Website on social security launched

A website on social security has been launched today by the Viet Nam Youth Federation with the aim of connecting benefactors with poor and disabled people.

The website http://ansinhxahoi.thanhgiong.vn will outline State and Party policies on social security and provide information about the social security activities of young people across the country. It will also call for the community to support orphans, disabled youth, Agent Orange victims and outstanding low-income students.

After the launch, the website's standing committee will co-ordinate with organisations to hold a festival with the theme "Youth join hands for social security" in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai.

The website is intended to be a portal for organising volunteer activities in 63 poor districts across the country this year.

During the launching ceremony, the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs' Association promised to co-operate with the website to build boarding houses and give scholarships for poor students with a fund of VND5.4 billion (US$257,140) in the period from 2012-14.

The Viet Nam Young Physician Association also pledged to give free-of-charge health checks and medicine to 100,000 people in 63 poor districts nationwide with a fund of VND5 billion ($238,000).

Myanmar destroyers dock in Danang

Ums Mahar Bandoola destroyer. (Source: Dan Tri)

During the three-day friendship visit, the mission paid a courtesy call to the High Command of Navy Zone 3 and the municipal People’s Committee.

They will also visit popular sites in the locality and UNESCO-recognized Hoi An ancient city in the central province of Quang Nam.

Fishermen rescued from sinking boat

Four fishermen onboard a boat sunken by strong waves in Ly Son District of central Quang Ngai Province were rescued and safely taken onshore yesterday, according to Pham Thi Huong, deputy chairman of the Ly Son District People's Committee.

Huong said the boat sank on its way from the local Sa Ky Port to Ly Son Island.

Upon hearing the news of the boat sinking, the committee sent five fishing boats with dozens of fishermen to rescue the four fishermen.

The sunken boat, worth more than VND1 billion (US$47,600), will be salvaged after the strong waves ease.

Husband-killing woman sued by lover over debt

Nguyen Van Tam, the former lover of Tran Thuy Lieu, who burned her husband, a journalist, to death in January 2011, has taken legal action against her for failing to repay her debt to him and appropriating land from him.

Yesterday Nguyen Van Nham, chief judge of the Tan An Town People’s Court, Long An Province, said the court had received Tam’s complaints and is handling the case.

Tam was Lieu’s lover for a long time before the killing. He was dismissed from the post of head of a local market control team and expelled from the Communist Party after it was discovered that he was having an affair with Lieu and committed other wrongdoings such as gambling.

Lieu, 41, of Tan An town, has been detained since February 2011 after she pleaded guilty to burning 51-year-old Le Hoang Hung, a journalist at Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.

According to Tam’s complaint, in June 2009, he lent VND100 million (US$4,800) to Lieu at an interest rate of 3 percent per month. Two months later, he provided her withVND50 million at the same rate.

Tam said Lieu had repaid VND78 million to him as interest on the loan, but since January 2011 she has not paid any more interest or any of the loan principals.

Their credit relations were conducted verbally, not in writing, Tam said.

In September 2009, Lieu assigned a 100-square meter plot of land in the Dai Duong residential area in Ward 6, Tan An Town, to Tam for VND260 million ($12,500).

She, however, later used the land as a mortgage for a loan under the guarantee of the Dai Duong Private Enterprise, the investor of the residential area, Tam said.

Tam now wants Lieu and Dai Duong to return the land to him.

The chief judge said Tam’s lawsuit was acceptable, but the court would only handle his complaint about Lieu’s debt and would refer the land dispute to the Ward 6 People’s Committee for reconcilement under prevailing regulations.

The judge assigned to handle the lawsuit had asked the provincial police to meet Lieu, but his request was denied. Therefore, the Tan An Town People’s Court yesterday proposed the superior court issue an order to extract Lieu from prison so that the judge can work with her regarding Tam’s complaints.

The provincial People’s Court has decided to open a trial for Lieu for the charge of murder on March 29, 2012.

According to the case file, since mid 2010, Lieu and Hung had many arguments over money and the fact that Lieu often gambled in Cambodia and had an affair.

On January 19, 2011, Lieu set her husband on fire when he was sleeping in their house in the town. Lieu later pretended to extinguish the fire and rushed him to hospital.

Hung, a reporter covering crimes and anti-corruption cases, died 10 days later.

Lieu, who turned herself in to the police on February 20 last year, told investigators that she had wanted to burn him just as a warning, since he often beat her because of her debts and gambling habit.

She also said nobody had helped her in the burning.

The case had to be re-investigated twice at the request of the provincial People’s Court, Lieu’s mother, and the editorial board of Nguoi Lao Dong.

Recently, the Long An Province People’s Procuracy has issued the 3rd indictment that re-confirmed Lieu as the sole culprit in the murder, rejecting an allegation that Tam might have also been involved in the crime.

Japan helps improve water environment in Hue

A water environment improvement project using Japanese ODA capital has started in the former imperial city of Hue. The first phase of the project has investment capital of JPY20.8 billion (US$220 million), funded through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

It will be carried out in communes south of the Huong (Perfume) river, covering construction of 280km of sewers, nine pumping stations and a waste water treatment plant with a daily capacity of 20,000 cu.m, and dredging parts of the An Cuu, Phat Lac and Nhu Y rivers.

The project aims to mitigate flooding in the city and collect and treat waste water, improve the quality of the Huong and other rivers and the ecological environment, and enhance the living conditions and community awareness of environmental sanitation.

Vietnam attends World Water Forum in Marseille

A delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) led by its Minister Nguyen Minh Quang is attending the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France, from March 12-16.

The WWF, co-organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Network of River Basin Organizations (RIOB), provides a platform for RIOB members and observers to find the best solutions for developing and improving management of basins of 276 rivers, lakes and ponds as well as strengthening international cooperation in this field.

The forum attracts around 20,000 delegates from 140 countries and territories who will listen to reports presented by around 800 speakers at 300 meetings and discussions.

Reports focus on key issues, such as strengthening the enforcement of policies and laws on water at the local, regional and international levels, signing new documents to improve the management of surface and underground water resources, and developing and improving international cooperation mechanisms.

Creating sustainable financial mechanisms for trans-national organizations, training managers and law-makers, drafting cooperative documents among river basin organizations, and sharing information and data in this field are also high on the agenda.

Participants will present initiatives and solutions to overcome current difficulties to sign an international treaty on management of river and lake basins which is expected to be inked on March 16.

The Vietnamese delegation is scheduled to meet with the French Minister for Cooperation and Development and the European Commissioner for Environment. 

Office equipment donated to police

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) yesterday, March 12, donated office equipment worth a total of US$10,000 to the Police Department for Investigation of Social Order – Related Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security.

The office equipment was presented by Bangkok-based ACBPS's Counsellor Pam Radin on her visit to Ha Noi.

She highly appreciated the co-operation between the police unit and the Australian police in carrying out investigations into illegal immigrations from Viet Nam to Australia in 2011.

It was found that 124 people were smuggled to Australia last year and 27 of them returned to Viet Nam to date.

Preventing drug abuse among ethnic minorities

A conference was held in Hanoi on March 12 to review the implementation of two UN-funded projects on preventing drug abuse among ethnic minorities and providing technical assistance for treatment and rehabilitation at medical centres and in the community.

The event was jointly held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It aimed to evaluate results of the “Technical Assistance for Treatment and Rehabilitation at Institutional and Community Levels” (VIEH68) and “Drug Abuse Prevention Among Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam” (VIEH61) projects.

Project VIEH68 was implemented in four northwestern provinces, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Son La, to prevent the escalation of drug addiction and minimize its negative impact on ethnic minority people. The four-year project has helped ethnic groups raise awareness of drug abuse prevention, and increased the capacity of local authorities.

Project VIEH61 improved the effectiveness of detoxification and rehabilitation centres and helped prevent the spread of drug-related diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA/Tuoi Tre