Former maritime chief wanted internationally

Interpol’s secretariat general has issued an internationally wanted notice for Duong Chi Dung, former head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, who fled on the country on May 17 after his serious economic offenses were uncovered.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security had earlier issued a special wanted notice for Dung, 55, who had fled before an arrest warrant for him could be prepared.

Dung, a native of Hai Duong Province, has been charged with “intentionally acting against the State’s economic management regulations and causing serious consequences” for his wrongdoings committed during the time he was chairman of the infamous state giant Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines).

If found guilty, Dung may face a sentence of up to life imprisonment.

On September 7, 2011 the Government’s Inspectorate issued a decision to inspect Vinalines after the group, for the first time, announced its loss of VND660 billion (US$31.7 million) in the first six months of 2011.

In early February 2012, Dung left Vinalines to take the post of head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration under an appointment by Transport Minister Dinh La Thang.

Inspectors found that most of the 14 port projects implemented by Vinalines between 2007 and 2010 violated the State’s regulations on administrative management, finance allocation, design approval, and construction.

As a results, Vinalines suffered a great loss of about VND1,685 billion ($81 million) in two years, 2009 and 2010. The group’s profit-to-equity ratio dropped from 14.15 % in 2007 to -14.8 % (minus 14.8 %) in 2010.

One of the most serious wrongdoings by Dung came in 2007.

In June that year Dung approved the project to construct a shipyard with a total investment of VND3.85 trillion, including a bidder package to install a floating dock. The approval was made when Vinalines had yet to receive an approval from the Prime Minister.

A year later Dung once again approved the report submitted by Vinalines CEO Mai Van Phuc to increase the total investment to VND6.48 trillion. In October 2007, Dung green-lighted a plan to buy the M83 floating dock for $14.13 million. However, in February 2008, Dung agreed to a random adjustment that increased the amount for the floating dock purchase to as much as $24.3 million.

The floating dock has been sitting dormant over the last four years, causing a huge waste, inspectors said.

Market access helps cut poverty for poor people

The final workshop for the three-year “Making Markets Work Better for the Poor, Phase 2” project (M4P2) was held in Hanoi on June 21.

Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project will be managed and carried out by the ADB and the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

M4P2 aims to increase participation of poor people in public private partnerships in infrastructure services, distribution networks and private sector employment.

The Head of DFID Vietnam, Fiona Lappin, said the project is expected “to harness one of the core strengths of the private sector in Vietnam” - its ability to generate and invest in new ideas and use them to benefit the poor, by using viable commercial business models that have a strong social impact.

The new approach, which empowers farmers by linking them up to large enterprises, has been piloted to enable rural Vietnamese markets to function better and give poor people the chance to take part in them, she added.

ADB’s Country Director for Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura said “the project has worked across a number of markets and has proved to be successful,” adding that “as markets expand further they can become a powerful way of pulling people out of poverty, in a sustainable manner.”

Seven sub-projects carried out by a range of companies, from household enterprises to joint venture companies, transnational groups and state-owned enterprises, reflect the diversity of businesses operating in Vietnam’s agricultural sector.

The projects ranging from cheap mushroom growing technologies, to organic tea produced by ethnic minority groups, fertiliser produced from cassava waste, semi-washed Robusta coffee, pomelo and quality controlled fish processed for international supermarket chains.

The initial results show that around 16,900 people have seen a positive impact on their incomes and livelihoods while over 2,100 jobs have been created.

Crackdown on food safety

HCM City should improve food safety and hygiene at all stages of the production cycle from farming to distribution, the head of the People's Council's Cultural and Social Affairs Board has said.

At a meeting between the council and the Department of Health on Wednesday, Huynh Cong Hung said he did not yet feel assured about the food safety and hygiene in the city.

Food contaminated by micro-organisms continued to be sold, while the sale of chemicals used as additives was not brought under control, he said.

For the sake of profits, manufacturers, especially small ones, and vendors were ready to flout safety and hygiene regulations, but Government agencies did not punish them severely enough, he said.

Huynh Le Thai Hoa, head of the city Food Safety and Hygiene Division, said his division faced many challenges.

Agricultural products from other provinces accounted for 80 per cent of those sold in the city, making it difficult to trace their origins, he said.

Violation of safety and hygiene norms remained widespread, he said, with 202 out of 326 food manufacturing and trading facilities inspected in the first six months guilty of it.

The Market Management Department carried out a further 4,200 inspections, discovering 1,800 other violations and seizing 300 tonnes of pork, chicken, eggs, cake, candy, jam, and other foods.

The city Department of Agriculture and Rural Development took food samples from three wholesale markets for testing, and found most meeting quality standards.

But, explained Thi Thi Nhung, Hung's deputy, while food sold in wholesale markets met safety and hygiene norms, they deteriorated after being bought and processed by small facilities, which lacked adequate facilities.

Nguyen Tan Binh, head of the health department, said his agency would take great care while issuing food safety and hygiene certificates to kitchens and canteens at schools and industrial parks.

Old lady becomes hero for stopping hit-and-run man

A granny on Tuesday used her body as a shield to stop a moving car that crashed into a middle-aged motorcyclist and dragged him for over 500 meters, says a report by VTC News.

At around 7:00pm on June 19th, 42-year-old Mac Nhu Chung, a lecturer at Gia Lai teacher training colleague, was hit by a car as he was driving motorcycle on Wuu Street, Ia Kring Ward, Pleiku Town in the central highlands province of Gia Lai.

The driver ignored the victim and ran away.

After 20m, bystanders found Chung hanging on the back bumper of the moving car and repeatedly shouting for help.

They demanded the driver to stop but he continued to drag the victim for more 300 meters.

Eventually an old woman stood in front of the car in order to stop the hit-and-run driver escaping.

Afterwards, the driver got out of the vehicle and threatened to ‘punch’ her.

Some local residents showed up and tried to lift the car off to rescue the critically injured motorcyclist under the bumper.

“He suffered many scratches to his face and might have broken bones with his clothes nearly torn away,” a rescuer said.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the driver fled away on foot.

Gia Lai Hospital where Chung is being treated says he is now “out of danger”.

Builders told to speed up traffic project

The Ha Noi People's Committee has told relevant agencies to speed up an urban traffic development project funded by the World Bank.

The Department of Planning and Investment and the Department of Finance have VND125 billion (US$5.95 million) earmarked for land clearance in Tay Ho District and VND60 billion ($2.85 million) to complete construction of a building block in Tay Nam Urban Zone and for consultation. At the request of the municipal People's Committee, the construction project is expected to be completed within a year.

Bank official buys fake money, turns self in to police

An official of a bank in southern Bac Lieu Province has given himself up to police after buying fake bank notes "worth" US$23,900 and then, for fear of detection, throwing some of them away.

Le Anh Duy, 33, director of a branch of Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank in Hong Dan District, turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday, local police reported.

Based on Duy’s confession, the police later arrested his accomplice, Phan Van Hieu, 33, a resident of Hoa Binh District.

Duy told police that in December 2011, he gave VND245 million ($11,700) to Ta Ngoc Thuong, one of his relatives, and asked Thuong to go to Ho Chi Minh City to buy fake bank notes “worth” VND500 million from a man only identified as Trong.

The purchase was made at a rate of VND490,000 in real money for VND1 million in fake bills.

After the purchase, Duy asked Thuong to hand all the fake money to Hieu to keep while they waited for chances to use them to gain illegitimate profit.

However, Duy later learned that police in Tra Vinh and Soc Trang, which are Bac Lieu’s neighboring provinces, had cracked down on some rings that used fake money.

For fear of detection, Duy urged Hieu to destroy the fake money he was holding.

Duy later threw VND20 million ($956) of fake money into a river, and the case was detected when a number of people found some of the money and used them to buy goods.

The police are expanding their investigation into the case.

Rain season hastens family relocations

Twenty-five households in northern Lai Chau Province will be moved from the basin area for the Ban Chat Hydro-electric Plant to Ta Hua Commune by July, according to Ha Trong Phai, vice chairman of the People's Committee of Than Uyen District.

Authorities requested the district to move all inhabitants in the locality as many of the homes will be submerged when the plant's reservoir fills with water. The water level is already rising, and as the rainy season has begun, the relocation efforts have become more urgent.

At hotel, Spanish expat jumps to his death

A man with Spanish citizenship killed himself in Ho Chi Minh City early Thursday by leaping from the fourth floor of a hotel.

Sainz Rinto Julio Antonio, 47, worked for Greatree Industrial Corporation based in Binh Duong Province’s Thuan An District, according to his temporary residence card issued by Vietnam’s Immigration Department.

Police are investigating his death, which happened at 7:20 a.m. at Phong Lan Hotel in District 2's Thao Dien Ward.

Minister responds to flak on source of police pay

Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has said that police do not spend all revenues collected from traffic fines on their own pay, at least not as much as critics allege.

In his written statement, Hue was responding to questions, also written, by a politician who wondered why 70 percent of those revenues were used to supplement officer salaries.

National Assembly deputy in Ho Chi Minh City Huynh Minh Thien told Tuoi Tre that “the public does not agree with using part of the penalty amount as support for traffic police officers on duty.”

But Hue said much of that 70 percent went toward other expenses, such as support for wounded officers or the families of officers who died on the job. Specifically, he said local transport inspection agencies used 10 percent of that money to regulate traffic, while traffic safety boards in centrally-run cities and provinces received another 10 percent. The funds also contributed to safety propaganda.

Nationally, police collected VND2.5 trillion (US$119.5 million) from traffic violators last year, Hue said.

Still, Thien expressed dissatisfaction with the response, saying in an interview that the state already pays officers sufficient salaries, overtime pay, and reimbursements for expenses.

People ask “why they are entitled to enjoy more support from the penalty amount?” Thien said. “If there is a need to give more support to traffic police officers, such support should be sourced from the state budget, not from a portion deducted from the penalty amount.”

Hue said that the 70 percent figure was in line with provisions in his ministry’s Circular 89/2007, which guides the collection, management, and use of traffic penalty revenues.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre