Minority collective inspires Bac Kan province

A farm half way up a mountain is used by a group of Tay ethnic people to grow vegetables and raise fish, cattle and poultry communally.

The farm is in tiny Ban Nghe Hamlet with 68 households in northern Bac Kan province where most farming is still done on a house-by-house basis. The Tay people in this mountainous poor hamlet traditionally grow rice, maize, soya beans and cassava.

The idea of forming a communal farm was decided on by seven men, who each contributed their cultivated land to work together.

"Initially, people from the seven households planted rice and raised cattle and poultry together because our land is side by side," said Ma Van Nam, leader of the team.

"The cultivated land here is rich, but Tay people usually produce only one crop a year. However, local people had begun to demand fresh vegetables, so we planted some. The rest was a pleasant surprise," Nam said.

The vegetables grew fast and sold well. Market gardens created much higher incomes than planting rice.

Early last year, the seven households decided to mortgage their land to expand their business.

With 80 million VND (roughly 3,700 USD), they set up a farm to grow vegetables, raise fish, cattle and poultry.

Luong Van Hung, the hamlet head and a member of the farm, said the idea of mortgaging land doing cultivation together was really new for his people.

"Doing a collective economic model was very strange. Many people thought that we were insane when we decided to take the risk of growing vegetables," Hung added.

The group members quickly found out that to operate the farm professionally, they had to learn growing techniques as well as accounting and marketing.

Thanks to applying these techniques to production, the 21ha-farm supplies vegetables, fish and meat for the whole district and neighbouring areas.

Their farm provides a stable income of about 80 million VND (3,700 USD) a year for each household.

"At present, many other households would like to join us, but they hesitate", said Hung.

Along with growing vegetable, breeding fishes, cattle and poultry, the farmers also have 16ha of commercial timber trees. The area of forest also has high promise.

At present, the farm creates jobs for 14 regular workers with monthly income of 2 million VND (100 USD).

Establishment of the farm not only creates stable jobs and income, it supplies safe vegetable and foods and also helps local people change their ways of thinking.

One of the difficulties for the farm group is transport, which can be costly, so there is talk of building a road from the hamlet to the farm.

The economic model helps spread advanced technology and plant and animal diversification throughout the region, contributing to hunger and poverty reduction.

The local authority has taken notice and said it intends to expand the model throughout the province.

Central Highlands coffee threatened by draught

Tens of thousands of hectares of coffee in the Central Highlands are facing water shortage, potentially costing growers heavily, according to the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands Region.

Currently, only 19.3 percent of coffee farms in the region are being watered by local irrigation works and the remaining 80.7 percent depend largely on rivers and streams, which dried up in the current drought, the committee noted.

As of April 24, nearly 40,000 hectares of coffee in Dak Lak province, a key coffee cultivation area of the country, have been affected.

Climate change, coupled with dwindling forest areas and unsustainable exploitation of water resources, are attributable to the serious decrease in water sources in the region.

In this context, the Steering Committee for Central Highlands Region advised regional localities not to expand coffee farms and shift to cultivate other types of plants with drought-tolerant features.

Regional localities are home to 2,354 irrigation works, including 1,190 reservoirs, 972 dams and 130 water stations, supplying water to 202,166 crop-farming hectares.

Under a master irrigation plan for the region until 2020, they will invest 58 trillion VND (2.76 billion USD) in upgrading and repairing 756 irrigation works and building 1,614 new ones.

The effort aims to raise farming areas being watered to nearly 540,000 hectares and coffee areas benefited to 51.28 percent.

Central Highlands localities currently cultivate more than 573,400 hectares of coffee, with Dak Lak having the largest area of 204,400 hectares, followed by Lam Dong with 157,307 hectares and Dak Nong, 118, 469 hectares.

Job training helps thousands

Vocational training for rural workers in greater Hanoi 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 percent 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 percent 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 percent 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 percent of them jobs.

To implement the programme, the city will spend 65 billion USD (about 3 million USD ) on the activity from the municipal budget for the period.

Pilot babysitting project funded by state budget achieves good results

For the current academic year, Ho Chi Minh City has carried out a pilot kindergarten project to take care of 6-month old to 12-month old kids in districts 7, 12, Binh Tan, Tan Phu, Thu Duc, Cu Chi, Nha Be and Binh Chanh. Each district has one or two state kindergartens for babies.

As per the municipal People’s Committee’s plan, next year the project will be conducted in remaining districts including districts 9, 11, Go Vap and Tan Binh. All districts are ready for the project.

Head of Bureau of Education and Training in Go Vap District Dang Thanh Tuan said that his district has piloted the project with one preschool Hoa Phuong Do in Ward 6 which taken care of  35 babies and next year the district will have one more in Ward 11.

Bureau’ deputy chief Bui Thi Minh Nguyen said that the district would give priority to children whose parents are government workers, soldiers or children from low-income families and currently preparation for the pilot project has been ready.

Go Vap District has also planned to open two preschools which keep 13 month old to 18 month old in Anh Dao Preschool in Ward 17 and Hong Nhung Preschool in Ward 4.

Deputy head of the Bureau of Education and Training in Tan Binh District Pham Thi Phuoc said that for the academic year, the district would take care of kids in three preschools which have had good facilities.

The preschools are scheduling to look after total  100 kids including 40 kids in the age of 6 month old to 12 month old and 60 babies from 13 to 18 month old.

District 11 has planned to receive 40 neonates for the next academic year and People’s Committee in district 9 has announced to build 6 new rooms in Truong Thanh Preschool to receive kids and spend more than VND500 million (US$ 23,191) on facilities.

As the demand of sending babies to preschools increased, management boards have to refuse many cases.

After one year implementation, parents have showed their trust to the pilot project. Yet, to achieve long-term success, city authorities should pay more attention to the project. One of urgent matter is to recruit more teachers for these preschools.

HCMC leads southern region in science & technology field

The Ministry of Science and Technology collaborated with the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City yesterday held an event titled “The southern region’s science and technology sector celebrates the 40th anniversary of southern liberation and national reunification day”.

Hundreds of products and outstanding achievements in the field of science and technology at the southern region in the 1975-2015 period were showcased at the event, aiming to review the scientific and technological development in Ho Chi Minh City and the Southern region’s provinces.

At the ceremony, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City and the southeastern region led the nation in high technology development. Meanwhile, Mekong Delta is known as the country's biggest farming and aquatic production in the country, which contributed to ensure the global food security.

Council deputies: Annual water price rise of 10.5% high

Many deputies of the HCMC People's Council have expressed concern over a proposal by Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) to increase the average running water price by 10.5% a year from now to 2019, saying it is way too high.

Apart from water bills, city residents are struggling with higher prices of food, electricity and fuels, the deputies told a meeting held yesterday for representatives of agencies and Sawaco to discuss a roadmap on water price rises in the 2015-2019 period.

As the proposed water price spike is too strong, the deputies requested a reconsideration of the roadmap.

As proposed by Sawaco, the average water price would be adjusted up from VND5,300 (nearly 25 U.S. cents) a cubic meter to VND7,900 in 2019, excluding tax and fee.

The State utility explained that the upward adjustment was needed to raise funds for improving the city’s supply capacity as investments make up 72% of the cost of clean water production in the next five years.

Water treatment plants in HCMC are expected to supply around 3.7 million cubic meters of clean water for local residents a day by 2025, or 2.2 times higher than the current output.

Some new water plants will be up and running in the coming time, including Thu Duc 3 and Tan Hiep 2 with each having a daily capacity of 300,000 cubic meters. More than 1,600 kilometers of water pipeline will also be built.

“The city’s water sector will need a hefty VND68 trillion for investment,” Bach Vu Hai, deputy general director of Sawaco, told the meeting.

The corporation said the water price increase proposal was based on the average annual rise of 21.6% in per capita income in HCMC in the 2006-2012 period. Therefore, the price hike of 10.5% per year between now and 2019 is not significant.

However, many deputies frowned on Sawaco’s explanation, saying there are problems for the water sector to solve.

Deputy Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh said the water loss ratio in the city remains high, at over 33%, while more than 300,000 households in 46 communes have not got access to clean water.

Hanh underscored the need to revise up water prices to raise more capital for new water projects but said the annual rise of 10.5% would have a domino effect on prices of other products and services. Therefore, she called for the city government to carefully weigh the proposal.

Deputy Tran Huu Tri shared Hanh’s view, saying that the cost of living is already high but power and gasoline prices edged up recently.

Deputy Tran Van Thien asked Sawaco to clarify how the firm would use the additional revenue from the water price increase before the proposal is approved.

Earlier, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in HCMC wrote to the city government asking for a water price spike that would be acceptable for enterprises and citizens amidst the ongoing tough economic conditions.

HCM City: Locals cheer up with improved urban environment

In response to increasing population, Ho Chi Minh City authorities have spared no effort in lightening the public mood with improved living standards and urban scenery.

As more and more residents settle in the southern hub, particularly workers and students, there has been a surging demand for affordable accommodation.

Between 2011 and 2014, 6,000 apartments from 20 social housing projects across the city became available. In 2015, another 3,500 apartments will enter the market.

HCM City has provided 12,800 low-priced rental houses for workers inside industrial parks since 2011 and targets to offer another 25,000 this year.

Meanwhile, local resettlement programmes have been actively launched to help resettled households for the sake of infrastructure construction to normalise as soon as possible.

As an integral part of the hub, modern homes like the Phu My Hung urban area are rapidly expanding.

By 2020, the city plans to upgrade 47 apartment blocks that currently accommodate 5,200 families; build 50,000 dormitories, 100,000 rental houses for workers and 10,000 social housing projects; and resettle 7,000 households.

The Tan Hoa-Lo Gom and Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canals—once riddled with murky water, rampant garbage, and a foul odour—are now immaculate and green.

The long-pressing issue of slums encroaching on the sides of canals has been addressed effectively with 11,000 of 15,000 households from the disadvantaged locations relocated by the end of 2014.

Expanded Immunisation Programme contributes to children health care

The Expanded Immunisation Programme in Vietnam, which was launched in 1985, has helped prevent between 2-3 million deaths each year from dangerous communicable diseases, said the programme’s Director Prof. Dr Nguyen Tran Hien.

He said hundreds of millions of children across the country have received free vaccines against tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, Japanese encephalitis and hepatitis B through large-scale national vaccine programmes over the past 30 years.

Last year, Vietnam had remained poliomyelitis- and tetanus-free for 14 and 9 years, respectively, despite the continued threat of wild poliovirus import from other places in South Asia and Africa, such as Pakistan , Afghanistan , Somalia , Nigeria .

Prof. Dr Nguyen Tran Hien reported that around 50 million vaccination doses were administered safely last year under the free immunisation programmes at more than 11,100 communes and wards nationwide. At the same time, Vietnam has been able to produce 10 out of 12 types of vaccines used for the programme.

WHO experts recently announced that the Vietnamese vaccine safety surveillance programme meets WHO requirements, evidence of the quality of domestic vaccines and creating opportunities for export, he affirmed.

Professor Dr Dang Duc Anh, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology under the Ministry of Health under the Ministry of Health (MoH) affirmed that vaccines are safe and effective in protecting infants and children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

According to the Institute, the global goals to eliminate infectious diseases include eliminating poliomyelitis by 2018, measles by 2020 and bringing the hepatitis B-infection rate in under-five children to below one percent in the West Pacific Ocean Region by 2017.

Meanwhile, Director of the Ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine Tran Dac Phu said the expanded immunisation programme is facing some major challenges, including the high risk of diseases entering Vietnam, a shortage of budget and service quality in remote areas.

Farmers learn how to tell real fertilisers

A programme to help farmers distinguish genuine products from fake, copycat and substandard ones is rolling out across the country. Fertiliser makers interviewed by danviet.vn contributed their ideas on how to make it work.

Workers wrap fertiliser at the PetroVietnam's Ca Mau Fertiliser Joint-stock Company. A programme to help farmers distinguish genuine fertilisers from substandard ones has begun.

The Programme for Coordinated Monitoring of Law Compliance in Production and Trade of Agricultural Material Inputs 2014 – 2020, was instituted in order to supervise the use of fertilisers, plant protection chemicals, veterinary medicines, feed, plant seeds and seedlings.

Initiated on July 17, 2014 (thus referred to as Programme 17) jointly by the Viet Nam Farmers' Union, Viet Nam Fatherland Front, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade, has seen 35 provinces sign up for the programme so far.

Nguyen Hac Thuy, vice president of Viet Nam Fertiliser Association, said he was very supportive of the programme because fake and copycat fertilisers had become a mounting challenge. Estimated damages were annually around US$2 billion in recent years.

Le Xuan Cuong, director of Cuong Lien Agricultural Materials Co., Ltd in Thai Binh Province, also supports the programme but worries about whether monitoring would be strict and fair. He claimed that some cooperatives and socio-political organisations are involved in making fertilisers but had come under less inspection and audits than other businesses.

Cuong suggested that those businesses found to comply with the law should be promoted in social media so that customers can, "find their way to them".

Pham Manh Ninh, CEO of the Ninh Binh Phosphorous Fertiliser Company in Ninh Binh Province, recommended that producers of fake and substandard products should be named publicly and punished.

He claimed that the local government's management of fertilisers was being "localised," which he explained meant that local producers and sellers of fertilisers were invariably given priority over those moving into a locality for new business.

He also said that the process of taking samples for testing was discriminatory and failed to reflect true product quality. He proposed a bonus and punishment scheme for people in charge of checking fertilisers – a bonus to those who discover fake or copycat goods and punishment for those who fail to report violations.

Another fertiliser maker, Hoang Van Tai, CEO of Van Dien Fused Magnesium Phosphate Company (VAFCO), said that a legal framework and a good method for monitoring would be found in the details. The programme should not only cover licensing procedures and production of fertilisers, but also the inspectors and the people who create and revise the legal framework.

Tai added that the job of monitoring should be given to people who are professional, unbiased and truly capable of performing the job.

Vu Xuan Hong, deputy general director of Lam Thao Fertilisers and Chemicals JSC, suggested that businesses cooperate with authorised agencies to work out measures to protect their trademarks. He also suggested that regularly organised workshops and meetings involve farmers to educate them on how to recognise genuine products and avoid fake, copycat or substandard ones.

There are currently about 500 producers of fertilisers producing over 8 million tonnes of fertilisers a year.

Last year, MARD reported that the country's demand for fertilisers was 11 tonnes.

HCM City expands health care network

Thanh An is the only island commune in Ho Chi Minh City, where boats are the only means of transport to the mainland, but local residents say they feel secure about health care service at the island’s medical station.

Tran Thanh Phong, a patient of chronic kidney failure, said he receives regular health checks at the medical station, where there is sufficient equipment and dedicated doctors. The doctors are ready to go to his home whenever he feels so ill to go by himself, Phong said.

The district hospital in the coastal district of Can Gio used to have no paediatric department, but since 2013, doctors from Nhi Dong 2 Hospital have been sent here to work. Each day the hospital gives health checks and treatment to nearly 100 child patients.

The changes in Thanh An Commune and Can Gio District are examples of the transformation in the health care sector in Ho Chi Minh City, which has expanded from just 20 hospitals in 1975 to 107 at present. All communes and wards have medical stations, with at least one doctor for each medical station at communal level. The city now has an average 14.5 doctors and 33.7 nurses for every 10,000 people, higher than the national average.

Besides expanding the network of health care facilities, HCM City has made great strides forward in developing high-tech medical treatment.

