More flyovers needed to keep Hanoi moving

On May 3 the Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Van Khoi instructed all departments and branches to build more flyovers to help ease traffic congestion.

Khoi urged the Transport Department to complete the flyover at Nam Hong junction on the Mai Dich – Noi Bai road before the Lunar New Year in 2013. Work on the flyover started on April 6 this year.

He also asked for the construction of two flyovers at Le Van Luong-Lang Road and Nguyen Chi Thanh-Lang Road junctions to get underway in May. He expects work to be finished by October 10, long before the Lunar New Year in 2013.

The official has asked the Transport Department to start work on a number of flyovers at Dai Co Viet-Tran Khat Chan, Chua Boc-Pham Ngoc Thach and Bach Mai-Le Thanh Nghi junctions by the end of June this year.

Khoi also instructed the Department of Planning and Investment to submit the investors’ documents for a project to upgrade Road 70 by May 15. The project includes sections of the Ha Dong-Thang Long Boulevard, Thang Long Boulevard-Nhon and Ha Dong-Van Dien.

Earlier, on April 26, Hanoi officially opened two new flyovers at the Chua Boc-Tay Son and Lang Ha-Huynh Thuc Khang junctions, which took only four months to construct.

JICA helps upgrade provincial and regional hospitals

A project to develop the provincial and regional hospital system in Vietnam will kick off soon, according to a May 4 workshop held in Hanoi by the Ministry of Health and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

This project will target 10 hospitals over five years with a total investment of more than 10 million yen with JICA contributing over 8 million yen, said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen.

The project sets many targets, including reducing fatalities with unknown causes to 10 percent and slashing the number of hospital infections to 10 percent. Incomes for hospitals from medical insurance and fees are expected to go up by 20 percent.

The project includes three parts: purchasing medical facilities, improving medical worker capacity and expertise, and using as well as maintaining medical equipment.

Beneficiaries are hospitals in Danang, Binh Dinh, Hanoi, Bac Giang, Ninh Thuan, Tay Ninh, Lam Dong, Thai Binh, Nghe An, and Nam Dinh.

Inspectors find numerous wrongdoings at Vinalines

The Vietnam State Inspectorate (VSI) has recently submitted to the government its inspection report on Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) in the 2007 – 2010 period.

The largest state-owned shipping and port operator in the country, Vinalines currently suffers from five defaulted loans worth more than VND23.06 trillion (US$1.1 billion), VSI said.

The state-run shipping giant was also found to have purchased 73 foreign vessels, most of which are secondhand, at VND23 trillion.

Of these, 17 vessels have been used for more than 15 or even 30 years, incurring a huge expense for repairing and maintaining the ships due to their deteriorated conditions.

This also hit Vinalines with overrun expenses from clearance interests since most of its investment capitals are from bank loans.

Even worse, with some of the vessels too old to be registered in Vietnam, Vinalines had to license these ships in other countries, and thus had to hang those nations’ flags instead of that of Vietnam.

“This damages the reputation of Vietnam’s national shipping fleet, and reduces its competitiveness,” the inspectorate said.

Many applications to purchase ships were cursorily made but all of them claimed that the vessels would yield high economic effectiveness and quick recoupment.

Five out of 27 newly-built ships, and 34 out of 37 purchased vessels which were put into operation between 2005 and 2007 have in fact brought in losses.

For instance, the VNL Galaxy ship was bought in 2007 at VND973.4 billion, but caused a VND192-billion loss in late 2010.

Meanwhile, the respective losses caused by the VND873.1-billion Vietnam Glory and the VND73.3-billion Vietnam Global vessels are VND115.5 billion, and VND77.3 billion.

The State Inspectorate also unearthed many wrongdoings in Vinalines’ investment projects.

For instance, in the project to invest in the “Vinalines southern ship repair factory,” the company bought a No83M floating dock that had been used for 43 years already, while the limit is only 15 years.

The floating dock consumed a total of $26.3 million from Vinalines’ budget, which is 70 percent of the expense of building a completely new dock.

Vinalines also spent VND4.1 billion to organize the groundbreaking ceremony for the Van Phong international transshipment construction project, exceeding the allowed sum by VND4 billion.

HCMC supports people waiting for resettlement

Every family that is subject to relocation due to construction projects but has yet to be resettled will be given a monthly allowance of up to US$720, according to a new regulation by the HCMC People’s Committee.

The regulation, which was issued on May 2 and took effect the same day, is aimed at giving assistance to households seeking a temporary accommodation while waiting for an official domicile.

The allowance is divided in different rates, depending on where those families reside before site clearance and on the number of members each family has.

Accordingly, the allowance rate for zone 1, including District 1, District 3 and 5, is from VND5 million (US$240) per month (for a household with no more than 4 members) to a maximum of VND15 million ($720) per month.

Similarly, the monthly rate for zone 2, including District 4, 6, 10, and 11, and Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh, Binh Thanh, and Go Vap, ranges between VND4.5 million and VND13.5 million.

Households in zone 3, covering Districts 2, 7, 8, 9, and 12, and Thu Duc, Binh Tan and Tan Phu Districts, will enjoy an allowance from VND4 million to VND12 million per month.

As for zone 4, including Binh Chanh, Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Can Gio and Nha Be Districts, the monthly allowance is between VND3 million to VND9 million.

This regulation is non-retroactive and is not applicable for households located in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2.

Woman dies after falling from bus

A woman died after falling from a bus’s door as the driver braked hard on national road 50, Truong Binh commune, Can Giuoc district in Long An province last Thursday.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh (21), from Long An’s Can Duoc district, was riding a bus carrying workers to a factory in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan district.

She sat in the front near the bus door, which was kept open, and the driver Nguyen Van Vuong (39) was driving at a high speed.

When they reached Truong Binh, there was another car running in the opposite direction and Vuong had to brake hard, causing passengers to fall forwards.

Linh fell out of the bus door and hit the street.

Although she was taken to the hospital immediately, Linh died soon after.

Vietnam workers in Russia to receive assistance

Forty Vietnamese workers who are suffering hunger and cold without wages in Ekaterinburg city of Russia’s Sverlov province will be identified and receive assistance, Head of the Overseas Workers Management Department Nguyen Ngoc Quynh said.

Quynh said the department and the Consulate Department of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry have asked the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia to help the workers under the citizens protection policy.

The workers came from northern Ha Nam , Hung Yen and Bac Giang provinces to work for a leather shoe workshop in Ekaterinburg city without going through Vietnam ’s labour export companies, he said.

On the other case of 36 Vietnamese workers who are now waiting in Moscow to return home, Quynh said his department will ask the Vietnamese business concerned to directly work with their Russian partner to protect worker rights in Russia .

The workers said they were not paid their whole salaries and were working without medical and labour insurances when Russian companies unilaterally cut their contracts.

They were sent by the Centre of Dispatch Labour to Overseas of the Vietnam Steel Corporation (VSC) in December 2008 and January 2009 to work for Russia’s construction sector under the contract signed by VSC and APC Limited Liability Company in Russia.

80% Vietnamese ignorant of land zoning plan: poll

A recent national survey on provincial governance in public administration and services in Vietnam found that 80 percent are ignorant of the government’s land zoning in 2011 while 100% in one province feel they were under-compensated for site clearance.

The result of the survey titled Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) carried out by state officials and UNDP experts was announced on Thursday in Hanoi by the Vietnam Fatherland Front -- an umbrella group of political organizations in the nation.

According to the survey, most families relocated for land clearance in all 63 provinces and cities across the nation said their land was fixed a price lower than market value.

Specifically, a hundred percent of households in the central highland province of Dak Lak said they were compensated at a rate cheaper than market price.

Similarly, most people joining the survey said public administration and services involving land procedures failed to satisfy them due to complicated proceedings and unfriendly attitudes of state officials.

30 percent of the surveyed admitted they had paid bribes to health care experts in hospitals, averaging VND1.2 million (US$58) per bribe while 28 percent said they had to tip their children’s teachers averaging VND2.6 million ($125) per semester.

Provinces ranked in the top for offering best public administration and services include Son La, Lang Son, Hoa Binh, Hai Duong, and Hanoi in the north; Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa and Da Nang in the central region; and Ba Ria Vung Tau, Long An, Tien Giang and Dong Thap in the south.

Those with worst performance and ranked at the bottom include Dien Bien, Hung Yen, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Quang Ngai, Binh Thuan, Phu Yen, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu, An Giang, Tay Ninh and Tra Vinh.

In 2009, the PAPI index was piloted in three provinces. In 2010, it was rolled out in 30 provinces and in 2011, PAPI was implemented in all 63 provinces in Vietnam.

PAPI assesses three mutually reinforcing processes -- policy making, policy implementation and the monitoring of public service delivery -- with an aim to support improvements in transparency, stimulate reform, and significantly expand the pool of quantitative data available for policy formulation.

Russian consulate commemorates Victory Day in HCMC

The Consulate General of Russia in Ho Chi Minh City on May 4 organized a meeting to celebrate the 67th anniversary of victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War (May 9).

Local press and representatives of friendship associations in the city, including Hoang Huu Nghia, chairman of the Vietnam with Russia Friendship Association and Le Hung Quoc, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations, joined the celebration.

At the event, Russian Consul General in HCMC, Anatoli Vasilievich Borovik, reviewed the Great Patriotic War with many hardships and sacrifices of the Russian people. For more than six decades, the Victory Day has become a common date for the peace-loving peoples around the world to celebrate.

The Georgiyev ribbon was showcased. The black-and-orange ribbons are usually tied on car in Russia during May as a way Russian youths remember their fathers who died in the war.

According to the Consul General, there are around 2,000 Russians in Vietnam. Though the Russian community here is not very big since most Russians coming to Vietnam are tourists, people living here also celebrate the day with their family or friends.

“No matter where we are, we always remember the day,” he said.

Within the framework of activities to mark the Victory Day in Vietnam, a wreath laying ceremony will be held at Russian Sailors Memorial at Lai Thieu Cemetery in Binh Duong Province on May 5.

A similar ceremony will take place at a monument at Cam Ranh airport in the coastal province of Khanh Hoa on May 9 to commemorate Russian and Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives for peace and stability.

7 foreigners on pirated ship saved by Vietnam boat

Seven Asian men floating on a buoy in the East Sea were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat after they had been attacked by pirates and pushed to the waters with just a buoy several days ago.

They include two Malaysians, three Indonesians and two Pakistanis, who said they worked on a Malaysian-flagged cargo ship before being pirated. The Malaysian ship left a port in Malaysia on April 19.

On April 30, they were discovered by Tran Van Luc, owner of the fishing boat in Vietnam’s central province Phu Yen. Luc said the men were floating just 80 miles from Truong Sa Lon island of Vietnam and were desperately hungry and thirsty when being discovered.

The coast guard force in Phu Yen received the victims on Friday morning when the boat anchored in Tuy Hoa Port and is contacting embassies of the nations to take them home.

Dormitory building blazes up, hundreds blocked inside

A fire blazed up today afternoon at the 17-storey dormitory building Hacinco in Hanoi’s Thanh Xuan District, leaving hundreds of students being locked inside due to dense columns of smoke before the local fire fighting unit put the flame out and evacuated them.

A witness said the fire started at 3:20pm from the third floor of the building and smoke quickly rose up high to cover the whole space inside. Smoke forced hundreds of students and officers getting eyes burnt and unable to leave it except running up to high floors.

Children of a kindergarten located on the second floor of the building were safely evacuated. No human loss was reported.

Fifteen minutes later, police and eight fire fighting vehicles arrived at the scene. They broke windows of the building to emit smoke and extinguished the flame.

At 5:00pm, the fire was totally put out but the smoke kept on rising up high inside the dormitory.

Only a foreign female student became unconscious and hospitalized later.

26 die in traffic accidents everyday, down 18%

In the first four months of this year, 3,660 traffic accidents occurred across Vietnam, killing 3,167 people and injuring 2,712 others, the Transport Ministry reported.

On average, 26 people were killed everyday during the past four months.

Compared to the same period of last year, the number of accidents drops by 929 or 20.24 percent, while the number of deaths and injuries is down by 17.97 percent and 23.43 percent respectively.

In April alone, 914 accidents occurred nationwide, claiming the lives of 741 people and causing injuries to 283 others.

The figures are 11.86 percent, 15.12 percent and 14.09 percent lower than a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the number of newly registered motorized road vehicles has been on the rise, the ministry said.

In April alone, registration was made for 10,277 cars and 197,807 motorbikes, bringing the country’s total number of vehicles to 36,610,608, including 34,687,856 motorbikes and 1,922,752 cars, by the end of the month.

The past four months also saw 11 waterway traffic accidents, including three serious ones.

Farmers condemn polluter Sonadezi, claiming damages

Nguyen Van Trai, a farmer in Tam An Commune, Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province, voiced his complaints about pollution in a meeting with some NA deputies yesterday
Photo: Tuoi Tre

Many farmers in Dong Nai Province’s Long Thanh District have strongly condemned Sonadezi Long Thanh JSC (SZL) for its “defying of public opinion and the authorities” after its affiliate was caught polluting the area.

Yesterday, at a meeting with some National Assembly deputies, many people in the district’s Tam An Commune, where a wastewater treatment plant owned by SZL is located, said the company had shown no respect for local residents and authorities in dealing with consequences caused by its pollution issues.

The deputies included Dang Ngoc Tung, chairman of the Vietnam Labor Confederation, Tran Van Tu, chairman of the provincial People’s Council, and General Major Nguyen Van Khanh, director of the Province’s Police.

According to Huynh Ngoc Trai, chairman of the commune’s Farmers Association, more than 260 petitions have been submitted to authorities demanding compensation totaling VND16 billion (US$768,000) from Sonadezi.

The plant, which is responsible for treating wastewater from 42 companies in the Long Thanh Industrial Park, discharged poorly treated, stinking wastewater into the Ba Cheo canal between 2008 and August 2011, causing environmental pollution and damage to the crops and aquaculture of hundreds of families.

On August 3, 2011 a team from the Ministry of Public Security’s Anti-Environmental Crime Prevention and Control Department caught the plant releasing about 9,300 cubic meters of black, stinking wastewater into the canal, which is the main water supply for about 500 hectares of farmland in the district’s Tam An commune.

At yesterday’s meeting, Nguyen Van Trai, a local man representing the commune, said, “Morally, when a company causes pollution, it is supposed to apologize to people affected by the pollution and take measures to repair the consequences. Meanwhile, Sonadezi has never given any apology to its victims, but it often beat about the bush when being questioned about what it has done.”

The company hasn’t replied to local residents who have requested many times that it take action to deal with the damage caused by the pollution, Trai said.

Recently, a group of angry locals carried materials to the plant’s waste discharging outlet to attempt to seal it up, but their move was prevented by authorities. Meanwhile, Sonadezi leaders remained silent, as if such a response from locals did not relate to them, Trai added.

“Who has backed Sonadezi to allow it to show such disrespect for residents?”

Trai also complained that locals have yet to receive any information from the authorities about when the polluter will pay compensation.

“They [authorities] have kept promising that the issue would be resolved in 15 days, then in a month, and so on, but the issue still remains unsettled.”

However, Trai said he once witnessed a district leader call a leader of Sonadezi, but the latter did not answer the phone.

Nguyen Van Hai, head of the district’s Natural Resources and Environment Department, explained to locals that there is a delay because the authorities have had to wait for a scientific assessment of the level of damage the plant has caused.

Angry locals carried materials to the wastewater treatment plant’s waste discharging outlet to attempt to seal it up (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

According to the provincial authorities’ calculation, about 114 hectares of 682.8 hectares of the canal’s basin have been contaminated by the waste, and the rate of damage the Sonadezi plant has caused to the local aquatic source was 95 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, how much damage the plant has caused to crops and breeding grounds has yet to be determined.

Yesterday, the compensation board met about the issue and it is expected that a compensation plan will be available by the end of the second quarter of this year.

Tran Van Tu, chairman of the provincial People’s Council, said, “All businesses are equal under law. The authorities never cover up the offenses of any company. The authorities have hired the Natural Resources and Environment Department to assess the damage to form a basis for compensation.”

He also said that if Sonadezi continues to be uncooperative, the district authorities should report the issue to the provincial People’s Committee.

Many locals told Tuoi Tre that they expected the presence of another NA deputy, Do Thi Thu Hang, chairwoman of the Management Board of Sonazedi Corporation, the holding company of Sonadezi Long Thanh JSC, at this meeting.

“If she comes here and apologizes to local residents or provides a promise to us, this would prove she is a responsible NA deputy,” a local said.

Parents let kids skip preschool for handwriting

In order to prepare them for the first grade starting in September, many Hanoi parents choose to let their kids skip preschool classes to have time for handwriting ones.

Many say their children now spend half a day in kindergarten, the rest being devoted to late afternoon handwriting lessons.

Others even force their kids to totally skip preschool sessions to attend private handwriting practice courses at teachers’ homes.

“I have sent my child to such a course because I don’t want him to fall behind, as his peers are all learning to write at their teachers’ places,” says Uyen, a mother whose child is enrolled at Thanh Xuan Nam Kindergarten in Thanh Xuan District.

Another mother who is going to send her kid to Nguyen Tri Phuong Elementary School, situated in Ba Dinh District, in four months says many of her daughter’s classmates have nearly dropped out of school to spend time on handwriting practice.

A teacher at Dong Tam Kindergarten complains that sometimes up to ten kids skip class for handwriting courses.

Dong Tam principal Minh Hong says many other schools in the city are faced with the same situation.

Those parents who wish to send their kids to high-profile elementary schools are the most willing to let the preschoolers cut kindergarten classes, Hong adds.

A parent explains that preschool teachers do not provide enough proper handwriting practice so they have to find their own ways to best prepare the kids for the first grade.

In Vietnam, children start pre-school at three and begin first grade at six.

Ho Chi Minh City parents are also rushing to enroll their kids for handwriting classes in preparation for the first grade.

“My kid began learning to write last September,” says a parent whose child is enrolled at a private kindergarten in Tan Binh District.

“I was then afraid he will be unable to catch up with his friends without the handwriting class.”

Another parent in Phu Nhuan District reveals her preschool child has been learning handwriting at an elementary school teacher’s house for nearly a year.

The kid, who writes pretty well now, is completely ready for the first grade, the parent says.

Some even lay out very tight schedules for their children that require them to practice writing most of the day.