Hanoi heavy rains uproot tree; cars damaged

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HCM City fines market violators

The HCM City market watch bureau carried out 2,475 inspections and imposed fines in 2,415 cases for various violations in the first half of the year, an increase of 564 and 589 cases, respectively.

The fines totalled over VND60.4 billion (US$2.9 million), a year-on-year increase of 65.6 per cent. The value of goods confiscated and destroyed in these cases is estimated at VND9.8 billion, up 80.5 per cent over last year.

The value of confiscated goods that would be stored and sold later amounted to VND29.2 billion, bureau officials said.

They said 674 shops and stores had violated pricing regulations, an increase of 445 cases over the same period in 2010.

The pricing violations were found mostly in food and foodstuff, pharmaceutical products, construction materials, concumer goods, machinery, and various kinds of equipment.

The sale of fake goods remained high in traditional markets, supermarkets and streetside stalls, the officials said.

Watches, sunglasses, handbags, cellphones, garments, footwear and cosmetics accounted for a majority of the fake products sold, they added.

Techcombank official surrenders over $680k debt

The director of a Techcombank office in Cai Rang District, Can Tho City, has given himself up to police, confessing to have reneged on VND14 billion (US$680,000) in loans.

Tran Luong Binh, 35, from the Ninh Kieu District, told the city police that he had swindled 34 people off the money who gave them as loans from 2008 to June 2011.

Attracted with lucrative interest rates of 0.45 - 1 percent per day, many people lent Binh their money only to find no money returned.

He lied to his victims that he could re-lend the money at higher rates to those who needed it to repay their debts to his banks.

In fact, Binh re-lent a part of the money to others at a lower interest rate, 10 percent per month, and pocketed the difference.

Over time, after repaying a part of his loans and interest thereon, he had become insolvent and fled with a total unpaid debt of around US$680,000.

Five days before he handed himself in to police, Techcombank issued a decision to fire him.

The police have detained Binh for investigation.

Man fined for smuggling wild parrots in Binh Phuoc

Tran Phat Vinh, 41, hailing from Dong Nai Province’s Tan Phu District, has been fined VND25 million for illegally transporting wild and live animals in Binh Phuoc province.
The Phu Dien commune resident was caught smuggling 12 dui moc (rhizomys pruinosus blyths) and 65 long-tailed parrots.
Authorities have confiscated all the animals which are listed as wild and subject to protection.

Power cuts, inflation worry investors

Japanese investors continue to be impressed by Viet Nam's investment policies, but are increasingly worried about power shortages and high inflation.

Business representatives from Japan's Aichi Province gathered on Friday in HCM City at a seminar to discuss Viet Nam's investment climate and ways to improve the efficiency of their operations in Viet Nam.

Aichi Province is one of the largest economic and industrial hubs in central Japan. To date, more than 80 companies from Aichi Province have invested in Viet Nam, of which 35 are in the south and 45 in the north.

Speaking at the seminar, Do Nhat Hoang, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Foreign Investment Agency, admitted that the electricity shortage would not boost the country's economic development.

"This will prevent Viet Nam from reaching industrial-country status by 2020," he said.

However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has proposed to the Government several measures to deal with power shortages, including offering preferential support to investors in the electricity sector.

They will also receive support for site clearance and extensions on payments for bank loans so the electricity projects can be implemented soon.

"For inflation control, the Government has made an effort to tightly control the price of consumer goods, and even make compensation to maintain electricity price stability to ensure the best business environment for investors, Aichi investors in particular," Hoang said.

The country has also improved the laws on investment in an effort to attract more foreign investment.

On September 5, the Ministry of Investment and Planning will organise a seminar in Japan on attracting investment for the supporting industry in Viet Nam.

Japan is among the biggest investors in Viet Nam. It ranks fourth among countries that have FDI in Viet Nam, with 1,552 investment projects and total registered capital of US$21.36 billion.

In the past six months, 86 new Japanese FDI projects with total investment capital of $303 million have been registered.

Nguyen Hoang Ha from the Viet Nam Development Strategy Institute said that "Infrastructure is weak and a big barrier in economic development. However, Viet Nam has mapped out a strategy on infrastructure development in the southern key economic area by 2020."

Accordingly, a series of railways, waterways and highways will be upgraded or developed.

By 2020, more than 7 million internet subscribers are expected, and more than 80 per cent of the population will be using the internet.

The seminar was organised by the Aichi Support Desk.

Thousands walk into state farm, snatch away clams

Thousands of people have in the past two days blatantly trespassed into clam breeding areas belonging to the state-owned Thanh Phong Cooperative in Ben Tre Province and stole away clams and oysters.
This occurred right after harvesting ended at Thanh Phong Cooperative where many oysters and clams for breeding purposes still remained.
On July 9, approximately one thousand citizens from Thanh Phong commune and people from other vicinities advanced towards this clam’s ground together and carried out the thefts.
One day later, another 800 oyster thieves returned to continue their thieving spree.

Dog thief charged with illegal detention

Police have indicted a thief for illegal detention after he attempted to steal dogs and then kept a 5-year-old girl hostage last Saturday in Nghe An Province’s Vinh City.
22-year-old Nguyen Duc Binh has also been charged with stealing assets, along with another young man.
In the early morning of July 9, Binh and Dang The Hung, 27, showed up in Nghi Lien Commune in an attempt to steal dogs from locals.

After being caught in the act, the men tried to escape from locals who pursued them. Hung was captured later while Binh rushed into a house to hide.

Ninh Thi Thu, the house’s owner, shouted for help and Binh immediately held her 5-year-old daughter, Vuong Thi Ngoc Khanh, hostage while locals surrounded the area.
Binh told the besiegers that he would kill the girl if anyone stepped into the house.

The police, who was called to the scene at 6:30, tried to persuade Binh to let the girl go and get out of the house but he refused.
45 minutes later, the police managed to break into the house and arrested him.
Binh has a previous conviction for stealing assets and he finished serving his sentence last October.

Thugs attack Hanoi policemen

Six armed thugs attacked two policemen while they were handling an assault case on a Hanoi street yesterday, July 10.
At 0:30 yesterday morning, a policemen team was dispatched to the house at 124 Hong Mai Street to stop the assault being conducted there by a hooligan gang.
A moment later, six thugs returned to the house arrived in a car and on two motorbikes and gang-attacked the police team who remained there.
The attack caused serious injuries to Dang Van Quang, deputy head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Department, and another officer.
One of the ruffians drove their car straight into Quang, breaking his left leg, while the others used knives to stab the other officer, severely injuring him on the face and shoulder.
The remaining unhurt members of the police team arrested Vu Long Thanh, 35, a local man, on the scene while his other accomplices managed to flee.
The injured were taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
The police have questioned Thanh and are hunting for five other attackers.

Tap water remains a luxury at deluxe apartments

Receiving water from Sai Gon 2372 Barge is a routine thing for residents of 116 villas and 3 luxury apartment buildings of the Saigon Pearl Residential Complex at 92 Nguyen Huu Canh St.

Due to the weak flow of HCMC’s tap water, these residents have to receive 800 to 1,200 cubic meter of water from this barge every day.

According to Saigon Water Corporation (Sawaco) which provides water for HCMC, fast urbanization on Nguyen Huu Canh Street has put great pressure on the city’s tap water system, forcing it to use barges temporarily before it is able to build a new 400mm water pipe for this street.

This pipe plan, however, was long delayed as the company was yet to obtain a road digging license and had to wait until the Urban Traffic Management Zone No. 1 (under the city’s Department of Transport) completed its repair work on Nguyen Huu Canh Street.

Not until last month did Sawaco, the Department of Transport and the Urban Traffic Management Zone No. 1 finally come with a solution: install the pipeline before repairing the street.

In the meantime, residents in these luxurious apartments will continue to receive water from barges.

HCMC residents offered electronic official rating

Residents in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 have become the first in the country to be able to voice opinions about officials through a simple electronic rating tool.
For the past two weeks, ten electronic machines displaying photos of officials who process citizens’ documents at the visitors’ reception area at the district People’s Committee office have attracted many visitors.
Visitors can express their opinions about how these officials treat them by simply pressing the “Satisfied” or “Unsatisfied” button.
The officials cannot erase the machines’ data which is monitored by the main server administered by another department which reports directly to the People’s Committee’s chairperson.
With the new machines, which cost VND200 million (US$10,000), public feedback has been increasing significantly. In the past, District 1’s People’s Committee received around 30 suggestion letters per month. Since the machines were installed, it has so far received about 380 responses monthly.
During the two weeks on trial, three out of ten officials processing citizens’ documents, including the chief of the reception desk, received the greatest numbers of negative responses.

Traffic cop takes bribe to return bike

Senior-lieutenant Huynh Minh Duc in Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District has been found returning a traffic violator’s motorbike after receiving a bribe of VND13 million (US$630).

According to Lieutenant-Colonel Nguyen Dinh Vinh who investigated the case after receiving a tip-off, Duc confessed that he had personally taken the bike out of the police’s warehouse and returned it to Tran Minh Hoa, the traffic violator.

Vinh said Duc received the money through Hoang, whom Hoa asked to help him bribe the police.

Earlier, on April 23, Hoa had his motorbike taken away after he was found violating traffic laws and having neither a driver’s license nor an ID card.

On June 25, Hoang went to the district police and met Huynh Minh Duc, who handled Hoa’s case. Duc told Hoang that Hoa would have to pay VND10 million in advance to get the bike back.

Hoang then gave the amount to Duc, who said the case could be considered to be 99 percent solved. On July 3, Duc told Hoang that the case was sold and asked Hoang to meet him at a café on Bui Dinh Tuy Street in Binh Thanh District to receive Hoa’s bike.

One day later, Duc called Hoang to ask for an additional VND3 million ($146), explaining that since the case was serious, Hoa must pay more for him to bribe his superior.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre