Flood threatens Nghe An Province

Huge floods and storms threaten to hit some localities along Ca River in the northern Nghe An Province in the coming two days, warned the provincial steering committee for storm and flood prevention.

Rains were forecast throughout the province due to a cold spell hitting the north central part, presenting the risk of landslides and large – scale submergence.

Provincial authorities have called for urgent attention to areas facing the highest risk of landslides, relocating residents and their valuables to safer places, and providing food and medicine reserves.

To date, some localities are still submerged under water, including communes in Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong districts.

Dog thieves shoot man to death

Police in Soc Trang Province are hunting for two dog thieves who shot and killed a man before making away with his animal yesterday morning, Sep 19.

After Duong Van Thanh, 48, of Thuan Hoa Commune, Chau Thanh District, was shot, his wife Tran Thi Cam Hong, 30, took him to hospital but he died on the way.

Neighbors called the police immediately and Hong told them that early Sunday morning, when she and her husband were about to leave home, they saw two men trying to steal their dog.

Thanh yelled at the men and one of them pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest.

They then put the dog in a bag and fled. Witnesses said they left on a motorbike towards neighboring Bac Lieu Province.

The thieves reportedly left at the scene a bamboo stick attached to a 5 cm-long pointed metal object connected to an electric wire, the woman reported.

Many dogs had been stolen recently in the area but people did not dare report to the authorities for fear of reprisal by thieves, Hong said.

The police have seized the bamboo stick and begun an investigation.

Students access net in remote district

Few of the nearly 250 students of La Pan Tan Secondary School in the remote Mu Cang Chai District in the northern province of Yen Bai knew anything about computers or even connecting to the internet until a computing class was recently held.

Principal Pham Tien Quang said that, before this year, the school couldn't even afford a computer.

Now it has a newly built classroom with six computer terminals connecting to internet services sponsored by the Viet Nam Posts and Communications Group (VNPT) and Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, under a programme to facilitate internet access in the nation's 62 poorest districts.

"The school has plans to offer computing courses to the community as well as its own students," Quang said, noting that six teachers with computing competence had been appointed to teach the classes.

Quang said that the facilities would bring access to up to 1,000 local young people.

Eighth-grader Giang A Thanh said that she was so excited to be able to explore the computer. The computer looked like a TV set but could make letters appear on the screen, she said.

Seventh-grader Ly Thi Nung said that her teacher told her that there was a lot of useful information on the internet to help her in her studies as well as her parents' farming. It was great to touch the keyboard and the mouse and it made her want to learn how to use them, she said.

VNPT deputy director Phan Hoang Duc said the VNPT would ensure the quality of internet service and that the facility would help locals improve the quality of their life. Internet user in the classroom would be able to join in e-learning courses provided on VNPT's website kienthucviet.vn free of charge, he added, including information on healthcare and agricultural promotion.

Youth Union secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the locality would play an important role in keeping the classroom operating smoothly, and he urged the school and local organisations like the Youth Union to manage the facility to avoid its abuse for online gaming instead of studying.

Earlier this month, computing classes begain in schools in 40 other districts across the country, including in Dakrong in the central province of Quang Tri and the town of Thong Nong in the northern province of Cao Bang.

Prosecutors warned for breaching Party moral code

The Party Committee of Can Giuoc District, Long An Province have given warnings to the head and deputy head of the local prosecutor’s office for attending a party held by a local businessman last month in which a young woman died.

The Party Committee said Nguyen Kim Doan and his deputy Nguyen Huong Giang had violated the moral code for party members by attending a party on a ferry on the Vam Co River August 20 with five women, including Dang Thi Kim Phuong, 20, who died after falling into the river.

Doan has been replaced as chief of the Can Giuoc prosecutor's office by Vo Hoang Nguyen, deputy head of the Ben Luc District Procuracy.

Both Doan and Giang have been suspended for 15 days starting September 13 for investigation.

Some of the young women who attended the party with the officials worked for karaoke parlors, they said.

In reports they made to the Committee August 31, Doan and Giang said they were invited to the party thrown by Nguyen Nhat Tuan, an executive at a local telecom company.

It was held at noon and attended by 14 people, including five women they had not known before, they said.

However, Thai Van O, standing deputy secretary of the district Party Committee, said some sources had claimed that Giang had known some of the women at the party, including Phuong, the deceased.

The committee is verifying the allegation, O said.

The police said Phuong’s death was an accident and no foul play was suspected.

Phuong was found missing at around 3.30 pm August 20 and her body was found at 8 pm the same day.

The party’s guests told the police that Phuong had stayed on the ferry since could not swim while the others bathed.

After examining the scene and questioning the guests, the police said there was no evidence of any fight on board or of someone pushing Phuong into the water.

Phuong fell into the river by herself, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Huu Chau, chief of the Long An Province police, said September 1.

Youth Union, firm bestow scholarships

The HCM Communist Youth Union and Dat Viet Doanh Nhan Joint Stock Company provided 100 scholarships worth VND600 million (US$28,800) to poor, bright university students in the southern region last Saturday.

They were chosen by the youth union units in their universities, and will benefit until they graduate from university.

Ministry sets up team to probe police corruption

Following Tuoi Tre’s expose on corruption among traffic police officers in central provinces, Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieutenant Colonel Pham Quy Ngo has said a special team will be set up to look into the problem.

He told Pham Duc Hai , editor-in-chief of Tuoi Tre, at a meeting in Hanoi yesterday that the team would report directly to the minister about corruption in the police force.

The ministry valued Tuoi Tre’s reportage about the bribes police officers in central provinces and cities like Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue, and Da Nang demanded from erring truck drivers.

“Watching the Tuoi Tre video clips, I am very upset by the unacceptable acts and behavior of the traffic policemen involved.

“[But] along with stories about policemen’s misdemeanors, Tuoi Tre should also report about good examples in the police force.”

The ministry had ordered police departments to investigate the cases reported by the newspaper and throw the book at those found guilty.

He had suggested to the minister to issue directives on the conduct of police officers, especially those regularly coming in contact with the public.

Hai hailed the ministry’s action against corruption and promised that the newspaper would continue to follow the situation.

It would also publish stories about the good work done by the police, he added.

Japanese youth join in forestry project

About 570 Vietnamese and Japanese volunteers took part in an afforestation programme in Lang Co Town in Thua Thien-Hue Province's Phu Loc District yesterday, Sep 18.

Launched by the provincial People's Committee and Japan's international retailing group AEON Co, the programme aims at planting 34ha of forest at a total cost of US$71,000.

It hopes to increase forest cover to control floods, reduce soil erosion and restore ecological environment with a view to turning Lang Co Town into an ecological tourism site.

Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Cao said the programme was an opportunity for Vietnamese and Japanese youth to exchange cultures and languages as well as improve knowledge about forest protection.

Residents block trucks for pollution, road damages

More cases of protests by residents in Vietnam’s northern provinces against environment polluters have recently occurred with a cement plant blocked and numerous trucks carrying iron ore intercepted.

On September 16, locals in Phuong Nam Commune of Uong Bi Town in Quang Ninh Province gathered to block the entrance gate of the Lam Thach 2 cement plant to protest the firm dumping exhaust fumes into the air.

Residents said their health and living quality has been downgraded due to the severe environmental pollution by Lam Thach 2.

The company’s leaders argued that the incident happed after their firm had been affected by electricity blackout on August 29 and September 16 that resulted in the contamination.

Negotiations were held twice in the last two months under the aegis of local authorities but no agreement has ever been achieved. Residents keep in demanding the firm to pay cost for damages to their health and the environment.

Uong Bi People’s Committee authorities promised to assist locals in making assessment of damages for legal base to ask for compensation.

In Bao Thang District of Lao Cai Province, environment polluters have encountered violent opposition from local people after hundreds of super heavy trucks carrying iron ore to China have been blocked.

A small riot occurred between locals and truck drivers after around 200 people took to the street Sunday evening to intercept the vehicles for creating dust pollution and road damages, according to Son Hai Commune’s People’s Committee chairman Dinh Truong Minh.

A brief fight happened after a man stepped out from the group of drivers and shouted at residents, “Who allows you to stop those trucks”. He drew a gun and trained it high as pretending to shoot but no blast was heard. Then he stroke the gun stock on the head of a local man.

Immediately, other locals charged the man, who ran away and escaped on another car.

Furious residents overturned the white car used by the man and set fire. They went on breaking mirrors of two trucks before police arrived to stop them from further destroying.

Authorities of Son Hai Commune reported locals have been annoyed by noise, dust and severe road damages caused by heavy trucks that work every day from 16:00 till 2:00 at mid night.

The trucks were illegally carrying iron ore to export to China via the border gate Lao Cai by a local private company, according to local authorities.

In July this year, citizens in Lao Cai’s Bao Thang District had taken to streets and intercepted trucks carrying iron ore to China also for pollution and road damages.

Then, they placed tree trunks, blocks of stone and other barriers on the national highway 4E to block the vehicles.

It is estimated that over 100 super heavy trucks carrying iron ore have shuttled between Vietnam and China via Lao Cai border gate.

Can Tho hosts two major IT contests

The 36th ACM International College Programming Contest (ACM/ICPC) and the 20th Informatics Olympics for Vietnamese students will be held in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta ctiy of Can Tho from October 5-8.

The two events will take place at the Can Tho University.

The Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Informatics Association, Nguyen Long, said organising two contests at the same time reflected the ability of young Vietnamese students to integrate into international IT and informatics areas.

Around 1,000 students from 80 universities and colleges nationwide, up 10 per cent against last year, will take part in the "Creative Summer" contest in the application of open-source software.

Unfinished karaoke bar hit by fire

No one was hurt in a violent fire that broke out around 7 pm Saturday at Legend karaoke bar that is still under construction in Hanoi’s Tu Liem District and spread to two adjacent houses.

The fire started from an advertisement panel in the front of the karaoke, made it way to the 5th floor, and spread to the 7th floor, destroying a lot of equipment and furniture. 10 people were at that moment inside the bar and were later rescued.

The fire was extinguished in half an hour.

Total damage was estimated at billions of dongs (VND1 billion is equal to US$48,000).

The police said the fire might have been caused by a short circuit in the lamp or air-conditioning system installed on the front side of the house.

HCMC students hospitalized for food poisoning

After having their lunch on Friday, 20 students at Dong Da Primary School in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City developed symptoms of food poisoning such as nausea and dizziness and had to be hospitalized.

Pham Minh Dai, the school headmaster, told Tuoi Tre that all of the students had recovered and been discharged.

District 4’s Preventive Health Center has also taken samples of the lunch which included fish balls and fried fish for testing.

The meals were provided by Minh Tu Vy Co., Ltd., in Ward 15, District 4.

13 Hurt in Scaffold Collapse in Da Nang

An iron construction scaffolding collapsed at Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone (Da Nang) Saturday morning, injuring 13 people, authorities said.

The 10-meter-long platform weighing up to tens of tons fell into a group of 50 construction workers then working on the ground.

13 workers were injured and rushed to Da Nang Provincial Hospital, of which two were in critical condition and one broke his hand.

The 2,400 square meter site belongs to a warehouse project of the Taiwanese Tuong Tuu Joinstock Company which started the construction this February.

Filipino court fines Vietnamese fishermen $140,000

The Philippine Immigration Department has imposed a fine of 50,000 PHP (US$1,150) on each of the 122 Vietnamese fishermen who have recently been released after 3 months of detention for their alleged encroachment on Philippine waters, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines reported.

As such, the total amount that must be paid by the fishermen is PHP6.2 million, or US$141,000, the embassy said.

Yesterday, the embassy sent a document to the Philippine agency, asking them to make a special case for the fishermen, explaining that they are all too poor to pay the fine.

Currently, the fishermen are staying in an army barracks at the Philippines’ Western Military Command while waiting for repatriation.

All of them are in good health, the embassy said.

On August 26, the court of the Philippine province of Palawan, where the fishermen were being detained, dropped the charges on 85 of the 122 detainees and released them from the provincial prison.

On September 1, the remaining 37 fishermen were also set free after the court withdrew charges against them.

Earlier on May 30, 2011, seven fishing vessels of Binh Thuan province with 122 fishermen on board were seized by the Philippine Navy about two nautical miles (3.6km) off the Tamburok coast of Balabac, in Palawan province.

The fishermen were sailing into the Philippines waters to fish under a signed contract between the Long Hai Long Company of Vietnam and the Philippines’ Premiere International Interfishing Company.

However, when they entered the Philippines’ territorial waters, they were arrested and their ships confiscated. Long Hai Long and its Filipino partner had failed to follow the laws of the Philippines.

Three sentenced for trafficking girls to China

The Thua Thien-Hue Province People’s Court Friday sentenced Truong Thi Phuong, 29, from Thanh Hoa Province, to 10 years imprisonment for leading a ring trafficking girls to China for prostitution.

Her two accomplices, 24-year-old Bo Nuoc Vut from Thua Thien-Hue’s A Luoi Town and Ho Xuan Tinh, 29, Vut’s husband, were sentenced to 7 years and three and a half years in prison respectively.

The Hanoi police arrested Phuong on October last year and from her confession they seized Vut and Tinh later.

According to the case file, Phuong and Vut were sex workers at a brothel in the town of Hekou, in Yunan Province, China in June 2010.

Three months later, Vut returned to Vietnam and continued living with Tinh in A Luoi. On October 6, Phuong also came back and discussed with the couple a scam to lure young girls to China and sell them to whorehouses.

Phuong promised to pay the couple VND3 million (US$144) for a girl sold.

Just one day later Vut and Tinh lured two local girls, Ho Thi Tr. and Ho Thi H., both 18 years old and jobless, to go to China to get a job with high salary.

The girls agreed and Vut took them to meet Phuong, who paid Vut VND1.5 million in advance and said she would pay the remaining 4.5 million after selling the girls.

Phuong took the girls to Hanoi and on October 9, when they were about to take a train to Lao Cai Province, the Hanoi’s anti-social crime police, following a tip-off from the public, arrested Phuong.

Explosion rocks corruption fighter’s house

An explosion Friday midnight destroyed the lower part of the house of Nguyen Van Thanh in the central Nghe An Province, who was early this year honored as the province’s typical example of fighting corruption.

Fortunately, Thanh and his wife were unhurt as they were sleeping on the upper floor.

The total damage was estimated at VND2 million (US$100). Police are investigating if it comes from a bomb and whether it is a deliberate attack out of revenge.

69-year-old Nguyen Van Thanh, former official of the district People's Procuracy Office, was known as an enthusiastic corruption fighter.

He has detected several violations of local officials, resulting in their dismissals and enabling many citizens to win back justice.

His denunciation documents have also helped the government revoke billions of dongs as well as hundreds of hectares of land.

However, Thanh’s effort in fighting against corruption has put his family in danger.

Some anonymous people have sent Thanh letters or made phone calls at midnight to threaten him, throwing stones to break his house’s windows and even hired some drug-addicted gangs to assault him, he said.

Thanh was one of the 18 local citizens honored in the ceremony to praise the typical corruption fighters held by the provincial People’s Committee on January 4.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre