Nation seeks blood donors

The National Steering Committee on Voluntary Blood Donation has set a target to have at least 1 per cent of the country's total population donate blood by 2015.

People donate blood at the HCM City Haematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital. The country wants up to 1 per cent of the country's population to donate blood by 2015. (Photo: VNS)

The campaign to call for people to donate blood in the 2008-11 period achieved many positive results, but the number of blood units donated had yet to meet the demand, a review meeting heard last week.

In 2011, the country collected 776,427 blood units from donors, meeting just 44 per cent of demand, according to Nguyen Anh Tri, head of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion.

Based on the population rate, the country needed about 1.7 million blood units every year, which require about 2 per cent of the country's population to donate blood, while the current rate was only 0.88 per cent, Tri noted.

If the country did not succeed in motivating more citizens to donate blood regularly, it would be likely to face a severe shortage in the coming years, he said.

Big explosion wounds 11 workers

An occupational accident occurred at a polyester manufacturing company in Thai Binh City on March 21, leaving 11 workers seriously burnt. Five of them have been sent to the National Institute of Burns immediately.

A furnace operated by 15 employees had suddenly exploded at the Hop Thanh company in Nguyen Duc Canh Industrial Park, according to local police investigators.

This was not the first explosion ever reported by the company.

The company still refused to provide any information about the cause of the incident.

Maid scalded, forced to eat chillies

Ha Noi's Ba Dinh District Police proposed to prosecute Tran Thi Tuyet Minh, aged 48, for allegedly abusing her home-helper Pham Thi Phuong, aged 59.

An investigation revealed that Minh often beat Phuong, forced her to eat chiles and sprayed hot water on her body.

Phuong's relatives reported the case to police when she was sent home with many injuries and burns. She had worked as Minh's home-helper since last September.

Hanoi asks to sequester number plate of violation car

The People’s Committee of Hanoi City has recently sent a written proposal to the National Assembly’s Law Committee to modify rules on the punishment of traffic violations, including the confiscation of the number plate of cars involved in an offence.

Hanoi also urged the law-making body to modify the law on administrative infringement penalty with concrete clauses on the confiscation of out-of-date vehicles.

The city noted that it cannot confiscate transport ferries, ships and boats in traffic violations as ruled by the government’s Decree 60, since the vehicles also play the role of accommodation for the whole family of owners and staff.

In addition, ships and boats are usually deposited as a pledge in banks.

Hanoi authorities noted that Decree 34 is unfeasible in some cases. It rules that the penalty for people doing business on roadways and pavement is a fine of VND20 million – 30 million (US$961 – 1,440), but this it is not practical to fine people doing small business such as selling newspapers, coconuts, or shoe polishing services.

Two arrested with counterfeit currency

Police in southern Dong Nai Province have submitted a proposal to the local People's Procuracy to prosecute Luo Zhen Bin, a Chinese man, and Dang Thi Lien, a Vietnamese woman, for circulating counterfeit currency.

The pair live together in Nhon Trach District's Hiep Phuoc Commune.

Allegations say that Luo regularly travelled to the Chinese border to bring counterfeit currency into Viet Nam for circulation.

Since July, 2011, Luo has transported 1,600 individual fake Chinese notes and the pair have circulated notes valued at VND97 million (US$4,600) in gold stores in Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces.

After searching their house, police seized 1,054 fake Renminbi notes along with several fake documents.

Fishermen rescued from drifting vessel

Forty-seven fishermen on board a vessel that was adrift 74 nautical miles off Nha Trang coast were rescued on Monday by a ship from the Viet Nam Maritime Search&Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Zone 4.

The QNa 90019 TS had been floating at sea for three days and the MRCC said it had received an SOS at 4.40pm Monday.

They were rescued at 11.25pm and brought to Nha Trang yesterday afternoon.

According to Pham Be, owner and captain of the distressed boat, the engine broke down on Saturday some 47 miles off Nha Trang.

When the rescue ship was on its way, the centre remained in contact with Be to assist with treating some of the fishermen who had fallen sick, said Nguyen Anh Vu, general director of the MRCC.

Denmark helps Vietnam with marine preservation

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on March 20 approved a Danish funded project to complete the legal framework for Vietnam’s network of marine reserves.

The project has a total investment of US$315,682, most of which comes from ODA. It includes doing research into institutional barriers and building regulations on protection and management of marine reserves.

The project, which also aims to enhance the management capacity of both officials and staff members of local marine reserves, will be carried out in Hanoi, Quang Ngai, Kien Giang, and Khanh Hoa in 2012-2013.

Vietnam makes progress in solving gender disparity

Vietnam has made progress in solving its gender disparity, particularly in education, employment and heath care, said acting UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Bruce Campbell.

