Flyover projects in HCMC postponed

Ten years ago, HCM City's People's Committee decided to build five flyover roads by 2020, but negotiations with potential investors have stalled in recent years.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the flyover plan in 2007, and the city then called for investors to bid for the projects.

In December 2007, the South Korean GS E&C Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the city on project feasibility of the first flyover route under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) investment mode.

It was planned to be 9.5 kilometres long with four lanes, with a maximum speed of 80 km per hour for vehicles.

But in mid-2008, the company said the project would cost US$340 million, and road-toll collections would only pay for only 20-30 per cent of the costs.

The project was suspended in 2009 after the city refused to change the model to BT (Build-Transfer) mode or another investment mode, which had been requested by the South Korean company.

In 2009, the Viet Nam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corp proposed building a flyover route from Thu Duc intersection to An Lac intersection with a length of 34km.

The developer suggested a width of 45 metres with total investment of VND36.7 trillion ($1.62 billion).

But the city wanted the road to be 120 metres wide, which would have increased the costs to VND74 trillion ($3.28 billion). The investor then turned down the project.

Also in 2007, General Construction Company No. 1 proposed building a flyover route from Binh Phuoc intersection, passing over Sai Gon River – Vuon Lai – Nguyen Xi– Dinh Bo Linh – Dien Bien Phu streets and connecting to the first flyover road. This flyover would be 9.6 kilometres, with a total investment of VND14 trillion ($621.18 million).

Hoang Trung Thanh, deputy director of the company, said the company had negotiated with the city four or five times for a total investment of VND14 trillion.

General Construction No. 1 said it wanted the city to cover VND7 trillion ($310.59 million) for site clearance compensation, and the rest would be paid by the company.Thanh said the project would be discussed again next year.

Ministry asks localities to tighten slaughterhouse management

A recent directive of the agriculture and rural development ministry has asked provinces and cities to strictly deal with slaughterhouses that do not obey food hygiene and safety regulations.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat asked the provinces and cities to review slaughterhouses and promulgate policies to upgrade them or give them support in development plans.

Phat requested provincial and city leaders to strictly punish small slaughterhouses that do not possess business registrations as per current regulations.

The minister also suggested to the chairmen of the provincial and city People's Committees that the agriculture and rural development departments should tighten the management of veterinary hygiene, food safety and environmental hygiene in small slaughterhouses.

Police and market watch authorities have been asked to tighten and have regular inspections of abattoirs, and to strictly deal with individuals and organisations that violate food hygiene and safety regulations.

The ministry's directives came after lack of strict action, despite several violations by abattoirs of level C in some localities.

The existence of so many small slaughterhouses in several northern provinces and cities can threaten food hygiene and safety.

The situation has cropped up because local authorities did not have slaughterhouse management plans or appropriate policies to support the building of new abattoirs or the upgrade of slaughterhouses in the city or provincial development plans, the ministry said.

Weak collaboration between appropriate authorities in slaughterhouse management also was a reason why local authorities had not taken strict measures to close slaughterhouses that do not meet food hygiene and safety regulations.

Ministry pushes for students' health insurance coverage

In a recent official dispatch, the education and training ministry ordered education departments and schools to expand the health insurance programme for achieving universal coverage among students and pupils.

The ministry requested the department of education and training, universities and colleges to focus on strengthening communication work and enhancing the awareness of students, pupils and their parents about the health insurance law and its role in health protection.

Schools need to instruct students and pupils to take health insurance and receive insurance cards in accordance with regulations. The monitoring of the health insurance programme in educational establishments needed to be strengthened, the ministry said.

In the dispatch, the ministry said the insurance fund was appropriately used for healthcare purposes.

Social health insurance covers 85 per cent of the students and pupils. The coverage rate among pupils is 94 per cent and among students 76 per cent, Viet Nam's social insurance statistics showed.

The participation rate is low due to poor attention being paid by some educational establishments, ineffective communication work and insufficient collaboration between the education department and the health and social insurance sectors.

Traffic policemen prepare for new school year ceremony

Ha Noi's road and railway traffic police division (PC67) said it would try its best to ensure the capital's traffic and road safety during the new academic year ceremony tomorrow.

Policemen will control traffic at 340 key spots in the city and will organise 94 rounds of patrolling on the main roads.

A large number of traffic policemen will also be deployed on roads with construction sites such as Nguyen Trai, Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, and Ho Tùung Mau streets, as well as the roads near schools where the ceremony will be held, to help reduce traffic jams and road accidents during the day.

Traffic safety officiers will also be ready to help students and their parents who lose their way or face unexpected transport problems, preventing them from attending the ceremony on time.

Colonel Dao Vinh Thang, head of the PC 67 division, said Ha Noi's traffic policemen would also penalise people who break traffic rules such as on wearing of hamlets, carrying excess number of people on motorbikes and in cars and jumping red lights, causing traffic jams and accidents on that day.

The new academic year will start tomorrow morning in 2,482 schools in the city, comprising 960 kindergartens, 707 primary schools, 607 secondary schools and 208 high schools.

‘National Highway's upgrade delayed by investors, contractor'

About 21 of the 38 projects to upgrade National Highway No 1 from the central Thanh Hoa Province to the southern Can Tho Province have been completed in 18 months.

Head of the Transport Engineering Construction and Quality Management Bureau Tran Xuan Sanh said this at a meeting with the transport ministry for reviewing the progress of the National Highway No 1 upgrade project on Thursday.

Work on all sections would be completed by the end of this year, and National Highway No 1 would be opened to traffic soon after that, he said.

The upgrade of National Highway No 1 from Ha Noi to Can Tho covers 1,475km. It is divided into two sections that connect Ha Noi with Thanh Hoa Province, and Thanh Hoa with Can Tho.

All National Highway No 1 projects have maintained the progress and quality requested by the transport ministry, Sanh said, except for the Nam Binh Dinh and Bac Binh Dinh projects.

He blamed the projects' sluggish progress on the financial incompetence of the investors and the contractor.

Sanh asked the investors to work with relevant agencies to mobilise all equipments and human resources to complete the two projects before October 30 this year.

He said all subsidence seen in completed projects (the section from Thanh Hoa to Can Tho Province) has been repaired.

PM launches power supply project to southern island commune

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung launched a project to supply power to Lai Son island commune in Kien Hai district, the southern province of Kien Giang on September 4, which is expected to benefit 1,956 local households.

According to the Southern Power Corporation, a 110-kilovolt transmission line will be installed with the total cost of 368 billion VND (1.63 million USD). The 43.9-kilometre-long line includes 19.4-km inland and 24.5-km sea-crossing segments using 48 power poles.

A 110-kV transformer station with two 25-MVA transformers will also be constructed before the project is scheduled to be completed in April 2016.

Addressing the launching ceremony, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said the project, the country’s largest sea crossing 110kV line, is expected to contribute to boosting local socio-economic growth, improve the living conditions of locals and attract investment to benefitting communes.

It will help reduce the use of diesel generators on the islands, easing pollution, and make the islands a firm defence system protecting the national sovereignty and sovereignty rights over sea and islands, he said.

He also praised efforts of the Vietnam Electricity, the Southern Power Corporation and Kien Giang government in implementing the project, meeting the demand for socio-economic and tourism development in Lai Son.

Located in the southwest waters of the country and 60 kilometres southwest of Rach Gia city, Lai Son island covers 1,095 hectares and has a population of 8,120 people.

Currently, local residents only have access to electricity for half the day using diesel generators, which greatly affects their production and living conditions.

Lai Son is one of seven island communes benefitting from a programme to connect inshore islands in Kien Giang with the national power grid, invested with over 1.5 trillion VND (66.7 million USD) and bringing power to 8,600 households.

Lai Son is included in the first phase of the three-phase programme spanning from 2015-2016. In the second phase, from 2016-2018, power will be supplied to the four communes of Hon Nghe, Son Hai, Tien Hai and Hon Thom via a 22-kV transmission line with 474 billion VND (21 million USD) in total investment.

In the last phase from 2018-2020, An Son and Nam Du communes will be connected to the power grid using a 22-kV undersea transmission line with a cost of 664 billion VND (29.5 million USD).

RoK shares experience in beautifying urban spaces

Measures to apply and develop public art in Vietnam were discussed among experts from Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) at a conference jointly held by the Korea Foundation, UN Habitat and the Vietnam Urban Forum in Hanoi on September 4.

At the conference, themed “bringing art into real life spaces,” RoK experts shared experience in developing pubic art in their cities with artwork from Gangwon Do province’s Suwon city as an example.

Public art must be a reflection of how people see the world and cannot simply be art displayed in public places, art critic Cho Kwan Yong highlighted, adding that public art should include the participation and approval of local residents.

The non-profit Play Street project aiming to raise public awareness of the crucial role of public playgrounds was also introduced at the conference by the Think Playground team. The project aims to install free playgrounds for children in Hanoi and give them space to play. Play Street has equipment made of bamboo and recycled materials, free-play spaces and traditional games.

According to the, policies have been enacted by foreign governments to encourage public art development, given that New York city (the US) sets aside at least 1 percent of building costs, worth 20 million USD, for public art.

Painter Nguyen Thu Thuy, the author of the famous art work Ceramic Road in Hanoi, said public art has not been well developed in Vietnam, hoping that fresh initiatives by young artists would contribute to beautifying urban spaces.

