Fire destroys hotel room in Da Lat

A fire broke out early this morning at a hotel in Da Lat City in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong, destroying a room in the hotel. — Photo news.zing.vn

A fire broke out early this morning at a hotel in Da Lat City in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong, destroying a room in the hotel.

The fire started in room 414 in Tan Thanh Hotel in Ward 3, and then spread to other rooms.

Four fire engines were sent to the spot, and the firemen stamped out the blaze after one hour.

No loss of human life was reported, but the blaze completely destroyed one room.

The hotel's fire extinguisher system did not work at the time of the fire, a representative of the hotel said.

The case is being investigated further.

Truck split in two in collision with train

A train and a truck collided in Chi Dao Commune in the northern Hung Yen Province's Van Lam District last night.

The truck split in two in the accident.

The train was travelling from Ha Noi to Hai Phong when it hit the seven-tonne truck.

The front section of the truck was flung 40m from the crash site, and the remaining section got stuck to the train and was dragged for 200m.

The truck driver was seriously injured. The case is under investigation.

Water project to tackle scarcity in mountainous areas

People in mountainous areas and regions lacking clean water in 41 provinces nationwide will get access to groundwater of standard quality.

The environment and natural resources ministry's National Centre for Water Resource Planning and Investigation announced this, following the minister's approval of the content and estimated cost of a project to discover groundwater resources for local residents living in mountainous areas and elsewhere where water was scarce in mid-December.

The project will investigate and identify groundwater resources, where the reserves and quality can meet the requirements for domestic use, and prepare a map of groundwater resources available in areas where the project is being implemented.

The project will be implemented in two phases during the 2015-2017 and 2018-2020 periods.

General Director of the centre Tong Ngoc Thanh said in areas where the project was being implemented, people faced several difficulties such as a serious scarcity of water.

In many areas, people had to travel dozens of kilometres to get water, Thanh said.

It was imperative to investigate and evaluate groundwater resources as well as to build a sustainable water supply system to ensure that residents living in these areas have access to clean water. These tasks should be properly invested and implemented in a synchronised manner in order to meet the expectations of local residents and authorities, Thanh said.

The project aims to bring huge benefits for local residents in mountainous areas and in areas facing water shortages, and to contribute to the implementation of the national target programme on clean water and environment in rural areas and the programme on building new-style rural areas in the 2015-2020 period.

Workers get free coach tickets to go home

The HCM City Federation of Labour yesterday presented 4,388 free coach tickets and thousands of gift packages, worth VND4.9 billion (US$218,640), to disadvantaged workers.

The gifts were given to workers during an annual charity programme, entitled "Tam ve nghia tinh" (Tickets with love), which was organised by the federation in industrial parks and export processing zones across the city to help these workers return home for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Chairman of the federation Nguyen Van Khai said 445 businesses have sponsored tickets worth more VND13 billion ($578,000) for more than 30,300 workers.

Many of these workers cannot afford to buy the tickets and have spent Tet holidays away from their families for three to four years in a row.

Le Van Thach, a worker from Dae Jun Company in Linh Trung Export Processing Zone, said the programme would give him a chance to celebrate a meaningful Tet with his family.

The gift not only recognised the workers' efforts, but also expressed the sentiments between businesses and workers, he said.

The programme has given about 135,700 tickets, worth VND75 billion ($3.35 million), over eight years to underprivileged workers who could not afford to go home for Tet for three consecutive years.

This year, many firms will organise free bus trips to help their workers return home before the holiday, while trade unions across the city will present gifts and traditional food items to workers in need.

Supporting Fund for Farmers helps reduce poverty levels

Supporting Fund for Farmers has effectively raised incomes of farmers, and helped reduce the number of poor households from 14.2 per cent in 2011 to 10 per cent last year.

This was announced during a meeting held by the Viet Nam Farmer's Union to review the activities of the fund from 2011 to 2015 periods in Ha Noi last week.

Nguyen Xuan Thang, from Supporting Fund for Farmers, said more than 400,000 farmers have received funds from the Supporting Fund for Farmers with a total investment of some VND5,200 billion (US$231.9 million) over the past five years.

Thang said that besides improving management, the fund has made fundamental changes in the way they provide loans to farmers to develop their business.

Instead of giving loans for a household or a group of households with different kinds of cultivation or animal husbandry models, the fund provides loans to the model of a project. The investment for a project was increased from VND300 million ($13,380) to VND1.5 billion ($66,910).

Project members used the investment to cultivate a certain kind of plant or raise a certain kind of livestock or poultry.

Workshop highlights Paris Agreement’s impacts on Vietnam

Impacts of the Paris Agreement reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) on Vietnam and the country’s preparations for implementing the deal were analysed and discussed at a workshop in Hanoi on January 21.

Pham Van Tan, Vice Director of the Department of Hydrometeorology and Climate Change and Deputy Head of the Board of Vietnam’s Climate Change Negotiation Group, briefed participants on the Vietnamese delegation’s contributions to COP21 and the agreement.

Approved by envoys from 195 nations attending the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 12, 2015 in Paris, the Agreement is considered an historical accord after 20 years of negotiation, ushering in an energy revolution.

This brings a great opportunity for countries, which are under serious threats from climate change such as Vietnam, to access greater international financial assistance to thoroughly resolve climate change-related issues, including changing the development model towards a low-carbon economy and promoting the application of clean technologies, Tan said.

Participants at the opening session of he 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, France (Source: VNA)

He stressed the need to thoroughly plan for Vietnam’s implementation of the universal agreement and the provisions the country has set in her report on intended nationally-determined contributions (INDC) .

The State should enhance its management of activities to reduce emissions, build a road map for shifting to a low carbon socio-economic development model and roll out a national-level adaptation plan, he said.

Koos Neefjes, a climate change expert from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said Vietnam must cut down greenhouse gas emissions to restrict the average temperature rise and meet the new target ratified in Paris: an average rise below 2 degrees Celsius and towards 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Vietnam and other countries will have to pull greenhouse gas emissions down to zero degree Celsius by 2055-2060.

Koos Neefjes affirmed that Vietnam will receive financial assistances for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and respond to climate change.

During negotiations in COP21, the Climate change Working Group (CCWG) of NGOs in Vietnam actively participated in and organised sideline activities for the conference.

Vu Minh Hai, NGOs’ CCWG Chairwoman, said the implementation of the Paris Agreement will facilitate close partnership between the Vietnamese Government and NGOs, thus bringing benefits to the groups which are vulnerable to climate change, including poor women, ethnic minority communities, the disabled, the elderly and children.

The Paris accord sets a target of limiting warming of the planet to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared with temperatures at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, while aiming for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius. To do so, emissions of greenhouse gases will need to peak “as soon as possible”, followed by rapid reductions.

Developed countries agreed to provide at least US$100 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries.

The workshop was co-organised by the Department of Hydrometeorology and Climate Change and the Climate change Working Group (CCWG) of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Vietnam.

French insurer retracts on promise enraging customers

Prevoir Vietnam, the Vietnamese subsidiary of French life insurer Prevoir, received complaints over its refusal to let customers renew their policies.

On November 1, 2015, Prevoir Vietnam stopped selling its “An Tam Toan Dien” policy, which provides payments to women after giving birth. Since then, the company has not allowed previous owners to renew the policy package. When customers cannot renew the policy, they are ineligible for payment after the insured incident.

“We get it. Prevoir stopped providing the policy because it is making losses for them or is not making as much profit as expected. But when we bought the policy from Prevoir Vietnam, the company promised that renewal would be possible,” a representative of a group of customers told VIR.

The representative said the company stopped selling the policy but only notified agents of the change, not customers. It only issued a public notice to customers after receiving the complaints.

The customers said they requested Prevoir Vietnam to allow for a one year renewal, in accordance with the company’s promises, so they can switch to another company, but Prevoir Vietnam refused on the grounds of company policy.

A representative of Prevoir said the company was negotiating with customers to resolve the problem. On January 19, in a meeting with a representative of 30 customers from all over the country, Prevoir was given the choice of either letting customers renew the policies or paying back the premium plus a penalty of VND50,000 (US$2.3) per each day of the waiting period of the policy.

Nguyen Huong Thu, deputy general director of Prevoir Vietnam, refused both.

French life insurer Prevoir has received multiple complaints from customers in France too. The company’s website is not functional as of January 21.

Prevoir Vietnam was established in 2005.According to its website, Prevoir Vietnam currently has two policies, namely Phuc Gia Dang Khoa, which helps families pay for their children’s education, and Phuc Gia Binh An, which pays the family in case of  the breadwinner passing away.

The company sells bancassurance at ACB, Sacombank, ABBank, GPBank, Eximbank, Tien Phong Bank, VIB, and SH Bank.

Vietnam has 10,000 illegal workers in the Republic of Korea: official

More than 10,000 Vietnamese guest workers did not return home last year after their Korean work contracts expired, an official of Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said.

These Vietnamese nationals, now considered illegal workers, must flee and hide to avoid being caught over their illicit stay in the East Asian country, according to Tong Hai Nam, head of the ministry’s overseas labor agency.

The north-central province of Nghe An topped the list of provinces having unpermitted Vietnamese workers in South Korea, with as many as 1,454 workers not returning to Vietnam upon the expiration of their contracts.

Hanoi came in second with 948 people now hiding in the East Asian country.

Hai Duong (853), Thanh Hoa (823), and Nam Dinh (733), all of which are northern provinces, complete the top five Vietnamese localities with the most people illegitimately staying in South Korea, Nam said.

The official added that Korean authorities have policies to encourage foreign workers illegally staying in the country to return home.

“In Vietnam, the government also exempted civil fines for those who voluntarily returned home from South Korea between September and December last year,” he said.

However, the policy did not seem to work, with only 2,000 such Vietnamese workers going home as of the end of November 2015, according to the official.

Nam also denied reports that Vietnamese people sometimes enter the Republic of Korea as tourists and stay illegally to find jobs, referring to the case of 59 Vietnamese visitors reported ‘missing’ during a trip to the tourism island of Jeju last week.

The official said South Korean authorities have caught 28 of them, with three found at a manufacturing facility.

“But the Korean side did not say that the three Vietnamese are workers at the facility,” he added.

“This is merely an issue of tourism, not illegal labor.”

Orbis brings life into focus for Mekong Delta

Standard Chartered Bank has donated US$800,000 to an initiative to help prevent and treat cases of avoidable blindness in the Mekong Delta, according to officials at Orbis International.

In addition, Director Tran Huong said Orbis International has joined with US Helen Keller International and the Netherlands Eye Care Foundation to contribute an additional US$200,000 to the campaign.

The funds will be used to bring life into focus for an estimated 200,000 children and adults in Can Tho and Ca Mau provinces, including provision of 200 free surgeries and 15,000 pairs of glasses for others

Since its launch in 2003, the program has contributed to over 2.9 million cataract operations and surgical interventions and helped to treat 1.9 million residents of the region for river blindness.

Vietnamese man gets one-year flight ban for bomb joke

A 42-year-old man has been given a one-year flight ban after telling a security officer at Vinh Airport last November there was a bomb in his hand luggage.

In a note recently sent to airlines operating in Vietnam, the Northern Airports Authority required them not to provide services for Tran Tien Doan, a primary school teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, until January 15, 2017.

According to the authority, Doan said "My luggage contains a bomb" to a security officer at Vinh Airport in the central province of Nghe An before boarding a flight to Ho Chi Minh City in late November last year.

The authority also criticized his disruptive behavior, without elaborating.

He was not allowed to board the plane, even after no bomb was found.

Doan later said he was only joking, adding that he was drunk at that time.

Can Tho supported to combat flood

The Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) has agreed to support the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho to implement an urban flood-resisting project.

As part of the Wastewater Management Programme implemented by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) in Vietnam, the project is expected to help Can Tho effectively manage wastewater and prevent flooding in inner-city areas.

Representatives from CDIA worked with the city’s leaders on January 21, to discuss the implementation of a feasibility study of the project and other issues key to the signing of relevant agreements.

Stuart King, a financial expert of CDIA, said his agency has completed basic procedures related to the project, and will begin supporting local authorities in the project as soon as possible.

He asked the municipal authorities to make careful preparations for the project, saying that it is necessary to put in place experts in wastewater, drainage, finance, resettlement, and environment-climate change in order to effectively implement the project.

According to Nguyen Tan Duoc, Director of the municipal Department of Construction, CDIA will provide technical assistance for the city’s management agencies and water supply and drainage companies in drainage management and wastewater treatment.

CDIA’s assistance will contribute to finalising legal documents which will distinctly distribute responsibility to relevant agencies and frame coordination among them during the project.

As scheduled, Can Tho will receive 120 million USD of funding for the project.-

Vietravel operates Can Tho – Khanh Hoa route

The tour agency Vietravel inaugurated its new route linking central Khanh Hoa province and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on January 21.

With this new route, Vietravel will operate three weekly charter flights with each lasting one hour. Passengers will be transported using Vasco’s 67-seat ATR-72 aircraft.

The flight is scheduled to depart from Can Tho international airport at 3 pm. The return flight will take off from the Cam Ranh international airport at 5 pm.

Tickets cost from 399,000 VND (17.9 USD) one way.

According to Vietravel deputy director Tran Doan The Duy, the demand for travelling to and from the Mekong Delta has increased recently, which he considers a good sign for the new route.

Vietravel recently resumed another flight that connects Can Tho and Da Lat City, in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, at the end of December 2015.

The travel agency will also put its Can Tho - Thailand route back into operation during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

Capital allocation for new rural area programme in 2016

The Prime Minister has ordered the People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to allocate the State budget for the implementation of the national target programme on building new-style rural areas in 2016.

Accordingly, resources will be prioritised for communes facing extreme difficulties, and border, island and coastal communes, particularly the communes that had achieved less than five out of the 19 criteria set for being recognised as new-style rural areas.

Proper investment will be prioritised for communes that had achieved over 15 out of the 19 set criteria, particularly those communes that have yet completed such fundamental infrastructure as roads, electricity network, school, clinic stations, water supply facilities, and irrigation work.

For the communes that had been recognised as new-style rural areas, the PM asked the centrally-run cities and provinces to proactively help them further improve recorded attainments.

He has requested provinces and cities report their capital allocation plan for 2016 to relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) by January 30.

The national target programme on building new-style rural areas, initiated by the Vietnamese Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to modernise rural areas.

The criteria cover the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacities, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values.

The country aims to have 50 percent of all communes nationwide meeting all the requirements by the end of 2020.

HCM City: Over 4,300 free Tet coach tickets offered to workers

Up to 4,388 free coach tickets and thousands of gift packages, worth 4.9 billion VND (218,640 USD), were given to disadvantaged workers in an annual charity programme in Ho Chi Minh City on January 21.

The event, namely “Tam ve nghia tinh” (Tickets with love), was organised by the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labour in industrial parks and export processing zones across the city to help these workers return home for the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

Some 445 local companies have sponsored home-coming tickets for more than 30,300 workers, worth 13 billion VND (580,060 USD), thus far, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labour Nguyen Van Khai said.

Many of the benefiting workers could not afford tickets and have spent Tet holidays away from their families for 3-4 years in a row.

After eight years, the programme has handed approximately 135,700 tickets to underprivileged workers, who could not afford coming home for Tet in three consecutive years, at a total cost of 75 billion VND or 3.35 million USD.

This year, many firms will organise free bus trips for their workers to return home before the holiday while trade unions across the city presented gifts and traditional foods to workers in need.

Government offices, State-owned companies and schools will close from February 6-14 for Tet, the biggest holiday in the country.

Insurance sector adopts international integration strategy

The Prime Minister has approved the insurance sector’s strategy on international integration to 2020 with a vision towards 2030, which aims for a sound and efficient social welfare system to meet international standards as well as conventions in which Vietnam is a member.

The strategy targets 35 percent of total workforce to be covered by unemployment insurance and 50 percent to have social insurance. It also looks to have over 80 percent of the population joining health insurance by 2020.

It has set to perfect social and health insurance policies and their implementation for labourers in bilateral and multilateral agreements, helping narrow the sector’s gap with other countries in the region.

Under the strategy, Vietnam will join international agreements in the field in order to serve the demands of employers and employees in the context of international integration.

A modern social insurance management model is expected to be completed by 2030, meeting the globe’s trend of the free flow of labour while ensuring all Vietnamese citizens, including overseas Vietnamese, will benefit from social and health insurances.

The strategy will also implement international cooperation programmes with numerous countries, territories, and regional and international social welfare organisations, hailing from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.-

Over 1 million blood units collected in 2015

Vietnam collected 1.15 million units of blood in 2015, surpassing the year’s target figure by 17.8 percent and up 9.7 percent from 2014, as heard during a session of the national committee for blood donation that was held on January 21.

The total blood donated last year, of which more than one million units came from volunteers, met 60 percent of overall demand for medical treatment.

Many donation campaigns, such as “Red Sunday” and “Red Journey”, were held on the national scale and gained sound outcomes. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang and Can Tho cities were among localities with 1.3 percent of their population donating blood.

Reports at the session showed that Vietnam has almost 2,800 blood donation clubs, which gather 100,000 members.

However, blood shortage, particularly blood type A and O, often occurred in summer and prior to the Lunar New Year. The repetition rate of donation was just above 40 percent, compared to the figures for Japan, Singapore, Australia, at between 60 and 70 percent.

In 2016, the committee plans to collect 1.2 million blood units, 98 percent of which will be sourced from volunteers.

At the session, participants also discussed the draft regulations on honouring outstanding contributors to blood donation campaigns.

HCM City cleans up the workplace

Workplace safety and hygiene improved slightly at HCM City companies last year, according to the city Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health.

Speaking at a meeting held to review labour safety and hygiene on Wednesday, Pham Thi Ngoc Loan, the centre's deputy head, said of 15,430 workplaces inspected last year, only 0.09 per cent of them had excessive humidity compared to 0.31 per cent in 2014.

Inspectors also measured dust and the rate of workplaces where it exceeded allowed limits was 0.78 per cent compared to 1.4 per cent the previous year, she said.

As a result, the number of workers with 14 occupational diseases like pneumoconiosis, deafness, and benzene and lead poisoning declined sharply – to 48 out of 19,609 from 215 out of just 15,321 – she said.

Deafness was the leading problem, affecting the largest number, she said.

However, she admitted that nearly 65 per cent of workplaces were still plagued by risky elements like high temperature and light and noise levels, which cause occupational diseases.

Dr Huynh Tan Tien, the centre's head, said these factors could reduce the working quality of workers.

The enterprises have been ordered to eliminate these problems to ensure workers are comfortable, he said.

Doctors from the centre and district preventive health centres periodically examined workers at 385 enterprises, and found 44 per cent of them in good or very good health, Loan said.

This was done to help enterprises find suitable jobs for their workers based on their health status, she said.

The centre also inspected 136 schools last year to provide data to school leaders and district education officials, she said.

It found that only 66 per cent of the schools had standard lighting while the air quality was sub-standard at 80 per cent of them.

Students at the schools were tested for scoliosis, or abnormal curvature of the spine. District 7 had the highest rate of students with the affliction - 37 per cent – followed by Can Gio (32 per cent) and District 4 (19 per cent).

