Traffic police fine driver of overloaded coach

The central Thanh Hoa Province's traffic police yesterday fined a sleeper coach driver, Le Van Phuong, VND40 million (US$1,800) for carrying 111 passengers, 69 more than his coach's registered capacity.

The driver was caught when he was driving his 42-seater coach on a stretch of National Highway No 1A in Bim Son Town.

The passengers on the coach were mainly students and workers returning to Ha Noi after enjoying a six-day holiday from April 28 to May 3, to celebrate the Hung Kings anniversary (April 28), Liberation Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1).

The police also seized the coach for seven days.

Fine imposed for ignoring forest fees

Individuals and organisations will receive fines of up to VND50 million (US$2,300) for not paying fees for forest environmental services, under an amendment to a Government decree.

This is the first time a fine has been issued for individuals and organisations that don't pay forest environmental service fees.

Truck driver caught dumping waste water

Traffic police in Thai Binh yesterday afternoon caught red-handed a truck discharging untreated wastewater on a stretch of National Highway No 10.

Other commuters suffering the stink informed the police as they saw the truck driver dump the wastewater on a 500m section of the road that runs through the northern province.

Doan Duy Vuong, head of the traffic police division, said that the driver's violation would be handled under Decree No 171/2013/ND-CP.

The discharge not only polluted the surrounding environment but also created the risk of traffic accidents for other road users, he said.

Soldier memorial construction starts in City

Work on a memorial stele at Rach Chiec Park to commemorate soldiers who fell while defending Rach Chiec Bridge in HCM City during the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in April 1975 began last week.

One of the construction works meant to celebrate 40 years of the liberation of the South and reunification of the nation (30 April 1975), the park is being built on an 8,430sq.m area along the Rach Chiec Canal in District 2 at a cost of VND21.5 billion (US$1 million). Completion will take six months.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the city People's Committee, said: "The battle to seize and protect Rach Chiec Bridge had contributed significantly to the victory of the eastern wing of troops during the historical Ho Chi Minh Campaign."

Fifty two soldiers had sacrificed their lives to protect the bridge.

Quan said the sacrifices of the commando units D81, Z22, and Z23 and military forces and local residents of Thu Duc had contributed significantly to the victory in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign that led to liberation.

After the ground-breaking, veterans from Commando Unit No 316 burnt incense and placed wreaths in memory of their fellow men who had fallen at the place 40 years earlier.

Water tanks donated to drought areas

The Viet Nam Red Cross (VRC) has provided 900 water tanks to 900 poor and ethnic minority households in Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak and Phu Yen provinces in response to the region's ongoing drought.

VRC also called on businesses and organisations to help central province residents minimise drought damage.

The Viet Nam Railway Corporation said it would deliver the water tanks for free, while PetroVietnam donated 1,000 water tanks to residents of Ninh Thuan Province.

Fire destroys furniture storage unit

Police are investigating the cause of a fire on Friday in My Tho in the Mekong Delta's Tien Giang Province.

The fire was reported around 9.30pm on Friday at a furniture company called Phuoc Tam on Le Loi Street in District 1.

More than a hundred firefighters and five fire trucks were dispatched to the scene. The fire was under control after two hours, with no casualties reported.

The company's storage unit was completely destroyed during the fire.

Programme to pay Thanh Hoa teachers

Around 520 kindergarten teachers from the central province of Thanh Hoa are set to receive financial support from April until the end of the year under a programme benefiting the province's teachers.

The programme's VND22.8 billion (US$1.07 million) budget is intended to supply the teachers with wage subsidies, allowances, and social and medical insurance.

A senior official from the province's Department of Education and Training said that prior to the programme, kindergarten teachers only got VND500,000 ($24) a month in financial support.

The programme was designed to improve low incomes among teachers. The insufficient payments have forced many teachers to quit their jobs.

Brothers arrested for drug trafficking

Police in the northern province of Lai Chau have arrested two brothers transporting 10 packs of heroin weighing 3.44kg.

Thao A Vang, 26 and Thao A Sung, 31, are residents of Tuan Giao District in neighbouring Dien Bien Province.

The police also confiscated VND147 million (US$6,900), Chinese Yuan 45,000 ($7,200), a motorbike and two mobile phones from the brothers.

They are investigating the case further, the police said.

Police detain driver in deadly holiday accident in Da Nang

Police in Hoa Vang District of Da Nang today announced they would detain the driver of a passenger bus involved in a deadly accident that killed six people on April 29.

The accident occurred at the Nam Hai Van – Ba Na Suoi Mo intersection when a passenger bus was being driven at a high speed, some 85km per hour, while traveling towards Hoa Vang District when it crashed into a car on the Ba Na Suoi Mo road, according to officials.

The bus reportedly dragged the vehicle for hundreds of metres before it could stop. Four people died at the scene and two others later succumbed to their injuries.

The speed limit in this area was only 50km per hour.

The new Ba Na-Suoi Mo road shortens the distance between Da Nang City Centre and Ba Na Hill and was opened to traffic on April 25. The four-lane road is 10km long and 34 metres wide, and has been designed to allow drivers to travel at speeds up to 60km per hour.

Police nab three for providing drugs to clients at Hanoi discotheques

Police in Hanoi have arrested three members of a ring that provided drugs to customers at local bars and discotheques, and have seized from them over 480 grams of drugs and 1,350 synthetic drug tablets.

After days of investigation, police in Dong Da District on April 29 officially charged Nguyen Quoc Binh, 50, Dao Van Dong, 56, and Nguyen Quang Ngoc, 44, with illegally trading in narcotics pursuant to Article 194 of the Penal Code.

Dong was arrested on April 17 morning, when police, acting on a tip-off, raided a house at 226 Bach Mai Street, Hai Ba Trung District, and caught him storing 1,100 synthetic drug tablets and 186 grams of ketamin.

Based on Dong’s testimonies, police searched another house on Le Duan Street later the same day and arrested Binh after discovering 250 synthetic drug tablets and 84 grams of ketamin in the house.

A day later, police continued detained Ngoc at his home and seized from him 211 grams of methamphetamine, a type of synthetic drug.

An initial investigation showed that Binh and Ngoc were in charge of dealing with drug suppliers while Dong’s duty was to deliver drugs, packed in small plastic bags, to customers.

The three men often rented houses in small alleys to hide drugs and installed camera systems around these houses, investigators said.

In order to avoid police detection, these drug traders frequently changed their residence and delivered drugs to customers’ places, mainly bars and discotheques, according to investigators.

Police are expanding their investigation to track down others involved in the ring.

Da Nang hotels, cafés letting tourists use clean toilets for free

More than 40 hotels, restaurants and cafés in Da Nang are opening their toilet doors to the public for free under an unprecedented campaign to make the city more friendly to tourists.

Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center launched the project in the downtown district of Hai Chau, pledging to make tourists feel at home with clean and free toilets.

The participating hotels and restaurants started to put up a logo of the campaign -- a blue smiling toilet -- during the international fireworks competition earlier this week.

A source said the project is piloted on several tourist streets in Hai Chau and will be expanded.

More than 60 businesses had volunteered to join but some did not meet the required standards.

As Vietnam’s lack of public toilets and the poor hygiene of the few that exist have received widespread public criticism, the new project has won praise from many tourists.

Le Trung Tinh, a tourist from Hanoi, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the project will save the city from investing a lot of money in public toilets. “And it shows how friendly Da Nang people are.”

Da Nang's tourism department estimated that 450,000 tourists have visited the city since the six-day break started on April 28.

War-torn land transforms into lively economic area

Visitors to the mountainous A Luoi district in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue are immediately struck by the visible changes in all aspects of life across the district.

Once bearing the brunt of the large-scale defoliation programme during operation Ranch Hand by the Unites States from the 1961-1971, A Luoi, where the population comprises mostly of ethnic minority groups, has experienced marked changes in infrastructure and quality of life.

From one of districts with the highest poverty and illiteracy rates in Thua Thien-Hue, A Luoi now has kindergartens and schools and many ethnic minority youth have received higher education degrees.

Ke Suu, the first ethnic minority member to get a PhD degree, has been the pride of the ethnic minority community in the district.

Twelve ethnic minority people are serving as vice chairmen of communal People’s Committees.

Infrastructure in the district has improved greatly over the past 40 years, allowing residents in A Luoi to travel to the city of Hue in just two hours on a new 70-km road, as opposed to the previous two-day travel over 220 kilometres. The newly-constructed Ho Chi Minh Road also runs though the district’s main town.

Hero of the people’s armed forces Ho Duc Vai said that hundreds of kilometres of concrete and asphalt roads leading to hamlets have facilitated market visits and the daily lives of local people.

The rice yield in Sal Pilung valley in A Luoi’s A Roang mountainous commune has considerably increased after 26 irrigation projects were carried out and the rice production area was expanded, helping the Ta Oi ethnic minority group gain an average of around 400 kilograms of rice per month.

Members of the Ta Oi group were also instructed on how to use the land surrounding their homes to raise livestock and grow fruit trees.

Huong Lam commune, one of three poorest communes in Thua Thien-Hue, has benefited from the Government’s Programme 135 supporting the country’s poorest communes.

The locality has reduced its poverty rate to 9 percent thanks to a shift in farming methods to include the application of science and technology, applying the fruit-fish-livestock model and planting forests.

Hong Ha, another extremely disadvantaged commune, is home to five ethnic groups of Ka Tu, Pa Co, Ta Oi, Pa Hy and Kinh who together have made efforts to plant 1,070 hectares of buffer forest, the largest reforestation effort among communes in A Luoi.

Hong Ha has been developing its farming economy as well, planting rubber trees, fruits, pepper plants. Increased incomes from these initiatives can be seen as more than half of households now have TV sets.

Meanwhile, ethnic minority community members in Nham commune are employed as workers in coffee plantations, and a number of households have planted their own coffee farms.

The district also completed the construction of 2,400 houses to replace ramshackle huts.

A Luoi is expected to become a bustling economic hub in the western region of Thua Thien-Hue as a number of major projects are implemented in the region, including the construction of the A Dot and Hong Van border economic zones and the upgrades and expansions of the national road No 49 and provincial road No 74 and 71 connecting A Luoi with Nam Dong and Phong Dien districts.

Construction of the A Luoi and A Lin hydroelectric plants with a combined capacity of 250 megawatts is also under way.

Currently, 11 of 20 A Luoi communes have completed at least 10 out of the 19 criteria for new-style rural communes.

The district aims to achieve a 12 percent economic growth to bring the income per capita to 18 million VND (840 USD) in 2015 and reduce the impoverished household rate to below 10 percent.-

Can Tho to become industrialised city before 2020

Can Tho’s social-economic achievements over the past four decades allowed its leaders to feel confident about the goal to transform the city into an industrialised one before 2020, becoming a driving force for social-economic development in the whole Southwest region.

After its liberation in 1975, Can Tho was an undeveloped city with an economy largely dependent on agriculture and fishery which produced small revenues.

Along with national economic reform, the city has also experienced rapid social and economic transformation in recent years, especially after it became the fifth centrally-governed city in 2004.

With an average growth rate of 11.23 percent from 1976-2015, Can Tho is food self-sufficient and is the Mekong Delta region’s leading seafood and food exporter.

The city’s total rice output is expected to reach 1.3 million tonnes in 2015, five times more than that of 1976, and its fisheries sector turns out 190,000 tonnes annually.

The industrial sector has developed quickly as well. In 2015, the city’s industrial value is estimated at 103 trillion VND in comparison with a mere 135.2 billion VND in 1976.

Income per capita is expected to reach 3,636 USD in 2015, the highest in the region.

The city’s trade and service sector saw a strong increase with the total retail sales reaching 81 trillion VND (3.75 billion USD) in comparison with 90 million VND (4,169 USD) in 1976.

The tourism sector has grown impressively and it expects to receive around 1.4 million tourists this year, 258,000 of which will be international visitors, generating 1.3 trillion VND.

The city’s development investment reached nearly 13 billion USD between 2004 and 2015 with a number of big infrastructure projects, such as the Can Tho International Airport, the 3,000-megawatt O Mon Thermoelectric Plant, the Can Tho Bridge and the Cai Cui Port.

The city’s poverty rate stood at 2.84 percent in 2014 and the city is working to reduce it to 1.84 percent by the end of this year; dozen thousands of houses have been built for impoverished families.

According to city leaders, Can Tho still faces challenges such as unsustainable economic development, limited industrial production scale and lack of hi-tech products, low workforce quality and weak infrastructure connectivity.

According to Resolution No 45 by the Politburo, Can Tho will be developed into a clean, green, modern city and serve as a gateway to the Mekong Delta region.

The city will play a key role in industry, commerce, service, education, training, science, technology, health, culture, transport and defence and security for the region.

In order to achieve these ambitious goals, the city will have to implement various measures from urban planning to economic development, according to the city’s Party Committee Secretary Tran Thanh Man.

The city will focus on shifting its economic structure towards industry, commerce, service and hi-tech agriculture as well as develop its external economy to make Can Tho a centre for economic activities and cooperation with foreign countries, said Man.

He continued to say the city would focus on training a qualified workforce in education and training.

Besides upgrading existing health centres, a number of new hi-tech health centres will be built, he said.-

Vietnamese in Macau gather on reunification day

The Vietnamese in China’s Macau Special Administrative Region were brought together at a grand ceremony to celebrate the liberation of South Vietnam and National Reunification Day four decades ago and the 129th May Day.

Vietnamese Consul General in China’s Hong Kong and Macau Hoang Chi Trung congratulated the Vietnamese people in Macau on the occasion and acknowledged their significant contributions to the homeland.

He highlighted the great 1975 spring victory as a glorious page in the history of national construction and defence, which helped the country to usher in a new era of independence, unification, democracy, and civilisation.

The official also underlined the remarkable achievements that Vietnamese have gained over the past few years, especially in the fields of foreign affairs and international integration.

He took this opportunity to call on international friends, including those from China , to further support and partner with Vietnam .

At the ceremony, the official granted certificates of merit of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs to individuals who greatly contributed to developing the Vietnamese community in the host society.

Special art performances were also held to strengthen labour solidarity around the world.-

Preferential loans benefit Mong ethnic people

A number of households of the Mong ethnic group in disadvantaged Ta Leng commune, Tam Duong district in the mountainous province of Lai Chau have been able to escape poverty thanks to preferential loans.

Giang A Sinh’s family, a Mong household in Then Pa hamlet, is a typical example of making the most of their low-interest loans to gradually increase his family’s income and improve their quality of life.

Sinh was born in 1975 in a poor family with many siblings. In the 1990s, Sinh married and separated from his parents.

He decided to borrow 500,000 VND (23 USD) from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to raise pigs.

With his resulting profit, Sinh decided to borrow 10 million VND (464 USD) to buy land and grow corn and rice. He continued, borrowing 15 million (695 USD) to buy buffalos, goats, and fish.

After years of efforts, Sinh’s family was able to lift themselves out of poverty in 2010 and now earn over 100 million VND (4,635 USD) per year.

Sinh said his family is one of nearly 48,000 households enjoying low-interest rate loans.

Rural areas grapple to meet environmental criteria

Criteria related to environmental conservation has become the most difficult to achieve among the 19 criteria of the national target programme on building new-style rural areas, with only 26 percent of the communes under the programme currently meeting this requirement.

The programme, initiated by the Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to boost rural areas of Vietnam.

The environmental criterion stipulates a commune must ensure 75 percent of its households use water that meets national quality standards and all production and business facilities satisfy environmental requirements. It must also ensure a green and clean local environment, build graveyards in line with urban planning, and collect and treat waste and wastewater properly.

According to the programme’s steering committee, more than 1,000 centralised clean water facilities, 500 dumping grounds and 1,200 drainage ditches have been upgraded in rural areas nationwide.

The low rate of communes meeting the environmental criterion is attributable to the growing population, uncontrolled use of fertilisers and pesticides and the neglect of daily, agricultural, and production waste treatment.

The limited available land area and funding shortage have also hindered efforts in planting trees and constructing standard dumping grounds and waste treatment facilities.

The prevalence of outdated production equipment and authorities’ slack supervision over production activities has further complicated environmental protection activities.

The national programme’s steering committee said 785 communes had satisfied all 19 criteria by the end of 2014, accounting for 8.8 percent of the communes across Vietnam, as reported on the Government Portal.

The country aims to have 20 percent of all communes nationwide meet all the requirements by the end of 2015, bringing it up to 50 percent by 2020.

To enhance the new-style rural area building, the committee plans to step up communication activities to raise public awareness and encourage community involvement in the programme.

It will also ask local authorities to harness resources to improve basic infrastructure, especially those serving economic activities; restructure agriculture towards higher added value and sustainable development; and facilitate technological transfer to apply advanced equipment in agricultural production.

Tourist attractions crowded on reunification holiday

Vacationers, at home and abroad, swarmed around places of attractions across Vietnam during the six-day holiday starting from April 28 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of southern liberation and national liberation (April 30).

Cat Ba island, dubbed “pearl of the Gulf of Tonkin ” in the northern city of Hai Phong , recorded full lodging occupancy with over 7,500 tourist arrivals.

Ha Long Bay, Co To water park, Bai Chay tourist wharf, and resorts in the northern province of Quang Ninh were all in full swing.

Meanwhile in the central province of Quang Binh , the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomed a record 35,000 visitors during the four days of the holiday, attracting them with plentiful magnificent caves and streams inside.

They also had chance to enjoy a two-hour concert featuring popular songs under the baton of Japanese conductor Akira Ota.

Many holidaymakers chose Da Nang as their destination to watch the annual spectacular firework displays by domestic and foreign competitors.

Its four-to-five-star hotels posted an estimated occupancy rate of 95 percent while three-star hotels were 85 percent full and lower-end hotels along major roads and My Khe beach were filled to capacity.

Sam Son beach town in the central province of Thanh Hoa expects to earn 2 trillion VND (95.2 million USD) during the 2015 beach travel season and serves nearly 30,000 visitors during the holiday.

Busy atmosphere across southern tourist sector were also felt in Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc island in Kien Giang, among others.-

Crowds pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh

Around 103,642 people paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum during the National Reunification Day and May Day holidays, which began from April 28 to May 3.

According to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Management Board, the figure included 11,355 foreigners.

On April 30 alone, as many as 26,253 people visited the mausoleum and the house-on-stilt where the president lived and worked, the board said.

President Ho Chi Minh stands out as a brilliant leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam, a great thinker of the Vietnamese revolution, and a hero of national liberation. He is also renowned as one of the world culture figures.-

Vietnam provides emergency aid for earthquake-hit Nepal

The Vietnamese Government has provided 50,000 USD in emergency aid to help Nepal address the consequences of the recent earthquake which has so far claimed more than 6,000 lives.

According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondents in India, at 3:30 pm on May 1, most of trapped Vietnamese nationals in Nepal arrived in Kathmandu capital safe and sound.

At least 35 Vietnamese nationals are expected to leave the city on May 2, transit at India ’s New Delhi airport, and then fly to Ho Chi Minh City.

The air tickets are paid by the insurance company AIG.

Currently, 11 Vietnamese are on the way to Kathmandu , while at least 12 others have yet been contacted.

The death toll from the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25 has climbed to 6,250 and the number of injured has risen to 14,357, Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs said in its latest update on May 1.

Numerous visitors pay tribute to General Vo Nguyen Giap

More than 100,000 visitors across the country offered incense to commemorate late General Vo Nguyen Giap over the past three days, the highest number ever recorded.

On the 40th anniversary of the liberation of South Vietnam and National Reunification Day on April 30, over 41,000 visitors queued to visit the General’s grave in central Quang Binh province, despite the blazing heat.

Vo Minh Tuan from Hanoi said it is the second time he and his family travelled more than 500 km to pay tribute to General Giap.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Khac Ngoc Tan Hao was confident that the number of visitors to the General’s grave will continue to surge in the coming days.

General Giap was born in 1911 in Loc Thuy commune, Le Thuy district, central Quang Binh province. He passed away in Hanoi on October 4 last year at the age of 103.

As an eminent disciple of President Ho Chi Minh and the first General and Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People’s Army, he led his people to victory over both French and American armies.

With over 80 years serving the nation, he was loved and respected by Vietnamese people and international friends, and is a hero to generations of officers and soldiers nationwide.

Memorial stele commemorates military medical officers

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended a ceremony to inaugurate a memorial stele for military medical officers in the southern province of Kien Giang on May 1.

He joined over 250 ex-officers who used to fight in the Ba Hon region during the US war in Vietnam .

The inaugural function took place in the Ba Hon national historical relic site in Hon Dat district to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of South Vietnam and National Reunification Day on April 30.

The construction of the stele began in 2012 on an area of over 1,000 square metres and with a total investment of over 3 billion VND (140,000 USD) raised by individuals and organisations for the first phase.

In the second phase, starting from now to 2020, more investment will be poured into building fences, restoring the exhibition house and offering physical therapy services to veterans.

The stele commemorates the medical soldiers who made significant contributions to the national liberation cause and the great 1975 spring victory.

During wartime, more than 300 medical soldiers from the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang laid down their lives to safeguard the country.

It was in the historic Ba Hon region where Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung once lived and fought alongside local medical soldiers for over 15 years.

Speaking at the event, the Prime Minister expressed his pleasure to once again meet his brothers-in-arms with whom he helped defend the country.

He encouraged the ex-medical officers to promote the revolutionary tradition, develop the local economy and make more contributions to the nation, while continuously searching for the remains of fallen soldiers.

He also offered incense in tribute to the deceased and planted a commemorative tree.

Peaceful, friendly border vital to socio-economic goals

There have had marked changes in the social-economic development and quality of life for residents in the western border areas of the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, according to Le Khac Chi, Vice Chairman of the province’s People’s Committee.

These changes are the result of effective implementation of the ‘Building a peaceful and friendly border to contribute to the socio-economic development and cementing defence-security in the region from 2006-2014’ project, also known as project 25.

With a 56.8 kilometre border shared with Cambodia and two important economic border gates, Ha Tien and Giang Thanh, a peaceful and friendly border is vital for socio-economic development in the province’s border region.

Kien Giang implemented project 25 in 2006, and since then the region has achieved an average economic growth rate of 17 percent, 2 percent above the project’s target.

The completion of dozens of infrastructure projects also created favourable conditions for locals to promote production and improve their income.

According to Chung Thi Ngoc, Vice Chairwoman of the Ha Tien town’s Women’s Union, the town only has 131 poor households (1.1 percent) and the average income per capita in 2014 is close to 55 million VND (2,575 USD).

Regarding sovereignty and border markers, the province has continually focused on educating residents on protecting border markers, ensuring order and security, and remaining alert to any threats.

Ngo Hoang Thuong, Chairman of the My Duc commune’s People’s Committee, said the commune makes a significant effort to keep locals regularly informed of the Party and State’s policies on border issues and initiatives to counter crime, smuggling, and the trafficking of women and children.

Religious policies were implemented and favourable conditions were created for those living in border areas to conduct business and exchange visits.

Tran Kieu Nha, a resident of Thach Dong hamlet, My Duc commune, Ha Tien town, said women in the hamlet are consistently on alert for suspicious behaviour or visitors and keeps local authorities and border guards informed.

Kien Giang has thus far completed the planting of 22 out of 28 border markers, including marker No 314, the final land designation on the border between Vietnam and Cambodia.

The province said it would extend project 25 through 2020 with an average growth rate of 18 percent and completing the planting of border markers in 2017 as primary project goals.

The province also asked the Ha Tien border guards and Giang Thanh district authorities to increase the external activities and foster mutually beneficial cross-border cooperation and tourism.

Socio-economic development plans in border areas will be reviewed and revised to ensure sustainable and long-term development.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri