VN joins hands with int’s community on disaster mitigation

Viet Nam will link hands with the international community to realize the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in the 2015-2030 period with seven targets and four priorities for action.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the United Nations Development Program on May 5 in Ha Noi hosted a seminar on building plans and roadmaps to realize the Sendai Framework in 2015-2030 on natural disaster mitigation in Viet Nam.

A UNDP representative suggested Viet Nam should assess risks and build plans and strategies on natural disaster mitigation at local levels in an effort to build a national-level Sendai framework.

In Viet Nam, natural disasters annually left at least 400 dead and missing. The country is mostly vulnerable to climate change. Thus, Viet Nam aims to join hands with other countries to fulfill seven global goals; ensure means of support, health, socio-economic and environmental stability.

Viet Nam is proactively participating in negotiations for sustainable goals and the United Nations Development Agenda after 2015, including the combination of climate change and natural disaster mitigation.

Earlier, Viet Nam seriously implemented the Hyogo Framework for Action in the 2005-2015 period.

Experts discuss food safety issues

Experts at a seminar in Hanoi last week voiced concern over food safety and hygiene issues, warning unsafe and substandard food can be even found at retail outlets, including supermarkets.

Vu Vinh Phu, chairman of the Hanoi Supermarkets Association, told the seminar that unsafe food has become a national crisis. It can be found at traditional wet markets, on the streets and even at popular supermarkets where customers believe they can acquire safe food.

Phu said it is hard for consumers to distinguish between safe and unsafe food, and that State management agencies must be responsible for the matter and should find ways to cope with it.

He noted that farmers could not grow safe vegetables if water and air are polluted altogether.

Le Duc Thinh, deputy head of the Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the ministry has taken note of the problem.   

Phu said State agencies’ inspections into unsafe food are inefficient as they have focused on sellers rather than producers.  

Phu said essential foodstuffs like pork, vegetables and fruit must be checked first as it is impossible for inspectors to look into thousands of items at supermarkets.

Thinh said the ministry plans to restructure the agricultural sector in a way that increases added value and promotes sustainable development. For instance, the ministry has carried out programs in the Mekong Delta to grow paddy using less fertilizer and pesticide. This farming model would be expanded to over 90% of the total paddy farming area in the region.

In June, the ministry will review these programs after three years of implementation and propose the Government issue a decree encouraging safe cultivation.  

Le Van Hung of the Association of Vietnam Organic Agriculture said the country had 21,000 hectares under organic farming in 2010 and the figure doubled to 43,000 hectares in 2014.

He said organic farming is an environmentally friendly production method as no chemical fertilizer, pesticide, antibiotic and prohibited substances are used. It is safe for the environment and consumers, so Vietnam should apply this method.

Documents released at the seminar showed that Vietnam has had many cases of mass food poisoning due to unsafe food. Residues of chemicals found in food and foodstuffs have reportedly caused at least 125,000 cancer cases a year.

The number of people killed by cancers amounts to 82,000 a year, accounting for 73.5% of the total deaths caused by diseases.  

Unsafe food also hinders food exports. In 2015, the European Union refused 21 Vietnamese products and suspended imports of 17 other items to clarify quality information.  

In 2014, Vietnam was unable to get licenses to export 130 products to the EU while 51 shipments were found to contain higher-than-permitted antibiotic and chemical residues, up seven-fold against 2013.

Dengue fever develops in Mekong Delta

Though it is dry season, dengue fever is plaguing in the Mekong delta provinces.

Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine in Dong Thap province Dr. Nguyen Ngoc An May 5 said that in the 2014-2015 dry season, only 5-8 cases of dengue fever were hospitalized every week but the number is now escalating to 50 cases per week.

It is forecast that the figure of dengue fever infection cases will increase drastically in the upcoming rainy season.

Dr. An said that one of causes of surge in dengue fever infections this year’s dry season is that 2016 is the year of the disease’s circle.

Accordingly, the province authority has launched a campaign to kill mosquitoes and its larvae. Health workers have paid more attention to areas having 2, 3 cases of infections. They have increased information of the mosquito-borne tropical disease encouraging people to clean brush around their houses and turn over all water storage containers.

Meantime, in Soc Trang Province, since the beginning of the year, 500 cases of dengue fever had been reported, an increase of 70 percent compared to the same period last year. Most of province’s islets such as tran De, Cu Lao Dung and Vinh Chau Town have case of dengue fever infections.

The Provincial Department of Health said that the disease is on upward trends hence it requires the determination and the close cooperation between the health sector and localities in preventing the disease.

Campaigns to kill mosquitoes & raise local people's awareness about the disease have been launched continuously. The health sector also prepared all necessary drugs and chemicals to provide timely treatment to patients and disinfecting people’s houses.

According to the Department of Preventive Medicine in Can Tho City, in the first quarter of the year, the number of dengue fever patients soared by 70 percent compared to same period last year and no death was reported yet people should not be neglected over the disease as the rainy season is coming.

Farmers’ awareness needed to address food safety

The awareness of farmers should receive appropriate attention from authorised agencies as they are important to thoroughly tackling unsafe food, which is now a conundrum in society.

Inspections conducted from October 2015 to February 2016 found the residues of banned substances and plant protection products in 5.17 percent of vegetable samples exceeded the permissible level. Meanwhile 15.4 percent of meat samples violated the pathogenic microorganism limits, and 7.27 percent of the examined aquatic products did not meet the standards on chemicals and antibiotics.

The data were collected by agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and by 42 of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Dinh La Thang said he does not believe in ministries and sectors’ reports which estimate the rate of unsafe food at 5 – 6 percent since violations are currently at an alarming rate.

Many opinions said besides the weak capacity of state management, many farmers are to be blamed when they abuse chemicals and plant protection products in production for profit.

Another reason is the uncontrolled trading of chemicals and plant protection products, making it easy for anyone to buy and use them.

MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat said Vietnam has millions of small-scale and separate farming households, making the management of agricultural practices impossible.

He said farmers should be encouraged to participate in cooperatives so that they will be guided in following VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Meanwhile, policies must be fine-tuned to promote the formation of big production chains.

In the near future, the MARD will strive to put an end to the use of banned substances in animal husbandry, curb the smuggling of plant protection products, and control the use of antibiotics in livestock farming and aquaculture, the official noted.

The Farmers Union has joined the fight against unsafe food, by educating their members about harmful practices and popularising safe food production models in both crop and animal husbandry.

Lai Xuan Mon, Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union, said his organisation’s branches across the country have encouraged local farmers to use microbiological techniques and biological products in agricultural production in recent years.

For example, the biological product Biowish, which facilitates the growth of useful biological enzymes and therefore reduces the needed amount of fertilisers, have been put on trial in 38 provinces for more than one year. More than 600 farms raising livestock, aquatic species and crops have reaped higher profits while food safety and environment there are guaranteed, Mon noted.

Similar practices will be multiplied in other localities to help farmers minimise the overuse of plant protection products, inorganic fertilisers and chemicals, he added.

Honda Award given to Vietnamese young engineers and scientists

Japanese Honda foundation fund yesterday announced the 11th Young Engineers and Scientists’ (Y-E-S) Award for 2016 in Vietnam.

The annual YES Award aims to encourage and support young engineers and scientists in developing countries. Vietnam is the first country whose students Honda has given the award since 2006 under the cooperation between Honda Foundation Fund, Honda Vietnam and the National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy Studies under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Honda award 2016 includes two kinds: one is Honda Y-E-S and other is Y-E-S Plus. Honda Y-E-S worth US$3,000 and a Honda motorbike will be granted to 10 excellent students selected through application, essay and interviews.

Y-E-S Plus award is the second phase. Within three years after receiving Honda Y-E-S award, every laureate has opportunity to apply for Y-E-S Plus worth US$10,000 if they pursue a Master or Ph.D course in schools cooperating with Japanese schools or if they work in Japanese schools, institutes and labs from 10 weeks to one year.

This year, the award in Vietnam will be given to students from two more schools including International University under the Vietnam National University and Science University under Hue National University, bringing the number of schools receiving the award to 10.

After 10 years, the Honda Y-E-S Award has been given to 100 excellent students and 18 of them were pursuing master or working in experience. In addition, many students had a chance to receiving other scholarships to study further in developed countries such as the US, France.

According to the award organizer, the application should be not later than July 15, 2016. Students in schools cooperating with Japanese schools with great achievements in technology, science and actively partaking in social activities are encouraged to apply for the award.

Victory over fascism observed in HCM City

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association (VRFA) of Ho Chi Minh City on May 6 jointly held a ceremony to mark the 71st anniversary of victory over fascism (May 9).

Addressing the event, President of the HCM City VRFA Nguyen Huu Thanh said although World War II was over, its valuable lessons remain relevant in the modern world.

During the struggle, the Soviet Union suffered from the most losses and was the main contributor to the victory 71 years ago, he said, adding that the people of the Soviet Union not only maintained their homeland’s independence but also stopped fascism from dominating the world.

Thanh noted his belief that the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia will thrive in the time ahead.

Along with the entirety of Vietnam, HCM City will join hands with Russia to tighten and develop the relationship between the two peoples further, the official said.

Recalling the fight against fascism, Russian Consul General in HCM City Alexey Vladimirovich Popov stated that Russian people always bear in mind the support of allied countries, including Vietnam.

He also called for more efforts to help the two countries’ younger generations understand and remember the glorious chapters in national history.

Localities urged to check pollution hot spots

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment on May 6 sent a document asking the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) to promptly clarify issues relating to several pollution hot spots in the capital Hanoi and the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai.

The document said local media on May 5 reported serious pollution in Hanoi’s Ngoc Khanh lake, a fish death incident in Buoi River in Thanh Hoa’s Thach Thanh district, and polluted water resources in Binh Son district in Quang Ngai.

The minister requested the environment administration to submit a document proposing the Hanoi People’s Committee report the pollution situation in Ngoc Khanh lake.

Quang Ngai’s provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment will be asked to analyse and publicise the water quality in the locality. In case that the water resources are polluted, the department ought to take measures to ensure a clean water supply for locals.

The VEA must urge coastal and riverside provinces and cities nationwide to set up a list of factories which are producing a huge amount of waste in the localities.

It should immediately perform these tasks and offer a report of the implementation results to the minister within this month.

Vietnamese culture shines in Colombia

A tourism photo exhibition and a Vietnamese Cuisine Week were recently held in the Colombian capital of Bogota.

Visitors enjoyed photos and videos on Vietnam ’s attractive destinations as well as traditional dishes, including Pho (noodle soup with beef or chicken) and Nem Cuon (spring rolls).

The events offered a good chance for Vietnam to introduce its culture and tourism potential to international friends, thus promoting mutual understanding between Vietnam and others, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Colombia Ngo Tien Dung.

On the occasion, culinary specialists from the Hanoi Tourism College also held experience exchange programmes in the Latin American country.

New vaccines added to national inoculation campaigns

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has included a number of new vaccines in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation as part of efforts to improve the efficiency of disease prevention, the Preventive Health Department reported on May 6.

According to the ministry, in the context of the high risk of disease outbreak, especially infectious diseases, inoculation campaigns to administer free Japanese encephalitis B injections and the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to children aged under five are planned.

Meanwhile, measles and rubella vaccination campaigns benefited nearly 20 million children aged from 1-14, and eventually for those aged from 16-17 in recent times, contributing to containing the spread of the diseases.

As scheduled, the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) will be put to use from 2017, while the use of a vaccine against Rota virus will begin from 2018.

The MoH affirmed that the free provision of new vaccines in vaccination programmes is to promote sustainable disease prevention, towards sweeping out dangerous infectious diseases.

The health sector will continue studying to add new vaccines such as dengue and avian influenza H5N1 vaccines to the national vaccination campaigns, the ministry said.

Along with these efforts, the ministry also worked with the military-run telecommunication group Viettel on a project to build software for national vaccination information management.

This enables medical workers to keep close watch on and summarise the vaccination timetable of people, thus ensuring sufficient vaccinations are on schedule and this will improve the efficiency of State management in the field.

The software has been piloted in the northern province of Bac Ninh and in Hanoi. The next beneficiaries will be Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city.

Over 700 districts with more than 11,000 communes and wards are expected to benefit from the project when the software is deployed nationwide.

HCM City hospital performs 100 heart surgeries

Cardiac surgeons at the HCM City University Medical Centre have successfully performed 100 minimally invasive heart operations.

With technical assistance from German surgeons, the hospital performed the first case in June 2014, doctor Nguyễn Hoàng Định, head of the centre’s heart surgery department, said.

Surgeons perform minimally invasive heart surgery through a small incision (4-5 cm long) on the right side of the chest instead of cutting through the breastbone to gain access to the heart as in traditional open-heart surgery.

This method offers many advantages, including less trauma and pain, lower risk of infection, shorter recovery time and smaller scars, Định said.

It takes around three weeks for patients to recover instead of three months in case of open-heart surgery.

Surgeons can perform a number of procedures using this technique, including repair and replacement of the mitral and tricuspid valves, replacement of the aortic valve, atrioventricular canal defect surgery and closure of atrial septal defect.

The hospital is the only one in the southern region that can perform minimal invasive surgery, which requires highly experienced surgical teams and advanced equipment.

Patients with complex congenital heart diseases and those aged above 75 are not appropriate candidates for the technique, Định said.

HCM City wants to ease congestion at port

The HCM City People’s Committee has instructed relevant agencies to clear congestion on roads leading to Cát Lái Port in District 2, especially Nguyễn Thị Định Street and the Mỹ Thủy intersection.

The Department of Transport, the police and Sài Gòn New Port Corporation have been tasked with drawing up proposals for several projects like upgrading the Eastern Belt Road, building Bà Cua Bridge, widening Nguyễn Thị Định Street, developing inland waterway transport on the Đồng Nai River, and building Tăng Long and Ông Nhiêu bridges on Nguyễn Duy Trinh Street to improve traffic flows in the area.

Some other projects are encouraged to be carried out in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. They include a road between Rạch Chiếc Bridge and Hà Nội Highway and expansion of Nguyễn Duy Trinh Street, which connecting Ring Road No 2 with the Phú Hữu Industrial Park in District 9.

According to the People’s Committee, the transport department also plans to build roads linking Cát Lái Port with Ring Road No 2 and Phú Hữu Port. It has been asked with upgrading the section of Ring Road No 2 from the Mỹ Thủy intersection to Rạch Chiếc Bridge.

The latter, to cost VNĐ268 billion (US$12 million), is expected to be completed by 2018.

Cát Lái Port, situated in HCM City’s eastern gateway, has for long been a traffic congestion hotspot with an average of 16,000-17,000 trucks making trips to it daily.

The city administration has called for proactively resolving the problem by setting up more entry points to the port and adding more lanes on several roads among other measures.

HCM City, Hậu Giang look to joint initiatives

HCM City and the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Hậu Giang will continue to enhance co-operation in the 2016-20 period, leaders said at a meeting held on Wednesday in the city.

The meeting, which reviewed the past 10 years of work between the two parties, focused on the positive results achieved and the new tasks ahead.

Speaking at the meeting, Nguyễn Thành Phong, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the two sides would continue to work in high-tech agriculture; industry and trade; planning, investment and foreign affairs; and culture, sport and tourism.

They will also co-operate in administrative reform, science and technology, and human resource training, as well as environmental protection, urban management, and medical and social welfare.

The two sides will co-operate in providing high-quality seedlings and animal strains, building new rural area models and agricultural production models associated with the transfer of advanced technologies to gradually shift their agriculture to high-tech.

Leaders of the two sides also agreed to step up co-operation in implementing an e-Government programme and IT application and development.

Co-operation in research on urban pollution, transfer of clean technologies, and waste treatment technologies at factories and hospitals will also be encouraged.

Building concentrated waste treatment areas will be included in the co-operation programme.

The programmes between the two localities in the past 10 years have achieved significant results, especially in the fields of human resource training, technology transfer, calls for investment, and cultural exchange and tourism promotion.

According to a report of the municipal People’s Committee, 13 large companies and 300 small- and medium-sized companies have invested more than VNĐ2.5 trillion (US$112.1 million) in the province.

In addition, many trade co-operation programmes have been organised to promote sales of the province’s key products in HCM City.

Their co-operation in social welfare in the past had helped more than 202 poor people receive free cardiac surgeries, with more than 435 disadvantaged children receiving scholarships and others.

Trần Công Chánh, secretary of the Hậu Giang Province’s Party Committee, said the province continued to need support in building medical facilities and schools and promoting sales of its agricultural products.

Đinh La Thăng, the secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said the city would direct departments and industries to step up co-operation, especially in creating safe farm produce sources to supply to the HCM City market.

In turn, the city would call on HCM City businesses to invest in building schools and hospitals in the province, and offer managerial support for a hi-tech agriculture park, as well as management training and technology application in the agricultural sector, he said.

Each locality should continue to develop products of its own strength as well as adopt appropriate policies to lure more investment, he said.

Inter-regional connections in all sectors, including transport, electricity, water, market and technology should be strengthened to create momentum for the development of the southern economic region, he said.

Main construction works damaged in heavy rains

Several construction works in the southern province of Đồng Nai’s Biên Hòa City were damaged in the heavy rains on Thursday.

The 6km concrete dyke at the Suối Máu Bridge in Trảng Dài Ward was damaged by a landslide. The dyke, with a total investment of some VNĐ550 billion (US$24.4 million), is one of the main construction works in the province.

The rain, which last from 2pm to 4pm yesterday, also caused heavy flooding and traffic jams on a number of streets in the city.

The 15mm rainfall was a result of the prolonged hot weather. The city may experience scattered rainfall, strong winds and whirlwinds in the coming days, according to the provincial Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

HCMC marks World Red Cross Day

Nearly 600 officials and volunteers of the Việt Nam Red Cross Society yesterday participated in the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day celebration in HCM City.

The day is an annual celebration of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, with more than 80 million members and 16 million volunteers.

More than 400,000 volunteers are participating in the work of the Red Cross, including blood donation, first aid, emergency response, health and social care, and preparing for natural disasters, said Đoàn Văn Thái, deputy chairman of the Việt Nam Red Cross Society.

The society calls on everyone to be involved in the humanitarian movement, Thái said.

Over the 70 years since its inception, the Việt Nam Red Cross Society has contributed significantly to the international humanitarian cause, he added.

Various charity campaigns have been effectively implemented across the country, including Tết (Lunar New Year) for the poor and victims of Agent Orange, blood donation campaigns, cow banks for the poor, and community health check-ups and treatment.

Last year, the Red Cross Society’s HCM City Chapter received donations worth VNĐ348 billion (US$15.5 million), an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2014.

The volume of blood donated to the Red Cross in HCM City was 221.944 blood units, accounting for 17 per cent of the country’s blood donations.

No anti-Zika uniforms for Vietnam athletes at Olympics in Brazil

The Vietnam Olympic Committee has confirmed that there will be no special Zika-proof uniforms for its athletes at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Spokesperson Nguyen Van Manh said the country's athletes will be provided with clothes suitable for the hot weather in Rio.

“But it is difficult to make uniforms that can prevent mosquitoes like South Korea,” he said.

Manh said athletes should not be worried because the host country has announced plans to protect all participants of the sporting event from mosquitoes.

The remarks came after The Republic of Korea's Olympic committee unveiled long-sleeved shirts and pants that it said will help protect its athletes from the Zika virus. The sets of clothing will be dyed with mosquito-repellent chemicals and will be worn by athletes during ceremonies, training and at the athletes' village, the Korean Olympic Committee said.

Brazil has been fighting to stem the spread of the Zika virus, which is known to cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly, a condition in which a baby's head is significantly smaller than normal. Mosquitoes are believed to be the main vector.

Some Vietnamese athletes are concerned about the virus.

“We were pretty shocked when learning that 1.5 million people in Brazil have caught Zika. I wonder if the virus may keep spreading during the Olympics," a local athlete said on the condition of anonymity.

“We will protect ourselves with long-sleeved shirts and socks," the athlete added.

Top fencer Nguyen Thi Le Dung on the other hand believed Brazil will do its best to keep the event safe.

“Of course, I will still bring some repellent," she said.

8 year-old girl fighting to live after skull impaled by iron rod

A couple from Thai Binh Province are calling for financial support to save their daughter whose head was pierced by an iron rod.

Ngo Thi Lua kept blaming herself for the accident of her daughter, Hang. "If I had gone to pick Hang up, she might not have had to go through this," Lua said.

The accident happened when Hang was walking home on April 26. While she was about to get pass a construction site, other people told her to use the other side of the road to avoid falling bricks. But when Hang was crossing the street, she was hit by a long iron rod carrying by a careless motorbike rider.

The rider was detained but the punishment and compensation have not been decided.

Dr. Pham Duc Hieu from Viet-Germany Hospital in Hanoi said, "The iron bar pierced her skull. She was in deep coma and stopped breathing when being admitted. She also has internal infection and had lost a lot of blood. Even if she can overcome this critical phase, the treatment afterwards is long and costly."

Hang's parents are both farmers, her father sometimes works as a porter to earn additional income so they are struggling to find enough money to pay hospital charges.

"My daughter is my biggest asset. As long as I can save her, I'll sell everything and borrow from anyone. We are still healthy and can work so I'll work until I repay all the debts," her father, Tran Xuan Tinh said.

Doing the right thing

Vung Tau City, more than 100 km from HCMC, has finally done what should have been done long before to restore its image as a seaside destination for tourists. In the recent Reunification Day and International Labor Day holiday, beaches in the southern city of Vung Tau were surprisingly cleaner than before.

In the past, Vung Tau beaches were full of garbage after holidaymakers left. Many beachgoers cooked and ate food on beaches but left behind garbage. To make matters worse, a lot of food hawkers never collected trash like plastic bags and meatball sticks.

To regain its reputation, Vung Tau has banned cooking, eating and littering on beaches. According to Truong Thi Huong, vice chairwoman of Vung Tau, the city spent VND3-4 billion annually cleaning up its beaches and collecting garbage but the beaches still looked bad.

Vung Tau is among the popular beach towns in the nation’s south. But it has been infamous for dirty beaches and restaurants that overcharge guests. The city government has waged war against overcharging practices at restaurants and now littering  on beaches.

The city’s ban on food vending, cooking and eating on beaches came out last year but had not been fully enforced until April 26 this year, before the Reunification Day (April  30) and International Labor Day (May 1) holiday. Enterprises and cooperatives are compelled to move their food stalls, carts and other equipment out of the beaches. Cooperatives are banned from offering catering services and selling seafood.

With a strong determination to make the beach environment clean and green, the city government has mobilized resources to prevent people from cooking, eating and littering on the beaches.

On April 30, more than 1,000 people joined a campaign held by Vung Tau to pick up garbage and inform beachgoers of the ban on cooking, eating and littering on beaches, according to a Thanh Nien newspaper report. City officials, including Vung Tau’s Party chief Mai Ngoc Thuan, joined the campaign as well.

The city has got positive feedback. Nguyen Van My, chairman of Lua Viet Tours, says in Tuoi Tre that the ban should have been introduced long ago. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, a holidaymaker from HCMC, is quoted by Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper as saying when she came to Vung Tau during the recent holiday, she was amazed to see all the umbrellas nicely arranged, and no garbage littered on the beach.

Thanh Nien quotes a reader as saying that Vung Tau’s beaches are not the best but they are close to HCMC, so many holidaymakers still choose to visit Vung Tau. The ban is the right thing to do to make Vung Tau a civilized city, this reader says.

However, tidying up the beaches proves to be a tough job as the livelihoods of vendors, most of them poor, are affected. Indeed, some members of the cooperative specializing in providing services on the beaches agreed to remove their equipment from the beaches while others resisted when the city started tidying up the beaches on April 26. According to Thanh Nien, after giving an explanation, Vung Tau vice chairwoman Huong took some vendors to Vung Tau tourist market and requested the market’s management to offer them retail stalls at discount rent.

However, there is concern over how long the ban could be sustained.

Nha Trang, another famous beach city in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, has for years banned street hawking and eating on its beaches. But the city’s law enforcement officers had still had difficulty completely driving away hawkers and gatherings on the beaches for eating and drinking, Nha Trang vice chairman Nguyen Sy Khanh says in Nguoi Lao Dong.

Aware of this concern, the Party chief of Vung Tau has told the city government to map out plans to ensure the beaches and parks are always clean and green. In addition, the city keeps on sending people to its beaches to tidy them up to raise public awareness.

Farmers wait for proper time to sow paddy

There has been sparse rain in the Mekong Delta in recent days but farmers in many parts of this key rice growing area of the nation have not sown paddy for the summer-autumn crop due to salination in their farms.

Cao Van Hoa, deputy director of Tien Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said farmers in Cho Gao, Go Cong Dong, Go Cong Tay, Tan Phu Dong and other eastern districts in the province have delayed starting a new crop as fresh water is in short supply.

There has been rain but rainfalls are still low, Hoa told the Daily. Many local farmers are still waiting for more rain to dilute saltwater in irrigation canals.

Meanwhile, paddy of the spring-summer crop in the province’s western districts of Cai Lay and Cai Be has been in bloom owing to sufficient fresh water, according to Hoa.

Nguyen Van Dong, director of Hau Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said paddy sowing has not been done on 10,000 hectares out of 77,000 hectares planned for the summer-autumn crop given drought and salination.

Paddy sowing on 10,000 hectares in Long My District has been delayed until next month, Dong said, stressing the new crop is only allowed in places where water supply is guaranteed.

Nguyen Thanh Truyen, secretary of Tan Thanh District’s Party Committee in Long An Province and former deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said farmers in parts of the district have begun a new rice crop.

However, Truyen warned farmers of not sowing paddy in areas which still lack water.

As observed by the Daily, thousands of hectares under paddy farming in Long An’s Thanh Hoa District has been ploughed but water shortages have kept farmers from starting a new rice crop.

In Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces, tens of thousands of hectares along National Highway 1A have been left dried up after harvest as farmers have fallen short of fresh water.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development called for provinces in the Mekong Delta to choose an appropriate time for paddy sowing in the summer-autumn crop and other crops of the year to avoid losses.

In areas dependent on rain water, farmers are advised to sow paddy when it rains, possibly in the first half of June.

Farmers in Vinh Long, Hau Giang, part of Tien Giang, Soc Trang and Tra Vinh, where the impact of the calamity is mild, can consider sowing paddy this month.

HCM City island gets water taxi service

Diamond Island's residents and visitors can now use a water taxi service to travel from the island in HCM City's District 2 to Mong Bridge in District 1.

The first boat leaves the island at 7.30am and the last one leaves Mong Bridge at 7pm. During weekends they will leave at 9am and 6.50pm respectively. The trip takes 20 minutes.

Besides the water taxis, people can also travel by road to the island.

With three of its sides facing the Sai Gon and Giong Ong To Rivers, the island is described as "the diamond in the mouth of a dragon", which in feng shui is said to bring vitality.

Diamond Island is cut off from the noise and bustle of the city, making it an ideal choice for those who seek a peaceful place to relax after a long tiring day at work.

With almost 85 per cent of its area devoted to greenery, it epitomises the concept of "Luxury in Nature", allowing its inhabitants to contemplate spectacular sunsets, fly kites, play with kids in its large green spaces, barbecue with family and friends and sail when the sun rises.

Festival hopes to inspire sci-tech passion among students

The 3rd Festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) will take place in Hanoi on May 14-15 to promote STEM education and inspire the passion for science and technology among students.

It will be held on the celebration of the Vietnam Science and Technology Day - May 18.

According to Le Thi Khanh Van, deputy head of the National Agency for Science and Information Technology, the event will introduce to the public a diversity of STEM education models in order to improve the teaching and learning of science-related subjects at schools and develop creativity and flexibility in students.

Editor-in-Chief of Tia Sang Magazine Pham Tran Le said STEM is popular among European countries and the United States in which students are educated in four specific disciplines – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – in an interdisciplinary and applied approach.

Themed “Time Machine” the festival comprising experiments and practical activities that will take students on a journey from the past into the future with corresponding scientific events from human history.

The lessons are designed to apply knowledge and skills in line with STEM education standards in solving practical problems.

The festival is expected to be repeated in other cities and provinces with the aim of spreading STEM education and nurturing the passion for science and technology among students nationwide.

Bodies of 19 soldiers repatriated from Laos

The remains of 19 Vietnamese servicemen missing in action from the past war with the US have been returned from Laos and laid to rest in Ha Tinh, military officials have announced.

On May 6, the High Command of Military Zone 4 in collaboration with the Ha Tinh People’s Committee held a ceremony to commemorate and rebury the remains, following excavations by Laos military soldiers.

Since the end of combat involvement in 1973, the remains of 738 Vietnamese soldiers listed as missing during the war have been handed over by Laos military personnel to be repatriated and laid to rest in the homeland.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chair Dang Quoc Vinh of the People’s Committee, remembered the fallen soldiers and expressed his sincere gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice for the country’s independence.

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