Floods, landslides threaten central provinces after storm

A village in the central province of Phu Yen was inundated in floodwaters triggered by downpours during Storm No.9

Heavy downpours are forecast in multiple central provinces from Quang Tri to Khanh Hoa over the next few days, which will possibly trigger flashfloods and landslides, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper cited a weather forecast statement issued by the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting as saying that medium to heavy rains may occur in the given localities due to the impact of an intensified cold air mass and a wind zone to the east.

In addition, rivers of the central provinces are predicted to swell to alert levels 1-3. Flashfloods and landslides in mountainous areas, as well as flooding in low-lying and urban areas, will likely hit the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and northern Phu Yen.

After the storm, coastal areas in Quang Ngai Province have endured high waves measuring two to three meters. The operation of waterway routes linking Ly Son Island with Sa Ky in the province has come to a halt, leaving farmers in Ly Son unable to transport a hundred tons of farm produce to the mainland for sale.

In the coming days, heavy rains packing strong north-east winds at level six, gusting up to level eight, may hit Quang Ngai’s coastal areas. Consequently, Ly Son Island may continue to be isolated from the mainland.

The recent Storm No.9 wrought destruction across the country.

The storm caused the collapse of 51 houses in Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, HCMC and Ba Ria-Vung Tau and submerged and damaged over 40 fishing boats. Over 1,000 hectares of plants and paddy were inundated with floodwaters, along with a number of damaged roads. Nha Trang City, HCMC and Vung Tau City all suffered serious flooding.

More than 4,000 soldiers were mobilized to storm-hit regions to help the local people in the aftermath of the disaster. On Monday morning, November 26, the north-south railway resumed operations after over 30 hours of interruption.

As for HCMC, where at least three people either were killed by falling trees or drowned, the municipal Prevention Medicine Center has asked its district-level agencies to monitor possible post-storm epidemics, place emphasis on environmental hygiene and prepare preventive solutions against diseases.

Books on architecture of Vietnam’s communal houses released

The second volume of books on the architecture of Vietnamese communal houses and pagodas has been made public at a ceremony held recently in Hanoi.

The second volume of a book on Vietnamese communal houses’ architecture featured pictures and information on 12 typical houses in the country built from the 16th to early 20th century.

Meanwhile, the other on the architecture of Vietnamese pagodas introduced 10 pagodas with special historical, architecture and carvings from the Tran to the Nguyen dynasty.

The books are expected to assist researchers and specialists in restoring and preserving the relics.

Car with six dead monkeys stopped

Six monkeys found in the car

The police in Nghe An Province have stopped a car and seized a variety of wild animals including six monkeys which were being illegally transferred to Vinh City.

While being on patrol, the police noticed a car which was carrying many bags on November 26 on Phong Dinh Cang Street. They pulled the car over and discovered 10 bamboo rats, six monkeys and two weasels. The animals were dead when they were found.

Driver Luong Van Linh, born in 1970, said he was hired by a man named Phuong from Ha Tinh Province to carry the animals to Vinh City for VND100,000 (USD4.27).

The animals have been transferred to the forest rangers in Vinh City. The investigation is also expanded.

In April, police in Nghe An seized two dead tigers kept in glass jars found on a coach. On June 5, two men were caught and detained for wild animal trading. The police seized five dead tiger cubs which were kept in a box. They were supposed to be sold for VND62m (USD2,600).

Floods cause Khanh Hoa USD17.21-million loss

Khanh Hoa seriously affected by storms Toraji and Usagi

Two recent floods have caused losses of VND396 billion (USD17.21 million) for the central province of Khanh Hoa.

Around 1,000 hectares of rice, 200 hectares of crops and 10 hectares of fruits were damaged, leading to losses of VND60 billion (USD26 million).

Up to more than 32 local roads have been eroded and five bridges have been damaged. Many schools have also been affected.

The inundation has submerged stores of businesses at Dac Loc Industrial Park.

Storm Toraji killed 19 people in Khanh Hoa, including 10 in Phuoc Dong Commune of Nha Trang City.

Some residential areas in Nha Trang City were severely hit by landslides due to the storm. As a result, 200 local houses collapsed.

HCM City lacks sustainable development

Nguyen Tan Van, chairman of Vietnam Association of Architects

Vietnam's urban development is not sustainable and natural disasters can paralyse cities, said Nguyen Tan Van, chairman of Vietnam Association of Architects.   

Van said during a conference about sustainable urban solutions on November 27 that 80 percent of HCM City and Vung Tau were often flooded and this was evidence of unsustainable development.

HCM City authorities have announced a master plan to turn HCM City into a smart city for the 2017-2020 period with a view to 2025. District 2, 9 and Thu Duc District are the focus. "We need co-operation between the government, firms, scientists and financial investors," said HCM City Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong.

However, Van asked if it only took one rain to cripple the city, how long it would take to achieve the goal and make HCM City into an economic, cultural and technological centre.

The recent storm in HCM City caused heavy rains, combining with high tides, which left many streets severely flooded. Reports from the Department of Transport show that by the afternoon of November 25, 39 streets were left submerged, while some places were under 30 centimetres and half of Huynh Tan Phat Street was under half a metre of water.

"We keep talking about a smart city but there's not much action. In reality, the stronger and quicker urbanisation is, the worse HCM City's drainage system becomes," Van said. "The drainage system is blocked and can't deal with one storm. HCM City is becoming more and more flooded."

Sustainable programmes lack transparency and locals are more concerned about the environment. Van said discussions would become fruitful and they would come up with practical solutions to protect the citizens.

"We can't just watch the citizens lose a whole year of labour due to a natural event. It's the planners' responsibility," Van said.

25th meeting of Mekong Council reviews work on river

At the meeting (Source: baotainguyenmoitruong.vn)

The 25th meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council was convened in Ha Long city, the northern province of Quang Ninh, on November 28.

It brought together 120 delegates from the council’s four member countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The commission’s dialogue partners – China and Myanmar, and nearly 25 development partners also sent representatives to the event. 

Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha, who is also Chairman of the MRC Council for 2018 and Chairman of the Vietnam National Mekong Committee, said the MRC has fulfilled its mission of serving socio-economic development of the member countries over the past more than two decades. 

With solidarity and high resolve of the member countries, and valuable and continuous support from the development and dialogue partners, as well as other relevant sides, the commission has reaped significant achievements, he said. 

He applauded the important role of the dialogue partners in managing water resources in the Mekong River basin and the great financial and technical support of the development partners to the MRC which, he said, helps the commission realise tasks set in its Strategic Plan. 

The meeting reviewed the commission’s operation in 2018, and agreed on a work plan for 2019, while assessing the mid-term implementation of the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan, the realisation of the action plan of the Pak Beng hydropower project and the update on the Design Guidance 2018. 

Within the framework of the event, meetings were held between the MRC and its dialogue and development partners, during which both China and Myanmar affirmed that they stand ready to cooperate with the commission. 

China said it will continue to cooperate with the MRC in the exchange of information and data as well as experts, promote joint technical research with the commission, and enhance collaboration within the framework of the Mekong-Langkang Cooperation. 

The development partners also pledged to further their collaboration and financial and technical support to the MRC in 2019 and the years to come. 

On this occasion, the MRC signed two sponsorship agreements with the development partners, under which the EU committed 4.82 million EUR (5.4 million USD) in support of the commission’s operation during the 2016-2020 period. 

The German Government also pledged to grant 4 million EUR to the MRC, through the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GIZ), to enhance cross-border partnerships in water resources at the Mekong River basin in the 2019-2021 period. 

The next MRC Council’s meeting is scheduled to be held in late 2019 in Cambodia which will take over the Chairmanship from Vietnam.

Hòa Bình sentences defendants for drug trafficking

Đỗ Đức Văn and Nguyễn Đình Oanh in court. 

Hòa Bình People’s Court has sentenced one person to death and one to life imprisonment on charges of drug trafficking.

The death penalty was handed down to Đỗ Đức Văn, 42, from Lóng Piêng Commune, Yên Châu District in the northern province of Sơn La.

Nguyễn Đình Oanh, 56, from Linh Sơn Commune, Đồng Hỷ District in Thái Nguyên Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

According to the indictment, Văn, Oanh and two other people, Vũ Việt Sơn and Nguyễn Đăng Tuynh, set up a drug trafficking ring to transport narcotics from Sơn La Province to Phú Thọ Province.

Between March 2015 and January 2016, the men bought and transported 13 packages of heroin, weighing over 4.5kg.

In January 2016, Tuynh was arrested while transporting drugs from Sơn La Province to Phú Thọ Province and received the death sentence in 2017 after he asked for a reduction of his sentence in 2016.

In this case, Vũ Việt Sơn and an accomplice, Tánh Lao Sua, fled, so the Judicial Council decided to hold separate trials. 

Transport of dangerous substances needs to be tightened

The scene of a petrol tanker explosion in Bình Phước Province’s Minh Hưng Commune on November 22. 

The National Committee for Traffic Safety has asked the Government to direct authorised agencies to strengthen inspections on the transport of dangerous goods, especially the transport of petrol and chemical substances.

Khuất Việt Hùng, vice chairman of the committee, said a number of serious accidents had resulted in loss of life and damage to property, stirring public outrage.

The accidents have been blamed on drivers failing to follow regulations.

To ensure traffic safety, the committee has asked the Government to direct the Ministry of Transport and authorities to tighten control over the transport of dangerous goods, especially petrol and chemical tankers.

The Ministry of Transport has been instructed to co-operate with other ministries and sectors to re-examine and complete regulations on the transport of dangerous goods to ensure the safety of both people and property.

The Ministry of Public Security has been asked to mobilise traffic police to patrol and crack down on violations.  

On November 22, six people were killed and 19 houses burnt down when an overturned petrol tanker exploded in the southern province of Bình Phước.

The petrol tanker, which was travelling on National Highway No13 at 5am, collided with a three-wheeled vehicle running in the same direction. The driver lost control and overturned, leaving spill into nearby houses.

On September 5, another petrol tanker crashed into a four-seat car running in the same direction on the Nội Bài – Lào Cai Highway, and overturned and exploded. Luckily, no fatalities were reported.

VUS signs agreement with Oxford University Press on training courses

Vietnam USA Society’s English Centers signs an agreement with Oxford University Press on training courses for VUS teachers. — Photo courtesy of VUS

Vietnam USA Society’s English Centers (VUS) on Monday signed an agreement with Oxford University Press to update curricula and training courses for VUS teachers.

Oxford University Press (OUP) will provide VUS with advanced methodologies and technologies for interactive whiteboards and laptops with data projectors.

Teaching and learning materials and quality assessment will also be provided by OUP.

VUS and OUP have worked together for more than 10 years.

Day boarding keeps ethnic minority students in class

Day-boarding pupils in Song Ma district make their bed at school

Day boarding has been available at many schools in Song Ma district, in the northern mountainous province of Son La for years, which has helped maintain high class attendance and improve education quality.

Nam Ty Secondary School is located in the disadvantaged Nam Ty commune of Song Ma district, and is home to a majority of students from ethnic minority groups. Out of the 700 students attending the school, nearly 400 are day-boarders who have to travel 10-20km each day to get to school; so the school has built catering and nap rooms with access to electricity and clean water supply for these students.

Mua Phuong Chi, an ethnic minority student at Nam Ty Secondary School, said her house is 12km away from the school, which is a real struggle to travel to every day due to the poor road quality en route. She has taken part in the day-boarding programme since the sixth grade with all her meals and accommodation expenses covered by the school and she can keep her mind focused on her studies.

According to Rector Nguyen Manh Hung, the school has paid particular attention to providing students with a healthy diet and high-quality foods. The programme has helped reduce the annual dropout rate to below 1 percent and at the same time, students have been provided with the opportunity to develop independence and improve their life skills.

Nam Ty Elementary School is also among those housing the highest number of day-boarders in the district with 500 students who receive financial benefits equivalent to 40 percent of the minimum wage and 15kg of rice per month. They no longer have to go to school with an empty stomach but have a full three meals per day.

The day-boarders spend most of the day on the campus and revise lessons in the evening, and as such their academic performance has been much improved, said Pham Thi Lien, Rector of the Nam Ty Elementary School. The school has not had any student drop out for years, she noted.

Song Ma district now has 22 day-boarding schools with nearly 5,000 students. These schools provide a total of more than 200 nap rooms with over 1,200 beds and 29 school kitchens. 

Conservation organisations urge more penalties for wildlife crime

Rhino horns 

Sixteen Vietnamese and foreign conservation organisations have called for more administrative punishments for wildlife crime, given their concern about biodiversity loss as a result of unchecked poaching.

Director of the Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) Nguyen Van Thai said on November 27 that the SVW and 15 other conservation organisations operating in Vietnam have proposed some regulations be issued to protect wild animals in the country. The organisations are concerned about the biodiversity loss mainly caused by illegal trapping, catching, and hunting in Vietnamese forests.

He said surveillance and surveys in national parks and protected areas over the last five years show that the population of wild animals has declined considerably. Many animals like tigers, sao la, clouded leopards, binturong, and Chinese pangolins haven’t been recorded in the surveys, and they have possibly become extinct.

Patrols also show that illegal traps are still rampant in almost all national parks and protected areas. The exploitation of non-wood forestry products has also partially worsened the situation.

Thai said more administrative penalties for illegally setting up tents in special-use forests should be added to the draft decree revising the Government’s Decree No.157/2013/ND-CP on wildlife protection as this activity is almost always accompanied by logging and wildlife hunting.

Decree No.157/2013/ND-CP has already stipulated fines for the carrying of hunting tools, but wild animals are still disappearing, he said, noting that if trapping and poaching are not eradicated, Vietnam will face the extinction of an array of endangered and rare animals in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement fines for the carrying and use of hunting tools into forests with banned hunting.

He added that the organisations also urged stricter punishments for the use of dogs in hunting since dogs can infect natural species with many diseases. 

Hanoi to provide vitamin A to nearly 448,000 children

Nearly 448,000 children aging from 6-36 months will receive vitamin A in a large dose from November 30 to December 3, according to the  Hanoi Centre for Disease Control.

Hoang Duc Hanh, Vice Director of the centre, asked healthcare facilities of wards, districts, and towns to make a list of children subjected to the programme, ensuring that no child is left behind.

The facilities are also requested to ensure convenient delivery, with each post handling no more than 200 children per day.

Hanoi is striving to give vitamin A to 99.8 percent of its children from 6-36 months old, and over 95 percent of children under five years old who are at high risk of lacking vitamin A, and mothers with one-month-old babies.

Children from 0-6 months who are not breastfed ill also receive vitamin A, along with those from 37-60 months at high risk of lacking the vitamin. 

In particular, children infected with measles are also subjected to the programme as taking vitamin A will help reduce the fatality rate of the disease by 50 percent. 

Efforts towards child drowning prevention record hopeful results

Children learn swimming at Tang Bat Ho pool in Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung District. 

A conference took place in Hanoi on November 27 to review the outcomes of a nationwide programme on safe swimming and drowning prevention for children for 2016-2020. 

A report presented at the function showed that all 63 provinces and cities nationwide have either set plans for or implemented the programme. In 2018, they increased their budgets and mobilised resources related to communications activities, building swimming pools, and teaching children to swim.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Le Khanh Hai said by 2020, the programme aims to reduce the number of child fatalities from drowning by 6 percent compared to the 2010-2015 period.

According to him, it has also set the target of helping 40 percent of children at primary and secondary schools learn water safety skills, and to ensure that 100 percent of sport facilities follow water safety regulations and have coaches and lifeguards by their pools.

He urged provincial- and municipal-level departments for culture, sports, and tourism to submit their plans on land and budget planning for implementing the programme in line with local conditions.

Other recommended works included building the capacity for swimming teachers and lifeguards, mobilising financial support from the public for the programme, and proposing policies that encourage business-school collaboration in teaching children how to swim and protect themselves in the water.

Drowning remains one of the leading causes of fatality among children and teenagers aged below 19 in Vietnam. About 2,000 Vietnamese children die annually due to drowning. 

Though Vietnam boasts 3,260km of coastline and many rivers and lakes, swimming is only taught as an extra-curricular activity or at courses outside school. A survey by the Department of Child Care and Protection in 2017 found that only 35 percent of children in the Mekong Delta and 10 percent in the Red River Delta can actually swim.

Last year, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs and eight other ministries and state agencies signed an intersectoral plan for child drowning prevention while Vietnam’s child drowning prevention efforts have received great support from the public, as well as both local and international organisations. 

 

The central province of Quang Tri has planted over 7,200 ha of concentrated forest and 2.7 million dispersed trees, the largest area recorded so far.

In addition, the province has allocated more than 93,000 ha of forest for organisations and individuals to care for and protect, contributing to maintaining its forest coverage of over 50 percent.

Vinh Linh is one of the districts reporting the largest area of planted forest in the province, with about 1,500 ha of concentrated forest and more than 800,000 dispersed trees, raising its coverage to 52 percent.

To do the work well, since the outset of the year, Quang Tri has focused on zoning off areas for afforestation, tilling the land and preparing seedlings.

Following its forestry restructuring plan, the province has gradually shifted from growing forests to provide woodchip materials to planting large-timber forests and those meeting Forestry Steward Council (FSC) requirements, as well as formed concentrated material areas serving the wood processing industry.

The locality now has more than 111,000 ha of planted forest, mainly Acacia hybrid and cajuput trees. It has formed concentrated material forest areas, with 6,000 ha exploited each year for over 850,000 cu.m of timber.

Quang Tri also boasts more than 22,000 ha of large-timber and FSC forests, accounting for 11 percent of the country’s total of its kind.

A representative from the provincial Agricultural Promotion Centre, FSC forest creates an average income of 150-200 million VND per ha within 10 years, two or three times higher than normal forest. In addition, it also helps reduce erosion, thus protecting the ecological environment and prevent climate change.

Abundant timber sources from planted forest have helped the province’s wood processing and export rank second in the country.

At present, Quang Tri has two MDF wood plants and 27 flywood and woodchip processing factories. Local wood products have gained firm foothold in the domestic market and been exported to choosy markets such as the US, the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Denmark shares experience in sustainable urban development

A view of the workshop on sustainable urban development and planning co-held by the Ministry of Construction and the Danish Embassy in Vietnam on November 27. 

Sustainable urban development and planning was the main topic of a workshop co-held by the Ministry of Construction and the Danish Embassy in Vietnam in Hanoi on November 27.

The workshop formed part of the “Danish Week – Sustainable and livable cities,” bringing together policymakers, urban planners, architects and private companies from Vietnam as well as leading experts in urban planning from Denmark. It was the second time the Danish Week has been held in Vietnam.

Growing urbanisation is expected to motivate an increasing demand for new sustainable urban solutions, particularly for developing countries like Vietnam, according to a representative from the Danish Embassy.

Meanwhile, Denmark has years of experience in addressing challenges from urbanisation and is viewed as the world’s leading nation in green technology so the country has full capacity to support metropolises like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to find sustainable solutions for the issues and improve the local quality of life.

President of the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association (VUPDA) Tran Ngoc Chinh said urbanisation in Vietnam is expanding rapidly, causing many challenges, notably impacts of climate change. Therefore, it is vital to develop these cities in a green and sustainable way, he noted.

He further added that the Government of Vietnam has adopted specific strategy to deal with the issues, focusing on urban development, reality-based urban design and management, city for people, and green space architecture and public space development. 

Chief City Architect of Copenhagen (Denmark) Tina Saaby said it is important to think about urban life before designing public spaces as well as buildings as urban life will determine the sustainability and livability of a city. No city exists without people living, working and traveling in it so people must be on top priority when it comes to urban planning.

Vietnamese authority will continue improving policies for urban development in the country to develop cities towards sustainability and in response to climate change, said Tran Thi Lan Anh from the Ministry of Construction. At the same time, Vietnam will put more effort to ease harmful environmental impacts of economy growth in the coming time, she added.

She also noted that the country wants to develop ecological urban areas that go towards sustainability, energy-saving, material sufficiency and low-carbon technology.

Vietnamese staples introduced at Christmas Fair Prague 2018

Vietnamese booth at the Christmas Fair Prague 2018  

Vietnamese silk, crafts, and traditional dishes were introduced to visitors to the Christmas Fair Prague 2018 held in Prague, the Czech Republic, on November 25.

The annual event was organised under the sponsorship of the Diplomatic Spouses Association (DSA) in the country with the aim of raising funds for charitable activities. 

The Vietnamese Embassy staff and the Vietnamese people community in the host nation attended the fair whenever it was held, making significant contributions to this charitable diplomatic event.

Visitors to the 2018 fair had chance to get deeper insight into standout products and traditional cultures of more than 40 countries across the five continents. 

Spouse of the Dutch Ambassador Joosje Brouwer, who chaired this year event, told Vietnam News Agency correspondent that as this was the most important event of the DSA in the year, meticulous preparations had been made from the summer.

Profits from the fair were presented to charitable organisations in the Czech Republic.

In the past 20 years, the DSA has worked to connect different cultures, and mobilised some 3 million USD for charitable projects in the country.

Traditional Vietnamese products introduced in Turkey

The Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey has introduced the country’s traditional products at the 27th Annual Charity Bazaar held by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spouses’ Solidarity Association (DMEDD) in Ankara.

This year’s November 25 event featured more than 100 stalls of over 40 representative agencies from foreign countries. 

Vietnam’s two stalls displaying traditional handicrafts and dishes drew the great attention of visitors. Typical products were lacquer and Dong Ho paintings, ao dai (long dress), palm-leaf conical hats, Pho (noodles served with beef or chicken), and coffee.

In addition, the Vietnamese Embassy coordinated with the Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro), the Trung Nguyen Legend Group and the Dakmark Food Joint Stock Company to display Vietnam’s agricultural products such as bean and instant coffee, tea, rice, pepper and cashew nuts.

The bazaar is an annual activity hosted by the DMEDD for foreign diplomatic corps, organisations and businesses to introduce and sell their countries’ handicrafts and packaged food.

All the proceeds from the event are used to support poor children in Turkey.