25 people fined for attempt to leave Vietnam illegally

The Border Guard Command in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau yesterday, July 10, imposed a fine of VND3.5 million (US$168) on each of the 25 people who attempted to illegally leave Vietnam for Australia by boat last month.

At 7 pm on June 24, on the seashore behind the house at 73 Tran Phu Street, in Ward 5, Vung Tau City, a joint police team caught two men arranging for the group of people to board a fishing boat so they could to go to Australia.

The arrested pair were Nguyen Van Kinh, 46, of central Nghe An Province, and Nguyen Ngoc Loi, 52, of southern Can Tho City. The police also seized their boat, No. BT93700 TS.

From their testimonies, the police later arrested another man, Pham Van Tuong. All three have been charged with “organizing for people to go abroad illegally”.

The men said they had bought a 340 CV fishing boat and then upgraded it so it could be used to transport their “customers” at a charge of US$11,000-14,000 per person.

Most of the people attempting to leave Vietnam are natives of Nghe An and Ha Tinh – another central province.

Kinh hired Loi as a pilot to operate the boat for a fee of VND250 million ($12,000).

Twelve days ago, the provincial People’s Court tried a ring of seven men who thrice organized journeys for 124 people, also mostly from Nghe An and Ha Tinh Provinces, to go to Australia illegally by boat from June 2010 to April 2011.

The ring charged each person about VND100 million (US$4,800) for their journey.

The ring’s leader, Nguyen Dinh Chien, 48, of Nghe An Province, got 6 years and 6 months in prison, while his six accomplices were given sentences ranging from 3 to 6 years imprisonment.

British health aid to continue

A British health programme assisting Viet Nam's northern ethnic minority groups and Agent Orange victims will continue to provide assistance and support.

The programme, known as Medical and Scientific Aid for Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia (MSAVLC), provides medicines and medical equipment for doctors and nurses involved.

The decision was made at a recent conference in London.

This year, the aid group will assist ethnic people in northern Bac Kan and Cao Bang provinces and, at the same time, provide support for Agent Orange children residing at Hoa Binh village in the capital's Thanh Xuan District and at HCM City's Tu Du Hospital.

Last year, the organisation carried out eight health-care projects across the country. This included buying 50 wheelchairs for Agent Orange victims at Cao Bang's Agent Orange victims at a total cost of US$5,000.

Speaking at the London conference, the Vietnamese ambassador, Vu Quang Minh, said he was grateful for support from the group and hoped it would continue its good work.

He said the support would strengthen the strategic partnership between Viet Nam and the United Kingdom. Diplomatic relations between the two countries will be 40 years old next year.

MSAVLC, established in 1965, was a precursor of the Medical Aid Committee for Viet Nam (MACV), and became a registered charity in 1967.

MSAVLC has provided Việt Nam with support in health-care services, blood donation and medical equipment.

It has helped many provinces and cities across Việt Nam, including Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Tuyen Quang, Son La and Lai Chau.

More than VND7 billion raised for AO victims

More than VND7 billion has been raised from the charitable message programme entitled “the pain of Agent Orange” launched in 2011.

Senior lieutenant-general Nguyen Van Rinh, President of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) announced the figure at a ceremony in Hanoi on July 10 to launch a similar programme from July 5 to September 4, 2012.

Rinh said the money has been used to build many centres to care for and rehabilitate AO victims in provinces and cities across the country.

The VAVA plans to build another 46 centres and present thousands of scholarships to AO victims.

On the same day Nguyen Minh Son, President of the SVA Financial Group, donated VND1 billion to AO victims through VAVA.

Mobile souvenir shops banned in Hoi An

All mobile souvenir shops have been banned on streets in Hoi An ancient town in central Quang Nam Province under a new issue of the town People's Committee.

The streets include Bach Dang, Nguyen Phuc Chu, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Phan Chau Trinh, Tran Phu.

The move came after many souvenir vendors appeared at intersections or streets causing traffic safety disorders and affecting the town's image in eyes of visitors.

Hand-foot-mouth rises sharply in Quang Nam

The central province of Quang Nam has recorded nearly 780 hand-foot-mouth cases since the start of the year, the provincial Preventive Medicine Centre said yesterday, July 10.

It was a sharp increase compared to the same period last year when only 12 cases were reported.

Some 51 out of every 100,000 people in the province have now contracted the disease, patients being mainly children under 3 years of age.

More than 310 children with mumps have also been reported, nearly double the number in the same period last year.

40 Long An workers hospitalized for food poisoning

About 40 workers of Le Long Vietnam Co Ltd in southern Long An Province’s Ben Luc District were taken to hospital this morning after developing symptoms of food poisoning.

At 8 am Tuesday, these workers, who were suffering abdomen pain, diarrhea, and fever, were hospitalized at the Ben Luc General Hospital.

Many of them said they had developed food poisoning symptoms the night before but they tried to go to work this morning.

Duong Kim Tu said, “I suffered belly pain and fever last night, at about 9 pm. My condition got worse later. However, I tried to go to work.”

The company used its vans to bring Tu and other workers to the hospital.

They had eaten cooked rice, braised pork, fried bluefish and cooked okra for their noon meal at the company’s canteen on Monday – the day before.

After examination and testing patients, doctors at the hospital said they could have suffered from food poisoning.

Many of the victims have received continuous fluid transfusion.

By this noon, 27 workers still remain at the hospital while others have been transferred to other clinics for further treatment.

Local concerned agencies are coordinating with the company to investigate the cause.

Nearly 1.4 million rural people to get access to hygiene improvement

Nearly 1.4 million poor people living in Viet Nam's rural areas will be given access to running water and financial support to help them install water-tanks, heard a conference in Ha Noi today.

The Community Hygiene Output-based Aid Programme in its second phase (2012-2015) was held by the East Meets West Foundation Global Partnership and the Viet Nam Women's Union.

The programme aims to increase the rate of access to hygiene and promote changes in hygienic behaviour in poor communities in rural areas in Viet Nam and Cambodia, focusing on 20 per cent of the poorest households.

In the second phase, the southern provinces of Dong Thap, Tra Vinh and Tien Giang; the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh; and the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Ninh Binh will all participate in the programme.

Poor households in 244 communes in the localities will receive financial support from VND1.4-10 million  ($US67-480) to improve toilets and water storage facilities.

By June 2015, 126,000 women will have received aid to help them install toilets and septic tanks, and about 2,600 volunteers will be trained periodically on community hygiene.

The first phase from 2010-2011 was implemented successfully in the Mekong Delta Region, helping 4,200 poor and nearly poor families in the southern provinces of Tien Giang, Long An and Dong Thap to build toilets and install hand washing facilities with running water.

According to the World Health Organisation, about 50 million Vietnamese people do not have hygienic toilet facilities or septic tanks. Furthermore, poor hygiene kills 20,000 people in Viet Nam each year.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre