HCM City to fine teenagers driving motorbikes over 50 cc  

The People’s Council of Ho Chi Minh City has ordered that heavy fines should be imposed on under-18 students driving motorbikes of over 50 cc capacity on city roads.  

Huynh Cong Hung, head of the Social and Cultural Sector of the Municipal People’s Council said that the education sector should closely coordinate with local governments and traffic wardens to discourage students who are still under 18 from driving heavy engine motorbikes to school.

Hung was speaking at a meeting held with the Department of Education and Training on February 9 on traffic safety education with special focus to mark ‘Traffic Safety Year 2012’.

Underage students should not only be fined but also issued warnings by school authorities, parents, traffic police and parking lot attendants, so as to discourage them, said Hung.

In addition, Hung proposed that the education sector must distribute brochures on traffic law to each and every primary, secondary and high school in the city.

The education sector must focus on raising students’ awareness of traffic laws, help resolve traffic gridlock in front of campuses and instill traffic safety habits at all levels. Moreover, the sector now needs to construct primary and high schools far from the bustling city centres.
 
Hanoi to upgrade major road to airport

The Hanoi municipal government has approved a project worth VND2.413 trillion (USD114.7 million) to upgrade Belt Road No. 3 linking Mai Dich to Hoa Binh Park and Noi Bai Airport.

Pham Van Dong road will be expanded to 68 metres

Under the project, Pham Van Dong Road will be expanded to 68 metres while two overpasses will be built at the junctions with Hoang Quoc Viet and Co Nhue roads.

The project will be carried out under the BT (Build-Transfer) model for two years.

The city’s government requested the investors, the Dong Da-Viet Duc Investment Joint Stock Company and Lilama Urban Development and Construction Investment Joint Stock Company to co-ordinate with local authorities to speed up procedures for the project.

Authorities in localities that the project runs through must be responsible for facilitating site clearance and compensation in a bid to ensure the project’s schedule.

When completed, the belt road is expected to become a key transportation route connecting the city centre to Noi Bai International Airport.

Experimental drug rehabilitation program in HCMC, Thai Nguyen  

At a meeting held between the Department for Prevention of Social Evil under the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and HCMC authorities on February 8, it was decided that medical treatment and consultation for drug addicts as well as their rehabilitation program will commence from June 2012.

As per the program, meant to assist medical workers to improve treatment of drug addicts in Vietnam, drug addiction treatment clinics will be established in communities on an experimental basis to provide service to addicts.

These clinics will be open for addicts who come in voluntarily for treatment and will be easily accessible with other necessary services.

This program is expected to treat around 30 in-patients and 50 out-patients per month. Treatment at hospitals or at homes will depend on addicts’ choice, so as not to segregate them from society.

Duration of treatment will be from three months for in-patients and 12 months for out-patients.

The program, funded by the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has been planned for the period from January 2011 until September 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City and the northern province of Thai Nguyen.

The program will also incorporate finding jobs and providing loans for former addicts to set up businesses of their own.

Younger addicts from 12-years of age must fill in an application form, and provide other necessary documents. Patients of families under social welfare policies or families whose economic condition is below the poverty line will enjoy free treatment for the first time, and a subsequent discount later.

The city will evaluate the effectiveness of the program at the end of its term in 2014.
 
HCM City urges resettlement from Thu Thiem New Urban Area by June  

The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has instructed the Investment and Construction Board of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area to complete resettlement of households latest by June this year.
 
Accordingly, the board must coordinate with authorities of District 2 to relocate all remaining households and organisations to a new resettlement area by June.

However, relocating of relic foundations from the site will be permitted to continue until December this year.

The People’s Committee has also ordered the authorities in District 2 and relevant companies to complete construction of 12,500 apartments for resettlers of the new urban area, by the end of 2013.

According to the Thu Thiem New Urban Area Management Board, over 98 per cent of the site clearance work has been completed.
 
Nursing conference opens in HCM City

The Australia-Viet Nam Volunteers Resource Group Victorian Education Team in collaboration with the HCM City Nurses Association yesterday opened an annual nursing conference.

