Party leader wishes Hanoi a successful New Year

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid a visit to the Party, government and people of Hanoi on January 28, the first day of the Lunar New Year, during which he wished the capital city success in completing all tasks of 2017.

The Party chief lauded the city’s achievements in the past year, noting that the capital is experiencing a flourishing period with high economic growth and improved infrastructure system as well as local’s living conditions.

With an area of 3,300 square kilometres and a population of about 9 million, last year, Hanoi reached a GDP growth of 8.2 percent and 186 trillion VND of budget collection or 110 percent of the estimate. As many as 66 percent of local rural communes were recognised as new-style rural areas.

The Party chief highlighted that there is room for the city to further grow, asking the locality to continue focusing on boosting economic development and fulfilling all socio-economic targets, thus assuring its important role as the major economic hub of the country.

At the same time, Hanoi should maintain and promote its cultural identity and unique characteristics, while boosting tourism and showing better performance in urban management as well as security and social order protection, he stressed.

The Party leader also underscored the need for the city to take pioneer role in the building of Party and political system as well as administrative reform.

On behalf of the city, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai pledged that Hanoi will exert every efforts to overcome all shortcomings and limitations to successfully fulfill all set targets, thus building an elegant, civilized and modern city.

The same day, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also offered incense to Kinh Ly Thai To at his statue in the Ly Thai To Garden, visited Ngoc Son Temple and King Le Thai To’s Monument in Nam Huong Temple historical relic site, and walked around the Hoan Kiem Lake.

Boat services to Ly Son island increased

The central provincial port authority of Quang Ngai has assigned nine passenger boats and 15 cargo ships to serve commuters and islanders traveling to Ly Son island ahead of Tet (lunar New Year).

Deputy director of the port authority, Le Van Luong, said the latest boat would leave Ky Ha port in Quang Ngai province for Ly Son island on January 27, and the augmented boat service would resume on January 29 (the second day of the new lunar year) and run until Februảy 8 as islanders travel back to the mainland after the Tet holidays.

On regular days, boats transport about 1,500 passengers four times daily between the island and Quang Ngai province.

Last summer, the island district added more high-speed boat trips to meet demand of people on vacation.

Last year, a Coast Guard ship was called to carry 660 people to their homes on the island on the eve of Tet due to high waves and strong winds.

Ly Son Island, 30kms off the Quang Ngai province coast, is home to about 21,000 residents. Most make their living fishing and farming garlic and spring onions.

The island is also a favourite destination during holidays, with 100,000 tourists visiting annually.

Khanh Hoa: New Year wish extended to residents, soldiers in Truong Sa

New Year wishes were sent to residents and soldiers in the Truong Sa (Spratly) island district via a live television programme organised by Khanh Hoa province authorities on January 24.

The event took place at the April 2 Square, Nha Trang city, Truong Sa town and Sinh Ton commune in Truong Sa island district.

Le Thanh Quang, Khanh Hoa province’s Party Committee Secretary, asked people and soldiers in Truong Sa town and Sinh Ton commune about their preparations for Tet.

Do The Tuyen, chairman of the Truong Sa town People’s Committee, said with investment from the Party, State, and the Vietnamese People’s Navy’s Regional Command, buildings like the cultural house, tradition house and parks have been built.

Half a month before, necessities for Tet like food, flower, pork, and beef were transported from the mainland to the islands while people on islands began decorating their houses for Tet.

Culture, art and sports programmes were practised to prepare for Tet performances.

Luong Quoc Anh, chairman of the Sinh Ton People’s Committee, said that his commune had received all necessities from the mainland.

Quang wished soldiers and people of Truong Sa town and Sinh Ton commune in Truong Sa district a warm, happy, safe Tet but urged them to remember their responsibility to protect the sea and islands.

Via live television broadcast, on behalf of people and soldiers in Truong Sa district, Tuyen and Anh wished people on the mainland a happy Tet.

EVN supplies electricity for over 9.2 million customers in the north

The Northern Power Corporation under the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN NPC) supplied electricity for over 9.2 million customers across 27 northern localities in 2016.

Chairman and General Director of the EVN NPC Thieu Kim Quynh said the group’s total commercial electricity output surpassed 51.1 billion kWh in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 14.12 percent, the highest level among five EVN corporations.

The rate of electricity loss last year was calculated at 6.09 percent, an annual decline of 0.59 percent, he said, adding that 98.6 percent of rural households were connected to the national grid.

At the end of 2016, three members of the EVN NPC, namely the northern electricity information-technology company, Thai Binh and Quang Ninh power companies, completed the building of the Balance Scorecard (BSC) and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to improve the operational efficiency.

In 2016, the EVN NPC fulfilled its labour productivity target of 2.9 million kWh per head, a yearly rise of 15.7 percent.

This year, the corporation strives to ensure safe and stable electricity for domestic customers.

Workers nationwide get free Tet treats

Disadvantaged workers at industrial zones nationwide are treated to entertainment activities and gifts from their companies and authorities to ease their loneliness when they are not able to reunite with families on the lunar New Year festival (Tet).

In Ho Chi Minh City, the management board of the local industrial zones held a worker festival at the Suoi Tien cultural tourism site on January 25 for more than 600 workers, who could not go home on Tet. 

The workers were given free tickets to the park, partied with municipal officials and each participant also received a gift worth 600,000 VND (26.5 USD).

Doan Thanh Phu, a worker from the southern province of Kien Giang who has been through many Tet holidays away from home, said events like this are meaningful to people like him, adding that assistance from the local authorities has encouraged workers to devote more energies to their work in the year ahead.

The trade union organisation in the Mekong Delta province of Long An also held similar events for poor workers. The provincial Labour Union said local public agencies and companies have so far channeled nearly 30 billion VND (1.3 million USD) into Tet bonuses for workers, of which 3 billion VND (132,810 USD) were spent on 7,000 free bus tickets.

Meanwhile, in the northern province of Hai Duong, companies and individuals have donated over 11 billion VND (486,970 USD) to support the local needy during Tet, with more than 20,000 gifts reaching the disadvantaged community.-

Cooperative groups connect fishermen at sea

Fishing and fishery logistics cooperative groups have proved to be effective, benefiting fishermen in Ganh Hao town of Dong Hai district, the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu.

The cooperative groups were set up in 2012 with a view to sharing experience, helping fishermen sell products, and minimising risks at sea.

Many fishermen said the cooperative groups have brought about practical benefits. Through the groups, they share information about fishing grounds, support their peers with fishing tools and fuel, and help one another avoid risks during long offshore trips, thereby raising productivity and ensuring stable income for group members like boat owners and the crew.

As a result, cooperative groups have attracted fishermen, boat owners, fishery logistics providers, and seafood buyers.

There are more than 60 fishing and fishery logistics cooperative groups in Dong Hai district at present.

Lam Van Luom resides in Ganh Hao town and has fished at sea for more than three decades. He said before joining the cooperative groups, fishermen like him had to work on their own and needed dozens of days to find fishing grounds. Their boats also quickly ran out of fuel and supplies after starting to fish, forcing them to return to the mainland.

Heading back to the mainland took much time and reduced profits, he said.

However, everything has changed since he became a member of a cooperative group, he said, adding that when one boat in the group detects fish, it will notify other vehicles in the same group. If it runs out of fuel, it will get help from other boats.

Luom said members of his group have done well and rarely suffered from losses like they did in the past.

Nguyen Truong Han, head of the agriculture and rural development division of Dong Hai district, said such cooperation models have developed strongly in Bac Lieu recently. It has encouraged fishermen to fish farther off the coast as they can deal with risks at sea together.

Alongside fishing cooperative groups, similar groups which provide fisheries logistics services and buy seafood at sea have also flourished.

Nguyen Dang Tuan, a fisherman in Ganh Hao town, said thanks to logistics cooperative groups, fishing boats don’t have to bring seafood back to the mainland anymore but can sell products at sea. Fuel, tools and basic supplies are also provided in fishing grounds thousands of nautical miles offshore where boats are working. That has cut costs and helped their fishing trips be uninterrupted.

According to the agriculture and rural development division of Dong Hai, cooperative groups in this district have attracted nine vehicles providing fisheries logistics services and purchasing seafood at sea. As a result, most of the haul has been sold offshore, thus slashing expenses and raising profits.

Lt. Col. Nguyen Van Binh, head of the border guard station of Ganh Hao town, said cooperative groups now not only help maximise economic benefits but also unite fishermen. As group members, they assist each other to avoid and cope with unexpected risks during fishing trips. Notably, with longer offshore trips, fishermen can also assist authorised agencies to protect the country’s marine sovereignty.

To improve the effectiveness of the cooperative group model, local authorities are going to create favourable policies to promote the foundation of more groups, according to Vice Chairman of the Dong Hai district People’s Committee Nguyen Xuan Thuy.

Once fishermen join in such groups and gain profits, they contribute to the wealth of not only their own families but also of the nation while playing an important role in safeguarding the Fatherland’s sacred sovereignty, he added.-

Vietnamese in Cambodia, Egypt celebrates traditional New Year

Vietnamese communities in Cambodia and Egypt are celebrating the traditional New Year, which falls on January 28.

Vietnam’s Embassy in Egypt on January 28 organised a gathering for Vietnamese in Egypt and northern African countries to celebrate the traditional New Year.

Speaking at the event, Vietnam’s Ambassador to Egypt Do Hoang Long reviewed key points in the Egypt-Vietnam relationship as well as the bilateral relationship in the past year.

He was pleased that Vietnamese in Egypt always assist each other and look forwards to the homeland.

In Cambodia, the Vietnamese community of around 700 households living in Tonle Sap, a seasonally inundated huge freshwater lake in Cambodia, celebrated the Lunar New Year in the traditional way.

2,300 workers out of a job when Tet is imminent

A Taiwanese firm operating in the northern province of Quảng Ninh recently made an unexpected announcement that it was shutting down, leaving nearly 2,300 workers out of a job just before Tết (Lunar New Year).

Trần Danh Chức, Chairman of the Quảng Ninh’s Labour Federation, confirmed the information to Thanh Niên newspaper (Youth).

Last week, Everbest Việt Nam Co. Ltd., an exports footwear manufacturer located in Cẩm Phả City’s Cẩm Sơn Ward, submitted documents to the Quảng Ninh People’s Committee announcing its decision to terminate investment and operations in the province, Chức said.

The reason cited was failing business – the company has not received enough orders to keep the manufacturing operations running.

Authorities in Quảng Ninh has met Everbest representatives to discuss the problems the company has faced and to ensure that the company fulfils all its obligations towards 2,300 workers under its employment.

The company has been asked to give workers all the benefits they are rightfully entitled to. Authorities have ordered the company to submit a detailed plan on realising this responsibility prior to February 15.

In the meantime, the company has to pay the full salary and remuneration packages for workers, including their Tết bonus (the 13th month salary), as well as bus tickets for going home.

The Quảng Ninh Labour Federation has contacted and referred these workers to other firms operating in the province that are in needs of labour.

Railway sector runs 2 hotlines during Tết

The Việt Nam Railway Authority has published two hotline numbers to receive complaints from passengers about railway traffic safety during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holidays.

People can call on the numbers 1676.623.357 and 1668.963.750 to register their complaints.

The railway authority has ordered Việt Nam Railways Corporation to run the two hotlines at every train station in the country.

The Tết holidays fall between January 26 and February 1.

Hải Phòng General Hospital project approved

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has approved investment undertaking for phase 2 of the project involving construction of the Hải Phòng General Hospital.

This phase will be executed using South Korea’s ODA loans.

The project is scheduled to be completed in four years, with total investment of US$104.8 million, of which 91 per cent, or some $95 million, comes from the Economic Development Co-operation Fund as South Korea’s representative aid fund via the Export-Import Bank of Korea as the credit agency.

The goal is to build a new and modern General Hospital in the northern city of Hải Phòng, which will be capable of providing high-quality medical services to the city’s citizens and people in the northern coastal region, helping to partly relieve the burden that is straining central-level hospitals in Hà Nội City.

Historian Lâm dies at 92

Professor Đinh Xuân Lâm, one of the country’s great historians, passed away in Hà Nội on Wednesday at the age of 92.

Lâm, former vice-president of the Việt Nam Association of Historical Sciences, was born on February 2, 1925, in Sơn Tân Village in the central Hà Tĩnh Province’s Hương Sơn District.

He was part of the famous quartet of historians in Việt Nam, including Phan Huy Lê, Hà Văn Tấn and Trần Quốc Vượng.

Lâm has published seven important research papers and authored 90 historical books and 370 articles.

His years of tireless teaching and research and his huge contribution to the country earned the professor honours and awards from the Party and the State, including the Labour Medal, first class, Independence Medal, third class, and the title of People’s Teacher.

Illegal coal mining threatens hundreds of households in Quang Ninh

Life of more than 1,000 families in Cao Xanh Ward in Ha Long City are being threatened by illegal coal mining which has destroyed their houses.

Thousands of residents in Doi Che Town have been living in broken houses besides large deadly holes for the past six years caused by illegal mining activities.

According to local people, the holes appeared in June 2011 and the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) was then tasked with fixing them. However, nothing has been done to provide support to local people. 

The house of Tran Duc Gioi has walls that are broken in several places but his family still have to live in with fear.

Although Quang Ninh Province has approved several infrastructure projects in the area, they are still waiting for the Vinacomin to fill all the deadly sinkholes. Meanwhile, a representative from the Vinacomin said that they did not have enough money for the work. 

Another local man, Phan Mau Khoa does not dare to move in his newly-built house due to the many cracks.

According to the Quang Ninh Province People's Committee, they have spent some VND100 billion to help evacuate 104 families whose houses were heavily damaged. There are now nearly 1,000 still living in danger.

Many houses have been abandoned.

The committee's vice chairman, Dang Huy Hau said that they will try to remove the rest soon following a recent instruction from Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai.

Disadvantaged communes get support

The Prime Minister has approved a list of 291 underprivileged communes in coastal, sea and island areas to receive investment support as part of a national target programme on sustainable poverty reduction between 2016 and 2020.

The communes are located across 23 provinces nationwide, including Thanh Hoa, Ben Tre, Ha Tinh, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Soc Trang, Nghe An, Quang Binh and Kien Giang.

Under the programme, Vietnam aims to reduce the rate of poor households by 1-1.5% each year.

The programme will also seek to improve livelihoods and increase per capita income of people living under the poverty line by 1.5 times compared to the end of 2015. 

Investment will be poured into socio-economic infrastructure in poor areas so that 80-90% of communes nationwide have concrete roads accessible by cars, 60-70% meet national standards on healthcare and 100% have schools from kindergarten to high school levels.

The programme will also provide vocational training and job education for 20,000 workers from poor or ethnic minority backgrounds.

Tây Ninh acts to prevent bird flu outbreak

Tây Ninh Province has directed all local authorities of its border districts to take immediate steps to prevent the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu and foot and mouth disease from Cambodia.

Nguyễn Văn Mấy, director of the southern province’s Veterinary Department, said Cambodia had reported an outbreak of bird flu among its backyard poultry in the south-eastern part of the country.

The virus was detected in chickens in Cambodia’s Svay Rieng region last week. At least 68 birds had died and another 322 had been culled, the Cambodian farm ministry said in a statement posted on the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) website on Tuesday.

Tây Ninh’s Veterinary Department has asked district authorities and officials at border stations to strengthen inspection and prevent traders and residents from getting poultry and cattle into Việt Nam from Cambodia. They have also been instructed to spray chemicals and disinfect vehicles coming from the infected regions.

All livestock and poultry farms as well as households have been ordered to vaccinate their cattle and poultry, spray chemicals regularly and clean their breeding facilities to prevent an outbreak.

The department has also asked province to urgently provide funds for vaccination in five districts in the province.

New projects in 2017 to supply power to Hà Nội

The Northern Việt Nam Power Projects Management Board (NPMB) said it will start work of 15 power projects in 2017 to ensure power supply stability and prevent overloaded power transmissions to Hà Nội and industrial zones in the region.

The overall cost is estimated at about VNĐ3.3 trillion (US$146.2 million).

Although Việt Nam has made remarkable progress in its power sector over the last two decades--with the percentage of households without electricity decreasing from 50 per cent in 1995 to 2 per cent in 2014--the distribution of electricity is still uneven among regions. In regions with high power demand like the North or the South, overloading still occurs at some parts of the power grid.

This year includes some important projects, such as West Hà Nội – Thường Tín 500kilovolt power transmission line, Nho Quan – Phủ Lý – Thường Tín 500/220kV transmission line and the 220kV transformer station Thanh Nghị, which will connect local power grid to the national one.

In 2017, the NPMB will also complete and bring into operation 24 other projects to supplement electricity in Hà Nội and neighbouring provinces.

NPMB director Phan Lương Thiện said land clearance is considered crucial to implement the projects this year, as the issue have always been a major obstacle.

He said the projects will mostly be executed in Hà Nội and the Nothern Delta, where land price tends to fluctuate and planning of localities is often adjusted.

Debating land price has caused land clearance delays, while defining land origins, owners, boundaries have also caused a lot of difficulties, Thiện said.

There remain gaps between Government and local compensation policies, which make it very time-consuming to explain to local people and address their demands, Thiện added.

Due to land clearance problems, all the scheduled projects were late in handing over land for construction work in 2016.

To ensure completion of the projects within this year, NPMB will proactively co-operate with local authorities to be updated about the problems and frequently assess the development of projects to find timely solutions once problems arise, Thiện said.

Quảng Ninh okays sand exploitation for aquaculture

Quảng Ninh Province will allow Vân Đồn Island District to resume its exploitation of sand mixed with pieces of coral and oysters, to serve the needs of local aquaculture farmers.

Early last year, the northern province’s people’s committee had tightened control over mineral resources, including sand, and had banned the exploitation of sand mixed with pieces of coral and oysters for aquaculture.

Soon after, the sand became scarce, and since then farmers have been struggling to procure sand for aquaculture, especially for breeding bivalve species such as clam and oysters. More than 500 households in the district said they had been affected by the sand shortage.

Nguyễn Thị Bảy, a farmer from Ngọc Vừng Island Commune, said the price of 140 cubic metre vessel of sand jumped up from VNĐ14 million (US$622) to VNĐ16 million ($711). There was also not enough sand to meet the demand.

The Vân Đồn Island District authority had reported the situation to the provincial authority, and now received permission to resume exploitation.

Farmers from Vân Đồn Island District will be allowed to do sand exploitation in a five-hectare area in Vạn Yên Commune’s Tây Bắc Hòn Chín and can extract a maximum of 142,000 cubic metres of sand. Quang Minh Co. Ltd. will be assigned to collect sand this year.

The provincial people’s committee has said that the district would not permit sand exploitation for trading.   

The provincial natural resources and environment department will be in charge of inspecting the sand exploitation activities and taking appropriate steps for environmental protection and security.

Đồng Nai to build houses for low-income groups

The southern province of Đồng Nai will build 20,000 houses from now until 2030 to meet the accommodation needs of workers, students and people with low incomes.

As per the plan approved by the province’s People’s Committee, 17,815 houses will be constructed for workers and people with low incomes, while 2,185 hostel rooms will be built for students.

The project will cost around VNĐ12.2 trillion (US$542.2 million), the funds for which will come from the province’s budget and investors.

Currently, 45 social housing projects are being implemented in Đồng Nai, according to the provincial people’s committee. While construction has started in six projects, the remaining are submitting documents for approvals or waiting for approval from investors.

The southern province is also building a bus route to connect industrial zones with social housing areas and workers’ boarding houses. The bus timings will be planned to suit the workers’ work hours.

The province is also laying down policies that encourage businesses themselves to construct houses for their workers.

By the end of 2016, the province had built 556 social houses, and in 2017, Đồng Nai is expected to build 901 houses. Around 1,333 houses will be constructed in 2018, 4,629 in 2019 and 12,581 in 2020.

Report hails Tây Nguyên’s neighbour districts development

Twenty-nine mountainous districts bordering Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) have reportedly achieved progress in social and economic development throughout 2016.

These districts have developed especially in terms of infrastructure construction and production, contributing to raising the living standards of local ethnic groups.

Currently, there are 29 mountainous districts of Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định and Phú Yên, as well as Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận and Bình Phước provinces bordering Tây Nguyên.

The districts cover a total natural area of 2.3 million hectares, with 1.4 million people, including 317 commune-level administrative units and nearly 1,900 villages and hamlets, which include 1,236 villages and hamlets of ethnic groups.

According to a recent report of the Tây Nguyên Steering Committee, in 2016, the districts focused on planning, using land to its potential, converting plant structure and bringing technological advances to production to increase crop yield in areas with ethnic groups.

Many districts in localities bordering Tây Nguyên areas of Khánh Hòa, Bình Phước and Phú Yên strengthened agricultural and forestry extension systems, using high yield seeds and good quality breeds in cultivation and animal husbandry to raise people’s income.

In 2016, despite unfavourable weather, the value of agricultural production in the districts bordering Tây Nguyên area was up 7.7 per cent compared with 2015. Some key crops such as rice, maize, cassava, and coffee, as well as pepper, rubber, cashew all increased, with over 71,000ha of rice, producing an average yield of 3.5 tonnes of paddy per hectare; over 116,800ha of cashew; nearly 12,000ha of coffee; and more than 41,300ha of rubber.

Last year witnessed an investment into husbandry in these districts with 1.4 million cattle.

In 2016, the districts invested in building 276 rural road projects, irrigation works, national power grid and water supply facilities. Currently, up to 94 per cent of villages and hamlets have access to the national power grid. Of these, districts in Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa have had all connected to power grid.

Over 96 per cent of communal medical stations in the districts have doctors. The whole region has created jobs for 56,000 workers and provided vocational training to 35,000 people.

Thanks to the positive measures, in 2016, the average income capita reached VNĐ17.6 million (over US$780), an increase of 9.5 per cent compared with 2015, while the poverty rate decreased on average 3.8 per cent per year.

However, according to the Tây Nguyên Steering Committee, the districts’ production has yet to match the potential. Forestry is strong but still underdeveloped. Poverty reduction still faces difficulties and is unstable.

The committee recommended the government and the prime minister allow districts to apply all special mechanisms and policies such as in the Central Highlands.

At the same time, the State was asked to have special preferential policies to encourage organisations and individuals to invest in the development of production, business and services.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is collaborating with other ministries, sectors and provincial people’s committees in the region to build a master plan for the investment and development of agricultural production and forestry and to implement policies to encourage forest protection and development in association with the processing industry and product sales, the Tây Nguyên Steering Committee said.

Cultural custom forces Mông girls into child marriage

The Mông ethnicity’s cultural view of marriage is driving young girls out of school and into early marriage in the central province of Nghệ An.

Merely a month after school opened again following the summer break, four ninth graders of the Mường Lống Ethnic Minority Boarding School in Kỳ Sơn District informed their homeroom teacher that they would drop out of school to get married. Three girls tied the knot in October while another wedded a few days after the school-opening ceremony.

The class’ homeroom teacher Vi Thị Sầm said that she was no longer surprised to see her teenage Mông students quit school and get married so young.

Poor, ethnic students dropped out for many reasons, she said, but the teachers and the school always tried to persuade them to study.

“But girls who stopped going to school to get married, in particular, are the hardest to talk out of the decision,” Sầm said.

Efforts by the Mường Lống school to protect their students from child marriage achieved little, even when they resorted to forcing the students to swear not to get married before finishing 12th grade. Most girls don’t dare to swear, or they only promised the teachers that they would not marry before finishing ninth grade.

Child marriage is common among Mông ethnicity people as they believe the ages of 13 or 14 are ready for marriage and starting a family. Older girls, aged 16 or 18, will be dubbed “leftovers” by her own village and family if no boys ask for her hand.

The custom, against the law in Việt Nam which allows marriage from the age of 18, forced several children to drop out of school to get married illegally. Across the mountainous Kỳ Sơn District where a majority of Mông people reside, early marriage was a common reason for dropping out of secondary school in Huồi Tụ, Mỹ Lý, Na Ngoi and Mường Lống communes.

Mường Lống People’s Committee Vice Chairman Và Chá Xà said that the rate of child marriage in the commune ranged from five to 10 per cent and showed little signs of decreasing.

“Life post-marriage of most of the newly-weds is difficult as they don’t know how to take care of themselves, let alone a family,” he said.

Highlands transport set for upgrade

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) plans to raise US$153.8 million over the next five years for a transportation upgrade project in the Central Highlands over the next five years.

National Route No 19 will be the beneficiary of this project, mainly funded by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) loans ($150 million). The remaining $3.8 million will be provided by the State in counterpart funding.

Project preparations, already underway since last June, will continue until February 2019, and implementation will run from February 2019 to June 2022.

The project will complete the upgrade of 142km of National Route No 19, including: 16km (from Km51+152 to Km67) through Bình Định Province; 23km (from Km67 to Km90) through Gia Lai Province; 36km from Km131+300 to Km167, and 67km from Km180 to Km247. It will also construct two bypass routes 13.7km and 13-21km long in Gia Lai’s An Khê and Pleiku cities respectively.

The project is expected to help strengthen Việt Nam’s road links with neighbouring countries, considerably boost connectivity – transportation and logistics services – along the East-West corridor, from Central Highlands to central coastal provinces; and build a traffic safety corridor on National Highway 19, meeting international traffic safety standards.

Despite its importance, the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) had in 2012 rated National Route No 19, originally built during the French colonisation, at 1-2 stars – putting it in the high-risk category. Among the reasons cited for the low safety rating were insufficient width and low traffic safety awareness among ethnic minority groups.

WB advisors then proposed that this route be included in the Road Safety Project that the bank was funding. It was the main route connecting the Central Highlands region with National Route No 1 and international seaports, the advisors argued.

Measures have since been proposed to elevate the route’s safety status to at least 3 stars. However, since the Road Safety Project would soon come to an end, this proposal was shelved.

Two years later, in 2014, National Route No 19 once again was put back on the table, this time by then Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, at a conference on sustainable development in the central coastal region.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Ministry of Investment and Planning and the World Bank. The World Bank had expressed its approval of the proposal on National Route No 19.

At the transport ministry’s request, the bank’s pre-feasibility study team visited Việt Nam, conducted field trips and met with local authorities in Bình Định and Gia Lai provinces. The team concluded that the project was feasible and necessary.

Deputy PM Phạm Bình Minh, in approving the MoT’s project proposal, has asked that the use of loans for land clearance be thoroughly deliberated and decided by the Prime Minister.

President Tran Dai Quang extends Lunar New Year greetings

President Tran Dai Quang has sent best wishes to people in Vietnam and around the world on the occasion of the Year of the Rooster.

In his New Year letter, the President, on behalf of the Party and the State, offered the best wishes to Vietnamese people, both at home and abroad, and wished people around the world a new year of peace, happiness and prosperity.

He wrote that the entire nation of Vietnam made efforts to overcome numerous difficulties and challenges in 2016, harvesting important achievements in various spheres.

He called on each Vietnamese people to bring into full play patriotism, traditions, self-reliance, solidarity and creativeness to successfully realise the Resolution of the 12th National Party Congress, thereby opening up a new phase of development in which the country will be affluent and everyone will be happy.

With the confidence in the strength and the bright future of the nation, Vietnamese people are determined to gain even greater victories in the cause of reforms, protecting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and building Vietnam into a strong and wealthy country that is comparable to other nations around the globe, he stressed.

“With the consensus of the entire nation, we will definitely be successful!”, President Quang wrote.

President Tran Dai Quang visits on-duty forces on Eve night

President Tran Dai Quang on January 27 visited and extended New Year wishes to forces who were on duty on the Eve night of the Year of the Rooster.

Via live television, the President were briefed on security in Lai Chau, Gia Lai and Kien Giang provinces, HCM City and Hanoi.

The localities said that they dispatched thousands of security employees to ensure security and order and safety, including in remote areas, during the New Year days.

President Quang highly appreciated the sense of responsibility of the security force on duty and recommended them to have effective plans to handle emergencies.

Visiting and extending New Year wishes to the Party, authorities and people of Hanoi, he congratulated the Party, authorities and people of Hanoi on their achievements over the past year.

The President also visited Saint Paul Hospital and praised efforts and results the hospital’s staff have made in the last year, while presenting gifts to patients who were being treated in the hospital.

President Quang met environmental workers who were on duty at the Lenin square in Dien Bien Phu street and the police of Ly Thai To ward, Hoan Kiem district who were on duty in Dinh Tien Hoang street.

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