Unexploded bombs found in garden in Quang Tri

Five unexploded bombs were removed from the garden of a family in Tan Hop Commune in the central Quang Tri Province's Huong Hoa District on Saturday.

The bombs comprised one 160mm bomb, weighing 38kg, and four 130mm bombs, weighing 25kg each.

The bombs, accompanied by their original detonators, were found during an investigation of war martyrs. Vo Minh Hieu, who owns the garden, said he had buried 70 other bombs, but could not identify the location.

The search for the remaining bombs is ongoing.

Quang Tri was hit hardest by American bombs during the war. Several unexploded devices were left behind. The province is also home to 80 per cent of the country's disabled people, including those who were injured in bomb blasts after the war.

North-South train services return to normal

The rail track, badly damaged in an accident early this month in the central Quang Binh province, has been fully repaired, the Quang Binh Railway Management Company Ltd said.

Company Director Do Ba Tam said the track had been repaired to allow train speeds up to 90kmph, as was the case prior to the accident.

On April 3, the HCN3T1 goods train had derailed in Quang Ninh District's Vinh Ninh Commune, while travelling in the southern direction, and destroyed 3,805 sleepers over 4km of the track.

The Quang Binh Railway Management Company temporarily allowed rail services on the track with train speeds of 5kmph about three hours after the accident, and up to 70kmph several days later.

Some 30 workers are still working at the scene of the accident to monitor the situation.

Festival ritual causes forest fires in Cao Bang

Two forest fires broke out in the northern Cao Bang province yesterday, allegedly caused by residents burning paper for their ancestors during the traditional Thanh Minh Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day.

The second fire was reported at about 5pm in the area around Suoi Cun Hydropower Plant in Hoa An District, which destroyed more than 5ha of a pine forest.

Another blaze broke out in Tan Giang Ward in Cao Bang City, in which about 1ha of a pine forest was destroyed.

The municipal forest protection department head Hoang Phuong Vy said the negligence of the residents in burning paper and incense caused both fires.

Fire destroys factory in Hung Yen Province

A big fire broke out yesterday evening at the Hameco Ltd. Co. in the northern province of Hung Yen, destroying its whole splint production factory.

A witness said he saw smoke first and then flames going up from the factory at around 6pm yesterday.

The factory contained inflammable material, including dressings, synthetic rubber so the fire spread fast to the entire workshop.

Six fire trucks from the Hung Yen fire fighting police and two from the Ha Noi police were immediately dispatched to the area, and were able to stamp out the fire in an hour. Fire fighters also localised the outbreak of the fire.

A 2,000-square metre store next the factory managed to stay safe.

No casualties were reported in the fire.

Market watch arrests man for transporting smuggled cigarettes

The Ha Noi Market Watch detained a man yesterday after he was found transporting 350 packs of smuggled cigarettes of the Hero and 555 brands.

The organisation said he was on the way to deliver the said cigarettes to someone else, when he was stopped for inspection by a patrol team from the market watch force.

Deputy Captain of the Ha Noi Market Watch Team-1 Nguyen Thi Viet Hang said current regulations stipulated that individuals found possessing, transporting, selling or buying smuggled cigarettes of quantities greater than 1,500 packs would face criminal charges.

She said smugglers often split their goods into smaller quantities to avoid these charges.

HCM City hails researchers' role in development

The city's scientific community will devote themselves wholeheartedly to the development of the country and HCM City, heard a meeting between the Union of Associations of HCM City Scientists and Technologists and the Standing Board of the HCM City Party Committee on Saturday.

Prof Nguyen Ngoc Giao, chairman of the union, urged city authorities to create links between industry and education and research to enlist more scientists and technologists for the cause of the city's socio-economic development, especially its major development programmes.

Many scientists believed making over education and training was essential to produce qualified personnel for the country's construction and development, he said.

Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of city's Party Committee, saying scientists and technologists had contributed directly and significantly to the development of the city, asked them to suggest measures to resolve social issues, especially for comprehensive renovation of the education and training sector.

He also sought their suggestions for fixing urban issues like flooding, pollution, traffic accidents and administrative reform.

Nearly 350 scientists representing the million-strong union attended the meeting.

Soldiers' remains brought back home

The northern Dien Bien Province yesterday held a memorial service for 41 Vietnamese soldiers who had volunteered and lost their lives in Laos.

Their remains were returned to Viet Nam to be buried at the war heroes' cemetery in Thanh Nua, Dien Bien District.

The bodies of the soldiers were found and brought back to their homeland with the help of the local authorities in both Viet Nam and Laos.

Deputy Chairman of the Dien Bien Province People's Committee Lo Van Tien expressed his gratitude and respect for the sacrifices and contributions the soldiers made for the country, as well as to the people in Laos for their friendship.

More people suffer from chronic kidney diseases

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), or chronic renal failure as it is also known, is a growing burden for many Vietnamese families.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Dung of Bach Mai Hospital's Artificial Kidney Department, said that more than 8,000 new cases were reported each year.

The number of patients nationwide currently stands at 6.73% of the population or about 6 million people, of whom, about 800,000 patients (0.09% of the national population) are at stage five (final stage).

This means that they need renal replacement therapy through blood filtration (haemodialysis) or a kidney transplant to stay alive.

But, Dung said, only 10% of stage-five patients could afford haemodialysis while the rest had to face a grim future.

Meanwhile, a report by the Department of Health Examination under the Ministry of Health, said all the centres that did blood filtration were overloaded and could not handle all the work.

Dr. Vu Le Chuyen of Binh Dan Hospital in HCM City said that most CKD patients were not aware that they suffered from CKD until 90% of the kidney function was lost.

This is because a deficiency of blood, caused by CKD, occurred slowly, thus going unnoticed, Chuyen said, adding that the more critical the shortage, the more serious the disease.

This was the reason the Health Information and Education Centre under the HCM City Health Department held a recent seminar Understanding the deficiency of blood in patients.

The seminar was an opportunity for CKD doctors to educate the general public about CKD as well as how to detect the disease at early stages and to keep it from getting worse.

Following are the symptoms doctors say might appear at early stages of CKD:

Appetite loss, general ill feeling and fatigue, headaches, itching (pruritus) and dry skin, nausea and weight loss without trying.

And if kidney function deteriorates, patients may develop the following symptoms:

Abnormally dark or light skin, bone pain, drowsiness or problems concentrating or thinking, numbness or swelling in the hands and feet, muscle twitching or cramps, breath odour, easy bruising or blood in the stool, excessive thirst, frequent hiccups, problems with sexual function, menstrual periods stop (amenorrhoea), shortness of breath, sleep problems, vomiting - often in the morning.

Workshop promotes employee rights

A workshop was held in Hanoi on April 20 by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), focusing on recommendations for Vietnam’s policymaking regarding employee rights.

VASS Vice President Professor Dr Nguyen Quang Thuan, said the European Union supported Vietnam to implement the project “Strengthening the rights of workers and representatives of trade unions” since October 2012.

The project aims to enhance the capacity of Vietnamese trade unions to supervise and understand worker circumstances as well as support employees in legal issues and raise awareness of their legitimate rights.

Speaking at the workshop, Project Coordinator Dr Michela Cerimele from Italy’s Naples ‘L’ Orientale’ University stressed that empowering employees is a key target in development strategies towards reducing poverty.

The scholar underlined the need to respect the basic rights of labourers including ensuring appropriate incomes and social welfare.

Project partners conducted research studies and provided legal consultancy services for labourers working at industrial parks in Hanoi, northern Hai Duong province and Vinh Phuc province.

Training courses were arranged for members of labour unions in legal advice centres in the localities, offering insight into scientific study methods, international labour standards as well as experience in the legal consulting activities of other countries.

Attracting OVs talent to Vietnam

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) recently convened a roundtable discussion in Tokyo with Overseas Vietnamese (OV) aimed at attracting talented professionals to contribute to the nation’s development.  

Vietnamese are facing heightened economic pressures and competition from the effects of globalization as workers from China, India, and other developing Asian nations play an ever increasing role in the world's economy.

Advances in technology and transportation now mean that Vietnamese workers more and more are competing with workers overseas—not just in manufacturing, but also in high-skill and most all of the high-wage sectors.

Growth in information technologies, in particular, has facilitated deeper integration of economies across the globe while also posing both new opportunities and new challenges for the Vietnam economy.

To assist the nation attain an economic leadership role in the world and promote broad-based growth at home, the MOST has initiated a US$110 million project entitled FIRST.

The project targets the development of effective policies to support the country in research, innovation, and access to advanced information and telecommunications technologies.

“Through the establishment of a worldwide network of Vietnamese experts, there will be greater co-ordination among Vietnamese in research and innovation,” said Dr Ta Ba Hung, a consultant for the project.

Hung added that the project enhances knowledge-sharing among OVs with their domestic counterparts and encourages greater contribution to the country’s development.

Innovation has long fuelled economic growth around the globe, often giving rise to new industries and new jobs.

According to Hung, the growth of economies throughout the world has been driven largely by the pursuit of scientific understanding, the application of engineering solutions and continual technological innovation.

What makes knowledge, innovation and technology such powerful drivers of economic growth is that, unlike capital and labour, they do not suffer from diminishing returns.

3,000 people walk to raise donations for disadvantaged students

About VND830 million (US$38,500) was raised for disadvantaged students in Ho Chi Minh City and nearby areas in a walk joined by 3,000 people on April 19.

Participants in the 2nd "Wing of the Future" walk, held by the Ho Chi Minh City Fund for Education and Young Sport Talent (HEAF) walked for nearly an hour around the central lake at the Dam Sen Park.

They also enjoyed music, aerobic, dance and martial art performances by the students and voluntary clubs in the city.

Huynh Thi Minh Tam, HEAF deputy chairwoman cum director, said many students from remote and rural areas have gained good results despite multiple difficulties.

“We hope the scholarships could help them overcome difficulties to study well and become good and successful people.”

According to HEAF, donations from the event will be granted for disadvantaged students in HCMC, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh and Long An provinces.

Organizers will also bring them sport equipment and organize classes to teach them swimming and martial arts.

Labourers' role key to socio-economic success

The strengthening role of workers and trade unions are key factors to the success or failure of the nation's socio-economic development strategy to tackle poverty, Vietnamese and European experts stressed at the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and Naples University L'Orientale's workshop yesterday.

The workshop is part of the ongoing project, "Strengthening the role of workers and trade unions," which began in 2012 with the support of the European Union to develop recommendations for policies regarding employee rights.

The programme was designed to enhance the capacity of Vietnamese trade unions, to supervise and understand worker circumstances, to raise awareness about workers' rights and provide legal support to workers.

Speaking at the workshop, project co-ordinator Dr Michela Cerimele from Italy's University of Naples L'Orientale stressed that empowering employees is a key target in development strategies that are concerned with poverty reduction.

The scholar underlined the need to respect the basic rights of labourers such as decent incomes and providing welfare necessities.

So far, collaborators of the project conducted research studies and provided legal consultancy services for labourers working at industrial parks in Ha Noi, northern Hai Duong and Vinh Phuc provinces.

Training courses were arranged for members of labour unions in legal advice centres in the localities, educating them on international labour standards and legal consulting activities for labourers done in other countries.

Viet Nam has more than 7.5 million trade union members and over 110,000 grassroots trade unions from all economic sectors.

The country's rapid industrialisation has brought a large number of workers face-to-face with harsh and unforgiving working conditions in foreign-invested factories with typically little regard to labour rights.

The project has helped improve the effectiveness of studies on the needs of the workforce; provided legal consultancy assistance at provincial levels; and increased the labour unions' role in policy discussions to give a stronger voice to workers.

Farmers share water during drought

Many well-off farmers in Ninh Thuan, one of the provinces in the central region hardest hit by drought, have dug and dredged wells, and donated water to other farmers to help them save their crops and animals.

Nguyen Huu Tri in Ninh Hai District's Nhon Hai Commune, who owns the only well with water in his area, has shared his well water with more than 20 farming households in the Lon Spring area, Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourer) newspaper has reported.

Tri is one of many well-off farmers in Nhon Hai Commune who have dug wells and given free irrigation water for other neighbouring farmers to save their crops.

Near the end of last year, Tri's 4,000 sq.m field of grape plants was at risk of damage because of a water shortage as Lon Spring had dried up.

Tri dug a 10 metre-deep well, which cost VND60 million (US$2,800).

With the well water, he was able to save his plants and sell the harvested grapes, which were worth VND100 million, in February after Tet (Lunar New Year).

Nguyen Ha, who uses Tri's well water to irrigate his grapes, said: "Without the help of Tri and his wife, my remaining grapes would all be damaged."

Last December, 2,000 sq.m of Ha's 4,000 sq.m of grape plants were destroyed by drought. But with the new well, Tri let Ha use the well water to irrigate his grape plants.

Tri recently purchased an automatic irrigation system for his grape orchard to save and share water with other farmers.

Since March, youth from the Ninh Thuan Province Communist Youth Union have transported water to ethnic Raglai residents in the mountainous Bac Ai District twice a week.

In Bac Ai's Phuoc Trung Commune, which was hit the hardest by the drought in Ninh Thuan, volunteer youth helped the elderly and children get water from the tank truck of the Youth Union of Ninh Thuan Enterprise Block.

Chamlea At, a resident of Phuoc Trung Commune, said prolonged heat had lasted for more than a year.

Hong Anh Dung, secretary of the Youth Union of Ninh Thuan Enterprise Block, said drought was expected to last for five to six months.

The work of transporting water to drought-hit areas will last until September, he said.

The cost of water transport is sponsored by philanthropists and youth members, he said.

Chau Thanh Hai, secretary of the Ninh Thuan Province Communist Youth Union, said his union planned to send youth volunteers to drought-hit areas to dig wells for local residents.

Tran Xuan Hoa, deputy chairman of the Ninh Thuan People's Committee, said the province appreciated the good deeds of farmers who shared irrigation water with other farmers and the work of youth union members who transported water to people in areas with the least water.

The People's Committee also plans to transport water for daily use to mountainous areas, he said.

The cost of transporting water comes from the Government's budget.

Health Ministry asks for report of illegal abortion

The Department of Medical Examination and Treatment under the Ministry of Health yesterday sent a document to the Department of Health in Ho Chi Minh City, urging to report an illegal abortion performed by a Chinese doctor that nearly caused death of a Vietnamese woman.

The Department was also asked to verify the complication that the Vietnamese women suffered to have best treatment.

The Department of Medical Examination and Treatment also ordered the health sector in HCMC to tighten control of treatment conducted by foreign physicians and issued penalties to organizations and individuals who committed the sin.

As per the Department of Health in HCMC, the clinic can offer examinations and treatment of gynecological diseases, pregnancy examinations and monitoring, and other medical services, but it is not allowed to conduct abortions as it is shown in the clinic's license.

The Ministry of Health requested its department to report the case before April 27.

According to a complaint of the 48-year-old victim, when she went the Quoc Te [International] General Clinic, located at 221 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, she met a Chinese female doctor, Lian Xing Fang, who agreed to help her abolish the fetus without asking for any documents proving her health conditions.

The Chinese doctor administered to her a kind of medication to facilitate the removal of the fetus from the womb, but in the afternoon she still failed to eject the baby.

The woman was taken to the city-based Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital since she experienced a painful, failed abortion at the foreign clinics.

Lian Xing Fang was licensed by the Ministry of Health in 2012 and has labor license issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

HCMC prevents violence among students

The Department of Education and Training in HO Chi Minh City has issued a document to schools in the city asking to increase measures to curb violent acts among students.

As per its document, the Department ordered schools to manage students as well as provide information of regulation and law to students through extra-activities, aiming to help students raise awareness.

Educational facility managers should encourage students to prevent and inform of violent acts that will take place so that school leaders can have proper handling.

In addition, schools should closely liaise with police, parents’ association, organization and related agencies in local to implement drastic measures against violence among students and build a fresh and friendly studying environment.

Schools are banned to hold extra-activities for twelve graders; school management board has to ensure their twelve graders' students to discipline this regulation until the academic year ends.

VEC to plant 700,000 trees along expressways

As per the Vietnam Expressway Corporation’s plan (VEC), 50,000 trees will be planted along the 245 kilometer Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway, which links Hanoi to the northern province of Lao Cai and around 200,000 trees will also be planted in the two expressways Cau Gie – Ninh Binh and HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay.

VEC yesterday celebrated a tree planting program in a stop station in Huong Son Commune in the Northern Province of Vinh Phuc’s Binh Xuyen District.

In addition to planting trees in above-mentioned expressways, the corporation will clean the expressways every month or every quarter.

The program is aimed to effectively exploit construction attached with sustainable development and environment protection, creating a beautiful image in expressways and deterring inhabitants along expressways to encroach the space between their houses and the streets.

People under rail bridges to evacuate

Minister of Transport, Dinh La Thang, has agreed with a Ha Noi People's Committee plan to resettle residents living under railway bridges to help prevent encroachments and accidents.

At a conference yesterday, Minister Thang asked the committee to work with the railway sector to resettle the many people who lived under the Long Bien and Thang Long bridges by the end of this year.

He demanded that plans for relocation, including areas where residents were to be shifted, must be clear.

Vice chairman of the committee, Nguyen Quoc Hung, said encroachments onto railway corridors and level crossings was still a problem, despite the authority's efforts.

Hung said people living under the bridges had encroached on trading activities and negatively affected the image of the city.

He said the city had proposed to relocate these people many times, but the problem remained unsolved.

Hung said the city would issue a supportive policy on housing for these people if needed.

Tran Ngoc Thanh, general director of the Viet Nam Railway Corporation (VRC) agreed to work with the city to solve the problem by the end of this year.

At the same meeting, Colonel Dao Thanh Hai, deputy head of Ha Noi Police Department proposed to move Ha Noi railway station out of the city centre to reduce congestion and accidents.

He said that the relocation of the station, located in Hoan Kiem District's Le Duan Street, was necessary as trains caused congestion at city crossings.

The proposal received support from vice chairman of the city's committee Nguyen Quoc Hung, who claimed that railway accidents were on the rise.

However, Thanh, general director of VRC, said the location of Ha Noi Railway Station was integral to the city's urban planning. If the relocation was implemented, he had no idea how the urban railway system would be affected in the next 10 years.

A report from the ministry's VRC showed that railway accidents across the country increased by 30 per cent compared with the same period of last year. They resulted in 37 deaths and 48 injuries.

Most of the accidents occurred at illegal crossing, it said. The country has more than 5,700 railway crossings, 4,200 of which are illegal. —

Satellites of big hospital work effectively

After two year implementation of satellite medical clinics, the country has 48 satellite hospitals that have made huge contribution to reduce of overloading in big hospitals.

14 major hospitals have transferred important techniques to their satellite hospitals for two years.

Director of Pho Noi General Hospital in the northern province of Hung Yen Dr. Nguyen Huu Hoang  said that his hospital doctors had received 46 techniques from their counterparts in Bach Mai hospital since Pho Noi Hospital became Bach Mai hospital’s satellite clinic and more and more patients have visited the hospital.

Hence the rate of patients who have left Pho Noi hospital for big major hospitals  has reduced by 34.6 percent.

Director of the General Hospital in the northern province of Quang Ninh Dr. Nguyen Trong Dien said that his hospital physicians have been able to conduct difficult surgeries including broken thighbone, joint endoscopy, disc hernias, hear disease, brain injuries after hospital doctors were taught techniques by their counterparts in Viet Duc Hospital So doctors can save  "golden time" during rescuing patients' life.

Head of the Medical Examination and Treatment Department under the Ministry of health Luong Ngoc Khue said that after the success of satellite hospital models built from Viet Duc and Bach Mai hospitals the Ministry decided to implement a project to improve medical quality of clinics in communes and districts, contributing to reduce of overloading in major hospitals.

Some 48 important techniques of heart disease, trauma surgeries, cancer, obstetrics and pediatrics have been transferred to 14 satellite hospitals. This helps improving treatment quality in small hospitals to reduce transferring patients to central hospitals.

Mr. Khue said that though the project of setting up satellite hospitals and transferring techniques to small hospitals was just at the first stage, it proved to be effective as fewer patients have been sent to big hospitals for treatment.

The rate of transferring patients is just 30-35 percent or just 5-7percent in the General Hospital in the northern province of Phu Tho. The General Hospital in the central province of Ninh Thuan had to transfer 83 people suffering brain injuries to big hospitals in 2013; however, the number of transferred patients was 33 last year.

Currently only hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi participate in the project but in the near future more hospitals in provinces across the country will do so.

Nam Son waste dump torments local residents

Heavy pollution from the Nam Son garbage dump has badly affected the lives of residents in Ha Noi's Soc Son District, officials say.

Nguyen Tien Van, Vice Chairman of the Nam Son Commune People's Committee, data compiled by the commune's healthcare office, show respiratory diseases had increased over the past several years.

Environmental workers collect samples from the dump for testing every three months, but the situation seemed to be under-evaluated and reported, he said.

"We still have to live with the toxic smell and use polluted water for daily life."

Vu Tien Luc, head of Xuan Thinh Ward, which is located about 300m away from the city's biggest garbage dump, said a total of 156 residents were suffering from "terrible pollution of water and air."

Pointing to a stinking dump that looked like a mountain with swarms of flies around it, Luc said that although residents used masks when going outside, the stink and the polluted air penetrating directly and deeply into their noses.

He said water, particular from bore wells, had turned black and also stank badly.

The Nam Son garbage dump, covering 83.5ha was first put into use in 1999. Everyday, it receives more than 4,000 tonnes of waste.

The three communes near the dump, Bac Son, Nam Son and Hong Ky, are now suffering from severe air and water pollution.

Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam Environment Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Hoang Duong Tung, said most of solid waste disposal facilities in cities were overland dumps that failed to meet quality and structural standards.

He said high costs and a lack of co-operation from provincial and local authorities made he application of advanced technology for solid waste treatment a very tough task for environment-protection agencies.

Currently, most solid waste collection and treatment was undertaken by a small number of private small-scale companies, Tung said.

He called for a national programme in solid waste treatment that would mobilise the efforts of all sectors and authorities.

Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment show that about 28.5 million tonnes of solid waste is generated every year, of which 19 million tonnes are generated by residents.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri