Better system will help improve flood forecasts

A new forecasting system set to begin operation later this year aims to better prepare people across the country for floods.

The system uses data from satellites and ground-based rainfall data to improve flood forecasts, especially in parts of the country that don't have rainfall measurement stations.

Dr Kazuhiko Fukami, a senior researcher at the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management in Japan, said the system's concise flood-runoff analysis developed by the centre served as a tool kit for more effective and efficient flood forecasting in developing countries.

Satellite data is combined with ground-based rainfall data and information on river systems, rainfall run-off analysis and geographical characteristics to provide more accurate forecasts.

Dr Tran Thuc, director general of the Viet Nam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment (IMHEN), said while the country relied on rainfall data to forecast floods, many areas lacked rainfall gauge stations. This limited forecasts, especially in central provinces where flash floods occurred. Some forecasts could only be made several hours before flood hit.

He said the new system based on various data resources would help experts give much earlier forecasts.

Experts from Government institutions, research organisations and universities involved in flood forecasting in the country were participating in a training course held by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and IMHEN to learn about the new system, said Thuc.

The first trial of this system would be implemented along the Vu Gia and Thu Bon river basins in central provinces this week.

Bui Xuan Duc, director of the National Hydro-meteorological Service under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said hydro-meteorological forecasting played an important role in natural disaster mitigation, so the system would help minimise losses due to floods.

The recent heavy rains and floods in late May claimed eight lives in the northern provinces of Yen Bai, Cao Bang, Quang Ninh, Son La and Thanh Hoa.

Meanwhile, the death toll from weeks of severe flooding in Viet Nam last November reached 100, while thousands of houses and many hectares of rice and subsidiary crops were destroyed.

Major cities have CPI reduction

The capital's Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.17 per cent against the previous month but increased by 6.32 per cent year-on-year, the local Statistics Department reported yesterday, June 20.

Out of 11 commodity groups, housing, electricity, water, and building materials all fell by 1.86 per cent, followed by transport at 1.73 per cent, and food and restaurant services at 0.05 per cent.

The remaining groups, including soft drinks and tobacco, garments and footwear, home appliances, drugs, heathcare and other services, culture and entertainment, and education service increased. Garments and footwear took the lead with an increase of 1.35 per cent over the previous month and the other rose less than 1 per cent.

The gold price index in June decreased by 2.69 per cent from May, while the US dollar price index rose by 0.25 per cent, the department said.

Experts attributed the significant decline in food and restaurant services this month to the abundant food supply in the southern provinces. Several consumer goods such as clothing and summer footwear saw slight increases, while gas and petrol prices continued to suffer from reduced world figures.

Economists revealed that the CPI made a consecutive increase in the first three months but it started declining in April, thus bringing the price of all commodities down compared to previous months. Currently, the monthly average growth during the fist half this year is 0.42 per cent.

HCM City CPI down

HCM City's June Consumer Price Index fell by 0.43 per cent against the previous month but increased by 6.01 per cent year-on-year, the Statistics Department reported.

It was the first reduction in 21 months, the department said.

Cultural and entertainment services, housing, electricity, water, fuel, garment, hat and other goods and services reduced in prices between 0.07 per cent and 2.62 per cent.

Prices of other commodity groups had a slight increase, including the highest increase of 1.18 per cent for catering services.
In comparison with June last year, prices jumped 7.94 per cent for catering services, 8.41 per cent for education services, 7.8 per cent for housing appliances and 8.67 per cent for other goods and services.

Cabby returns Ipad, $19,000 to passenger

Tran Van Quy, a driver for the Ho Chi Minh City-based Saigon Air taxi firm, has returned lost assets worth more than US$20,000 in total that a passenger left in his cab.

Nguyen Thi Minh Thu forgot to bring her red bag, containing an Ipad, a camera, and VND400 million ($19,000) in cash with her after a taxi driver dropped her off at her relative’s house in Tan Binh district on June 19th.

After realizing what she had done, she contacted the Saigon Air switchboard and was able to retrieve her belongings.

“I flew to Ho Chi Minh City to seek medical care. But I was so tired upon my arrival at the airport so I left the bag behind in the cab,” Thu told VnExpress newswire.

“If I had lost the assets, my pain could have got worse,” she added.

Grateful for Quy’s kindness, Thu tried to give him money but he refused.

“What I did was not a big deal at all. In my situation, other drivers do the same thing,” Quy said.

Previously, on May 30, a poor driver in the central province of Quang Tri returned unclaimed property and cash in a bag, the total value of which was as high as VND1 billion (US$48,000), to its owner.

Severe erosion plagues key canal

The banks of the Cho Gao Canal, the waterway linking the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta with HCM City, are facing severe erosion which is affecting the lives of people living along them.

The canal is 80 metres wide and 28.5km long.

Vo Thi Thu Huong of Tien Giang Province said erosion along the canal's banks has encroached 1-3 metres into the road near her house in Tan Thuan Binh Commune, Cho Gao District.

All local residents are worried about possible erosions at night that could drag their houses into the water, she said.

"I am planning to move out but I do not have money."

In the district's Binh Phan and Quon Long communes, in just a 10km section of the canal there are more than 30 spots, with some places eroded by as much as three metres.

Many families have moved to safer places.

The erosions have also caused many road accidents, especially at night.

There are nearly 200 eroded sites along the canal, according to the Cho Gao Canal Inland Waterway Management Station, some extending up to 20 metres inland.

The northern bank in Quon Long Commune is the most severely eroded.

On the southern side, the erosion is especially severe in Binh Phuc Nhat, Quon Long, and Binh Phan communes.

The 4,000 families living along the canal have been badly affected.

Widening project delayed

The Ministry of Transport approved a project to deepen and widen the canal to facilitate transport nearly three years ago, but work has yet to begin.

After the project was approved, many families who are to be relocated stopped building embankments along the canal, worsening the erosion.

The large number of vessels passing through the canal every day is also a major cause of erosion, according to the station.

They create waves that hit the banks, causing the erosion, especially during high tides.

More than 1,800 vessels weighing 200-1,000 tonnes use the canal every day, according to the Tien Giang Province Waterway Police and the River Management Station No11.

The latter manages inland waterways in Tien Giang as well as Vinh Long, Ben Tre, and Tra Vinh provinces.

When the banks erode and fall into the water, they also cause a silt build-up in the canal, hindering large vessels and causing traffic congestion.

Sausage with maggots must be destroyed: health agency

The Health Department and the Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-Department in Binh Duong Province have forced a manufacturer to destroy all of its sausage products that had been found to contain maggots, even though they have not yet expired.

Yesterday the Binh Duong Province Food Safety and Hygiene Sub-department met with the province-based Jupiter Foods VN Joint Stock Company about the sausage products contaminated with maggots that the company had recalled from its distributor, Van Kim Private Enterprise, in Dong Nai Province.

Thi Van Tai, Van Kim’s director, reported the case to the provincial Consumer Rights Protection Association and the sub-department on June 6 after he detected maggots in 140 cartons of sausage products he received from the company.

The sub-department later inspected the company and took two samples of sausage that was produced on February 23, 2012 for testing. The test results found no quality problems in the samples.

The sub-department said, “There is not enough ground to conclude that the maggots were caused by materials used in production or by contamination that might occur during production, packaging, transport or storage.”

Oai Wee Tat, general director of Jupiter Foods, asserted that his company was not at fault, since tests from an independent agency in Ho Chi Minh City also showed that the maggots were not produced from the sausage itself, but from winged insects that had penetrated the products from outside.

However, the sub-department said it was hard for insects to make their way into the product since every stick of sausage had been tightly wrapped, and they were put in plastic boxes before being placed into cartons.

The company explained that the products’ packaging might have been damaged or broken during handling or transportation by the agent, and insects could have accessed the sausage through tears in the packaging.

However, the company failed to show evidence for the alleged packaging damage caused by Van Kim.

Huynh Thanh Ha, deputy director of the provincial Health Department, said, “While waiting for competent agencies to come to an official conclusion about the contamination of the sausage, the manufacturer must destroy all products containing maggots.”

The destruction must be carried out in the presence of concerned agencies, Ha said.

Jupiter Foods VN Joint Stock Company is headquartered in Dong An 2 Industrial Park, Thu Dau Mot Town, Binh Duong Province.

Social enterprises want to improve

Thirty social and welfare enterprises from Asia and Europe gathered in Ha Noi yesterday to discuss measures for better development of businesses that employ disadvantaged people.

It was the first ever Asia-Europe Social Enterprise Day in Viet Nam, co-hosted by the British Council, the Centre for Social Initiatives Promotion and the Spark Centre for Social Entrepreneurship Development.

To date, social enterprises number only 200 out of 600,000 enterprises nationwide.

Truck fire closes Hai Van Tunnel

A truck burst into flames inside Hai Van Tunnel in central Da Nang City yesterday, closing the tunnel for 45 minutes but causing no loss of life.

The truck was carrying electricity transformers and vehicle tyres when it suddenly caught fire at 2pm.

Fire engines and ambulances were called to the scene and about 100 people were ordered to abandon their vehicles and leave the tunnel.

Missing fishermen saved

A boat with seven fishermen onboard that had been reported as missing was found on Wednesday out at sea off the coast of central Quang Binh Province's Bo Trach District.

The missing fishermen were found by a crew on another fishing boat.

All of the men the missing boat are local fishermen from Bo Trach District. They were reported as missing last weekend after their boat drifted off course during a storm.

Salted dry fruits have banned chemicals

Most samples of imported dried fruit products were found to contain artificial sweeteners and chemicals that were either banned or exceeded regulations.

Of 90 samples tested, up to 65 contained excessive amounts of artificial sweetener saccharin while 13 contained the banned artificial sweetener cyclamate. Nine samples were found with excessive amounts of lead.

The samples were collected from 15 localities nationwide, including Ha Noi and HCM City following concerns over the discovery of carcinogenic substances in dried fruit from China.

All the violating products were confiscated and destroyed by the authorities.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre