Third blood donation campaign targets 20,000 donors

“Hanh trinh Do” (Red Journey), a campaign calling for blood donation across Vietnam, was launched for the third time in Da Lat city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on April 23.

The 35-day event will run in 23 cities and provinces nationwide, with goals to attract 20,000 donors and receive at least 17,000 blood units.

Two groups with 140 volunteers will stop by localities to launch charitable and educational campaigns about blood donation and healthcare for the public.

On the occasion, the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society opened training courses for information volunteers for the cause.

Held in July 2013 and 2014, the Red Journey has collected over 28,300 units of blood.

This year’s event was co-hosted by the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation and the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion.

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City inaugurated flood-proof infrastructure facilities in wards 7 and 16 of district 8 on April 23.

The flood embankment project in ward 16 had a total investment of 193 billion VND (8.94 million USD).

It aims to prevent tide infiltration from Tau Hu-Ben Nghe Canal , helping about 8,000 households in the ward and 10,000 others in the district 6 avoid floods.

A revetment wall system for preventing flood tides was also constructed in ward 7.

According to Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Nguyen Huu Tin, district 8 usually faces serious floods caused by flood tides, directly impacting 1,000 households along canals in wards 7 and 16.

Forest land dwindles in Central Highlands’ localities

Central Highlands provinces need to accelerate measures to protect and develop regional forests which are currently suffering from significant deforestation.

According to the National Steering Committee on Forest Protection and Development, forest areas in Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong stood at 2,567,116 hectares, of which natural forest accounts for nearly 2,254,000 hectares.

Compared to 2008, the forest area in the Central Highland has fallen by nearly 360,000 hectares, bringing the total forest coverage down to 45.8 percent. Excluding areas under industrial crops, the coverage rate drops to 32.4 percent.

The loss of forest land in the region is due to socio-economic development in the locality, particularly a project to use forest land to grow rubber trees and other purposes, all of which was carried out without permits from authorised agencies.

Over 15,792 hectares of forest in the region were cut down for the sake of hydroelectricity and other projects. Investors have only re-planted 892 hectares.

In addition, the decline of forest land is also attributed to rampant acts of forest destruction and land encroachment for agricultural production by ethnic groups’ slash-and-burn practice or illegal migrants, which deforested 88,603 hectares.

Localities have detected and handled 3,163 cases of deforestation and illegal timber exploitation since 2013. Reforestation in the region has seen improvement but is unable to keep pace with forest reduction.

In 2014, 13,431 hectares were planted, meeting only 74 percent of the annual target.

Bac Ninh lacks worker housing

More than 50 per cent of workers in the northern province of Bac Ninh aren't from Bac Ninh; they migrated from other places to fill the labour demand, said a provincial labour report.

Statistics from the Trade Union of the Bac Ninh Province Industrial Zone show that there are 144,700 workers in the province's nine industrial zones and an estimated 72,370 of them need accommodation.

The province's ongoing development of a large work force has a yearly target of attracting an additional 20,000-30,000 workers from outside. It is expected that every year 10,000-15,000 more people will be on the search for accommodation.

Le Thi Hoa, 29, from the northern province of Nam Dinh, has worked at the Foster Company in Tu Son District for four years. At present, she lives with her family in a boarding house in the district's Phu Chan Commune.

Hoa said that, together, her and her husband's income is VND8 million (US$380) a month. Every month they manage to save VND3 million ($140), but it is still too difficult to buy a house.

Hoa is among the workers in Bac Ninh who dream of having a stable accommodation.

Nguyen The Quyet, chairman of the Bac Ninh Trade Union, told the Lao dong (Labour) newspaper that some companies - Hong Hai Science-Technology Group, Mitac Precision Technology and Bujeon Vietnam Co Ltd. - built homes for their workers to rent.

The amount of housing, however, is not enough to meet the workers' demand, Quyet said.

Some other companies gave financial support to their workers to rent houses, but the houses' quality was so low as to affect the quality of their work, said Quyet.

Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc, head of the Policy and Law Committee under the provincial Labour Federation, said that last year Bac Ninh had six housing projects for workers in industrial zones. The projects can ideally accommodate about 29,000, meeting 40 per cent of the present demand.

The picture, however, is not as promising since only enough units for 17,460 people were completed and ready for use. The remaining are under construction.

Deputy chairman of the Bac Ninh People's Committee Nguyen Tien Nhuong said that the province paid a lot of attention to building houses for workers, but the demand increases every year.

The province proposed that the Government issue more policies to encourage enterprises to invest in building houses for workers.

At least policies that ask banks to give preferential interest rate to workers should be set up, he said.

Owners of damaged homes to receive compensation

A representative of Thien Tan Construction Company said they are co-ordinating with Sai Gon-Ha Noi Insurance Corporation (BSH) to compensate families whose houses were damaged during construction of Highway No1A.

The Thien Tan Investment and Construction Joint-stock Company has been constructing a section of National Highway No 1A running through the Mo Duc District in Quang Ngai central province.

BSH hired an independent assessment company, Da Nang City-based Anh Duong Company, to assess the damage suffered by the houses.

Based on the assessment, Thien Tan Company has already paid VND1.6 billion (US$74,400) as compensation to 126 households.

It will continue paying VND1.1 billion ($51,000) compensation to another 78 households next week, said Huynh Bao Linh, director of the company.

A total of 923 households in Mo Duc District have petitioned the Thien Tan Company after their houses developed cracks last December during the company's construction of a section of the national highway.

The cracks could result in casualties and loss to property, they claimed.

Anh Duong Company has so far assessed the damage in 372 cracked houses.

A representative of the Anh Duong Company said a lack of assessors and the large number of damaged houses were the main causes for the slow work.

Additionally, the representative said the construction of the section of the National Highway No1A would continue to affect houses around it, so his company had examined and assessed houses located in the vicinity of the road.

Linh the director of Thien Tan Company said the construction was meeting all the regulations of the Ministry of Transport, and the cracks that had developed in the houses were due to the poor condition of the sandy soil.

HCM City urged to ensure traffic safety during long break

The Ministry of Transport has instructed the HCM City Department of Transport to regulate traffic to ensure safety and security especially at bus stations during the long holidays when celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Reunification Day (April 30) will be held.

Transport operators and bus stations are required to keep an eye on buses leaving stations to prevent overloading and other problems.

Buses and taxis have been warned not to cause traffic jams while dropping and picking up passengers.

Meanwhile, the department has blocked off certain streets in the downtown area where the celebrations are scheduled to be held.

Closed off on the evening of April 24 (7pm-12am), and on the morning of 26, and 30 (4am-12pm) is an area bounded by Cach Mang Thang Tam-Nguyen Thi Minh Khai-Nguyen Binh Khiem-Nguyen Huu Canh-Ton Duc Thang-Ham Nghi-Le Lai-Pham Hong Thai-Cach Mang Thang Tam.

People have to take alternative routes to circumvent the cordoned-off area.

Da Nang to build stronger homes in disaster prone areas

The central city has created a pilot programme to build stronger houses in disaster-affected areas in co-operation with domestic and foreign insurance companies.

Head of the city's Climate Change Co-Ordination Office (CCCO), Dinh Quang Cuong, said the insurance model would help poor rural people repair damage after natural disasters.

"It will be the first ever model introduced in Viet Nam," Cuong said. "We have been working with domestic and foreign insurers to offer minimum fees to the poor people.

"We have been calling for co-operation among insurers, sponsors and the city's administration in setting up a mechanism for the mass participation of poor residents," he said.

Cuong said the pilot project was part of the city's climate-change and rising sea-level programme.

He said the city also planned to build a digital map of flood vulnerable area in the city to make people more aware of problem areas.

Data on flood levels in previous years will be recorded on computer to provide further awareness by e-mail during the storm season from October to December. The data will also try to help people forecast storms and hurricanes.

An expert from the US Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International (ISET), Tran Van Giai Phong, said Da Nang, Binh Dinh and Can Tho had been included in the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network.

"The city has prepared its climate-change response programmes in co-operation with international organisations for the last six years," Phong said.

"The city has also established a steering committee to handle climate-change responses, including rises in sea levels.

Last year, a model of storm-resistant houses in the city won the 2014 Lighthouse Activity Award established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The city is also helping 245 poor households build or repair 245 storm-resistant houses using steel-reinforced columns and walls. A budget of over US$417,700 has been provided by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Residents can borrow from the fund to build or repair houses in preparation for storms.

