Safety checks of hydropower projects urged

The Ministry of Construction has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade and provincial governments to review and inspect all small- and medium-scale hydropower projects under construction nationwide following a serious tunnel collapse at Da Dang hydropower plant.

The construction ministry said in a document sent last week to the industry ministry and provincial governments that the incident at the hydropower project in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on December 16 showed that small- and medium-scaled hydropower projects put workers at risk.

Therefore, the construction ministry has urged the industry ministry and provincial authorities to review and strictly monitor construction, and safety and quality management at such hydropower plants, especially those in the process of building tunnels or having prolonged construction schedules and those in the areas with complex geology.

The objective is to prevent a similar incident at the Da Dang hydropower plant from happening at other hydropower projects.

Pham Sy Liem, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Association, again warned against the incidents at hydropower plants in recent times after the tunnel collapse last week.

Vietnam currently has 284 operational hydropower plants with a total capacity of nearly 14,700 MW, and 204 others with a combined output of 6,146 MW under construction expected to be put into service by 2017.

A press conference yesterday was convened to answer question meeting following public concern of new insurance policies issued by the Ministry of Health which will take effects on January 1, 2015.

The state-run health insurance agency has decided to lower its payments for 25 special medicines as of next year. The new policies regulates payment rates for 25 medications, most of them are cancer drugs with big charges in order to make medical workers re-consider upon writing it in their prescription and ensure interests of  insurance cardholders as well as the fund’s payment ability, said a representative from the Ministry of Health.

Head of the Department of Health Insurance under the health ministry Tong Thi Song Huong said out of 25 above-mentioned medications, five had not been paid by the state-run insurance fund but now will be included by the insurance with payment rate of 50 percent of medicine costs.

Some 11 new specific anti-cancer drugs will be included in the index paid by insurance fund and patients will also just pay 50 percent of the medicine charges.

Moreover, the Ministry decided to cut down half of the payment rates of 9 drugs including cancer medicine, rheumatism, hepatitis C and growth hormone deficiency.

Upon concern of cancer patients over the new regulation of payment Nguyen Minh Thao, deputy head of the Vietnam Insurance Company, confirmed that the ministry has set up a scientific council to re-consider the cutting down of payment rates over these medications.

Families who were serving the cause of the nation’s revolution and under six –year- old will enjoy free of drug charges. Patients who were taken to hospitals before the date January 1, 2015 will pay as per the old regulation.

The fund for supporting poor patients in treatment will give help to disadvantaged people as per the Prime Minister’s decision No. 14.

Teachers struggle to find job in HCM City

Young teachers in HCM City are facing tough competition, with about double the number of applicants for available school positions.

In 2013, HCM City Department of Education and Training received 1,131 applications for 443 high school teacher positions, and in 2014, 949 applications for were filed for 555 positions.

The same pressure occurred in primary schools.

Nguyen Huynh Long, the head of the department's Personnel and Organisation Office, cautioned local universities to reduce the number of education graduates for city schools as the market for teachers had reached saturation point.

Private schools are targeting experienced teachers, with limited opportunities for new teachers, apart from working as teaching assistants or supervising playground activities or lunch time.

Schools in other districts and provinces are in need of teachers, but many graduates do not want to leave the city.

Most applicants were for such subjects as math, literature and physics. In 2014, 148 people applied for 77 math teacher positions. Some subjects, such as home economics and industrial arts are more open, with 10 applications for nine positions.

The surplus in teachers continues to put pressure on teaching salaries, with many employed teachers having to do extra work to support their income.

Educators urge government to recruit counsellors to halt school violence

A rise in violence at Vietnam's schools has been blamed on a lack of moral education in schools, and the lack of counsellors to help troubled students, educators say.

The issue of growing violence was raised at a conference on December 24 in HCM City.

In November, two ninth-grade students in Dak Lak Province fought with each other at school. One of them went back to his classroom, got a knife, and stabbed the other. When the injured boy tried to run, he was chased and stabbed again. He died on the way to hospital. In the same month, a fifth-grade student beat a sixth grader to death with a tree branch.

Le Thi Thao, an official from Dak Lak Department of Education and Training said, "We have tried every possible measures, but playground violence still occurs and it is reaching an alarming level."

She said the Ministry of Education and Training is focusing on curriculum and examination methods, but it is ignoring morality.

"A programme on student lifestyles was supposed to be held in November but it was postponed indefinitely," she said.

Pham Van Khuong, a school inspector for the Ninh Thuan Province Department of Education and Training, agreed and said a review of moral education was necessary.

"Some students become even more violent as they grow older," he said, "We must put morality education above anything else so students can learn how to cope with character development as well as their educational learning."

Many experts suggested schools needed a counselling room, so troubled students could be helped by a trained expert. But Vietnam does not have any regulations or budget for the placement of psychologists as state officials.

An official from HCM City Department of Education and Training, Nguyen Minh, urged the government to adjust policies to allow schools to recruit student counsellors.

Women-only bus routes infeasible, experts say

Bus services for women only, to curb sexual harassment on public transport, are infeasible, experts say.

Hanoi authorities are considering "women-only" bus routes to counter sexual harassment on public transport after a recent survey by the  

Research Centre for Gender, and Family and Environment in Development, of 2,046 people in Hanoi and HCM City, found that 31 percent of respondents felt they were at risk on public buses.

Dr. Trinh Hoa Binh, director of the Centre for Social Opinions under the Institute of Sociology, said segregated buses indicated care for the safety of  women. And the operation of such buses implies the seriousness of sexual harassment in Vietnam. But, Binh added, the situation is not as serious as the survey implies.

“The bus route classification for men and women can lead to the thought of gender inequality in the country,” Binh noted.

Binh said narrow roads and a lack of parking in Vietnam's cities were a constraint on increasing urban bus services.

Dr. Dinh Thi Thanh Binh, from the Institute for Transportation Planning and Management, said that while it would be possible to designate urban railway carriages as "women only", as has been done in many countries, the bus system in Hanoi made it problematic to increase the number of routes for the specific use of women during peak traffic times.

She was also concerned about the cost to the Hanoi city budget to support additional routes and urged greater public awareness of proper behaviour on public transport, and of women on how to protect themselves from harassment.

A representative from Hanoi Transport Corporation (Transerco) said his company will intensify measures to mitigate sexual harassments on bus.  

The company maintains and advertises on its buses hotline numbers ad email details to handle any complaints.

Man accepts swimming challenge to raise funds for charity

Last weekend, a young man suddenly jumped from the Kieu Bridge into HCMC’s Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe Canal and swam for an hour, arousing the curiosity of passers-by.

The man identified as Tran Viet Anh accepted the swimming challenge from a benefactor in HCMC who had promised to raise tens of millions of Vietnam dong for his Winter Smile charity fund.

The social network community has shared pictures of Anh jumping into the just-rehabilitated canal in the afternoon of December 26 with a signboard and swimming from the Kieu Bridge in Phu Nhuan District to Tran Khanh Du Bridge in District 1 for an hour.

According to Zing News, the 23-year-old Hanoian is on a cycling tour through the country’s 63 cities and provinces to raise funds to buy warm clothes and books for poor children in the northern upland province of Son La. He plans to mobilize VND50 million for the fund.

He has gone through 39 cities and provinces after four months, with about VND20 million collected.

The kindhearted youngster started the cross-country journey in Hanoi on August 15 with a borrowed bicycle. The journey is slated to end in Ca Mau on February 15. He expects his endeavor can draw public support for poor children in mountainous provinces.

The cost of his trip comes from the money he had received for writing for newspapers and microblogging sites. So far, Anh has not stayed in a hotel during the trip; he has chosen to spend his nights in a tent or at the homes of generous people and friends.

HCM City hosts Tet’s art program for overseas Vietnamese

The National Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related organizations will host “Xuan Que huong” (Spring in the homeland) to welcome overseas Vietnamese back home for Tet (Lunar New Year) celebration in HCMC.

According to the committee, 2015 will coincide with many significant events, including the 70th National Day (Sept 2, 1945-2015), the 70th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19, 1945-2015), the 85th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam Communist Party (February 3, 1930-2015) and especially, the 40th anniversary of Reunification Day (April 30, 1975-2015).

The program is expected to take place on Feb. 7-8 (or the nineteenth and twentieth days of the twelfth lunar month) with the presence of the country’s authorities, diplomatic organizations and overseas Vietnamese.

The organizers are calling for registrations from overseas Vietnamese to join the event. Registrations should be sent to 356 Hue Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, tel: (84-4) 3824 4400 or (84-4) 3824 0401 (ext. 107); fax: (84-4) 382 59211; or emailed to v3ubnv@gmai.com. People can also register at 147 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in HCMC’s District 3, tel: (84-8) 3930 4522; fax: (84-8) 3930 6737; email: ubnviet@tphcm.gov.vn

The organizers will send invitations to participants.

Overseas Vietnamese in Angola welcome New Year

The overseas Vietnamese in Angola held a get-together on December 28 in Luanda, Angola on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 19.

The event was co-hosted by the overseas Vietnamese Association and the Vietnamese Embassy in Angola.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the association Pham Van Duc highlighted the association’s material and spiritual contributions to homeland activities as well donating 48 tonnes of rice to the Angolan provinces of Namibe and Benguela.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Angola Do Ba Khoa called on Vietnamese businesses in Angola to join hands with domestic businesses in raising the Vietnamese firms’ position and continue making more contributions to the national development.

At the event, nearly 3,600 USD was raised for the association’s activities.

Phu Yen poor households assisted to build flood-proof homes

Another 420 needy households in central Phu Yen province will be assisted to build storm and flood-proof houses thanks to a recently-approved project to be carried out in 2015-2016.

The beneficiaries are those listed as poor by the provincial People’s Committee, including one ethnic minority family, 120 others in difficult circumstance, 167 others living in disadvantaged areas, among others.

In 2013, the province piloted to build 100 flood-resistant houses for needy households in Tuy An and Dong Xuan districts.

Under a government decree on support poor households to build storm and flood-resistant houses, each poor household in different areas will receive from 12 million to 16 million VND (571-762 USD) and can access to loans worth up to 15 million VND (714 USD) at an annual interest rate of 3 percent in 10 years from the Bank for Social Policies.

Phu Yen is one of the seven provinces in the coastal central region to have been selected for the pilot model, with complexes now under construction following a 2012 Government directive.

Each complex includes two floors, with the second floors covering an area of no less than 10 square metres. This floor is designated for storing people’s essential property during flooding.

A huge flood in 2009 inundated all 126 houses in the village at depths of up to three metres.-

Media asked to focus on Party congress preparations

The media needs to focus on preparations made for the upcoming seventh Party Congress as it is the core political task of the entire Party and the political system in 2015, a Party senior official said.

They should report fully feedback on draft documents prepared for the Congress, suggested Le Hong Anh, Politburo member and standing member of the Secretariat of the Party’s Central Committee.

At a national conference in Hanoi on December 31 to review media activities in 2014 and set out plans for 2015, Le Hong Anh pointed out that the regional and global situations continue to have complicated and unpredicted developments.

The media should, therefore, pay greater attentions to their coverage of resolutions, guidelines, and conclusions of the Party and State relating to socio-economic development, sea and island sovereignty protection, sea-based economy, and border demarcation, he asked.

Dinh The Huynh, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Communications and Education, said 2015 will be marked by a lot of important political and socio-economic events.

The media should continue efforts to solidify social consensus on the implementation of guidelines, policies, and measures designed by the Party and Government, he emphasised.

The media should promptly draw out effective communication plans regarding the organisation of the Party Congress at all levels in the run up to the seventh National Party Congress, he said.

According to a report at the conference, throughout 2014, the media’s strong performance was evidenced by its coverage of all beats of life in an accurate, full, multi-dimensional, and prompt manner, actively contributing to the national construction and defence as well as the building of socialism, deserving as a reliable forum of the entire people.

At the same time, the media took important part in the protection of the national sovereignty over sea and islands, raising voice against wrongful arguments of hostile forces, said the report.

The report, however, pointed out a number of shortcomings, including the deviation from registered principles and purposes by some newspapers, as well as the production of unconstructive or wrongful information and scandals affecting the prestige of the country, organisations, businesses, and individuals.-

Thai Nguyen donates 86,000 USD to law enforcement forces at sea

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan received 1.837 billion VND (86,000 USD) donated by Thai Nguyen to fishermen and law enforcement forces at sea at a meeting in Hanoi on December 31.

Addressing the event, President Nhan praised the meaningful donation, saying the Party, Government and people always turn their hearts to those who have been safeguarding the country’s sea and islands.

The front has worked with the border guards and fisheries surveillance forces to assist fishermen in provinces such as Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Phu Yen, and Khanh Hoa to continue fishing in their traditional fishing grounds.

In response to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s appeal for supporting fishermen and law enforcement forces at sea, organisations and individuals have donated over 12 billion VND (576,000 USD) through the front channel.

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