Dutch Water Board helps Can Tho improve water management

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho Dao Anh Dung held a working session with a delegation from the Dutch Water Board about Blue Dragon project, which aims to improve the capacity of water source management.

Speaking at the event, Jan Van Der Molen, an expert of international cooperation strategy of the Dutch Water Board, said the board comprises 22 professional water source management sections and also works with many countries worldwide, including Vietnam. 

Based on partnership model with Ho Chi Minh City over the past five years, Molen said the board wants to extend it to the Mekong Delta. 

In late September, it plans to hold a seminar in Can Tho to discuss relevant issues. Later, it will compile documents for the project and sign a memorandum of understanding with the municipal People’s Committee or Can Tho University in November. 

Nguyen Kim Hoang, head of infrastructure division under the municipal Construction Department, said 88.7 percent of local population have accessed to water, mostly those from Hau river. However, water for the daily use has become a concern as climate change is impacting the Mekong Delta. 

Concluding the event, Dung asked the board to send a report on its outcomes of partnership with Ho Chi Minh City so that Can Tho could offer specific proposals. 

He also agreed to allow the board to continue surveying and building a specific scheme in the field.

Vietnam continues aid to victims of Lao dam collapse

A flooded area after the dam collapse incident 

The High Command of Military Region 5 and the South Laos Friendship Co., Ltd are continuing to direct their units to send personnel to the Lao province of Attapeu to help local residents affected by of the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam overcome the consequences. 

According to the Search and Rescue Department under the Vietnam People’s Army’s General Staff, nearly 200 officers and soldiers, doctors, along with 11 automobiles have been deployed to Attapeu to conduct medical examination and treatment, and provide medicines for locals in Attapeu province. 

As of July 31, the units provided medical checks-up and medicine for 500 people, presented 450 gift packages; 1,700 sets of clothes, 150 sets of canvas; and  over 316,500 USD to the dam collapse victims.

The Vietnamese Government had previously donated 200,000 USD sourced from State budget reserves and 100 tonnes of rice to the Lao Government in order to help the neighbouring country overcome the incident’s aftermath. 

The Vietnamese community in Laos has also continued to raise funds in support of local residents hit by the collapse. 

The Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam collapsed at 8pm on July 23, causing massive floods which completely isolated six villages in the Sanamxay district of Attapeu province. 

Some 587 families with 3,060 people were made homeless, while 131 people were reported missing

Flood relief work underway in northern localities

Flood relief efforts have been made in the capital city of Hanoi. 

Flood relief efforts have been made in the capital city of Hanoi and the northern provinces of Hoa Binh and Lao Cai after days of downpours which claimed many lives and caused critical damage to local property.

As of July 31, natural calamities left 193 people dead, missing and injured. Nearly 930 houses collapsed, 27,819 were damaged and had roofs blown off, and 19,822 others were submerged.

Disasters destroyed more than 195,000 hectares of rice, fruit and industrial trees, as well as devastated over 8,300 hectares of aquatic farming, according to report from the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control’s office.

Hanoi and Hoa Binh province are badly flooded localities. Over 3,680 houses in the capital have been flooded, thousand hectares of crops have been damaged, and nearly 56,000 head of cattle and poultry have been dead and missing. 

The Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Hanoi city has mobilised all resources to reinforce Bui dyke to ensure safety for local people and assets.

Particularly, erosions along Da River banks in Hoa Binh province on July 30-31 resulted in the collapse of 19 houses. There was a large crack with 40 centimetres in depth, and 100 metres in length on the provincial road 445.

Inspecting the erosion situation in hamlet 26, Dong Tien ward, Hoa Binh city on July 31, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung ordered relevant forces to ensure safety for locals while the provincial authority was asked to focus on stabilising local livelihoods. 

The same day, a working group from the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control led by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and head of the committee Nguyen Xuan Cuong inspected and instructed repairs to the subsidence on the provincial road in Dan Ha commune, Ky Son district.

To date, Hoa Binh province has evacuated 35 households near the erosion area to safer places. As many as 140 families in Da Bac and Cao Phong districts have been moved out of areas which are prone to landslides.

In addition, landslides with an amount of 15,000 cubic metres of land and rock have buckled the provincial road 279 in Bao Ha commune, Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province. The locality was rushing off its feet to recover the incident and the road is expected to re-open to traffic on August 1.

The localities are requested to keep close watch on the weather developments to give timely warnings to authorities at all levels. Measures in response to floods must be drawn up to ensure safety for dykes and reservoirs. 

Reserves of food, water, medicine as well as other essential items must be prioritied, while rescue forces and vehicles are required to stand ready to give support in urgent cases.

Binh Duong complex provides new waste treatment model

At the inaugural ceremony of Binh Duong waste treatment complex, second phase 

The Binh Duong waste treatment complex in the southern province of Binh Duong can serve as a model for other localities in handling household and industrial waste, environment experts said.  

The Binh Duong waste treatment complex includes a waste compost plant and an incinerator of hazardous waste with daily capacities of 840 tonnes and 320 tonnes respectively, along with a plant capable of treating 50 cubic meters of industrial waste per day.

In particular, the complex uses Finnish technology to use biogas discharged from the dumping site to produce electricity. It is able to produce 2,000 kW of electricity per day, meeting nearly half of the electricity need of the complex. 

In addition, the complex also produces bricks from ash and mud discharged from waste treatment.

Construction of the 30.5 million USD complex invested by the Binh Duong Water – Environment JSC (Biwase) started in January 2004.

The second stage of the project was put into use on January 10, 2018 after 18 months of construction, four months ahead of schedule. 

The 100-hectare facility is now capable of handling 1,200 tonnes of household waste, 400 tonnes of industrial waste, 200 tonnes of hazardous industrial waste and 3 tonnes of medical waste. 

Once fully completed, it is expected to handle around 3,000 tonnes of household waste and more than 1,000 tonnes of industrial waste. 

At present, up to 62.4 percent of waste in south eastern and Mekong Delta provinces is buried. The ratio of treated waste is 28.9 percent nationwide and 37.6 percent in the south eastern region. 

Most waste treatment facilities occupy a large area of land, thus having substantial impacts on the surrounding environment.

The operation of the complex not only contributes to reducing environmental pollution in Binh Duong – an industrial hub in the southern key economic region but also provides a model of effective waste treatment technology, according to Chairman of Directors' Board of Biwase Nguyen Van Thien.

About 1,000 scholarships to be presented to poor children

As many as 1,000 scholarships and 3,000 gifts will be presented to poor children in areas with extreme natural conditions or suffered from natural disaster and flood of seven central localities.

The scholarships, part of the “Lighting Dreams” programme 2018, will be handed over to the children in Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Binh Phuoc and Phu Yen within August, according to the Vietnam Association for Protection Children’s Rights.

The programme will call for donors to support for the construction of about 10 houses for poor families whose children are at school age.

On September 22, the programme will take place in Da Nang city where more than 300 children will benefit.

An exchange among children with disabilities who manage to overcome difficulties and record good academic performance and integrate into the society will be held, during which the organising board will present the scholarships and gifts.

The “Lighting Dreams” 2018 progamme will be implemented on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a special occasion for children, and the opening of the 2018-19 school year, contributing to ease difficulties for poor children and help them continue pursuing the academic programme, while bringing them a happy and joyful festival.

The programme is also a chance to support disadvantaged children and give them a helping hand, thus supporting them to turn their dreams into reality. Donors with great contributions to the programme and activities of the Vietnam Association for Protection Children’s Rights will be honoured.

OVs in Cambodia affected by floods receive support

Ambassador Vu Quang Minh (in white shirt) presents aid relief to local people

A delegation of Vietnam’s diplomatic representative offices and businesses in Cambodia on August 1 handed aid relief to overseas Vietnamese and poor Cambodian people victimised by flooding in Kampon Speu province.

The delegation, led by Ambassador Vu Quang Minh, visited villages of OVs alongside Mekong River in Peanichekam hamlet, Chbar Mon city, about 50km south of Phnom Penh capital, which was severely affected by recent floods.

The relief were presented to 145 families hardest hit by the floods, with funding coming from the staff of the Embassy, the Consulate General and Vietnamese firms in Cambodia.

Speaking with OVs and poor Cambodian people, Ambassador Minh said the Party, State and people of Vietnam are willing to assist flood-hit victims, helping them stabilise their lives.

There are more than 100 households of poor OVs and Cambodian residents in Peanichekam hamlet in Kampong Speu province. The recent flooding is among the largest in the area, causing great property losses to local people.

Children theme dominates August activities at Ethnic Cultural Village

A host of activities designed for children and young people are scheduled to take place throughout August at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism.

The village is located in Dong Mo, about 45km from Hanoi’s centre.

A highlight of the month is the 20th traditional wrestling championships for youths. It is expected to draw 120 athletes competing across 14 weight levels.

A tour that is sure to bring back childhood memories for visitors will be organised, featuring handwriting and painting contests, folk games, and hands-on experience in ethnic traditional activities like making pottery or cooking.

During the month, a painting contest, titled “Central Highlands in my mind”, for children aged between 6 and 15 will take place, with its awards ceremony slated for the first day of September.

Visitors will also be treated to puppetry performances and a course on life skills and teamwork will be on offer for children at the village’s Khmer pagoda complex.

In the first six months of 2018, the village served 328,000 tourists, meeting 60 percent of its target set for 2018. 

Of the total, 55,300 visitors used the tour guide service and 30,000 rented accommodation and food services.

During the period, 120 travel agencies chose the village as a destination for their customers.

Meeting talks sustainable poverty reduction in ethnic minorities

Livelihood solutions are said to be important to ensure sustainable poverty elimination

 A meeting in northern Thai Nguyen province on July 31 emphasised the need for livelihood solutions to sustainably reduce poverty in local ethnic minority groups.

Nguyen Duc Bach, Director of the institute for environmental science and social issues, said aside from support under the State’s policies and programmes, livelihood solutions are important to ensure sustainable poverty elimination.

Echoing this, other participants noted communication to raise public awareness is also one of the most important solutions, saying that not only ethnics but also cadres in the political system, especially at the grassroots level, need to improve their awareness in this work.

While livelihood support policies should be built basing on ethnics’ demand, the transfer of scientific and technological advances must also match local culture.

They suggested Thai Nguyen form a contingent of cadres and prestige persons in each ethnic minority area because issues relating to ethnics’ livelihoods and culture must be decided by themselves and carried out with the help of local prestige people.

The province should increase resources for creating sources of livelihood for ethnic minority people, participants said, asking authorities to prioritise preferential loans for residents in remote areas and low-income earners to develop production activities.

According to a report at the meeting, over the past years, ethnic minority people in Thai Nguyen have gained access to soft loans and support for agricultural production and received training in farming techniques. The material and spiritual life of the poor in ethnic minority and mountainous areas has also been improved.

However, the numbers of poor and near-poor households are still high in some localities with unfavourable natural conditions, scattered population, underdeveloped infrastructure and low educational level. Meanwhile, resources are sometimes not allocated in a timely manner, thus affecting the implementation of poverty reduction policies in ethnic minority communities.

According to Thai Nguyen’s board for ethnic minority affairs, in 2016 and 2017, the household poverty rate in 124 ethnic minority and mountainous communes fell 5.72 percent but the rate of near-poor families rose by 0.12 percent, as measured by the multidimensional criteria.

Thai Nguyen is home to 45 ethnic minority groups accounting for nearly 30 percent of the province’s population. Tay, Nung, San Diu, San Chay and Dao are the most populous minorities.

100,000 students to benefit from Dutch Lady’s nutrition programme

The Việt Nam Red Cross Society’s Central Committee and FrieslandCampina’s Dutch Lady brand will continue with programme on nutrition education and physical development in the 2018-2019 school year.

This year it will be carried out in Hà Nội and the provinces of Hải Dương, Thái Bình and Thanh Hóa from July 1 through the year-end.

An expected 100,000 students at 160 primary schools and kindergartens will benefit.

This month the Red Cross in the capital and three provinces will organise training courses for teachers at local kindergartens and primary schools to enable them to teach their students about proper nutrition.

With its message of four groups of nutrients, three meals, two glasses of milk, one hour of physical exercise, the programme will teach students about a healthy lifestyle.

Last year more than 65,000 children benefited from the programme, which is expected to help the National Strategy on Development of Vietnamese People’s Stature achieve that goal as well as reduce malnutrition and obesity among children of pre-school and school ages. 

KOTO project provides employment opportunities for vulnerable women

The lives of 1,000 disadvantaged young people have been transformed by vocational training provided by KOTO, a social enterprise in Vietnam founded in 1999 by a Vietnamese-Australian.

KOTO, which stands for Know One Teach One, provides free training courses on cooking, catering, and baking to disadvantaged youth. The KOTO project “Her turn”, to take place in August, will give vulnerable young women vocational training that will bring them employment and start-up opportunities.

Nguyen Ha Trang is training at KOTO. She goes to class 4 days a week and works the other 3 days at KOTO restaurant. After training for 7 months at KOTO, Trang can now communicate confidently with foreign customers: “During the 7-month course at KOTO I learnt to be a bartender. At first, I was like a fish out of water. But later, I was trained not only in vocational skills but also in communication skills and English. Now I feel comfortable in KOTO’s learning and working environment”.

Trang is one of hundreds of disadvantaged youth KOTO has helped. “Her Turn”, which follows other KOTO vocational training projects, is mainly dedicated to vulnerable women, including poor women from remote, mountainous areas, who have limited access to education and employment opportunities. The project will last 3 years and is sponsored by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Nguyen Thi Thao, Chief Executive Officer of KOTO, said “Like other KOTO projects, “Her Turn” provides training in vocational skills, life skills, and English. This project includes a 6-month course and a 24-month course. Those who take the short course will be certified by KOTO. Those who complete the 24-month course will get a certificate from Box Hill Institute, a vocational and higher education provider in Melbourne, Australia. Certification by Box Hill will give graduates great job opportunities, just in Vietnam, but in other countries”.

“Her Turn” trainees will be trained free of charge in baking, cooking, bartending, and catering at hotels and restaurants.

Ms. Thao said “KOTO offers comprehensive training programs. Apart from vocational training, we train them in life skills, communication, financial management, writing a CV, and team work. We also focus on workplace ethics and a positive attitude to life. We hope those skills will help KOTO trainees achieve success”.

Training and assessments will be delivered by Vietnamese and foreign trainers who meet the standards of the Box Hill Institute Quality Management System. To be selected, a candidate must sit for 3 tests, including a math test, a Vietnamese test, and a psychological test. Selected candidates will be taught general knowledge before being trained in a vocation.

Mekong farmers urged summer-autumn rice harvest

Due to the week-long heavy rains accompanied by the Sepien Senamnoy dam collapse in Laos’ Attapeu province caused floodwaters in the upper section of the Mekong River are coming earlier and higher than previous years.

The areas near the border with Cambodia such as Tinh Bien, Tan Chau, An Phu (An Giang Province); Hong Ngu (Dong Thap Province), Dong Thap Muoi (Long An), floodwaters are forecast be able to break the dyke systems.

Hundred hectares of rice crop outside dyke-protected areas have been flooded though local authorities issued flood warnings to local people about complicated flooding earlier.

Dong Thap province’s Hong Ngu district department of agriculture & rural development said local farmers have harvested the autumn-summer rice crop of over 7,000 hectares out of 11,000 hectares. It is predicted the harvesting of 100 percent of crop will be done on August 5.

However, floodwaters are threating many hectares of vegetables and fruit in the Mekong Delta region which were planted at the midland and down land areas.

South Central coastal agricultural fair kicks off

Delegates cut the ribbon to open the fair (Photo: baobinhdinh.com.vn) 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Binh Dinh provincial People’s Committee opened a fair in Quy Nhon city, on August 1, to display and promote agricultural, forestry and aquatic products from the South Central coastal region.

More than 200 pavilions showcase thousands of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products and advanced science and technology achievements that serve agricultural production and rural development in the South Central costal region.

On the sidelines of the fair, there are workshops on the potential of Binh Dinh aquaculture, investment opportunities in hi-tech shrimp farming and export processing and programmes providing consultancy on agricultural high tech for farmers.

The fair aims to help businesses and the participants to promote cooperation, trade promotion and expand markets.

The event runs until August 6.

Public transport center seeks to resume minibus service in HCMC

Large buses cannot run on narrow alleys, so minibuses could help raise the number of bus passengers 

The HCMC Public Passenger Transport Management and Operation Center plans to propose the municipal Department of Transport resume minibus services to transport passengers from narrow alleys to wider streets so that they can take buses, stated Tran Chi Trung, director of the center.

On July 31, Trung noted that more than 46% of alleys in HCMC are less than six meters wide, with 85% of the city residents living in alleys. Therefore, minibus lines will help locals commute.

If the proposal is approved, the center will launch 30 minibus lines, comprising 200-250 12-seater minibuses. These vehicles can run on four- to six-meter-wide alleys, will be designed to feature the characteristics of HCMC and will be equipped with special hooters with a lower-pitch honking device.

Commuters will have to walk for only 200 meters to catch the minibuses, which will be piloted in Districts 1, 10 and Tan Binh next year if the scheme gets nod.

This will mark the second attempt at piloting minibuses in HCMC. In the previous attempt, cooperatives decided not to run the program due to the small number of passengers and the lack of support policies.

In addition, residents preferred to travel by motorcycle owing to the long distances between alleys and bus stations.