In 2013, a typhoon named Nari hit the city and central region destroyed 353 homes and blew the roofs off another 7,000 houses.

More than 300 workers hospitalized after food poisoning

More than 300 workers at a handbag factory in the southern province of Long An were hospitalised this morning due to food poisoning, said an official.

The workers were said to have displayed symptoms of vomiting, stomach ache and diarrhoea after eating dinner yesterday at the cafeteria in the Simone handbag factory, said the local Food Hygiene and Safety Department Head, Pham Van Dau.

The sick workers were rushed to the HCM City-based Nha Be Hospital the next morning for treatment.

Food samples at the cafeteria have been collected and sent to the HCM City Institute of Hygiene and Public Health to identify the cause for poisoning.

EVN says sorry for BinhThuan pollution

Viet Nam Electricity (EVN), the national utility, publicly apologised yesterday for the pollution and suffering to residents caused by a thermal power plant in Binh Thuan Province.

Residents of Tuy Phong District in the central province had taken their protest against the utility's actions to the streets.

The power plant's 15,000sqm dumping ground for cinder has been fully covered, canvassed and watered to prevent further pollution and work is underway to upgrade roads that will transport the ashes far away from residential areas, it said.

The upgrade is expected to be completed before June this year, the company said.

EVN said it has ordered the Vinh Tan Thermal Plant No.2 to immediately take measures to stop pollution in the future, including the completion of a dedicated water supply system, which is scheduled to be completed before August.

Job training helps thousands

Vocational training for rural workers in greater Ha Noi has not only helped economic restructuring, but created jobs for thousands of people in rural areas.

Since 2010, the capital city has provided training courses for more than 100,000 workers by implementing a Government project on rural training.

In Chuong My district on the outskirts of the city, authorities provided training for more than 2,000 people last year, double the number in 2013. More than 80 per cent found jobs.

Phung Phuong Vy, from the district's Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Department, said this year the district planned to provide training course for nearly 5,000 people. And 85 per cent of them are expected to get employment.

Statistics indicate that the number of people in the city's district and other neighbouring districts including Ha Dong District needs vocational training is 130,000.

However, training for rural workers only reaches 64 per cent of the target.

According to the project management board, this is because training courses have not been well managed and many are not suitable for needs of either workers or employers.

Research on what workers need has not been carried out properly, preventing many from finding a job.

Sometimes, training for trades specific to localities has not been taught at the training centres.

And there are complaints that some training centres are not been well equipped and that most of the teaching staff are unqualified and lack experience.

On top of this, many workers are unaware of the benefits of training. Many trainees are breadwinners so they cannot devote too much time for study.

It has been agreed that agencies in charge of training must check the needs of trainees and businesses.

Rural vocational training up to 2020 plans to provide training courses for 153,000 people, including 83,000 farm workers. It is hoped to find 83 per cent of them jobs.

To implement the programme, the city will spend VND65 billion (about US$ 3 million) on the activity from the municipal budget for the period.

Me Linh District plans to become a green urban hub

The Ha Noi Department of Planning and Architecture yesterday unveiled a 15-year (2016-2030) development master plan for Me Linh District with a total investment of VND220 trillion (US$10.37 billion).

Located in the north of Ha Noi near the Noi Bai International Airport, the district is envisaged becoming a green satellite city of the capital with 1,897ha dedicated to green belts and green corridors, 4,975ha to agriculture research and cultivation.

Deputy Chairman of the district's People's Committee Ha Huy Quang said the district's green urban development focus would balance the industrial orientation of neighbouring districts and towns.

Turning the district into a green city would also build on its inherent strengths and advantages as a well-established agriculture production centre with large potential for cultivation of flowers, vegetables and other produce, he said.

Situated right at the northwest gate of the capital, the district's agriculture produce will enjoy easy access to the largest market in the Red River Delta, he added.

Existing industrial complexes in the district will be redesigned to become more environmental friendly.

The official publication of the district's master plan is significant because it will provide businesses and residents with a guideline of future development that they can participate in.

With the new master plan being published, the district authorities, agencies, businesses and residents will be able to monitor its implementation and ensure that the district's development stays in the right direction, Quang said.