At a closing ceremony for the joint cooperation on gender equality program between the Vietnamese Government and the UN in Hanoi on Mar. 19, Campbell spoke highly of Vietnam’s efforts and commitments to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In 2009, the proportion of working women stood as high as at 72.3 percent. The number of maternal, newborn and child deaths has been reduced remarkably.

The UN will double its investment in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment to $40 million in the next five years (2012-2016), according to the UN official.

Vietnam has promulgated the Law on Gender Quality and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, creating a legal corridor and raising public awareness on the issue.

In the coming time, Vietnam will focus on solving issues relating to gender violence, the sex at birth ratio disparity and enhancement of women’s leadership capacity and generation of steady jobs and income for women as well as encouragement of men to participate in anti-domestic violence campaigns, thus promoting a society based on gender equality.

The joint cooperation on gender equality program between the Vietnamese Government and the UN was launched on Mar. 19, 2009 with the involvement of relevant Vietnamese ministries and funding from the Spanish Government through the Millennium Development Goals Fund.

Dutch firm gives $670,000 to Saigon water company

Netherlands-based company Vitens Evides International (VEI) signed a memorandum yesterday in Ho Chi Minh City to offer the Saigon Water Company (Sawaco) a financial aid package of 506,000 euro (US$670,000) to help reduce the loss of water during supply.

The non-refundable aid is part of a technical agreement the Dutch side pledged to offer Sawaco in 2012, following a previous aid program between the two sides that lasted from 2008-2011.

VEI promised to send technicians to help Sawaco in water management and water loss reduction.

While attending the signing ceremony Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, and mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb agreed to boost mutual cooperation between the two cities.

Last year, Sawaco also received approval from the central government to start a US$154 million project to upgrade its water supply network in the city.

The ratio of tap water loss in HCMC has reached nearly 40% due to widespread leakage from the old pipeline system, according to Sawaco. The pipeline system stretches a total 3,350 kilometers to supply 1.7 million cubic meters water a day, but almost 700 kilometers of the pipes were built over 30 years ago and have become obsolete.

Sawaco has set a target of reducing the ratio of water loss to 29% by 2025 with an average reduction tempo of 1-2 percentage points each year.

Japan provides assistance to southern provinces

The Japanese government will provide the southern provinces of An Giang and Ca Mau with non-refundable assistance worth 208,331 USD to upgrade hospital and school infrastructure.

The Japanese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City hosted the signing ceremony for the assistance on March 20.

According to Japanese Consulate General Harumitsu Hida, the assistance will help provide 23 items of medical and rehabilitation equipment for Tan Chau General Hospital in Tan Chau town, An Giang province with the aim of improving infrastructure of the hospital’s rehabilitation ward.

Once implemented, the project will support local people with disabilities and the elderly.

In Ca Mau province’s Thoi Binh district, the assistance will support a project to build new classes for the Thoi Binh C primary school.

Harumitsu Hida said he hopes that this project will bring a safe and spacious study environment for local pupils.

OV in Cambodia receive strong support

Overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia who lost their homes in a landslide on the bank of the Mekong River in Cambodia’s province of Kampong Cham received much-needed support on Mar. 19.

The assistance was presented by a delegation from the Vietnamese Embassy and Vietnamese Overseas Association in Cambodia, led by Counselor Quach Huu Dung and the association’s President Chau Van Chi.

The landslide was caused by impacts of the historic 2011 flood in Cambodia . Thirty-one of 58 OV families at Chi He hamlet, Peam Snoul commune, Koh Sotin district of Kampong Cham province lost their homes.

Representatives from the embassy and association also worked with Kampong Cham provincial authorities to arrange accommodation and jobs for the OV community.

Deputy Head Police of Koh Sotin district Long Bunmau affirmed that local authorities will work to find solutions to deal with the landslide and avoid danger for local residents, including both Vietnamese and Cambodian people.

Man has car mirrors’ parts stolen at wedding ceremony

Ha Ngoc Trung had two wing mirrors’ parts worth VND15 million (US$750) stolen when attending a wedding reception in Hoang Gia restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc district last Sunday.

According to Trung, he parked his Audi Q5 car in front of the restaurant and paid the security guards VND25,000 (US$1.2) as safekeeping fees before going inside.

When he left the party, he found the two wing mirrors on his car had been tampered and expensive parts inside had been stolen.

“They only took some parts instead of breaking the whole wing mirrors. They must have had plenty of time to do this. Why didn’t the restaurant security guards see this?” wondered Trung.

Similarly, another guest lost a wing mirror on his Toyota Camry. The restaurant managers had agreed to replace a new mirror for him.

Police in Tam Binh ward, Thu Duc district, were called to the scene to resolve the problem.

Currently, Trung has yet to finalize a deal with the restaurant managers on compensation and temporarily withheld VND20 million (US$1000) from the wedding reception’s payment.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre