city based on our own views,” said Hoang Mai Anh, 11, from Tran Van On Secondary School in District 1, who attended the first workshop.

All the ideas and projects will be displayed at an exhibition during Creativity and Innovation Week in October to urban planning experts, decision-makers and the public.

The best ideas and projects will receive awards from the organisation.

The programme is part of the city’s Child Friendly City Initiative Project that runs from 2017 to 2021.