She also called on more support from authorities to promote this type of art.

Public art has been applied in numerous cities worldwide, substantially improving their aesthetics.-

Long An offers medical check-ups to Cambodians

The Military High Command of the southern province of Long An provided free medical check-ups and medicine for residents in two disadvantaged communes in Cambodia.

More than 600 impoverished individuals in Cham commune, Trabek district, Pray Veng province and Koitrabek commune, Svay Rieng city, Svay Rieng province benefited from the charity programme.

Vietnamese military doctors also disseminated knowledge on primary healthcare to improve the health of the elderly and children while offering advice on leading a healthy lifestyle and using clean water.

Vice Political Commissar of the High Command Nguyen Tan Dao said that social activities like this contribute to intensifying the neighbourliness, time-honoured friendship and all-round cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Long An shares a border line of 133 kilometres with Cambodia’s Svay Rieng and Pray Veng provinces, with one international border gate, one national border gate and two auxiliary ones.

Ben Tre strives to promote methadone treatment effectiveness

The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre is working hard to improve the effectiveness of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) administered to drug users and expand the therapy’s coverage.

There were 1,109 drug users receiving the treatment in Ben Tre by the third quarter of 2015.

In its first year of operation, the province’s first MMT clinic helped 219 patients improve their physical and mental health. As a result, more than 80 percent of them found jobs with stable incomes and improved their living conditions.

However, 27 of the patients gave up the treatment by August this year against the advice of medical workers.

Director of the Ben Tre HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Centre Le Thi Kim Thoa attributed the patients’ decision not to continue the therapy to the lengthy treatment duration, during which they have to come to the MMT clinic every day, a physical and financial obstacle to those living far from the clinic.

She said in order to assist the addicts, the clinic is offering consultations to promptly detect any psychological changes or illnesses and send them to medical establishments.

The provincial Department of Health will open more MMT clinics in Mo Cay Nam and Chau Thanh districts. Meanwhile, administrative procedures for doling out MMT will also be streamlined to promote addicts’ access to the therapy.

Thoa said as patients will have to pay some fees to receive MMT next year as mandated by the Ministry of Health, the provincial People’s Committee will use money sourced from the local budget to purchase and provide methadone for users free of charge in 2016 should foreign sponsors reduce their assistance.

The province will later build a roadmap for charging for MMT administration, she added.

The MMT is a cost-effective method that costs nine times less than traditional methods in rehabilitation centres. It not only allows addicted people to stop using drugs, reduces the risk of HIV transmission and improves the quality of life, but is also associated with a reduction of criminal activities.

Dong Nai acts to contain dengue

The southern province of Dong Nai stepped up its efforts to curb the spread of dengue, which has been on the rise since the beginning of this year.

According to the province’s Prevention Health Centre, the last three weeks of August saw around 900 people in the province catching the disease.

Since the outset of 2015, Dong Nai has recorded more than 3,700 patients, up 140 percent against the same period last year, and two of them died.

Rapidly-urbanised and populous localities like Bien Hoa city, Long Thanh and Trang Bom districts report the highest number of dengue sufferers.

Bien Hoa city alone has 2,000 people suffering from the disease in the past eight months, 1,400 cases more than the same period last year’s figure. The city’s Trang Dai ward, home to thousands of workers, has seen 600 dengue cases, up 500 cases from 2014.

Dong Nai’s health sector has been spraying chemicals at the most affected areas while increasing supervision to prevent the spread of the disease.

Health collaborators have come to each household to deliver leaflets on how to avoid dengue.

The provincial Health Department has asked health clinics to ensure drugs, chemicals, and equipment be ready for any emergency cases and move patients to higher-level hospitals for timely diagnosis and exact classification.

The health sector has also warned people to kill mosquitoes and mosquito larvae as well as keep personal and public hygiene.

Dak Lak: Hepatitis B vaccine unrelated to newborn death

Vaccination is not the cause of the death of a two-day-old infant who died on August 23 after receiving a shot of Hepatitis B vaccine at Ea H’leo district General Hospital in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, said doctor Pham Van Lao, Director of the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre on September 3.

A group of experts from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and its chapter in the Central Highlands, the provincial Department of Health, the provincial Forensic Medicine Centre, and the Ea H’leo district General Hospital met the same day to look into the case and concluded that the vaccine was unrelated to the death.

Nearly 200,000 children across the country, including 3,390 from Dak Lak province, have been given this type of vaccine and no adverse vaccine reaction has been recorded so far, they said.

All required vaccine preservation and technical procedures were guaranteed, the group affirmed.

The 3-kilogramme boy was born by Nguyen Hong Loan from Ea Sol commune, Ea H’leo district on August 21. His family accused doctors at the Ea H’leo Hospital of negligence that led to his death.-

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri