Criminal proceedings launched against cocaine trafficking in Ba Ria-Vung Tau

Ba Ria-Vung Tau police are keeping the cocaine for investigation 

The southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has decided to launch criminal proceedings against a drug trafficking case involving 119 kilogrammes of cocaine, said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Luyen, spokesperson of the provincial Police Departmenton August 1.

Luyen said that the drugs were discovered in one of 17 waste containers on July 24 and were tested by the Criminal Technology Agency under the Ministry of Public Security before being handed over to Ba Ria-Vung Tau police.

Theprocess of handing over and storing the drugswas supervised by representatives of the provincial People’s Procuracy.

Police will soon summon relevant people for questioning, including the owner of the 17 waste containers– the Pomina 2 steel company. Police will also open the rest 16 containers for inspection.

Currently, the drugs are being kept by the provincial police for investigation.

Programme planting 100,000 trees in Bac Kan launched

Officials plant trees after the launch of the tree planting programme in Bac Kan province on August 2 

As many as 100,000 trees will be planted during a tree planting programme that was launched at a ceremony held in the Na Tu historical relic site in Cam Giang commune, Bach Thong district of the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan on August 2.

The activity was part of the “One million green trees for Vietnam fund” programme jointly launched by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk).

Addressing the launching ceremony, MoNRE Deputy Minister Vo Tuan Nhan said that the “One million green trees for Vietnam fund” programme aims to raise public awareness of the significance of protecting the nature and ecosystems, and highlighting the vital role of the nature to life.

Nhan called for the community to join hands in planting more trees in their residential areas, while actively plant and protect the forest, contributing to preserving the natural resources and environment as well as biodiversity, and building a living environment with the harmony between man and the nature.

The 100,000 trees of various kinds with total value of 930 million VND will be planted in residential areas, memorial sites, relic sites, public places, schools, and areas affected by climate change.

Ly Thai Hai, Chairman of the Bac Kan People’s Committee said that the province has the country’s largest forest area with the coverage rate at 72.1 percent.

Over the past years, the province has shown strong performance in forest protection and development, ensuring the living environment, land and ecosystem, he noted, pledging that Bac Kan will plant the trees as schedule.

Through six years of launching, the “One million green trees for Vietnam fund” programme has planted 680,000 trees in 20 cities and provinces across Vietnam with total value of nearly 9 billion USD. 

In the coming time, the fund will continue coming to the rest localities with a hope of making the environment greener.

Along with planting 100,000 trees, Vinamilk presented 20 gifts to families of martyrs, wounded soldiers and voluntary youth and revolution contributors in Bac Kan.

Defence ministry supports Laos to recover from dam collapse

The High Command of Military Region 5 of Vietnam give relief aid to Appateu province.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Defence donated 50,000 USD as relief aid for the Lao government and people to recover following the collapse of Sepian Senamnoi hydroelectric power.

Deputy Minister of Defence Tran Don handed over the money to Lao Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Viengsay Dalasan on August 3.

Don said that the Vietnamese Party, Government, people and the Vietnam People’s Army have sympathy for their Lao counterparts over the losses due to the dam collapse.

The ministry directed the High Command of Military Region 5 of Vietnam to continue rescue and relief efforts in Attapeu province.

The Lao diplomat, for his part, thanked the Vietnamese Party, Government, people and military for supporting Laos, saying that he will send the money to Attapeu province so that local people will soon stabilise their livelihoods.

On July 23, a saddle dam of the Sepian Senamnoi hydroelectric power project, invested by RoK, Thai and Lao companies, burst, unleashing 5 billion cubic metres of water from the mountain to 13 villages of Sanamxay district downstream the Sepian River, some 560 km southeast of Vientiane.

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

Hanoi makes effective use of ODA to improve infrastructure

At the working session between the Hanoi People's Committee and a delegation from the National Assembly Standing Committee 

Hanoi is striving to make efficient use of foreign loans, including official development assistance (ODA), to fuel socio-economic development, especially the building of a synchronous transport infrastructure network.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung made the statement at a working session with a delegation from the National Assembly Standing Committee led by Chairman of the NA Committee for Finance and Budget Nguyen Duc Hai on August 2.

The event featured discussions on the city’s implementation of policies and regulations on the management and use of ODA in 2011-2016.

In the period, Hanoi carried out 14 programmes and projects using foreign loans totalling nearly 69 trillion VND (2.9 billion USD), including about 43 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) in ODA.

The city has disbursed approximately 11.6 trillion VND (496.9 million USD), 27 percent of the total ODA, according to Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Doan Toan.

Most of the ODA loans were used to build key socio-economic infrastructure such as urban transport system, environment, water supply and drainage, he said.

He referred to the urban transport development project funded by the World Bank, which put into use the second ring road of Nhat Tan – Cau Giay segment and a bus rapid transit system from Kim Ma road to Yen Nghia bus station in 2016, helping reduce travel time to Noi Bai International Airport.

However, the implementation of ODA projects, especially large-scale urban railway ones, is often slow due to land clearance issues and shortcomings in the national institutional framework on the management and use of ODA.

To make effective use of foreign loans, including ODA, the municipal People’s Committee suggested the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Vietnam speed up the addressing of procedures relating to capital withdrawal, signing of loan agreements and adjustment and extension of loan agreements.

The city recommended ministries and departments work to increase the role of Vietnam in negotiating and receiving ODA loans to harmonise the conditions of separate sponsors and the country’s legal regulations. 

It asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to work with government agencies and sponsors to complete procedures on building annual ODA disbursement plans.

The city also proposed the NA consider adjusting and supplementing plans providing middle-term capital for ODA projects.

HCM City: Music show raises over 1.8 million USD for seas, islands

A music show is held in Ho Chi Minh City on August 2 to raise for the National Seas and Islands Foundation. 

More than 43 billion VND (1.85 million USD) was raised for the National Seas and Islands Foundation during a music show in Ho Chi Minh City on August 2.

The show was co-hosted by the city’s Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Committee and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV) and broadcast live at 7:30pm on HTV1.

Performances praising the seas, islands and patriotism were staged by artists who recently visited Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago and other islands southwest of the mainland. An exchange with naval soldiers who defend national sea and island sovereignty was also held. 

Funds raised at the event will be used to aid naval soldiers, border and coast guards, fishery surveillance staff, fishermen and people living in border areas and islands. 

Over the years, HCM City’s authorities and people have organised events to promote the country’s sea and islands and responsibility towards national sovereignty protection and to raise funds for the National Seas and Islands Foundation, said President of the municipal VFF Committee To Thi Bich Chau at the event.

Since 2009, the committee has sent delegations to visit and present gifts, worth a total of nearly 200 billion VND, to naval soldiers and people living in Truong Sa archipelago and DK1 marine defence platform and those living in islands southwest of the mainland and border areas.

It has worked with the naval force to build a multi-functional cultural house in Da Nam island of Truong Sa and helped border guards construct 60 houses for poor soldiers and people in border areas of northern provinces. It also joined a project to supply clean water to those living in the southwest region.

Last year, the foundation raised more than 30 billion VND (1.32 million USD) which was spent on building a training room for Submarine Brigade 189, water reservoirs and farming gardens on Phu Quoc, Tho Chu and Hon Doc islands, fresh water supply facilities in five provinces and a solar power station for Dac O border guard station in the southern province of Binh Phuoc. 

Nearly 2.6 million USD for sea embankment projects in Ca Mau

The Government has allocated more than 60 billion VND (2.57 million USD) for urgent projects to protect sea dykes in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. 

With many sections of sea dykes in the locality in danger of being broken during the rainy and storm season, provincial authorities have devised measures to protect the western sea dyke.

Recent surveys showed that serious landslides are occurring along the western sea dyke in Tran Van Thoi district, which is about 3.7 km long.

The local authorities have agreed on a plan to assign Ba Ria - Vung Tau Urban Sewerage and Development Company (Busadco) to build an embankment to protect the sea dyke.

Representatives from Busadco said the firm is working on a 1.2 km-long section from Kenh Moi sluice toward Da Bac island in Tran Van Thoi district’s Khanh Hai commune

The firm committed to urge contractors to complete the construction of the above-mentioned embankment section before October. 

According to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development To Quoc Nam, the construction of embankments to project local sea dykes has faced many difficulties due to poor weather conditions.

He added that the locality has selected and signed contracts with prestigious and experienced contractors to ensure the on-schedule completion of the remaining 2.5 km of embankments to protect the dyke sections at high risk of breaching. 

Severe landslides at 27 eroded sites along the rivers have occurred this year in the province, destroying many houses and other infrastructure

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tien Hai asked departments and sectors to abide by legal regulations on the use of emergency investment sources of the Government for the project. 

He also called for their coordination in monitoring landslides along riverbanks and coastal erosions in the area and more efforts to ensure safety for citizens in the rainy season.

HCMC wants joint scheme with ministry to build Ring Road 3

Ring Road No.3 will link to the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway 

The HCMC government has proposed a joint scheme with the Ministry of Transport to finance Ring Road No. 3, which will connect the city with neighboring provinces, according to the municipal Department of Transport.

In particular, the transport ministry will call for investment capital for sections located in the provinces and bridges linking to HCMC, while the city will be in charge of tapping the municipal budget or other sources under the private-public partnership (PPP) format for advanced funding to support sections located within the city.

The city will then have these funds reimbursed from the central State budget, including the land fund for the build-transfer project.

Ring Road No.3, which stretches nearly 90 kilometers, was designed as a Grade-A expressway, with a permitted maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour. It starts from a section of Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway in Nhon Trach, Dong Nai Province, passes through Binh Duong, HCMC, Long An, and ends in Ben Luc.

The project comprises four sections, with section one running from Nhon Trach to Tan Van in Dong Nai Province measuring 34.3 kilometers in length. Although its feasibility study has already been approved by the transport ministry, work on this section has yet to begin; a few obstacles kept it from starting on schedule in 2006.

The second section, with a total length of 16.7 kilometers, running from Tan Van in Dong Nai to Binh Chuan in Binh Duong Province, has been put into operation. The third section, Binh Chuan-National Highway 22, is 19 kilometers long, while the remaining National Highway 22-Ben Luc section is 28 kilometers long.

The ring road project cost an estimated VND55.8 trillion, or roughly US$2.4 billion, excluding costs for overpasses, and was financially backed by the State budget, government bonds and official development assistance loans.

JDS scholarship 2018 open for Vietnamese young officials

The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam in late July launched the application of the Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) 2018. JDS application in 2018 is now open for Vietnamese young, highly-capable officials who are expected to contribute to the socio-economic development of Vietnam.

JDS is the full scholarship including tuition fee, flight ticket, and other allowances funded by the Government of Japan through Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Program started in Vietnam in 2000 and has dispatched 514 JDS fellows from Vietnam to Japan.

Within the JDS Framework in Vietnam for  2018 - 2021, JDS in 2018 provides scholarships for two-year master’s courses in various study fields including economics, urban development, energy, agriculture, environment, legal system, and public administration at Japanese universities.

The instruction at graduate schools will be provided in English and JDS fellows are supposed to write thesis papers in English. The application deadline is 17:00 of October 29, 2018. A maximum of 60 final successful candidates will be selected by March 2019 and be dispatched to Japan in August 2019.

JDS Information Sessions will be held in Hanoi, HCMC, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Danang, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, and Thai Nguyen this month.

HCM City serves nearly 4.4 million foreign tourists in seventh months

Apart from the 11 completed river ports, HCM City is calling for investment in 11 others to meet travel demand in districts 2 and 4, and Binh Thanh, Cu Chi and Can Gio districts. 

With various tourism products like shopping, cuisine and river cruise tours, Ho Chi Minh City attracted nearly 4.4 million foreign visitors in the first seven months of this year. 

To utilise the city’s potential in waterway tours, the municipal Tourism Department has partnered with the Department of Transport to run the local waterways. 

Apart from the 11 completed river ports, the city is calling for investment in 11 others to meet travel demand in districts 2 and 4, and Binh Thanh, Cu Chi and Can Gio districts. 

The Mui Den Do wharf in district 7 and the Nha Rong-Khanh Hoi wharf in district 4 also have favourable conditions for maritime tourism. 

In 2018, the city’s Tourism Department plans to complete a tourism development strategy which identifies key tourism products and markets to better serve the demands of both domestic and foreign visitors. 

The southern metropolis is expected to receive 7.5 million international visitors this year. 

In 2017, the city welcomed more than 6.3 million international arrivals, 1 million more than the previous year, and nearly 25 million domestic tourists, up 14.6 percent year-on-year.

VFF President presents scholarships to poor students in Can Tho

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man presents bicycles to poor students 

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man presented 10 scholarships worth 3 million VND (128.9 USD) each to poor students in Vinh Thanh district in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on August 2.

He also granted 50 bicycles worth nearly 100 million VND (4,295 USD) to needy students.

Man said Vinh Thanh is a remote district in Can Tho, so the travelling of locals remains difficult. The bicycles will make it easier for children to go to school.

He suggested local authorities and VFF chapters at all levels pay more attention to education and support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to help them continue their study on the occasion of the 2018-2019 academic year.

Hoa Binh: subsidence on roads due to torrential rains

A road in Ky Son district is split by a large crack  (Photo: dantri.com.vn)

Serious subsidence on roads, especially Road 445, in the northern province of Hoa Binh was reported due to torrential rains in recent days.

Rainfall in the province was measured at more than 1,000mm. Floods, flash floods and landslides occurred in many places, damaging houses and roads.

Nine houses in Dong Tien ward, Hoa Binh city, completely collapsed, while ten others partially collapsed and nine houses had cracks and could collapse anytime.

A serious landslide occurred on Road 445’s Km 3 in May Giay hamlet, Dan Ha commune, Ky Son district, on July 30 with the appearance of a crack about 100m long and 20cm wide and a subsided section over 40cm deep. The situation became more serious on August 2.

Vice Chairman of the Ky Son district People’s Committee Hoang Van Minh said eight households in dangerous areas had been moved to safer places.

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 has inspected and instructed repairs to the subsidence on the provincial road.

A working delegation from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has also made a fact-finding tour to Hoa Binh to inspect its landslide. 

Meanwhile, the Hoa Binh hydro-meteorology station, Hoa Binh hydropower company, and Hoa Binh office of steering committee on natural disaster prevention, search and rescue have conducted a survey on the landside area in Dong Tien ward to put forth solutions to addressing the matter and stabilising local lives.

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.

Businesses in HCM City’s 23/9 Park must be relocated

The chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, Nguyễn Thành Phong, says that shops and cafes operating in 23/9 Park in District 1 must move out by April 30 next year. — Photo vnexpress.net

Businesses operating in the 23/9 Park in HCM City’s District 1 must move out by April 30 next year, the chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Nguyễn Thành Phong, has said.

Phong directed the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment to coordinate with agencies to relocate shops and parking lots in the park.

Phong also ask the city’s Department of Planning and Architecture to complete a 1/500 scale detailed plan for the park before the third quarter of this year.

“Parks are places where residents relax after a stressful day of work. But there are cafes, shops, and people playing music at loud volumes. How can residents relax in such a noisy environment?” Phong said at a recent meeting.

The city’s Department of Transport said that such activities were also polluting the park. 

The 23/9 Park is a popular park for relaxation and sports such as badminton, jogging, football and dancing. Festivals and celebrations are also organised in the park. 

More methadone clinics

Methadone is used to treat heroin addiction in Việt Nam.

The Department of Health of the south-eastern province of Đồng Nai plans to set up at least one clinic in Long Khánh Town,  Biên Hòa City and every district by the end of next year to provide methadone substitution treatment for drug addiction.

Methadone has to be taken every day to treat the craving for heroin, according to experts.

Huỳnh Cao Hải, the department’s deputy director, said a seventh clinic opened on Tuesday at the Xuân Lộc District health centre.

The province has more than 2,000 addicts, but only about 55 per cent of them get methadone therapy.

The department said the low rate is because many districts do not yet have methadone clinics, and addicts have to travel a long distance from home every day, causing many to quit.

To enable addicts to visit clinics every day before going to work, their staff start working at 6am or even earlier.

To enable addicts to get treated at any methadone clinic in the country, the Việt Nam Administration of HIV/AIDS Control plans to issue them cards this year.

With the card, they would not require transfer papers from their clinic.

The administration is currently collecting information about all patients around the country to create a database before issuing the cards.

After storm, landslides threaten river-side residential areas

A road in Kỳ Sơn District is split by a large crack. — Photo dantri.com.vn

Landslides and cracks have appeared on Road 445 in Kỳ Sơn District in the northern province of Hòa Bình, threatening residential areas.

Kỳ Sơn District is located about 20km from Hòa Bình Hydropower Plant - the largest hydropower dam in Southeast Asia.

Vice Chairman of the district People’s Committee Hoàng Văn Minh said that 15 houses along the road were vulnerable to land erosion and collapse.

The committee helped evacuate residents to safer areas and blocked traffic on the road, he said.

Torrential rains since middle last month after Sơn Tinh storm plus high volume of water released from Hòa Bình Hydropower Plant have make the downstream area of Đà River including Kỳ Sơn District and Hòa Bình City got flooded and land erosion.

Since July 30, nine houses in Đồng Tiến Ward, Hòa Bình City in the same province completely collapsed into Đà River, ten other houses half-collapsed, nine houses had cracks on walls/floors.

Thirsty-five families in the area moved out of their houses.

In central province of Nghệ An, 22 families living along Hiếu River in Châu Tiến Commune, Quỳ Châu District are in fear that their houses could collapse and fall down the river anytime.

The landslide-prone area had a length of about 800m and created curve of 10m into ground. In some locations, the landslides are only 30m away from the National Highway 48.

On July 27, two river-side houses in the commune’s Minh Tiến Hamlet were damaged partly due to landslide.

The commune People’s Committee Vice Chairman Lương Trung Khay said as soon as the landslide occurred, authorised agencies helped local residents leave the dangerous areas.

The commune also asked for relevant agencies to detect causes of the landslides and find solutions to fix the aftermath.

Local residents blamed the near hydropower plant for the landslide as it released water from its reservoir.

A local resident Nguyễn Thị Lục in Minh Tiến Hamlet said that her family lived there for decades but had never seen landslide until the Châu Thắng Hydropower Plant started operation in May, 2017.

“Whenever the plant releases water, we see landslides along the river,” she said.

Director of the plant Hồ Ngọc Thiết told the Vietnam News Agency that if there was any scientific evidence showing that the water it had released caused the landslides, the plant would take responsibility.

Torrential rains over the last two weeks has also been blamed for flooding in parts of Hà Nội including Chương Mỹ and Quốc Oai districts.

The floods are expected to recede in the next 10-15 days, but over 800 families in Chương Mỹ District are struggling to deal with the general chaos and power cuts caused by the floods.

Electricity of Việt Nam (EVN)’s Hà Nội branch said that it had cut power supplies to Chương Mỹ and Quốc Oai for safety reasons.

However, it is continuing to power pumping stations in the two districts to ease the flooding.

Tay Ninh encourages safe and high-quality farming     

Tay Ninh will zone around 17,000ha of land to orient farmers and solicit investments by enterprises in producing safe and high-quality agricultural products, according to the province People’s Committee.

Tran Van Chien, its vice chairman, said growing fruits trees with high economic value such as durian, pomelo, longan and custard apple, and vegetables and producing quality seedlings would be a priority.

The province would earmark funds for developing irrigation and drainage systems and adopt a number of preferential policies to encourage a shift to high-value plants, he said.

According to the local Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, after five years of implementing the Government’s decision to restructure the agricultural sector to improve value addition and ensure sustainable development, the province’s agricultural sector has achieved remarkable changes.

Its agricultural, forestry and fisheries production has increased significantly and quality has greatly improved, it said.

Last year it was worth nearly VND26 billion (US$1.1 million), a 9.8 per cent increase from 2013, and helped improve the incomes and living standards of farmers.

The province has switched from traditional crops yielding low incomes to fruit trees, it said.

The area under low-value rice crops has reduced by 8,100ha to 147,800ha in the period, while the area under sugarcane and rubber has also shrunk significantly.

The area under cassava has increased from 45,658ha to 55,940ha and fruit orchards from 15,610ha to 20,212ha, with the latter mainly being fruits appropriate for local weather and soil conditions such as longan, custard apple, grapefruit, durian, mango, banana and jackfruit, which offer three or four times the value addition of other traditional crops.

The livestock sector has developed rapidly with the air-conditioned ventilated, large-scale, and closed breeding farm models growing significantly.

Livestock and poultry breeding farms following concentrated industrial and semi-industrial models account for over 60 per cent of the total of 1,349 farms in the province.

The livestock sector, besides focusing on the domestic market, has also begun to export.

The province pays close attention to developing safe agriculture, and more than 5 per cent of farm produce and animal products such as rice, vegetables, melons, fruit trees, chicken and pig meet VietGap and GlobalGap standards, bringing higher profits to farmers and enterprises, the department said.

Linkages between farmers and enterprises within and outside the province have developed strongly, with consumption of 1,500ha of rice, over 15,000ha of sugarcane, nearly six million poultry birds and over two million pigs and dairy products from nearly 2,000 cows guaranteed annually.

The province earned $13.3 billion from exports in the past five years, of which agricultural exports accounted for $2.6 billion.