The district used to be a part of Vinh Phuc Province. After the province merged and became a part of Ha Noi in 2008, the district had to make a number of adjustments to the master plan, creating a few problems including out-of-sync infrastructure development projects and uncoordinated effort between local authorities and real-estate developers.

The representative of a green urban centre at the Tien Phong Ward in the district said their project had been approved by the Vinh Phuc Province People's Committee before the merger.

The project developer had invested money to build infrastructure, but adjustments made in the new master plan have "isolated" the project, making it impossible for them to continue, he said.

The Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported the representative as saying, "Without access to the main routes, our project is no more than a no-man's land. All the time and money invested will be completely wasted," he said.

Age-old trees barked secretly in Hanoi as investigation underway

About 10 more age-old trees on a street in Hanoi have had their feet skinned after dozens of other trees of the same species suffered the same fate around a week ago.

The ten trees, named xà cừ (Khaya senegalensis), line K2 Street in Cau Dien Town, Nam Tu Liem District, near the My Dinh Urban Area.

Police have launched a probe but they have yet to find out who peeled the trees.

These skinned trees are located next to the nursery garden of a tree and flower enterprise under the Hanoi Park and Green Tree One-Member Co. Ltd.

They have had their feet barked by slashes and the traces could be clearly seen on the damaged surfaces in various sizes.

About a week ago, 35 xà cừ trees on Le Duan, Kim Ma, Lang and Pham Van Dong Streets, were also skinned, exposing the inner layer of the trunks.

Deep slashes will certainly affect their growth, the Hanoi Park and Green Tree One-Member Co. Ltd. said.

Some local residents said they saw a man and a woman peel off the skin of some trees, put it into a sack, and then carry the bag away on a motorbike, according to news website VnExpress.

The Hanoi People’s Committee has sent dispatches to local police and relevant agencies, urging them to find out the culprit and take measures to prevent similar occurrences.

On April 16, the Hanoi Park and Green Tree One-Member Co. Ltd. sent a document to the city police asking them to investigate the case.

However, no sign of any perpetrator has been found so far.

Eighty Vietnamese outstanding students in the 2014-2015 academic year were each granted scholarships worth US$ 300 from the Japanese FUYO Foundation at the 17 th FUYO scholarship awarding ceremony held in Hanoi on April 21.

The FUYO Foundation is an annual scholarship fund for Vietnamese students with outstanding academic performance.

Since its establishment in 1997, the foundation has awarded a total of US$ 292,000 in scholarships to 1,190 students nationwide.

In the past few years, the Japanese government has made significant contributions to education in Vietnam through creating opportunities for Vietnamese students to pursue master degrees, PhDs and apprentices in the social sciences, natural science, engineering and economics.

130 students nationwide honored 2015 national best history student

Vietnamese History Development Fund in companied with Ministry of Education and Training yesterday held a ceremony at Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam- the Temple of Literature to honor and award to 130 students nationwide, who are winners of the 2015 national best history student.

Accordingly, the organization board selected six winners from high schools in the Northern provinces’ like Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc, Ninh Binh and Ha Tinh among 130 the best students.

Historian Duong Trung Quoc said that this year, Bac Ninh topped the country in the number of winners.

Statistic showed that from the 2012- 2015 period, 764 students have won the national best history student competition. In addition, Vietnamese History Development Fund also offered 127 scholarships to students, who are studying in historical major of 13 universities nationwide.

Dormitories attract few workers in HCMC

Industrial parks (IPs) and export processing zones (EPZs) in Ho Chi Minh City have built 14 dormitory projects since 2006 to accommodate only 17,970 out of a total of one million workers. But some of them have seen very few dwellers or even been abandoned because of inconveniences making workers unlike to live there, according to HCMC Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza).

The most crowed dormitory is of Nissei Electric Vietnam in Linh Trung 1 EPZ, Thu Duc District, where 2,280 workers are living. They are exempt from rent and just asked to pay VND20,000 of electric and water fees a person a month. The company also provides them with bedding.

Another crowded dormitory locates in Linh Trung EPZ II with 352 apartments which are let out to workers at preferential prices. The project comprises a kindergarten, shopping mall, supermarket, cinema, canteen and other amenities.

Tan Thuan EPZ has done three projects supplying 1,500 accommodations.

The number of accommodations provided from these projects is no satisfied as HCMC now has over one million workers in EPZs and IPs. Of these 70 percent are immigrants.

Hepza predicted that the number is expected to increase by about 500,000 this year. Forty percent of these will need accommodations but the authority can provide housing for only half of them.

Despite large housing demand, some dormitories have attracted very few dwellers in Linh Trung II EPZ, Le Minh Xuan IP and Vinh Loc IP. Among the reasons is undecided rent level, which is just given after the construction price of a project has been determined.

Hepza said that the assessment was a function of the Department of Construction. However the body requires Hepza to guide investors when they ask about this.

Therefore, investors have no basement to set up their rent levels. Some have proposed to change the use purpose of their projects because they did not get loans from the city’s demand stimulation fund for construction.

Head of Construction Department of Hepza Nguyen Quoc Vinh said that the rent at some dormitories was higher than that of neighboring pensions.

Dormitories have issued many regulations making workers feel uncomfortable. For instance, they have to return their apartments before 10 p.m. Some do not permit female workers to accommodate or ban dwellers from cooking.

Up to 97 workers asked in a survey by the Department of Construction expressed dissatisfaction because they are not allowed to take relatives in their accommodations. 79 percent said it crowded, complicated and inconvenient as there are too many people in an apartment.

Honda Vietnam kicks off tree planting project

Honda Vietnam has begun its tree planting day this year in the northern upland province of Bac Kan, in coordination with the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The event was attended by 200 staff members of Honda Vietnam and its partners, and a number of local people to plant trees on an area of two hectares in Bac Kan Town of the province. This is the third year the Japanese-invested firm’s tree planting project has been executed, with a total of 65.54 hectares of land to be replanted.

Expected to take eight years to finish, the project will replant 490 hectares of protected forest in Nong Thuong and Xuat Hoa Communes in the initial phase from 2013 to 2016. The second phase will be to take care, prune and protect the forest in the following four years, and wood can be exploited from 2020.

As the only sponsor of the project, Honda Vietnam pledged to fund VND4.9 billion (US$227,000), including covering the full cost of developing the project, training personnel, buying high-quality seeds, and covering 15% of the cost of caring the trees and 10% of the total fertilizer cost.

The participating households can benefit from 73,500 cubic meters of wood to be produced in the project, which will bring some VND50 billion of profit.

After nearly two years of implementing the project, new forest now covers 360 hectares in Bac Kan with the average height of trees rising to 60-90 centimeters from the initial 20 centimeters, and the average diameter of trees rising from 0.7 centimeter to one centimeter.

Students perform play to boycott school bullying

A group of students called “One Two Three” on Sunday threw a play at the Guanyin Monastery in HCMC’s Phu Nhuan District in a bid to elicit love among classmates and boycott bullying at school.

Directed by Hoang Duan and named “Doi ban” (two friends), the play tells a story about two friends who are new students at an elementary school. They are bullied by a group of naughty boys. The teacher knows about the situation and persuades them to love each other and boycott violence.  The play is added with funny and touching details which make it attractive to spectators.

Steve Vicker, a Briton who is living in HCMC, said after watching the play with his wife acting as an interpreter, said the play evoked moral values and humanity in the soul of children.

At elementary school, the mind of children is like a sheet of white paper, so learning good lessons about how to behave nicely with other people will help them become good people, Vicker said. Before watching the play, parents and students are invited to join a course about good and bad behaviors of children held by Guanyin Monastery. Participating children are also shown some basic moves of martial art for self-defense.

The monastery so far has organized 27 courses to provide children with social skills and attracts a great deal of attention from parents.

Ministry hands over 3,995 computers to 12 provinces

3,985 computers with access to internet were handed over to 601 public Internet access points in Dien Bien, Son La, Lai Chau, Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces at a ceremony held in Hue city on April 21.

It is a part of a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to enhance computer usage and public internet access in Vietnam. The project has been implemented by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) in 40 cities and provinces from 2011 to 2016.

Representatives of 12 beneficiary provinces sign in hand-over documents.

According to Nguyen Thanh Hung, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications and head of the project’s management board, the project has supplied 12,670 computers with broadband access as well as auxiliary equipment for 1,900 public libraries and communal cultural post offices, raising the figure of accessible computers available to the public in rural areas to 96.7%.

Thanks to the project, disadvantaged people can access information technology equally and effectively and benefit from socio-economic interests brought by it, which have helped improve living standards and contributions to the development of the communities and the society, contributing to implementing the programme of new-style rural area construction, developing e-citizens and e-governments and promoting social learning.

The project has provided each provincial library with 40 computers while libraries in the districts and towns have received 10 computers each. Five computers have been supplied for each communal library and communal cultural post office. Printers, earphones and other auxiliary equipment have been also provided.

Meanwhile, the management board has organised 50 training courses for specialised officers and over 2,000 communication events.

Bac Lieu wind farm adds more power to national grid

The second phase of the Bac Lieu wind farm, with a capacity of 16 megawatts, has been completed and connected to the national power grid.

The wind farm operator, Cong Ly Company, said an additional ten wind turbines were installed in the second stage of the project, bringing the total turbines to 20 with a combined capacity of 32 megawatts.

Construction of the Bac Lieu wind farm kicked off in September 2010 and the first phase was completed in May 2013.

Cong Ly Company Chairman To Hoai Dan said the company plans to finalise the installation of ten more turbines in May.

The Bac Lieu wind farm project will cost an estimated 5.2 trillion (US$239.2 million) and will have a total capacity of 99 megawatts from 62 wind turbines.

The farm is located in Vinh Trach Dong commune in Bac Lieu city.

Hanoi hospitals face water shortage

Some hospitals in Hanoi are facing water shortages due to a sharp rise in demand in the capital, with Hanoi Obstetric and Gynecology Hospital and the National Paediatrics Hospital among those affected.

The Hanoi Water Supply Company said the city’s water demand this summer is expected to rise by seven-to-10 percent on the previous year, which means usage of 620,000-675,000 cubic metres per a day.

But changing environmental conditions of the Red River has caused ground water to decline by about two percent.

Attempts to raise the level of the Red River and the Duong River have been unsuccessful due to a lack of investment capital and land for of reservoirs.

The vice chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Nguyen Quoc Hung, water companies to ensure stable supply for the city, particularly hospitals and schools.

Hung said water companies must inform the public if they planned to limit supply, announcing when cuts would be made and which areas would be affected.

He called on the local Department of Health and Natural Resources and Environment to monitor water quality at pumping stations and reservoirs.

Pollution risks at traditional villages

Old equipment and weak infrastructure are creating a serious pollution problem at many traditional craft villages, with untreated waste being dumped into the local environment.

The small-scale craft operations in the villages are often located in residential areas and generate considerable waste.

Ha Van Lam, a representative for Bat Trang Craft Village, said the local craftsmen operated some 1,150 coal-fired pottery kilns that release a huge volume of smoke.

Nguyen Cong Thanh, the party secretary of Dai Bai Commune, Bac Ninh Province, said waste from bronze casting villages is dumped, and waste water is being discharged directly into the river system.

Out-of-date techniques and equipment and weak infrastructure, and low environmental awareness, resulted in an absence of any waste treatment system.

"People in Dai Bai Village often have to breathe in contaminated air and have respiratory or eye illnesses," Thanh said.

He said community health statistics showed 23 people died from cancer from 2001 to 2014 in just one village.

Bui Cach Tuyen, the deputy head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said 104 villages had metal pollution levels 3,000 times higher than permissible. The villages have been order to clean up by 2020.

Industry and Trade Minister Vu Huy Hoang said that to preserve traditional villages and contain pollution, the New Rural Development Programme would be implemented to upgrade environmental standards.    

Young Hanoi team tries to rescue dogs, cats

A group of young people in Hanoi has teamed up to rescue abandoned dogs and cats and find them new owners.

The team, operating out of a small room in Truong Dinh Street, Hai Ba Trung District, has attracted a large number of volunteers from across the city. Its activities are promoted on social media networks.

Over the past two years, acting on calls to its hotline, the team has saved thousands of cats and dogs. Sick or injured rescues are taken to veterinaries for treatment and, once healthy, become candidates for new owners.

Pham Khanh Quynh, the head of the team, said the main problem was that not many people know about the operation and members had to use their own money to pay vet bills, but as word spread, donations have helped offset the costs.

Quynh said volunteers worked under a lot of stress, having to deal with seriously ill dogs and cats, and animals that had been tortured by their owners. One volunteer had to watch as a litter of newborn cats was thrown from a second-storey window because the owner refused to surrender them.

The team is hoping that better awareness of dogs and cats as loving pets will reduce animal cruelty and demand for their service.

Dog meat is popular in Vietnam and dogs kept as pets are prone to being stolen and sold to restaurants specialising in the dish. Vietnam imports dog meat from Cambodia to meet the high demand.

BIDV supports shipbuilding for Quang Tri fishermen

The Quang Tri branch of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) signed a contract on April 23 to provide VND13.7 billion (US$652,000) for a local fisherman to build a steel coated boat for offshore fishing.

Doan Van Dung from Cua Viet town, Gio Linh district, is the first fisherman in Quang Tri to benefit from preferential loans in line with the Government’s Decree 67.

According to Director of BIDV Quang Tri Nguyen Sy Hong, the bank has taken the initiative to enable local ship owners and fishermen to access credit loans through simplified administrative procedures.

The bank has helped 10 fishermen complete loan procedures and 15 others are waiting for final decisions on design, cost and suitable manufacturing units for their ships.

The building of high-capacity, steel boats for deep sea fishing is one of the programmes introduced under Government Decree 67/2014/ND-CP with the aim of boosting the development of fisheries.

The move is expected to increase the tonnage of fish caught and lift the incomes of fishermen.

To be able to benefit from the programme, fishermen must be approved by the local People's Committees.

As many as 2,079 new off-shore fishing ships and 205 logistics ships will be built under this decree, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

‘The right to die’ should be included in Civil Code

The Civil Code should include “the right to die” to be applied to hopeless patients who wish to die gently to end their sufferings, a lawmaker has suggested.

Dr. Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the Legislation Department under the Ministry of Health, made the suggestion in a recent interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Patients who are suffering pain from an incurable disease while their families can longer afford treatment costs should be allowed to die in a smooth way of their choice, Dr. Quang said.

“The law has stipulated the right to live, so why cannot there be a regulation on the right to die?” Dr. Quang questioned.

Such a suggestion is not new, as some already said in 2005, when the Civil Code was being prepared, that there should be a right for those suffering from their incurable diseases to end their life smoothly.

They backed their argument with the right to live and the right to pursue happiness.  

Many others have also voiced their opinions that the right to die should be mentioned in the Civil Code, which is now being revised.

Regarding his recommendation, Dr. Quang said that there are indeed desperate patients who prefer to die so that they do not have to continue enduring pain.

“In such cases, the patients suffer from both physical and spiritual pains, so the issue here is whether they should be given the right to die or they should be left waiting for death in such pains,” Dr. Quang said.

When asked whether he expects that his suggestion will come as a shock to the public, as it is contrary to the right to live provided for in the Constitution, Dr. Quang answer this thorny issue often causes fierce and drastic debate in terms of morality and legality.

If the right to die is defined broadly as one for people to choose death as an end to any sufferings they are enduring, there may be circumstances in which some abuse this right by committing suicide to release themselves from what they do not want to face any more in their life.

The right to die should be considered a privilege only for hopeless patients who do not want to take their own life but prefer to die gently and peacefully, instead of continuing to live in prolonged pain, Dr. Quang said

Regarding who will make a decision on applying the right to die to hopeless patients, the patients themselves or their relatives, Dr. Quang said when such patients wish to use the right, then the relevant health facility will set up a council to consider their aspiration and health condition before deciding on whether or not, and how, that right will be applied to them.

“Their relatives should not be the decision-makers because if they should, ethic and legal issues related to their decision-making may arise,” Dr. Quang stressed.       

When asked whether his proposal will be approved, Dr. Quang said this right is currently ensured by several countries only, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Argentina.

“Even my proposal is not approved, it is still worth being discussed,” Dr. Quang said.   

“I am a lawmaker in the health sector, so I understand how much pain patients of incurable diseases suffer. I think after I announce the proposal, many experts will feel sympathy with me.”

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Tuoitre/Dantri