Police prosecute group involved in fake grave scam

HCM City police have prosecuted five people including two city officials for cheating a company that is building several urban developments in District 8.

Nguyen Van Thanh, the owner of a coffin-making shop, Pham Thanh Van, his employee, and Nguyen The Du, a resident of southern Long An Province and Thanh's accomplice, have been charged with "misappropriating other people's assets."

They allegedly erected fake tombs on land being developed by Tan Thuan Industrial Development Co to extract money from it on the pretext of relocating them.

Nguyen Van Sau, a land and housing official in Ward 7, District 8, and Pham Van Phuoc of the District 8 Site Clearance Compensation Board face charges of "irresponsibility creating serious consequences."

Van and Sau are in custody while Du and Phuoc are under house arrest.

Thanh is already in jail serving an eight-year sentence for a similar fraud in District 2.

He clinched a deal to relocate tombs in Ward 7, District 8, to make way for development of five urban areas by Tan Thuan.

He asked Nguyen Hoang Thai of District 3, another of his accomplices who was arrested in November 2011 for cheating people out of their assets, Van, and Du to put up fake tombs (without corpses inside) so that he could remove them and claim compensation.

Between 2005 and 2008 District 8 paid him VND7.7 billion (US$358,000) for moving 474 tombs – real and fake.

He and his accomplices pocketed over VND1 billion of the amount.

Police said Phuoc and Sau's irresponsibility in overseeing the removal of tombs had enabled Thanh and his accomplices to misappropriate money paid by the company through the District 8 Site Clearance Compensation Board.

Memorial to President Ho Chi Minh built in Laos

The ground-breaking ceremony of the President Ho Chi Minh memorial complex. (Photo: VNA)
Construction of a memorial complex to President Ho Chi Minh began in Xiangvang village, Nongbouk district, in Khammouane province of Laos on April 18.

The event was jointly held by Ho Chi Minh Museum of Vietnam and Kaysone Phomvihan Museum of Laos.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Director of Ho Chi Minh Museum Chu Duc Tinh said the complex will be built on an area of 1.5 hectares at a cost of 35 billion VND as non-refundable aid from the Vietnamese Government.

It includes a memorial house and a house introducing the revolutionary life of President Ho Chi Minh as well as his impact on the Vietnam-Laos special relations.

The complex is expected to be completed within a year to mark the 122 nd anniversary of the birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19) and Vietnam -Laos Friendship Year in 2012, Tinh said.

Souvandi Sisavath, who is in charge of the Kaysone Phomvihan Museum , said the complex will hold historical and political significance, and highlight the special cultural identities of the two countries.

The beloved President, who founded the Indochinese Communist Party, the precursor of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, established and fostered the special relations and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and people, he said.

The complex is built on land where President Ho used to live and work, Souvandi Sisavath said, noting that it manifests boundless gratefulness to the President, who dedicated his life to the revolutionary cause of the two countries.

Vietnam attends Asia-Pacific charity bazaar in Tokyo

A charity bazaar was held in Tokyo on April 18 by the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society (AFLS) to raise funds for social welfare activities and natural disaster victims.  

The annual event offered an opportunity for women from twenty seven member countries to introduce unique values through their pavilions on culinary arts, traditional handicrafts and cultural performances.

The Vietnamese stall attracted a lot of visitors, including Princess Hitachi, who wanted to buy some things special.

Operating under the sponsorship of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AFLS aims to strengthen friendship among Asia-Pacific nations and raise funds for social welfare activities. The organization has nearly 500 members including wives of former Prime Ministers, politicians and senior diplomats, and ambassadors.

All proceeds from last year’s event were granted to victims in Japan’s northeastern region which was badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Project aims to plant one million trees

A fund to plant one million trees has been established in Viet Nam which will prioritise densely populated areas such as urban centres, schools and public areas.

Trees will be planted in Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and HCM City in the first year of implementation.

The fund was launched by the Viet Nam Environment Administration and the Viet Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company which committed to contribute VND3 billion (US$144,000) to the fund this year from sales of its Vfresh soft drink products.

Funding will also be mobilised from other organisations and individuals.

Viet Nam's third stem cell bank established

A stem cell bank has opened in HCM City under the auspices of the Hospital of Blood Transfusion and Haematology.

It's the nation's third stem cell bank.

The hospital's existing bank has 3,000 samples of stem cells, mostly from umbilical cords and donated stem cells.

Research is being conducted internationally on using stem cells to treat diseases such as cancer.

Doctor reattaches UK oil worker's finger

A Vietnamese doctor has successfully reattached the finger of a British petroleum engineer following three hours of surgery at FV Hospital in HCM City's District 7.

Leonard Arthur Tankard, 56, was rushed to the hospital after an accident on Vung Tau offshore oil rig. The finger had been kept in an ice box during transportation.

Dr Nguyen Xuan Anh, who used to work at Kaiser Permanente Medical Centre in Sacramento, California, performed the surgery.

Da Nang counters inflation

Authorities in Central Da Nang City have decided to halt public auto, office equipment and working facility purchases worth VND100 million (US$4,800) and over, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The move, which came into effect on April 16, is aimed at curbing inflation and ensuring social security.

Exceptions for purchase include ODA projects and on-going capital construction works as well as canoes and ships serving rescue and salvage purposes.

In case of complication, the city will organise specialised vehicles to meet demand or adjust measures accordingly.

The city will also allow agencies to buy refrigerators serving for health treatment and scientific research, air-conditioners for information technology facilities, amongst others.

Vietnam, Japan exchange nurses and orderlies

Vietnam and Japan have signed and exchanged a legal document on a cooperative agreement to send and receive nurses and orderlies between the two countries.

The document was signed by Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang on April 18 and Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba one day earlier.

The document details legal document outlining the pledge made by the two countries in the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement signed in December 2008.

It also concretizes a memorandum of understanding on the mechanism to receive qualified Vietnamese nurses and orderlies, signed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda on October 31, 2011 during PM Dung’s visit to Japan.

Under the agreement, Japan will officially receive qualified Vietnamese nurses and orderlies in both the profession and the Japanese language to study and work in Japan for three years (for nurses) and four years (for orderlies).

During that time, they have to sit the examination to gain Japan’s national certificate and if they pass, they can work in an ongoing role in Japan’s hospitals and sanatoriums.

In turn Vietnam will receive Japanese nurses and orderlies qualified in the profession and in the Vietnamese language to work in Vietnam.

Vietnam has become the third country to cooperate with Japan in the exchange of nurses and orderlies.

Capital looks to prevent flooding

Reducing the water level in the Nhue River will minimise the risks of the capital flooding this year, the municipal Committee for Floods and Storms Prevention said.

The narrow 76km long river crosses Ha Noi from Tu Liem District to neighbouring Ha Nam Province.

Meteorologists said they expected two or three tropical storms to hit Ha Noi this year.

They also predicted that there would be between eight and ten heavy rainy spells accompanied by whirlwinds in Ha Noi, mostly in late July and August.

The capital has nearly 4,600 canals and about 430 pumping stations, but the irrigation works are old and incapable of dealing with the runoff caused by the city's fast urbanisation, the Committee for Floods and Storms Prevention said.

Ha Noi has six major waterways, the Hong (Red), Duong, To Lich, Nhue, Kim Nguu and Ca Lo rivers.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA