NGOs pledge over $4.5 mil in aid to Thanh Hoa Province

A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have pledged more than US$4.5 million and 134,000 EUR in aid for central Thanh Hoa Province.

At a conference to mobilise foreign NGOs’ aid for the province held on November 21, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Dinh Tho said Thanh Hoa will continue facilitating NGOs’ implementation of programmes and projects in the province.

At present, 37 NGOs are implementing 51 programmes and projects in Thanh Hoa with a disbursed capital of around $7 million. These projects involve in agriculture, rural development, healthcare, education, environment and coping with climate change.

From now until 2015, the province is calling for NGOs’ aid for rural and agricultural development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, raising residents’ capability and income, women and children’s healthcare, education and vocational training development, natural disaster mitigation, climate change.

A number of projects are expected to start in November, including a CARE International’s community-based project on preventing natural disasters’ risks, a project to enhance coastal areas’ capability to reduce risks relating to natural disasters by the World Vision organisation and the “Hope Centre” and “Community Development” projects by the World Together organisation.

Gold thief get life sentence

The An Giang Province People’s Court yesterday, Nov 22, sentenced Nguyen Van Nha, 40, a professional thief, to life imprisonment for stealing about VND100 billion, or nearly US$4.8 million, worth of gold from jewelry shops in different provinces.

Nguyen Van Nha (standing) and his accomplice in court.  (Photo: Tuoi Tre)
Nha’s accomplice, Nguyen Van Thanh, 34, of Dong Thap Province’s Lai Vung District, was given a 12-year sentence for his assistance in nine thefts. He had received a total of $20,300 from Nha, the court said.

From February 2007 to their arrest, the two men carried out 19 thefts in the southern provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu and Vinh Long, taking away 1,173 taels (1 tael equals 1.2 ounces) of gold, 130 taels of silver, 2 diamond rings and a large amount of cash in dong and other foreign currencies.

Nha and Thanh were arrested on June 30, 2010, a week after they stole 400 taels of gold from a shop in Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province.

Nha melted all the stolen gold into ingots and sold most of them to the Ben Thanh Jewelry and Precious Stones Center in Ho Chi Minh City, the court said.

Nha spent most of the money from the thefts on gambling and cock fighting in Cambodia.

He admitted to the court that he had been a professional gambler.

He was an old offender, the court said.

In 1998, the Can Tho City People’s Court sentenced Nha to four years in prison for stealing, and six years later, the Tam Binh District People’s Court in Vinh Long Province gave him a three-year sentence for gambling and theft.

Hanoi Red Cross chapter celebrates 54th anniversary

The Hanoi chapter of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) commemorated the 54th anniversary of its establishment and the 65th anniversary of the VRCS on November 22.

Ngo Tien Dung, President of the VRCS Hanoi chapter, said the association will continue to mobilize individuals and organizations to raise funds for its humanitarian activities.

Our efforts and fundraising have helped many poor people and Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims across the country, Mr Dung noted.

The VRCS Hanoi chapter covers 600 communes, wards, and districts, as well as 180 schools, offices, and factories in the capital city with more than 670,000 members and volunteers.

Francophone archivists meet in Hanoi

More than 100 international delegates from Laos, Cambodia, Benin, Nigeria and Gabon and speakers from France, Canada, Belgium, Haiti, Switzerland and Senegal attended a seminar on training archivists held in Hanoi on November 22.

The seminar was held by the State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam and the International Association of Archives in French-speaking (Francophone) countries (AIAF) within the framework of the second international archives week taking place from November 20-26.

The seminar offers a good chance for Vietnamese archivists to learn from the experience of international experts and access distance learning programmes via the AIAF website. It will also help AIAF members strengthen cooperation with each other and with other international archives associations.

During the seminar, there was a training course for archivists from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on how to use the AIAF portal, and a fact-finding tour of national and provincial archive centres.

US project supports One Health University Network

The Hanoi School of Public Health, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats RESPOND project, today held the first meeting of the Vietnam One Health University Network (VOHUNET) in Nha Trang City to promote an effective national response to animal diseases that could affect human health.

VOHUNET is the result of advocacy efforts to establish a Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) to address these types of diseases outbreaks. The organization of a network of universities seeks to increase regional coordination in the response to disease outbreaks.

“Today’s event will lay the foundation for how Vietnamese universities address and advance the One Health concept in areas such as training and research,” said USAID Vietnam Mission Director Francis Donovan.

The Vietnamese network plans to register 18 universities as part of its network of schools of medicine, public health, and veterinary medicine. The Hanoi School of Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hanoi University of Agriculture will act as the focal institutions for the newly formed network.

The meeting gathered representatives of USAID, RESPOND, Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Science and Technology as well as representatives from 10 universities throughout Vietnam.

Participants discussed plans to establish a One Health university network comprised of Vietnamese universities, assessed One Health training and research gaps in VOHUNET partners, and worked with target ministries to develop One Health trainings and research strategies.

The One Health approach recognizes that human health, animal health, and ecosystem health are inextricably linked, and that collaboration across sectors is needed to achieve more rapid and effective responses with benefits to public, animal, and environmental health.

Serious congestion on Saigon bridge

A serious traffic jam happened at Ho Chi Minh City’s bridge pier on Monday and Tuesday as part of the bridge is closed for repair work.

At 12pm on Monday, the city’s Department of Traffic and Transportation announced a section of Saigon bridge would be closed for repair.

In the announcement, cars of 9 seats or above and trucks of 1 ton or above are banned from entering the bridge.

However, as drivers of those vehicles were not aware of the ban, their presence on the bridge caused serious congestion on the bridge and the surrounding areas both yesterday evening and this morning.

Starting at 8am on Tuesday, cars and trucks travelling on Ha Noi highway bound for the city center had to leave the bridge and take a detour onto Thao Dien street.

Many motorbike riders tried to get out of the jam by moving into the lane for cars travelling in the opposite direction.

At 9am, the situation somewhat improved but the flow of traffic was still slow and difficult.

At 5 pm on the afternoon of the previous day, a traffic jam also took place on the bridge when the construction team began to put up stop signs and close off a section of the bridge.

At 6pm, there was traffic chaos at both ends of the bridge as the bottle-neck forced many vehicles to occupy the pavement reserved for pedestrians.

When the lane for cars from District 2 to Binh Thanh district was closed, four-wheeled vehicles were forced to travel on the lane for cars in the opposite direction.

Long lines of cars stretched for miles on Ha Noi highway, District 2’s Thao Dien street and Binh Thanh district’s Dien Bien Phu street.

Many bikers climbed over the road dividers and used the car lane to escape from the jam.
Unaware of the repair work and surprised by the blockage, many drivers changed their routes only to run into another congestion, further contributing to the traffic chaos.

Traffic policemen, volunteers and construction teams were mobilized to control traffic but could not help much. In addition, two rescue trucks even blocked a part of Saigon bridge in Binh Thanh district, making the traffic situation worse.

At 8pm, the congestion remained serious after 3 hours.

Due to the congestion in Saigon bridge, heavy traffic jam spread to nearby streets like Dien Bien Phu, Nguyen Huu Canh and Thu Thiem bridge.

The Hang xanh roundabout and Bach Dang, Dinh Bo Linh, Phan Dang Luu streets were partially congested.

VNN/VOV/VNA/Tuoi Tre