Patrol team stops overloaded trucks in Thach That

A convoy of overloaded trucks was seized in Thang Long Boulevard in Thach That District last night.

Bùi Thanh Thái, captain of the transport patrol team, said a convoy of five lorries, overloaded with goods that were being transported from Xuan Mai Township to the central city of Ha Noi, was asked to stop for checks. But the drivers refused to allow checking of their vehicles.

"Right after the trucks were stopped, a guy appeared and claimed to be the owner of the convoy. He refused to let our team check the papers and weigh the goods on the trucks," Thai said.

Many other men also turned up and threatened to take action against the authorities.

The patrol team asked the drivers to bring the trucks to its office, but they refused.

The situation had not been resolved as of early this morning.

The trucks, carrying construction material, violated transport safety regulations and dropped mud and rocks on the road, endangering other road users.

Firemen extinguish house fire in Dak Lak

A fire broke out at 5.30am today, affecting three houses located adjacent to each other in Ea Tam Ward, in the Central Highlands Dak Lak Province's Buon Ma Thuot City.

The three houses are owned by 86-year-old Tran Tat Vy, who deals in furniture and mobile phones.

Vy was boiling water in the kitchen when he saw smoke in his house.

Six fire engines and more than 100 firemen were sent to fight the blaze.

Colonel Nguyen Tien Tuan, from the provincial fire prevention and control police department, said it took a lot of effort to extinguish the fire as the house had a lot of furniture and there was a strong wind.

The fire was stamped out by 8.30am. No casualties were reported.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Deputy PM asks for tightening service vaccine management

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, in a document released yesterday, asked the Ministry of Health to tighten supervision, quality management, and price of vaccines in the serviced vaccination programme.

Dam requested the health ministry to soon complete a decree on vaccination and submit it for the government's approval, and to draw up a plan towards a united vaccination programme in the country as per international regulations.

The Deputy PM also suggested to the health ministry to continue computerisation of the examination and treatment of health insurance services and forward IT applications in vaccination management.

The health ministry was also urged to promote vaccine research and production in the country and to work with the State Capital Investment Corporation to speed up the project on building a vaccine production factory on an industrial scale.

Viet Nam continues to use the five-in-one Quinvaxem vaccine in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation until 2020, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology director Dang Duc Anh.

Anh said that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI) was committed to donate the Quinvaxem vaccine to Viet Nam until 2020, totalling around 4.8 million doses yearly.

"After 2020, Viet Nam would consider continuing the use of Quinvaxem or find a replacement," Anh said.

The health ministry's Preventive Medicine Department director Tran Dac Phu said that Quinvaxem has been used to vaccinate 92 per cent of children under the age of six in Viet Nam, while serviced vaccines were using by the remaining 8 per cent of children mainly in big cities such as Ha Noi or HCM City.

Phu said that parents should not worry too much about Quinvaxem's post-vaccine reaction and eagerly await the imported Pentaxim vaccine that has not been provided in ample doses due to shortage in supplies by the manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur S.A.

"In fact, the rate of serious Pentaxim post-vaccine reactions were similar to those from Quinvaxem," Phu confirmed.

Phu added that no deaths were reported due to the Quinvaxem vaccine in Ha Noi or HCM City in 2015, whereas it was used on 300,000 children in HCM City and 280,000 others in Ha Noi last year.

Children would face the high risk of disease if parents continued to wait for serviced vaccines. In 2015, 50 per cent of the 380 children suffered from pertussis as they were not vaccinated yet or had not completed three doses.

The health ministry also organised training courses on strengthening immunisation safety nation-wide with a focus on screening before the vaccination and emergency aid after the dosage.

Hanoi helps Vientiane build military traditional house

The construction of a traditional house of the Military Command of the capital city of Vientiane, Laos, began on January 7, as a gift from the High Command of Hanoi capital city.

The house, once becoming operational, will preserve historical documents, images and objects of the Lao army in general and the Military Command of Vientiane capital city in particular.

Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, Commander of the Hanoi High Command Major General Nguyen Doan Anh said the building reflects the realisation of an agreement signed between the two countries’ defence ministries on December 25, 2015.

Colonel Siphone Chansomvong, Political Commissar at the Vientiane Military Command, expressed his deep gratitude for the support from Vietnam’s Party, Government, army and people.

The gift will forge further the ties between the two agencies and nations, he said.

Imperial Group opens hospitality school in Vung Tau

The Imperial Group that owns and runs the five-star hotel Imperial in southern Vung Tau city has opened the Imperial International Hotel School.

The Vung Tau-based school will offer short- and long-term training courses for staff in the hospitality industry.

This is the first school in Vietnam that can tap its advantages to enable students to practice what they learn in class at a high-end hotel with sophisticated infrastructure, equipment and services.

During the inauguration ceremony, the school concluded an agreement with Niagara University in the US, which will transfer training programmes. The agreement enables the Imperial school to issue Niagara's global certificates.

The programmes will also be combined with those approved by ASEAN and the ASEAN Economic Community.

Rector Richard Linstrom said initially the school would focus on short-term courses on reception, restaurant and room service, security and English for hospitality.

Nguyen Huu Tho, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that Vietnam was still short of human resources who meet international standards of the hospitality industry.

He said that one of the problems was insufficient practice at qualified hotels.

The Imperial Group also owns the Shifu restaurant chains in HCM City, the serviced apartment building The Imperial Residences in Vung Tau, and others.

Year-end sees labour shortage

The final month of the lunar year sees a seasonal employment surge, however, the number of job seekers decline, making it difficult for enterprises to handle the trade of the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays.

Vu Thi Thanh Lieu, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Center for Employment Service (HCES) said commercial and manufacturing companies, accounting for 80 percent of registered employers, usually organised promotion events at the end of the lunar year, therefore their labour demand increased strongly.

Her company received over 900 job orders from 52 companies in December 2015, in which big supermarkets such as MediaMart, Pico, BigC ordered 500 seasonal workers.

Although her center, as well as many other centers in the city, tried all the ways to promote the jobs to potential job seekers, the situation has not improved much.

The number of job applications had decreased by 30 percent compared with the same period last year, Lieu said, given that the center had increased from one job transaction session per week to two this year.

Smaller-scaled businesses are dealing with the same issue.

Thu Huong, owner of a handmade confectionary production facility in Xuan Dinh commune, Tu Liem district, said that to ensure sufficient goods for the Tet holiday, her business planned to hire 50 workers for product packing and shipping.

She hired people of acquaintances or siblings as she knew the labour shortage always happens at this time of the year.

Trinh Van Duc, a freelance worker in Van Canh commune, Hoai Duc district, said he found no difficulty to find a job in this season. Three to four weeks prior to Tet, kiosk owners in Dong Xuan market called him for a porter job.

Nguyen Nhu Lai, a university student got introduced by a friend to work as a salesperson for a promotion event with a salary of 200,000 VND (8.8 USD) for a 12-hour work day. Meanwhile, she also got introduced to another job where she had more options to earn money.

Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of HCM City's Centre for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labour Market Information, said that cashiers, warehouse workers, supermarket food processing workers, along with waiters and house maids have the highest demand among job categories.

The average salary ranges from 15,000 VND to 50,000 VND (0.66-2.2 USD) per hour or 140,000 VND to 300,000 VND (6.2-13.3 USD) per day, depending on time and work volume.

Experts said that some foreign companies organise conferences integrated with job transaction workshops throughout the year, therefore, the number of unemployed people decreases. However, they also advise that enterprises should prepare early with a seasonal employment plan as manpower crisis are likely to happen.

Army, police forces join hands in national security protection

Representatives of the Ministries of Public Security and National Defence met in Hanoi on January 7 to review their coordination in national defence and security, and ensuring social order and safety over the past five years.

The conference was co-chaired by Deputy Defence Minister and Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army General Do Ba Ty and Permanent Deputy Minister of Public Security Sen. Lieut. Gen. Dang Van Hieu.

Under the Government’s Decree No. 77/2010/ND-CP issued on July 12, 2010, the army and police forces have coordinated closely and effectively to fulfil their missions of safeguarding national security, social order and national defence in the context of complicated developments in the global, regional and domestic situations.

The forces have teamed up with ministries and agencies in guaranteeing absolute security during major holidays and political, cultural and social events.

Their joint efforts helped promptly prevent and thwart sabotage plots of hostile and reactionary forces while keeping crimes under control.

They also successfully engaged the public in protecting national security, national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in service of national socio-economic development as well as the country’s foreign relations expansion.

The two forces organised a total of 27,113 training courses on national defence and security for nearly 2.6 million people, not to mention courses for 15.2 million students

They arrested 8,432 suspects involved in 6,435 drug cases, confiscated more than 41,300 guns of different kinds and uncovered 3,906 cases of illegal storage, purchase, production and transportation of weapons and explosives.

Addressing the event, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hieu urged the two forces to tighten their coordination in the coming time to make the country’s international integration process a success.

Apart from joining hands in combating crimes and tightening State management in security and social order and safety, the two forces should continue to work with each other to improve fire prevention, rescue operations and traffic safety, he said.

Echoing Hieu’s views, General Ty called on the two forces to stay ready to guarantee safety and security for the country’s major political events and holidays, firstly the upcoming 12 th National Party Congress, the Lunar New Year and the election of deputies to the 14 th National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels.

The two forces were also requested to partner with each other in assessing and forecasting strategic situations in order to make timely proposals to the Party, State and Government to respond to sabotage and “peace evolution” attempts.

Besides, the two forces should coordinate in managing localities, particularly strategic ones, and in strengthening community-based national defence and security.

On this occasion, the Defence Minister presented certificates of merit to 106 units and 136 individuals of the two ministries for their outstanding performance in this work over the past five years.

New small hydropower plant serves remote areas in Hoa Binh

A 9MW hydropower plant was inaugurated in Da Bac district in the northern province of Hoa Binh on January 7, bringing electricity to far-flung areas in the mountainous district.

Built with a total investment of 300 billion VND (13.4 million USD), the Dong Chum 2 Hydropower Plant has four turbines, generating around 30 million KWh of electricity a year to the national grid.

Construction of the plant began in November, 2011. It joined the national grid in October 2015.

The operation of the plant is expected to facilitate local industrial and agricultural development.

This is the second hydropower plant in the district, following the Suoi Nhap A Hydropower Plant. Both plants are invested by the Hoang Son joint stock company.

HCM City spends 437 million USD combating floods

The Prime Minister has just approved a 437 million USD project on managing floods in Ho Chi Minh City by 2020, the Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper has reported.

Some 400 million USD of the project will be sourced from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) under the World Bank and the rest is covered by the city.

The project will be carried out from 2016-2021, looking to protect 14,900 hectares from floods and benefit 2 million residents.

It aims to develop local flood control infrastructure facilities while improving the city’s landscape and water environment.

According to statistics from the city, district 8 usually faces serious floods caused by tidal surges, with 1,000 households living along canals in wards 7 and 16 most affected.

From 2011-2014, there were 76 tides with their peaks exceeding 1.5m, which is higher than 63.5 percent of the city area.

Can Tho targets upgraded transport system

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho will appeal to the World Bank to provide official development assistance to a transport project aimed at upgrading the locality and the Mekong Delta region in order to better adapt to climate change.

This was among tasks set for the municipal transport sector in 2016 released at a conference in Can Tho city on January 7.

The project targets Quang Trung 2 Bridge, the road linking National Highways 91 and 61B, extended Nguyen Van Cu Street towards the centre of Phong Dien town and Tran Hoang Nga Street and Bridge.

Trinh Ngoc Vinh, Deputy Director of the Can Tho Department of Transport, said the city will also call for investments in upgrading provincial road No. 923 and the section connecting National Highway 91 and Nam Song Hau Road which will cost 16.3 trillion VND (717 million USD).

The municipal Transport Department will join hands with relevant departments and agencies to give advice to the Can Tho People’s Committee in luring investors in public-private partnership (PPP) projects, he said.

Importantly, the city is gearing towards the completion of a project on expanding Quang Trung-Cai Cui Road worth nearly 887 billion VND (39 million USD).

This is the life-line route that serves goods transportation of the Cai Cui Port and the Hung Phu industrial zone in Cai Rang district.

Once operational, it will connect Can Tho with national and provincial roads to other localities in the region.

Vietnamese Consulate General in northern Laos builds new headquarters

Construction of the new headquarters of the Vietnamese Consulate General in the northern Lao province of Luang Prabang began on January 7.

The same day, work also started on houses for officials of Vietnamese representative offices in the province as part of the 2,042 sq.m project.

Addressing the event, Tran Van Tuan, Vietnamese Consul General to Luang Prabang and northern Lao provinces said, the new headquarters, once operational, will serve as a common house for Vietnamese in northern Laos.

It is also expected to contribute to consolidating and promoting the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in general as well as between northern Lao provinces and Vietnamese localities in particular.

Somvang Vongvalay, a representative of the project’s contractor, promised to ensure the project’s progress and quality.

Since its inception in 2005, the Vietnamese Consulate General in northern Laos have greatly contributed to preserving and enhancing the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos as well as among their localities in all areas.

Trang Trinh Temple recognised as special national heritage

The Trang Trinh Temple in the northern port city of Hai Phong has been recognised as a Special National Heritage.

During a ceremony welcoming the title on January 7, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc handed over the government’s certificate of recognition to the city officials.

The event, taking place at the site in Ly Hoc commune, Vinh Bao district – the hometown of Nguyen Binh Khiem, known as Trang Trinh, also aims to commemorate his 430 th death anniversary (1491 – 1585).

Addressing the event, the Deputy PM highlighted the contributions Trang Trinh made during his life and career to the nation’s development and its literature in the 16 th century.

He urged the city to preserve and uphold the cultural values and legacy of Nguyen Binh Khiem, thus contributing to the local social-economic and tourism development.

Nguyen Binh Khiem (1491 - 1585) was an expert in physiognomy and astrology. He was worshipped as Vietnam’s greatest "prophet" because of a series of his prophecies on posterity. Nguyen Binh Khiem is also known as the "Trang Trinh Prophesier".

On the occasion, the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a tour featuring local famous landscapes.

Vietnam has so far had 34 special heritages with the recently-approved 11 ones, including architectural and archeological heritage of Co Loa (Hanoi), historical and architectural site of the Tran Dynasty’s temple and Pho Minh pagoda (Nam Dinh province), historical site to mark Bach Dang victory in 1288 (Uong Bi, Quang Ninh province), Yen Tu historical site (Quang Ninh province), Lam Kinh historical site (Thanh Hoa province), Nguyen Du memorial site (Ha Tinh province), architectural monument of the Keo pagoda (Thai Binh province), ancient archeological and architectural site Oc Eo-Ba The (An Giang province), Go Thap historical and archeological relic (Dong Thap province), Ba Be lake (Bac Kan province), and the Cat Tien national park (Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai and Lam Dong provinces).

Poor diet, lifestyle fuel health problems

Inappropriate dietary and lifestyles have hindered Vietnamese people from preventing and treating contemporary diseases, health experts have warned.

Dr Tran Tuan, Director of the Hanoi-based Research and Training Centre for Community Development, said that Vietnamese people were facing many contemporary diseases, namely cancer and mental and behavioural disorders.

He said that metabolic and endocrine disorders have also been increasing lately.

"Children in modern times become pubescent earlier than before, partly because of diet," Tuan said.

He warned that other diseases such as obesity, high blood cholesterol and eye problems were at high levels in the country.

Meanwhile, deputy head of the National Institute of Nutrition, Nguyen Thi Lam, said that high blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular problems and diabetes were rapidly increasing in recent years.

"In 1990, there were 8 to 9 percent of grown-ups in Vietnam suffering high blood pressure. That was already a high increase in comparison with 1960 with only 1 percent. But now the figure is up to 30 percent," she said to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Lam said that the high rate was related to the salty diet of many Vietnamese people.

"A Vietnamese person normally consumes a salt portion which is double to triple that of the recommended 5mg a day," she said, adding that salt intake came from different types of popular food in Vietnam such as pickles and salted meat.

She also said that Vietnamese people's diet in modern time was unbalanced with less vegetables and fruits.

"On average, a Vietnamese person now eats only 200 grams of vegetable, which is just half of the recommended amount. Meanwhile, the consumption of fruit is just 80 grams a day, which is less than the recommended 100-300 grams," she said.

The diet in modern times was said to lack whole-grain cereals and unsaturated fat.

Lam recommended people maintain a traditional family diet with more vegetables and fruit. People in urban areas are recommended to eat less meat and more beans and peas, drink more traditional herbs instead of fizzy drinks.

The nutritionist also blamed a lack of exercise among Vietnamese people as causing contemporary diseases.

Regarding the refractive errors, Lam said the diseases were caused of eye-using habits, sitting posture and sitting period.

"A recent research shows that Vietnamese children sit a lot. Besides the sitting time at school, many children are spending an additional of three hours sitting for eating, playing and watching TV," she said.

Lam urged Vietnamese people to exercise more, at least 30 to 60 minutes a day for walking, running and other activities.

NA Chairman recognises young doctors for volunteering for VN

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has hailed young doctors for their significant contribution to the national medical development, emphasising their leading role in voluntary activities for public health care.

The NA Chairman made his appreciation at a meeting with outstanding young doctors while attending a two-day conference held by the Viet Nam Association of Young Doctors (VAYD) on Wednesday.

Speaking at the conference, NA Chairman Hung expressed his pleasure at the rapid development of the VYDA over the past seven years.

Founded in 2009, the association has expanded over all 63 provinces and cities across the country with more than 80,000 members.

Hung also urged the association at all levels to focus on guiding and encouraging young doctors to study, practise and improve medical ethics, be more creative and active in scientific research as well as in voluntary activities for community health and contribute to the development of Viet Nam's medical sector.

Additionally, he asked the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee and Vietnamese Youth Union to create more favourable conditions for the association to develop further in the coming time.

Regarding plans for the 2015-2020 tenure, the VYDA set a target to provide free medical checks-up and medicine for around 4 million people as well as offer free eye operations for 3,800 elderly people and cancer screening for 30,000 people.

The Government sees the health sector as a pillar of socio-economic development. It wants to achieve the best possible health for all by ensuring access to affordable, quality health care.

The health sector has made all efforts to improve its services as a way to boost socio-economic development.

The MoH issued decision 2151/ QD/BYT in June last year to approve a plan on renewing and improving the health system along the lines of equity, efficiency and development to facilitate the protection, care and promotion of health for all with an orientation of increasing higher quality and satisfaction in conformity with the socio-economic development of the country. It vowed to give high priority to improving services for the poor.

A programme of young doctors voluntarily working in the mountains, remote border areas, islands, and disadvantaged areas launched every year since five years ago by the MoH and the Youth Union has helped improved health care services for many disadvantaged people.

Thousands of young doctors are joining the national programme to offer free diagnoses and medicine to disadvantaged people as well as provide first aid training to teachers at kindergartens and primary schools across Viet Nam.

Last year alone, the campaign helped provide free medicine and diagnoses to 100,000 poor people in all 63 provinces and cities in the country.

The physicians conducted free eye surgeries on 1,000 elderly people and give first aid lessons to 5,000 teachers from 700 kindergartens and primary schools.

The campaign also mobilised people to donate blood at an estimated amount of 13,000 units, or 3,259 liters of blood.

It arranged for 50,000 children to take part in an activity to wash their hands with soap to prevent and fight epidemics.

The last year's campaign was the start of a plan to give humanitarian diagnoses to 1 million needy people this year, as steered by the Ministry of Health, Viet Nam People's Army, Viet Nam Red Cross, and Viet Nam Association of Young Doctors.

Police say modern crime more complex

Public-order crime has been curbed in Viet Nam in the last five years, but the nature of crime has become more complicated, said Deputy Minister of Public Security Senior Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong.

Speaking at a national teleconference on Wednesday to review the five-year implementation of the Politburo's directive to intensify crime prevention efforts, Vuong said organised crime said crime is now occurring across multiple sectors including business, drugs, smuggling and arms violations.

Notably, he said, there has been an increase in domestic murder cases in which family members killed each other through especially violent or barbarous means.

Last year saw cases in which first-time offenders committed murders, but used "professional" means of carrying out the crimes, appearing as if they had criminal backgrounds. For example, six family members in central Binh Phuoc Province were killed by the ex-boyfriend of a family member, and a killing spree in central Nghe An Province claimed the lives of four people.

Conflicts at home and in neighborhoods cause about 1,000 murder cases each year in Viet Nam, Vuong said.

Eroding social morals and a flood of imported media with violent content is poisoning the minds of people, particularly the young, police said while attempting to explain the increase in crimes.

Addressing the conference, Politburo member Le Hong Anh said the fight against crime should be a priority for the entire political system and people.

Anh said that crime would continue to evolve, especially organised and economic crimes, and those involved in high technology, drugs and the environment.

Alongside deeper and wider international integration, the number of trans-national crimes and those involving foreigners will rise sharply with new methods and schemes, he said.

He hailed efforts made by ministries, sectors and localities to combat all kinds of crimes over the past five years.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is also head of the Government's National Steering Committee on crime prevention (Committee 138), said that criminal prevention is always a key task.

"People cannot feel secure if criminality increases, despite socioeconomic achievements," he said, urging comprehensive measures to curb crimes.

He asked the Public Security Ministry and relevant agencies to promptly crack down on crime that the public finds most troubling, such as smuggling, using banned chemicals in breeding and polluting the environment. Last year, 44,000 crimes were reported with 83,000 criminals involved, up 1.29 per cent from 2014.

Lai Chau aims to retain pupils

Lai Chau Province's education department asked schools to implement strict measures to prevent pupils from giving up studying during cold days.

People in remote districts of northern mountain provinces are suffering severe cold weather with a large number of pupils having not attended schools during those days.

Do Van Dung, Phang So Lin boarding school's principal, said since early in the winter, the school management board asked teachers for a list of pupils who run the risk of giving up studies.

The board has encouraged these pupils and their parents to continue to study during the winter. "Understanding the living situation and psychology of ethnic minority pupils, we met and talked with them about what they lose if their study is interrupted," he said.

"We co-ordinated with local authorities to ask parents for a signed commitment letter to support their children's study."

The school has a total of 175 pupils, half of them are boarders.

An eighth-grade student, Cheo Mi Lai, said, "it is really cold in the winter but I don't give up studying. Many friends dropped out of school because they were often fearful of rainy and windy days."

"Teachers visited them at home and called them back to school."

Principal Dung said his school always has an attendance rate of 90 per cent.

Sin Ho district has 36 schools at three levels: kindergarten, primary and secondary with 9,000 pupils who are always affected by chilly weather.

The district's education office guided schools to investigate the cause of each absence. Teachers would get in touch immediately with parents if their children were absent from school without reason.

Le Thanh Duong, deputy chairman of Sin Ho District People's Committee, said that to guarantee pupil health in the winter, schools took the initiative to co-ordinate with local authorities and parents to upgrade rooms.

Like many districts in the northern mountainous region, the district is using temporary structures as classrooms. But almost all such temporary classrooms are in poor condition.

Lai Chau Province now has 6,000 classrooms, of which 1,100 are temporary rooms.

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