Discussion topic included nursing protocols for hand-foot-mouth disease and a high-risk pregnancy care plan.

This year's conference also marked the 10th year anniversary of the team's work in Viet Nam.

Over the last 10 years, the team has grown to include more than 40 health care professionals for each visit, including nurses, midwives, doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians and speech pathologists, said Jackie Wright, president of AVVRG Victorian Health Education Team.

During the annual team visits, education and sharing of knowledge is done in many ways at various hospitals in the city, including Children's Hospital 1 and 2, Hospital for Traumatology and Orthopaedics, as well as Tu Du, Hung Vuong, Cho Ray and Binh Dan hospitals.

Education sessions have also progressed from the AVVRG team providing information to the sharing of information between both AVVRG and Vietnamese nurses.

Updated and evidence-based practices as well as equipment have been brought to colleges in HCM City.

"The annual conference helps Vietnamese nurses have more access to the world's advanced medical knowledge and practices," said Dr. Pham Viet Thanh, director of the city's Department of Health.

HCM City has 10,000 doctors and 18,580 nurses, Thanh said.

There are 12 doctors per 10,000 people, and the nurse-to-doctor ratio at around two to one.

Belgium continues assist Vietnam in water management

The Belgian government is helping Vietnam’s seven provinces implement the project “Capacity Building in Assessing and Managing Water Resources in Vietnam” (CAPAS).

A conference was held in Hanoi on February 10 by the Department of Water Resources Management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Belgian Development Agency to review the implementation of the project in Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Ninh Thuan.

Belgium will continue helping Vietnam in other projects in many localities nationwide.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Nguyen Thai Lai, said the project aims to build a template for writing reports on water resources at different levels, through which functional agencies can get accurate and updated information on water resources to take prompt measures in management work.

Martin Junker, chief advisor of Belgian-funded CAPAS project, said the final aim is to draw up an action plan for water resource protection, especially underground water. The project’s results achieved in 2011 and 2012 will help the above seven provinces improve their observation system.

Accordingly, each locality will be provided with observation equipment to assess water pollution level and identify causes.

Meanwhile, Belgium will support Vietnam in launching a campaign to increase public awareness of harmful affects of water pollution through seminars and programs in response to World Water Day (March 22).

Scientists said that most people in Vietnam are using surface water without simple treatment. The increasing pollution of both surface and underground water needs proper treatment methods to ensure clean water supply for local people’s daily use.

Three boats collide, one sailor missing

Three vessels collided on a section of the Nha Be River near Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, causing one of them to sink and a crew member to go missing, authorities reported.

At 3:30 pm Friday, Bien Nam 17 boat, which carried over 3,000 tons of clinker from Quang Ninh to HCMC, suffered strong waves and then lost control when it reached a section between HCMC’s Nha Be District and Dong Nai Province’s Nhon Trach District.

As a result, it first hit Maritime 36 boat and then Agnes. The collision broke the right side of Bien Nam 17, causing the boat to be submerged with water and sink later.

All 12 crew members of the boat fell into the river in the collision and were drifted away, but 11 of them were later saved by rescuing boats from the Dai Minh Salvage Rescue and Oil Spill Response Company.

One sailor remains unfound and efforts to search for him are underway.

Most of the 8,000 liters of oil in the boat’s tanks spilled on the river after it sank and the Dai Minh salvage company is using specialized devices to prevent the oil spill.

VFF donates VND500 million to Quang Ngai fire victims

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee (VFFCC) has decided to donate VND500 million to victims of the fire at the central market in Quang Ngai City.

The fire occurred on February 9, causing serious property losses to traders at the market.

The VFFCC appreciated the efforts of the provincial Party’s committee, administration organisations, relevant agencies, police and army forces and local people in rescuing and quickly dealing with the consequences of the fire.

The committee expressed its hope that traders will support each other and join hands with local authorities to overcome difficulties and stabilise their lives.
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14.5km underground tunnel to break ground in May

The Ministry of Transport is to start the construction of a 14.5 kilometer tunnel underneath the Ca mountain pass between the central provinces of Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa on May 19, Minister Dinh La Thang said Friday.

The total investment is put at VND15.6 trillion (US$748.8).

Thang said the Prime Minister is collecting opinions from relevant ministries and agencies on the mode of capital mobilization as suggested by the transport ministry.

In particular, the funding is expected to be sourced from the state budget and loans secured by the ministry.

The transport ministry will work with the French sponsor next week on the project capital sources.

The total investment for the project is expected to be VND15.6 trillion. The entire route will be 14.5 kilometer long. The tunnel passing Ca mountain pass will be 3.9 kilometer long.

The route will start from Hoa Xuan Nam Commune, Dong Hoa District of Phu Yen, and end at Van Tho Commune, Van Ninh District of Khanh Hoa.

Officials oppose changing school hours to ease traffic

Offices should close at 4pm in HCM City to ease the evening traffic jams, but school timings need not be changed, officials agreed at a meeting held on Wednesday to discuss changes to working hours.

"We effected changes to school timings in 2007 and readjusted them last year," Nguyen Van Gia Thuy of the Department of Education and Vocational Training said.

"Right now the classes finish 15 to 30 minutes apart."

What was urgently required at schools was to widen their gates to allow enough space for parents and students to pass through easily, he said.

"Traffic jams outside some schools can be resolved together with local authorities."

He urged the Department of Transport to operate more 12-seater buses to schools because they would "help reduce traffic jams and save time for parents."

Nguyen Van Xe, deputy director of the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs agreed with him, saying "the school timings have proved their effectiveness and don't need to change."

To adjust office hours, he sought more co-operation among departments, companies, and local authorities.

Other suggestions officials put forth to prevent traffic jams in the long term included building more roads and moving hospitals and universities outside the city as already planned.

Tumor patient recovers, practices walking

Nguyen Duy Hai from Da Lat city, who has had his right leg tumor removed, is practicing walking by using a mobile walker for disabled people twice a day at Ho Chi Minh City-based FV hospital.

Over the past two weeks, the 32-year-old patient is instructed by 2 physical therapists to exercise his left leg that he didn’t use for the last four years.

Hai can walk 15 meters if he uses a mobile walker. FVH’s doctors have considered Hai’s ability to walk as a miraculous recovery.

Dr. Phan Van Thai, a FVH’s surgeon, said Hai now can be discharged from hospital with improvement in his health condition.

However, Hai will need to stay in the hospital for one more month to undergo a skin graft surgery to replace the lost skins on his wounds, Thai added.

As the fourth son of a 5-children family, Hai was born a normal child until his limbs got weakened and unable to stand.

At 4, his right leg showed abnormal signs of growing much faster than the other one.

He left school at 11 when his deformity was difficult to cope with.

The tumor weighed up to 25 kg when he was 17, prompting his family to ask Lam Dong General Hospital to amputate the right limb.

At the time, doctors still couldn’t diagnose the cause and the tumor suffered from cracked skin and necrosis.

HCM City steps up petrol campaign

Oil companies selling sub-standard petrol in HCM City will be named in the media as part of measures to crack down on adulteration of fuel.

Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the city People's Committee, has ordered the Department of Science and Technology to step up monitoring of petrol quality.

Inspectors are set to collect petrol samples for testing from motorbikes that went up in flames and retailers, especially from petrol stations that face complaints or are suspected to sell adulterated fuel.

They will keep an eye out for vehicles going up in flames – a frequent occurrence around the country in recent times – and investigate them together with related agencies.

Any company found to be selling dubious fuel would be severely punished, Quan warned.

House collapse kills two in Hoa Binh

Two siblings were killed when their house collapsed yesterday in Huu Nghi Ward, Hoa Binh City in the northern province of Hoa Binh.

The accident occurred when the two victims, aged 35 and 33, were repairing their one-storey house.

City police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Brain infection spreads to Dong Nai

Meningococcal meningitis, a serious infection of the brain membrane, has been found in Dong Nai province, after being recorded in 5 other localities.

The first case of meningococcal meningitis, a serious infection of the brain membrane, has been recorded in Dong Nai Province after it spread in 5 other provinces and cities, the provincial Health Department reported.

The patient is 8-month-old Cao Vu Phat, of Trang Dai Ward, Bien Hoa City. The boy was taken to Dong Nai Pediatrics Hospital on February 5 after suffering high fever and losing appetite.

After 4 days of intensive treatment, Phat’s conditions have improved but he needs to be further treated, doctors said.

Before Dong Nai, the disease has been recorded in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Long An, Binh Phuoc and Quang Tri, the Preventive Health Department under the Ministry of Health reported.

The number of patients in the above localities has recently increased after the Tet (Lunar New Year) and one of them, an 11-month-old baby in Quang Tri, has died, the department said.

In HCMC, the disease has spread to 8 localities, including Districts 7, 8, 9, 10, and Binh Chanh, Binh Tan, Go Vap and Cu Chi Districts, affecting 12 people since January 20.

Several different bacteria can cause meningitis. Neisseria meningitidis is the one with the potential to cause large epidemics. 12 serogroups of N. meningitidis have been identified, 6 of which (A, B, C, W135, X and Y) can cause epidemics, according to the WHO.

The bacteria can be carried in the throat and sometimes, for reasons not fully understood, can overwhelm the body's defenses, allowing infection to spread through the bloodstream to the brain, the WHO said.

In Vietnam, the patients have been confirmed to have contracted A, B, C, and Y serogroups, doctors said.

Anybody who develops such symptoms as sudden high fever, stiff neck, and excessive sensitivity to light should go to the hospital for examination and treatment, Tran Thanh Duong, deputy head of the department, said.

Quang Ngai market ravaged by fire

The violent fire that occurred at Quang Ngai Market in Quang Ngai Province on Feb. 9 destroyed most parts of the market and rendered many traders penniless.

Thuy, who sold flowers in the market, recalled, “At 5:00am, I found a group of 5 to 7 security guards trying to extinguish a small fire. I felt something was wrong and immediately informed my fellow traders.”

Several traders were then struggling with the violent blaze to rescue their fabric products or candy packages.

Huynh Thi Phuong, who was informed of the accident by Thuy, fortunately took half of her goods away before the fire swallowed everything in her shop.

“It spread quickly. It completely engulfed the market in 15 minutes,” Phuong recalled.

Le Thi Kim Hanh, who sold candies in the northern part of the market, said the fire broke out at the eastern part by the time she got to the market.

Hanh told Tuoi Tre she tried to put out the fire with an available faucet nearby but failed because of the fierce heat from the billows of smoke.

She thus had no other way but flee for life.

As of 12pm, the firefighters were able to control the fire but the market had already been burnt to the ground.

While the scene was barred for investigation, hundreds of traders outside the market struggled against tears.

65-year-old Bui Thi Mai who had worked for more than 40 years in the market and her children, who also owned some shops, wondered why they encountered this kind of misfortune.

They had lost goods including clothes imported from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi worth billions of dong to the fire.

“All my family’s fortune was reduced to ashes. We don’t know how to pay off debts to our neighbors,” Hien, Mai’s daughter, moaned.

Meanwhile, Truong Thi En and her daughter, who sold leather products in the market, sobbed because they had just obtained a bank loan of VND200 million and bought a shipment of goods worth VND300 million.

Tran Thi Hai Van, 32, whose shop was among those ravaged by the fire, said: “When I was close to the market, I found billows of smokes rising above. I was hopeless after finding that the fire had destroyed everything in my shop.”

According to a report released by Quang Ngai’s People’s Committee, initial losses are estimated at VND150 billion.

Ngo Van Tuoi, director of Quang Ngai Agricultural Products Joint-stock Company which manages the market, said each trader lost VND200 to 250 million to the fire.

Colonel Nguyen Thanh Trang, deputy director of Quang Ngai’s Public Security Department, said the fire broke out on the first floor located in the northern area of the market.

It was first discovered at 5:15am by the market’s security guards. After failing to put it out, the guards informed the local fire fighting forces who rushed to the scene 15 minutes later.

Electrical sparks are thought to have caused the fire but Trang said the market’s authorities were still waiting for an official result from the investigators.

He admitted that available fire fighting and prevention equipment in the province were not adequate to battle such fires.