Buddhist pagodas help to combat, prevent HIV/AIDS

The implementation of the Buddhist Leadership Initiative on preventing and combating HIV/AIDS at pagodas in Ha Noi and HCM City was reviewed at a conference in HCM City yesterday.

The programme began in 2002 with a view to reducing the discrimination against people living with the HIV/AIDS, especially children, while increasing community-based support for families having HIV/AIDS affected members.

The project has been operating in HCM City, Ha Noi, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang and Tra Vinh.

Head of the VFF Central Committee's Department of Religious Affairs Nguyen Van Thanh said the project had helped thousands of HIV-infected people access community-based assistance services.

Pagodas in the localities where the programme operates have also increased awareness-raising campaigns among people living with HIV/AIDS and popularised preventive measures.

Those such as Phap Van, Bo De (Ha Noi); Ky Quang, Dieu Giac, Linh Son, Quang Tho (HCM City) have established a network of volunteers to help HIV-infected people.

Le Hong Loan, a UNICEF representative, said the engagement of Buddhist associations in HIV/AIDS prevention had been significant in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in Viet Nam.

During the conference, participants also discussed effective measures to seek financial resources for the expansion of the project.

The Buddhist leadership Initiative is a co-operative programme between the United Nations' Children Fund (UNICEF) and five Asian governments to promote the role played by religious leaders in their community's response to HIV prevention.

Ministry announces admin e-procedures

The Ministry of Public Security has announced the electronic version of two sets of administrative procedures on its official websites mps.gov.vn and bocongan.gov.vn.

The administrative procedures have been also uploaded to the National Database on Administrative Procedures' website csdl.thutuchanhchinh.vn.

The ministry said people now could download forms for each administrative procedure instead of going to the agency in charge to receive a printout.

Deputy Minister Bui Van Nam said the announcement was believed to be very momentous because it, following Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's order, would simplify administrative procedures for both individuals and organisations as they worked with the ministry.

The first set encompasses 237 administrative procedures to serve demands of individuals and organisations living and working in the country. They include procedures to issue identity cards, passports and company seal registrations.

The second set has 1,200 internal administrative procedures in the area of public security.

The electronic versions are displayed on the site in order, and visitors to the site will be able to see how long an administrative procedure will take, which agency will be in charge and the fee required.

Dak Nong ethnic minority group inspired by Party Congress

Party members and ethnics in the Central Highlands province of Dac Nong are pinning high hopes on the success of the 12th National Party Congress, taking place in Hanoi from January 20 to 28.

H’Thuong, Vice Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Krong No district’s Nam Nung commune, said that thanks to the State, the local ethnic minority groups have thrived over the past several years.

The 29-year-old Party member expressed her hope that this Congress will select competent people to the Party Central Committee, which she said is a unity bloc representing the whole nation’s will and aspirations. It makes sound decisions in order to create more economic development breakthroughs, she added.

Along with the priority given to economic development in the mountainous and ethnic-inhabited areas, the Party should pay more attention to education and training for ethnic minority officials, and appoint young, competent officials to important positions. This would boost socio-economic development and help maintain defence security, she added.

Meanwhile, the head of the commune’s Gia Ra hamlet, Y Thi, who has been a Party member for 52 years, said he hopes this Congress will carry out important decisions in order to continue consolidating the great national unity, especially in ethnic-inhabited areas, as unity can help maintain national sovereignty and boost economic development.

After 30 years of reform, Vietnam has seen considerable growth, he said, adding that the Party should learn from others’ experience to further develop the country.

Dieu Hot, head of Dieng Dung hamlet in Tuy Duc district’s Dak Ngo commune, affirmed that people in the hamlet are confident in the Party. Thanks to the Party’s and State’s policies, they have gained access to loans to reduce poverty and build clean water facilities.

He showed his hope that the Party and State will pay more attention to ethnic communities, especially in far-flung areas, so as to improve their living standards.

The Party should carry out specific policies to address unorganised emigration and deforestation in Dak Nong province, he added.

According to Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee Head Ha Thi Hanh, thanks to the attention of the Party and State, the material and spiritual lives of the local ethnic groups have been improved.

Between 2011 and 2015, the province saw the average poverty rate fall by 3.1 percent, with the rate in ethnic minority-inhabited areas being 4.6 percent.

Dak Nong ethnic minority group inspired by Party Congress

Party members and ethnics in the Central Highlands province of Dac Nong are pinning high hopes on the success of the 12th National Party Congress, taking place in Hanoi from January 20 to 28.

H’Thuong, Vice Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Krong No district’s Nam Nung commune, said that thanks to the State, the local ethnic minority groups have thrived over the past several years.

The 29-year-old Party member expressed her hope that this Congress will select competent people to the Party Central Committee, which she said is a unity bloc representing the whole nation’s will and aspirations. It makes sound decisions in order to create more economic development breakthroughs, she added.

Along with the priority given to economic development in the mountainous and ethnic-inhabited areas, the Party should pay more attention to education and training for ethnic minority officials, and appoint young, competent officials to important positions. This would boost socio-economic development and help maintain defence security, she added.

Meanwhile, the head of the commune’s Gia Ra hamlet, Y Thi, who has been a Party member for 52 years, said he hopes this Congress will carry out important decisions in order to continue consolidating the great national unity, especially in ethnic-inhabited areas, as unity can help maintain national sovereignty and boost economic development.

After 30 years of reform, Vietnam has seen considerable growth, he said, adding that the Party should learn from others’ experience to further develop the country.

Dieu Hot, head of Dieng Dung hamlet in Tuy Duc district’s Dak Ngo commune, affirmed that people in the hamlet are confident in the Party. Thanks to the Party’s and State’s policies, they have gained access to loans to reduce poverty and build clean water facilities.

He showed his hope that the Party and State will pay more attention to ethnic communities, especially in far-flung areas, so as to improve their living standards.

The Party should carry out specific policies to address unorganised emigration and deforestation in Dak Nong province, he added.

According to Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee Head Ha Thi Hanh, thanks to the attention of the Party and State, the material and spiritual lives of the local ethnic groups have been improved.

Between 2011 and 2015, the province saw the average poverty rate fall by 3.1 percent, with the rate in ethnic minority-inhabited areas being 4.6 percent.

Lao Cai province protects cattle from snowfall

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai is taking all necessary measures to cope with coming snowfall.

The move follows the local hydro-meteorological station’s forecast that a severe cold spell will hit the northern region from January 22’s night, according to Department Deputy Director Nguyen Van Tuyen.

He said the provincial People’s Committee has directed relevant departments and sectors to take measures to protect domestic cattle from the extreme weather and ensure food reserves.

Currently, the province has nearly 60,000 livestock households with approximately 37,000 having cold-resistant breeding facilities and 56,000 preparing sufficient food for the animals.

To raise local awareness of protecting the cattle from cold waves, local authorities have not provided support for any damage in the field since 2014.

As a result, in 2014 and 2015, Lao Cai reported no animal deaths despite severe cold and snowfall.

Locals in 426 mountainous areas to access clean water

Mountainous regions and areas facing a scarcity of water in 41 provinces nationwide will access groundwater resources meeting national standards of water quality, according to the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and Investigation under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

A project seeking out groundwater resources in mountainous areas facing water scarcity from 2015 to 2020 aims to bring clean water to residents in these areas, and build water resource maps.

The centre’s general director Tong Ngoc Thanh said locals in target areas have been confronted with serious water shortages.

This is an urgent project, Thanh stressed, adding that that it is necessary to build sustainable water supply facilities in all these areas.

The project is expected to help communities manage their use of water resources and protect the environment, contributing to the National Target Programmes on Clean Water and Sanitation in rural areas and new-style rural areas between 2015 and ­2020.

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