Individual efforts lead fish back to Mekong Delta

 

Here and there throughout the southern waterways, people are trying to bring fish back to rivers and canals where fish have been killed off by overexploitation.

 

65-year-old Nguyen Van Sang from An Hiep Commune, Chau Thanh District, Dong Thap Province couldn’t help exclaiming at the sight of fish swarming a canal on the Tien River in Dong Phu Commune, Long Ho District, Vinh Long Province.

 

“I haven’t seen such a sight for dozens of years,” Sang said.

 

Other residents who saw this abundance of fish were also surprised but passed it off as an effort to breed fish for fishing activities of the Mekong-Dong Phu Tourism Zone which manages the canal.

 

When they knew the fish are swimming to the canal of their own accord, they couldn’t believe it.

 

Six years ago, this tourism company’s management board felt the same delightful surprise.

 

They decided to discharge waste water from their fish ponds into the canal without expecting that the leftover food in the waste water would lure fish here.

 

Once they realized the useful consequence, the company decided to grow water hyacinth and water spinach to create a habitat for the fish and forbade any kind of fishing here except tourist fishing.

 

Nguyen Huu Chien Chiem, Vice Chair of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at Can Tho University in Can Tho City, said this case of “fish bag,” as an area where fish naturally come is called, is extremely rare these days when freshwater fish resources are being exhausted by large-scale fishing using electricity to stun fish, nets and casts.

 

Since 2001, Can Tho University itself, using foreign aids, has created a similar “fish bag” in the Nga Ngay canal in An Binh Ward, Ninh Kieu District.

 

Local residents laughed it off at first since even shellfish and crabs couldn’t be found in the canal.

 

But later, as numerous kinds of fish and symbiotes such as snakes, turtles and field crabs appeared, the experiment proved to be a solid possibility, Chiem recalled.

 

Chiem said his university is now drawing up a proposal to ask the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Planning to fund dozens of similar fish bags in the region.

 

For the time being, Can Tho University is planning to create fish bags in An Giang Province using a Japanese fund.

 

Chiem said the government and farmers should find a balance between growing rice and farming fish, weighing carefully the profits of selling rice and fish.

 

For instance, a kg of rice fetches only VND10,000 on the market while a kg of freshwater fish can sell for several times as much.

 

Duong Van Ni, director of Hoang An Center also from Can Tho University agreed.

 

He said southern farmers should set aside part of their rice fields to create a natural habitat for fish to ensure food supply for humans as well as store fresh water for rice fields in dry seasons.

 

Chiem said it isn’t difficult to bring fish back to the southern waterways if the government and farmers have the will.

 

“Since where there is water, there will be fish,” he said.

 

Binh Dinh Province benefits from Healthcare program 

 

The Vietnam Youth Federation of Binh Dinh Province is offering free treatment and medication to 1,600 residents in the four communes of Phu My District, under the program “Humane Journey for Community Health 2011”. 

 

A team of the federation also held a first-aid training and nutrition class for 100 parents of primary students. The team offered 500 crates of milk, donated by Friesland Campina Vietnam, and 40 scholarships worth VND250,000 each, donated by My Tai Company, a member of Binh Dinh Young Business Association.

 

The team members also mobilized 1,600 union members and students to register for blood donation.

 

The program is part of a new health care program called “Young Doctors Follow Teachings of Uncle Ho – Volunteer for Community Health”, launched by the Viet Nam Federation of Youth Unions, Vietnamese Young Doctors’ Association and Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper.

 

The program has been launched to commemorate the 121st birth anniversary of Uncle Ho, 100th anniversary since Uncle Ho left Vietnam to find ways for national salvation and to mark the XIII National Assembly Elections.

 

8 million Vietnamese are infertile

 

More than 8 million Vietnamese, or 7 to 10 percent of the country’s population, are suffering from infertility, said a report released by Ho Chi Minh City-based Tu Du Women’s Hospital.

 

According to the report, which was presented by Dr. Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet, Vice Director of Tu Du, at a conference on male infertility at Binh Dan Hospital on Saturday, for the past several years, Tu Du has treated and consulted more than 300,000 infertile cases every year.

 

Of these, 40 percent are caused by husbands, 30 percent by wives, and the remaining 30 percent by unknown reasons, said Dr. Mai Ba Tien Dung, deputy head of Binh Dan’s Male Diseases Department, citing World Heath Organization statistics.

 

Dr. Dung said that to treat infertility, both husbands and wives must thus be examined.

 

Australian education exhibition in Hanoi, HCMC

 

Australian Schools Showcase-Vietnam 2011 will be held on Sunday in Hanoi and HCMC to raise the profile of Australian schools to Vietnamese students and their families. 

 

Representatives from thirty Australian government and private schools will be participating in the event to provide information about their education programs, curriculum, high school preparation programs and education pathways, as well as practical advice about the benefits of living and studying in Australia.

 

To encourage interaction among schools and visitors, the Demo English Classes, two slots in each city, taught by Australian teachers and a Q&A Panel session about the Australian school system, will be organized at the exhibition.

 

A showcase of school textbooks, samples of student assignments, art works projects and photos from Australian schools will be displayed at the exhibition to help Vietnamese students and parents know more about schools and life in Australia.

 

There will be collaboration workshops for both Vietnamese and Australian schools to meet, exchange and explore opportunities prior to the exhibition.

 

Central region aims to beat the heat

 

Hot weather has caused many changes in living and farming in central Viet Nam.

 

The temperature in Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh Province has been around 36-37 degree Celcius, causing residents to flee to parks or beaches to take the air.

 

The route along the beach from Xuan Dieu Street to An Duong Vuong Street becomes crowded from 5-7pm and 4-6am every day.

 

Residents bring mattresses, canvases, folding beds and hammocks to spread out on the green space in the precinct along Xuan Dieu Street from noon to the end of the afternoon.

 

In Da Nang City, a large number of residents rush to the beach, causing the overload of services for food, parking, and fresh water baths.

 

The route Hoang Sa-Truong Sa, which used to be spacious, has become dense with motorbikes and cars, regardless of day or night.

 

Many buses from other provinces have poured into the city to take tourists to the sea.

 

Thuan An, Phu Thuan and Vinh Thanh beaches in Thua Thien – Hue, as well as Cua Tung and Cua Viet beach in Quang Tri Province are packed with crowds every day.

 

Chairs and buoys for rent on Thuan An beach usually run out of equipment early. A buoy made of car tyres rents for VND5,000-VND7,000 each.

 

Nguyen Thi Thu Diu, a senior at Quy Nhon University, said: "The boarding room is narrow and the weather is unbearably hot. We could not stay at home to revise for the final exam. It was hot last month. Four of us use fans all day and night. We then paid extra VND100,000 each for the electricity bill, double the usual amount."

 

Diu and her roommates decided to study on the beach and park to save money.

 

The blazing heat and cold from winds from Laos early this year damaged thousands of hectares of paddy and groundnuts in Thua Thien – Hue and Quang Tri provinces in growing within 1-1.5 months.

 

This has led to difficulties in preparing the summer-autumn crop.

 

Nguyen Van Bai, director of Quang Tri Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province had asked farmers to destroy unusable dry groundnut trees and corn plants, and then plant green pea and watermelon plants.

 

These two crops, which have a short growing time of 70-75 days, are easy to plant and can adapt to harsh weather.

 

The province will offer financial support for these varieties and give instruction to farmers on planting techniques.

 

In Da Nang, electronics and machinery supermarkets and stores on Hung Vuong, Pasteur, Phan Chu Trinh, and Nguyen Huu Tho streets have become overloaded.

 

Products including air conditioners, fans and water fans have sold out.

 

A store owner on Phan Chu Trinh Street said customers have to wait for two days to have air conditioners installed.

 

Many stores have increased prices: water fans and air conditioners are selling for VND200,000 to VND500,000 higher than the usual.

 

These stores are now charging fees of VND150,000-VND200,000 each to install equipment at home, whereas before it was free.

 

Bump keys openly sold everywhere

 

Bump keys are sold openly throughout the city, widely touted as capable of picking any lock within 5 seconds!

 

After examining the lock on our reporter’s SYM motorbike, Thanh claimed he can make a key to start the engine as easily as snapping a finger.

 

“I can easily make bump keys for Honda or Yamaha motorbikes without seeing the original keys. They’re 80% accurate,” he said.

 

Thanh proved it by starting our SYM motorbike with the new key he just made in less than 5 minutes.

 

That bump key too could unlock and start another SYM bike, though not as smoothly as it did the first one.

 

Thanh said bump keys that can open up to 10 locks cost VND200,000-500,000 a key.

 

He also introduced a picklock kit that can open any lock. The kit, which costs VND2 million, includes a Z-shaped torsion wrench to put in the keyhole and 10 other hook picks to push the pins in the lock.

 

You can use this to pick any locks of any motorbikes currently on the market, he said.

 

Linh, another locksmith working on Pham Hung street (District 8), gave us the price of each item in his own “trademark” kit: VND50,000 (US$2.5) for a hook pick; VND100,000 (US$5) for a set of hook picks and tension wrenches; VND1 million (US$50) for a full kit. The higher the price of the bump key, the more locks it can open.

 

Linh then put before us a set of 10 hook picks to crack open the safes.

 

“Each set of bump keys can work with only one type of safe, so you need to buy many sets to open all types of safes”, he explained.

 

One set of safe-crackers is sold at the price of VND6 million, 4 million if purchased in large amounts.

 

A bump key vendor in Xom Chieu, District 4 even sells a special toolkit to work against anti-theft locks.

 

He demonstrated the effectiveness of his tools by activating the alarm system on a scooter and touching it for the alarm to sound. He then stopped the alarm by putting two speakers with big magnets inside the scooter, demagnetizing the inductor to detect vibration with an object and finally unlocking it with a bump key.

 

“You can buy as many as you want. Order delivered after 3 days, VND10 million a set”, said the locksmith.

 

Nguyen Thanh Huyen, head of the anti-theft and anti-fraud division of HCMC Police, says 30-50 cases of motorbike thefts are reported each month, most of which is done with bump keys.

 

It is hard to curb bump key selling since the police cannot arrest these individuals or subject them to any legal proceedings unless they can clearly prove their intent of selling the keys for illegal purposes.

 

Call for independent land pricing

 

Independent agencies in charge of determining the price of land allocated to investors and compensation given to land owners are necessary to help battle corruption.

 

This was the predominant message of a two-day workshop on good land governance, held by the World Bank and the General Department of Land Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in the northern town of Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc Province, which came to a close yesterday.

 

According to James Anderson, senior governance specialist at the World Bank, Viet Nam, provincial officials responsible for land allocation also control land valuation which means there are currently no external monitoring system for the land valuation process.

 

A non-independent mechanism for price determination increased the risk for corruption, Anderson said.

 

Under the current valuation system, it is easy for investors to obtain low land prices by bribing State officials.

 

Compensation paid to land owners for the use of their land, as stipulated by the local governments, were much lower than market prices, according to senior adviser Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

 

Although pricing services were permitted by law, results were still considered as reference prices only, Vo said.

 

There have been no regulations set in place regarding the compulsory usage of pricing services in order to propose reasonable land prices in terms of compensation, support and resettlement except in HCM City, he said.

 

"There are currently no concrete regulations on the process and procedures for defining market-based prices for land compensation," Phi Thanh Binh, deputy head of the Natural Resources Division under northern Bac Giang Province's People's Committee, said.

 

State management systems dealing with land prices overlapped amongst ministries. The technical standard system of land pricing; land price data and the quantity and quality of price makers did not meet actual requirements, Vo added.

 

Shortcomings have caused lengthy implementation processes, economic loss in investment, damage to the attractiveness of Viet Nam's investment climate and increasing numbers of complaints relating to land compensation prices.

 

According to a survey conducted in HCM City, if the construction of a 1-km road, 20m in width, is delayed by two years, the compensation price increases to VND1 billion (US$47,600).

 

"Compensation based on low market prices is the key cause of complaints," Vo said, adding that many people have lost their trust in local leaders.

 

An independent land pricing system was necessary in order to ensure that compensation would be as close as possible to actual market prices, Vo stressed.

 

Anderson agreed, saying that corruption could be prevented through the development of legal regulations regarding the outsourcing of land valuation services to independent organisations in a competitive market and for the creation of independent committees to review and approve land prices.

 

Organisations should be supported by a transparent national database with reference prices, Anderson added.

 

Binh said "that although the idea of establishing independent pricing agencies was welcomed by most participants at the workshop, a legal framework must be put into place in order to create favourable conditions for operation."

 

During the workshop, experts discussed cross-cutting risk factors for corruption related to land management.

 

These factors include the role of oversight organisations and the media, the human resource system and land market/tenure which influence accountability across sectors.

 

Improving transparency and accountability while removing unnecessary discretion will make corruption more difficult to hide.

 

Student posting catfight YouTube clip detained

 

Hanoi police have arrested a student who posted on YouTube a 2.5-minute clip showing two schoolgirls beating and stripping naked another girl.

 

Bui Xuan Hai, 20, of Hanoi’s Tu Liem District, was detained for disseminating on the Internet a clip titled “Industry University schoolgirls beating and stripping naked an other schoolgirl,” which have given a great shock to netizens in the past few days.

Hai declared that he had used his personal computer and a “coidz” account on Youtube.com to post the clip online at 7 a.m. May 9.

 

A few hours later, the clip was removed by YouTube, police said.

 

The clip showed scenes in which two female students were beating a girl and calling her names under the heated sun.

 

When she fell to the ground, the attackers did not stop but took turns grabbing the girl’ hair, slapping her face, and even stamping their foot on the face of the girl even when she was lying motionless on the ground.

 

Not stopping there, they pushed the girl up and then stripped her naked and continued letting out a string of oaths.

 

Such brutal and humiliating acts aroused anger and indignation among viewers of the clip.

 

The police are further investigating the case.

 

Farmers hit by poor winter-spring rice harvest

 

More than a thousand hectares of winter-spring rice in central Thua Thien-Hue Province are ready for harvest, yet have failed to produce grains, placing many households in a rice seedling shortage and lean harvest.

 

Halting the harvester at a seedless rice field, farmer Dinh Nhu Bui in Phu Ho Commune in Phu Vang District is highly anxious.

 

"Everyone took it for granted that they would harvest a bumper winter-spring rice crop this year," said Bui, "But it has unexpectedly turned out that the rice has failed to seed."

 

Bui's family cultivated over 2.5ha of rice seedlings but none can be harvested.

 

"My family has lost about VND49 million (US$1,900) buying fertiliser and rice seedlings, and on labour while working the field," Bui further added "All I've got is straw from a crop that I've tended since last September."

 

Tens of thousand households in the districts of Phu Vang, Phu Loc and Quang Dien also face the same plight.

 

Deputy director of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department Hoang Huu Hoe said these districts had incurred a complete loss of over 1,600ha of rice, worth some VND25 billion ($1.1 million).

 

Farmers had to harvest young rice grains or burn them in order to prepare for the following summer-autumn rice crop, Hoe said.

 

Bui and many other farmers in Phu Vang said the short-term grain variety that the district had transplanted for this year's winter-spring rice crop had previously provided high yields and there had rarely been a bad harvest in the past 15 years.

 

Hoe said it was abnormal climatic conditions this year that had caused the bad harvest as the rice had suffered from prolonged, late cold spells.

 

"Cold weather has never lasted until April before, unlike this year," said Hoe.

 

Chairman of Phu Ho Agriculture Co-operative Ho Ban affirmed it was not low quality seedlings that had caused the bad harvest.

 

"Such an abnormally bad harvest hasn't been recorded in Phu Ho Commune over the past 30 years," Ban said.

 

The co-operative has lost more than 126ha of rice, leading to losses of over VND2 billion ($95,000) in investment cost.

 

Deputy head of Cultivation Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Pham Dong Quang said this year's late and cold weather only occurred once a century.

 

Farmers in Thua Thien-Hue are suffering not only the bad harvest but also having to pour their money into harvesting and burning rice straw to provide space for the following crop.

 

Farmer Nguyen Trung in Phu Vang District's Phu Luong Commune said every sao of rice field (one sao is equivalent to 360sq.m) would cost him about VND50,000 ($2.3) clear.

 

Mushroom-making villages like Phu Luong and Phu Ho could also face a lack of young straw as an essential material to produce mushrooms in the time to come.

 

Trung said many farmer households were preparing to go to big cities to earn a living and escape from hunger.

 

The bad harvest had also brought about a danger of lacking rice seedlings for the summer-autumn rice crop.

 

An official of Thua Thien-Hue provincial seedling and breed company said the company would only provide 3,000 of a total of 5,000 tonnes for the coming crop.

 

Hoe said the Thua Thien-Hue Agriculture and Rural Development Department had asked the Cultivation Department to provide 300 tonnes of seedlings for the summer-autumn rice crop.

 

Quang pledged to provide seedlings for affected areas in Thua Thien-Hue Province in accordance with a Prime Ministerial decision on supporting seedlings and breeds to localities affected by natural calamities.

 

Wells go dry on central island

 

The dry season has arrived in Ly Son island in the central province of Quang Ngai earlier than usual this year, drying up hundreds of wells irrigating corn, garlic, and onion crops.

 

Nearly 200ha of corn crop are likely to see a reduction in yield or wither away.

 

Farmers said they have to buy pumps and pipes to get water from distant areas to irrigate their crops.

 

In residential areas like An Vinh, An Binh, and An Hai Communes too, wells have gone dry.

 

Besides, water here is also likely to be affected by salinity.

 

The water shortage would continue to be critical this summer, authorities warned.

 

Bus driver fined for speeding on highway

 

The Long An traffic police yesterday fined a bus driver VND1 million (US$50) for speeding on Trung Luong Highway though he was also later filmed driving on the wrong side of the road.

 

A video sent in to Tuoi Tre by a reader May 10 showed Le Quang Hai driving his bus on the wrong side -- from Ho Chi Minh City to Long An Province -- at high speed for more than 6km, endangering other road users.

 

The police said the driver had earlier been caught speeding by officers and, to avoid being fined, had made an illegal U-turn and fled on the wrong side.

 

But they said they can only fine him for driving at above the speed limit of 116km since only police videos can be used as evidence.

 

Tran Van Hung, head of the Long An Traffic Police Unit, said: “We cannot fine him [for driving on the wrong side] since we did not catch him red-handed.”

 

When Tuoi Tre pointed out that the offence had been caught on the reader’s video, he said the law stipulates that only photos and videos shot using police equipment constitute proof.

 

Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, head of the national-level Department of Traffic Police’s investigation unit, said his unit would look into the case.

 

The video would be considered, he added.

 

Climate change to heat up Ho Chi Minh City

 

The average temperature in Ho Chi Minh City could increase by 0.5 degrees Celsius due to climate change, the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment has warned.

 

Speaking at a meeting held to discuss ways to combat climate change Thursday, department officials said rural districts like Binh Chanh, Can Gio, and Cu Chi were likely to be badly affected.

 

The 0.6mm annual increase in rainfall would worsen flooding in the inner city.

 

“HCMC needs VND1.98 trillion (US$92 million) for projects to fight climate change,” Nguyen Van Phuoc, the department’s deputy chief, said.

 

Nguyen Trung Tin, deputy chairman of the city people’s committee, ordered the department to solicit opinions from related agencies to draft plans to fight climate change.

 

Subordinates foil attack on Da Lat official

 

Police in Da Lat yesterday arrested a man who posed as a policeman and, together with an armed group, attempted to attack the chairman of a cooperative.

 

Dao Thanh Doan, 21, a local resident, went to Anh Dao Cooperative in Nguyen Cong Tru Street and asked to meet Nguyen Cong Thua, 38, its chairman, and an employee named Trinh Van Tuan to discuss some issues.

 

Thua received him in his office. But when he asked him for his ID card, Doan suddenly stood up and walked out without a word. On cue, his henchmen rushed into the office with weapons in their hands.

 

Thua shouted for help and his employees too rushed in. He also called the local police and the 113 emergency police.

 

With the employees materializing unexpectedly, the attackers lost their nerve and fled.

 

But Doan tried to attack Thua on his own and was seized by security guards who later handed him to the police.

 

Doan told the police he was a relative of a provincial police officer and a member of the city Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, both of which turned out to be untrue.

 

The police have detained Doan and are investigating the cause of the attack.

 

5,000 tons of rice granted to distressed farmers

 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday signed a decision granting 4,995 tons of rice from the national reserve as relief to two categories of farmers in five drought-stricken provinces – those who are in need and those who have suffered losses.

 

Of this, 1, 500 tons is meant for Yen Bai, 1,450 tons for Kon Tum, 1,345 tons for Ha Giang, 500 tons for Lao Cai, and 200 tons for Gia Lai.

 

The People’s Committees of the five provinces are expected to ensure the relief reaches the right beneficiaries.

 

Any unused grain has to be returned to the reserve.

 

Man confesses to Nghe An rage shooting

 

Nguyen The Luong has confessed to police in Nghe An northern central province he himself wounded his neighbor Tran Huu Hanh by around 60 bullets from his shotgun last Friday.

 

Luong told police he got involved in quarrels with Pham Huu Tan when they were drinking wine on May 1. During their argument, his friend’s son attacked Luong with a knife. Tan went back home in anger.

 

After drinking on May 6, Luong went to Tan’s house to ask him about the previous incident. However, Tan attacked him with a knife without saying a word. Luong quickly dodged his blow, snatched back the knife from the attacker and started to fight back.

 

Ten minutes later, Tan together with his family headed to Luong’s home to take revenge.

 

Witnessing the assault, local resident Tran Huu Hanh tried to prevent them from attacking each other but he himself was unexpectedly shot by Tan and fell to the ground.

 

Hanh is now in critical conditions. He has been transferred to a hospital in Hanoi for further emergency care.

 

Hospital fined for unsafe disposal of harmful waste

 

The Vinh Duc General Hospital in central Quang Nam province have been fined VND100 million (US$4,850) for improper disposing of medical waste that may pose threats to public health.

 

According to a decision signed last week by the chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, the hospital was fined for putting harmful medical waste in dustbins and placing them outside the hospital.

 

The hospital’s act violated relevant regulations in Decree 117 issued on December 31, 2009 by the Government on penalties for violations of environmental protection regulations, the decision said.

 

The hospital must correct its wrongdoings within 10 days.

 

Earlier, a local interdisciplinary inspection team examined all local hospitals to assess compliance with environmental protection regulations.

 

The Vinh Duc General Hospital has no temporary stores for harmful medical waste pending transportation to treatment facilities, the team said.

 

Vinh Duc, located in Dien Ban district’s Vinh Dien commune, is a private hospital that has been operating since October 2006 with 5 departments and 80 beds.

 

Quang Binh authorities reject food death rumors

 

The central Quang Binh Province People’s Committee has rejected a rumor claiming people have been dying in the province over the past 10 days after eating watermelon, cucumber, or pork from pigs with blue-ear disease.

 

All hospitals in the province have confirmed there has been no death from eating such foods so far, the Committee said Wednesday.

 

The provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said there was not even a blue-ear pig epidemic in the province to begin with.

 

Residents in the province have been saying people in Bo Trach and Le Thuy Districts and the city of Dong Hoi are dying after eating tainted food.

 

In response, some watermelon sellers in markets began to carry photocopies of newspaper articles refuting the rumor to show hesitant customers.

 

Many fruit sellers in Ly Trach Commune have even resorted to eating watermelons in front of customers to show the fruits are not deadly.

 

The Committee said it has ordered relevant agencies to investigate the case to trace down those who started the rumor.

 

Student crushed to death by specialized truck

 

A specialized truck of the Ho Chi Minh City Green Tree and Park Company crushed and killed a 22-year-old student on Tran Quang Dieu St, Go Vap Dist Thursday afternoon. 

 

The perished is Do Thi Kim Chuyen hailing from Binh Dinh central province, who was studying in HCMC University of Economics.

 

Eyewitnesses said when Chuyen was traveling by bicycle close the roadside, the truck on the same direction hit her and then crushed her head, killing her on the spot. The driver quickly fled the scene.

 

The incident reportedly blocked the road.

 

Police identified the hit-and-run driver as Tran Van Lam, 37, residing in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City.

 

Southern hub starts repairing Saigon Bridge

 

The rapidly-degrading Saigon Bridge is now under extensive repairs carried out by the contractor Freyssinet Vietnam Corporation two months after Ho Chi Minh City's authorities officially approved a VND64 billion repair fund.

 

Cement at connecting joints between its spans are said to crack and some sections are reportedly bending at the surface.

 

In 2009, a large hole which left steel reinforcement bars exposed appeared on the bridge surface in 2009, spreading panic among public and street-goers.

 

Therefore, the contractor will reinforce the bridge surface, suspended spans, put a waterproof coat on the automobile lane and replace other parts to best strengthen the bridge.

 

The project which started from May 12 is set to be completed this October.

 

The contractor has committed not to limit the traffic. They just ban over-9-seat passenger cars or over-1-ton vehicles from traveling on the bridge since October when they are expected to put a new asphalt on the surface.

 

Built in 1961, the 1km-long bridge including 32 spans is used now by 41,000 lorries and hundreds of motorbikes a day, a far greater number than what it was originally designed for. It now has a loading capacity of 25 tons.

 

The bridge connects the southern hub to Dong Nai and Ba Ria Vung Tau provinces in the south and is said to be the main gateway connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi Highway.

 

Vietnam in prostitution crackdown

 

Vietnam has unveiled a five-year multi-million-dollar crackdown on prostitution, which is widespread but considered a "social evil" in the country.

 

The plan aims to reduce prostitution by an initial 40 percent by 2015, the government said in a statement on its website dated Thursday.

 

With a budget of 629 billion dong ($30 million), the program "looks to free communes and towns from prostitution and minimize harms of this social issue on society," it said.

 

Investigations, job training for former sex workers and public awareness are among the measures the government said will be taken to battle prostitution, which is illegal.

 

Local media have reported estimates of 30,000-40,000 prostitutes nationwide, and the industry has continued to flourish despite previous campaigns against it.

 

Boats, restaurants pollute central Vietnam river

 

Nhat Le River in the central province of Quang Binh is seriously contaminated by wastes discharged directly from hundreds of boats and restaurants on the river.

 

Every day hundreds of fishing and trading boats travel on it and there are dozens of restaurants along the water’s edge.

 

The local environmental police said each restaurant discharges an average of 3.6 cube meters of waste.

 

Dong Hoi market is also a major polluter, releasing wastewater from its fish section and other garbage into the river.

 

Ho Chi Minh City boy dies after falling into sewer

 

An eight-year-old boy died in Ho Chi Minh City Friday after falling into a sewer in Binh Chanh District.

 

Tran Dinh, a second-grade student at the Vo Van Tan primary school, was returning home from school when he fell into a deep pit in front of his school.

 

He got stuck in a sewer inside and died of asphyxiation.

 

The pit has no fence around it and is surrounded by wet, slippery grass.

 

Truong Thi Kim Cuong, the victim’s mother, lamented: “Students’ parents have asked for a fence to be built around the dangerous pit but no one has done it so far.”

 

Traffic in Ca pass blocked after truck overturns

 

A truck carrying iron overturned in Ca pass in central province of Phu Yen at 2am this morning, causing miles of cars lining up on each end, according to police.

 

There was no causality but the truck blocked half of the road and vehicles could only move in one side of the street in one and a half hour.

 

By 10.30am, three rescue cars arrived but heaps of irons still needed to be taken away before the truck could be towed.

 

Although police were present quickly after the accident to regulate traffic, the congestion was unavoidable since there was a great amount of traffic in the pass.

 

Until this afternoon, thousands of cars and bikes were still stuck on both end of Ca pass.

 

Previously on April 27, there was also an overturn on Ca pass, causing 10 hours of congestion on National Road 1A.

 

Passenger carries drug on plane, Jetstar flight cancelled

 

The flight BL790 by Jetstar Pacific from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi at 6.30am this morning was cancelled since a passenger was found with drug hidden in her body.

 

Diep Ngoc Tu, hailing from Phu Yen province, was found carrying drug with her during security check in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport.

 

Authorities are under investigation.

 

Previously on January 23, a female passenger was kept in custody at Noi Bay airport in Hanoi since she intended to bring drug on THE plane.

 

She was boarding a plane from Hanoi to Singapore when she was caught carrying 4.3 kilos of drug by customs officers.

 

The drug was hidden in the bottom of her suitcase.

 

Source: Tuoi Tre/VNA/SGGP/VOV/SGT/VNS