The successful operation to separate conjoined twins Viet and Duc in October 1988 marked a breakthrough in the city’s health care development. Ten years later, on April 30, 1998, the Tu Du Hospital delivered the first three test-tube babies in Vietnam, paving the way for infertility treatment in the country.

Hi-tech medical treatment has developed at high speed during the past decades, with many city hospitals capable of performing advanced techniques in bio-technology, organ transplant, endoscopy and interventional treatment of cardio-vascular diseases.

Looking forward, the city will continue to build a professional and modern health care network, ensuring initial health care for all people while enhancing access to quality medical services, contributing to economic growth and sustainable development.-

Last elephants dying due to poaching, deforestation

The death of a young elephant in the Central Highlands on March 24 became the latest blow to the shrinking elephant population in Vietnam, which has been pushed to the verge of extinction recently.

The animal, weighing about 100 kg (220 lb), was found dead with a large loss of skin, damaged toes and no tail.

A few weeks earlier, conservationists rescued a 550-kg elephant with serious injuries caused by poachers' traps.

Scientist Nguyen Xuan Dang, deputy chair of the science council of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, said that virtually all elephant deaths in Vietnam have been linked to humans, including many cases of poaching and deforestation.

Experts have called for more actions to protect the population of Asian elephants in Vietnam, which faces serious extinction threats.

According to the conservation group WWF Vietnam, five elephants died in Dak Lak Province in the first four months this year, including four domestic and one wild elephant, due to lack of food, human attacks and old age.

According to a WWF report, the number of wild elephants in Vietnam has fallen from 2,000 in the 1980s to around 100 recently.

Home to one of the largest elephant herds, Dak Lak Province's forests used to be inhabited by more than 550 wild elephants in 1980. However, the number has significantly shrunk to five herds with a total of 60-65 individuals. Some 20 wild elephants have died since 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic elephants in the province has also reduced from 502 individuals in 1980 to only 43.

Elephants in Vietnam have been killed for their tusks, skin, toes and tail hair, mostly for decoration and unjustified beliefs of good luck.

Conservationists have attributed the shrinking wild elephant population to poaching and deforestation. Domestic elephants, on the other hand, often died due to exhaustion after serving tourists and hunger.

Van Ngoc Thinh, director of WWF Vietnam, said that Vietnam should learn from the extinction of rhinos and tigers and take emergency action to rescue wild elephants.

“Scientists officially declared the extinction of rhinos in Vietnam in 2010. There have been no traces of wild tigers in the country for a decade,” he told a conference held in Hanoi on April 24 by the Vietnam Forestry Department and WWF Vietnam.

Scientist Dang said the population of about 100 wild elephants in Vietnam are spreading in eight provinces.

“Some herds are small with only one to five individuals and they will likely die due to reproduction difficulties caused by inappropriate age and gender structure, except for the herds in Dak Lak, Dong Nai and Nghe An.”

Conservationists have recorded elephant herds with 10 individuals in Nghe An’s Pu Mat National Park, 11 in Dong Nai’s Cat Tien National Park and around 60 in Dak Lak’s Yok Don - Ea Sup National Park.

“But the habitat for elephants in these provinces has turned worse due to deforestation. There's not enough food and water for them,” Dang said.

“In some places, forests have been cleared for cultivation of plants, which then creates more encounters between human and elephants.”

Dang said the number of conflicts between humans and elephants has risen significantly the past 10 years, resulting in deaths on both sides.

“Personally, I think almost all elephant deaths in Vietnam have been caused by humans.”

Prompted by elephant extinction threats, Dak Lak authorities formed the Elephant Conservation Center in 2011 and approved an “Emergency Project for Elephant Conservation” in 2013.

The VND85 billion (US$3.9 million) project, to be carried out until 2020, aims at sustainable management of both wild and domestic elephants, preventing elephant-human conflicts and stepping up anti-poaching activities.

However, the “emergency” project has been carried out at a slow pace due to multiple difficulties.

Regarding the population of domestic elephants, Nguyen Van Lang, deputy director of the Elephant Conservation Center, said most elephants belong to local residents who decide how they want to treat the animals. There's little that can be done when an elephant is overworked, he said.

“All we could do was to offer them training courses on taking care of the elephants and give them medicine,” he said.

Other difficulties include slow disbursement of funding and insufficient staffing, Lang said.

Early this year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment provided VND10 billion and Dak Lak authorities allocated over 200 hectares of forest land in Buon Don District for the conservation center.

However, Lang said it will take at least three more years to complete the construction of facilities, including an elephant clinic and a grazing ground for elephants during treatment.

“Only until then can elephants in Vietnam be saved from extinction threats.”

Locusts plague 300 hectares of plantation in Cao Bang

Over 300 hectares of crops, particularly tobacco and corn, in northern mountainous Cao Bang province have been damaged by locusts so far this year.

The insects have formed swarms with a density of 100-200 individuals per square metre, and in some places, there are up to about 3,000 hoppers gathering on a square metre.

Hoang Thuy Ngan, deputy head of the provincial Plant Protection Department, said the branch has to date sprayed pesticide over 280 out of 300 hectares of affected areas.

The official recommended local farmers to watch their fields closely and urgently notify the authority if the locusts return.

This is the third consecutive year Cao Bang has been hit by locust infestation.

Bac Kan: Day-boarders receive support

The northern mountainous province of Bac Kan has approved several measures to support day-boarders in the province as from the 2015-2016 academic year.

Boarding schools will be provided with funding to buy kitchen tools for the students at an average 40,000 VND per day-boarder for each school year, and electricity subsidies for 10kWh per student each month, according to the plan recently approved by the provincial People’s Council.

Besides, teachers and school staff who take care of students outside class time will receive financial support, calculated on the number of the day-boarders at school, for a maximum 9 months per year.

According to Vice Chairman of Bac Kan People’s Council Phuong Thi Thanh, the policy is designed based on the local situation, where most students choose to stay at lodging houses near the school or dormitories due to long distance and lack of adequate transport system.

VND1.11 trillion for Ho Chi Minh Highway construction in Phu Tho

The Ministry of Transport on Sunday started a project to build the Ho Chi Minh Highway in the northern province of Phu Tho with a total capital of VND1,109 billion (US$51.43 million).

The project under BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) form stretches over 35.07 kilometers.

According to the ministry, the project plays a significant role in the completion of Ho Chi Minh Highway as per a plan approved by the National Assembly.

After being built, the stretch will permit vehicles to travel 80 kilometers per hour, meet growing transport demand, and contribute in reducing traffic jam and accidents along Highways 32 and 2.

It will also contribute the country's socioeconomic development and ensure security for the northern key economic zone.

The ministry instructed the project’s investors to speed up progress and shorten construction time by 3-5 months so as to complete it by next year.

Vietnam Fatherland Front meets historic witnesses

The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee hosted a meeting with historical witnesses in Ho Chi Minh City on April 26 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification.

The meeting was attended by Politburo member, President of the VFF, Nguyen Thien Nhan; former State Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh; Vice President and General Secretary of the VFF Vu Trong Kim; Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Thi Thu Ha; and over 40 revolutionary veterans.

Speaking at the meeting, VFF President Nguyen Thien Nhan emphasised that the historic victory on April 30, 1975 is a glorious historic hallmark, a pinnacle of patriotism and revolutionary heroism, as well as a triumph of the nation as a whole.

The Party, State and people always remember and respect those who sacrificed their lives as well as greatly contributed to the liberation of the South and national reunification.

At the meeting, the delegates recalled deep memories of the past whilst partaking in revolutionary activities full of hardships and sacrifices, as well as expressed their honour and pride to have been involved in campaigns and movements with people of all walks of life to fight for national independence and freedom.

The revolutionary veterans also promised to continue their tradition and set examples for younger generations, continuing to contribute to national construction and the defence cause.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT