Hanoi cuts infrastructure budget by $6 billion

Hanoi has lowered its 5-year budget for infrastructure development to US$7 billion from $13 billion following criticisms over funding and implementation.

VnExpress reported that the budget will channel towards highways and railways inside the city.

Of the $7 billion, $5 billion will be earmarked for developing links to Hanoi center from suburban areas, aimed at easing on the thickening population.
According to Thanh Nien, the 5-year plan envisages more public transport means, land allocated for transport to increase by 9 percent, and the number of public bus travelers to reach 777 million in 2015.
In April, Hanoi city Department of Transport submitted a $13 billion plan to develop the city infrastructure and reduce gridlock by 2015 but it was later abandoned after critics expressed concerns over funding, implementation and scale.

VAVA calls for support to AO victims

Photo: VOV

In an appeal VAVA made on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the use of AO in Vietnam (August 10, 1961 - August 10, 2011), the association asked the US to accept responsibility for damages to Vietnamese people.
It requested Down Chemicals, Monsanto and other US chemical companies who provided toxic chemicals to US troops for use during the war in Vietnam to admit their mistakes and ask themselves whether they should be represented in Vietnam or not when they have not yet compensated Vietnamese people.
VAVA took the occasion to hail Vietnamese people and international friends’ good sentiments and activities for AO victims.
Helping and supporting Vietnamese AO victims and victims of chemical weapons in the world also contribute to the cause of protecting long-term justice and long-lasting peace on earth, the association said.
According to the VAVA, US forces sprayed the defoliant Agent Orange that contained the toxic dioxin on more than 3 million ha of forests, paddy fields and almost 26,000 hamlets and villages during a 10-year period beginning on August 10^th, 1961.
Nearly 5 million Vietnamese people were exposed to dioxin and 3 million suffer from health problems due to the exposure.

Poor receive help from United Arab Emirates

Donors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have contributed over US$500,000 to Viet Nam's poor over the past two years.

The Embassy of the UAE to Viet Nam has acted as a bridge to bring the good-will of many organisations to the needy, including the Sheikh Khalifah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation from Abu Dhabi, the Red Crescent and the Dar Al Ber Society, as well as individuals donations to the people of An Giang, HCM City and other southern provinces.

The donations have come in various forms including a new medical centre, ambulances, housing, bridges, wells and electric pumps.

Telephone cables block entrance to houses in Hanoi

A bunch of telephone cables have fallen to the ground, blocking the entrance of many houses in Alley No. 124 on Au Co Street in Hanoi.
According to local residents, the cables have hung loosely over people’s heads for a very long time.
“There are many trucks passing here for the last two days, dragging the cables lower to the ground,” said Le Van Manh who lives at No. 20 on the street. “Some motorists have got tangled in the cables and fallen off their bikes.”
The messy bunch of big and small cables is about 50 m long.
The cables have fallen closest to Manh’s grocery.
Customers have to stoop through the cables to get into the shop.
“My family is most affected,” Manh said. “I cannot take bikes inside my house any more and this bunch of cables also poses a danger to passengers.”
Nguyen Van Thang, head of Tay Ho Electricity Company said because telecom cables are heavy, they can easily fall down. “We will send somebody to fix the problem,” he said.

Fan likely to have caused fire at market

Police in north-central Nghe An Province said an electrical fault was the cause of a major fire at Vinh market in Vinh City on Monday.

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Lam, Director of Nghe An Police, said the fire may have resulted due to a fault in an electrical fan that had not been turned off after use. The provincial People's Committee said the fire caused damages of nearly VND10 billion (US$475,000).

Vinh City authorities have offered each store owner affected by the fire VND3 million ($142) to help deal with the consequences.

Hue cop faces dismissal for brutalizing boy

The Hue city police department’s Disciplinary Council has recommended the sacking of a police officer who beat an 11-year-old boy so brutally that he had to be hospitalized last week.
While Sub-Lieutenant Tran Nguyen Hong Quang of Thuy Xuan Ward faces dismissal, his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh, deputy head of the ward police, could be transferred, Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Dang Ngoc Son, head of the city police said.
“Such violent treatment of children is totally unacceptable,” Son said.
On June 15 Ngo Dinh Phat was brought to the police station by his aunt for allegedly stealing VND3.1 million (US$150) from her home to buy a mobile phone.

Anh ordered Quang to question the boy and Quang used his baton on him.
In the afternoon, the police called Phat’s father and asked him to take his son home.
At home, seeing Phat moaning and crying in pain, his father took off his clothes and found he had been beaten black and blue.

That night he had fever and convulsions and had to be taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

Doctors found his buttocks, thighs, and face covered in bruises.

The next morning Phat’s father went to the police station to complain about the beating. The police apologized to him and gave him VND1.5 million (US$72) for the medical treatment.

He agreed to drop the case.

Phat was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon and now can go to school again although still suffering pains from the bruises, Ngo Dinh Chung, his father, said.

Chung also said after the incident Phat has become reserved in communicating with strangers.

Earlier the same day the ward police’s representatives visited Phat at the hospital and apologized to him and his family for the beating, he said.
Quang’s family also visited Phat and gave the boy’s family VND2 million ($97) as payment for medical treatment, he added.

Two trucks race, hit lane separator

Two trucks carrying rocks raced at high speed on national road 1K and hit a street separator at 2.30pm today in Hoa An commune, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai province.
According to witnesses, the two trucks were running on Binh Duong-Dong Nai direction when a truck used horn to ask for another one in its front to give way. However, the front truck did not want to, which led to a high speed race.
When they reached Pouchen overpass, the truck in the front steered to the left in order to block the way of the truck behind. But it soon lost control and hit the lane separator.
The truck in the back could not brake and also hit the separator.
Due to the crash, the two truck were badly damaged, however, there was no casualty.
It is reported that there have been many trucks running at high speed on this road, causing panic to passengers.

Man gets 5 years for child trafficking

At the hearing in Hanoi yesterday, the municipal People’s Court gave a 5-year sentence to Nguyen Van Hai from Gia Lai Province for buying a 10-day-old baby boy for VND40 million (US$1,950) last year to sell to China.
Also convicted was Hai’s sister in-law, Tran Thi Sang, 37, who received 4 years as Hai’s accomplice.
Hai, 42, bought the baby from Tran Thi Phuong Loan, 46, from Ho Chi Minh City’s Phu Nhuan District who fled while the case was investigated.
Hai told the police that while he was having some business in Lang Son Province in 2009, he told Loan, one of his acquaintances there, that he needed to buy babies and asked Loan to call him when she got one.
On January 28, 2010, Loan informed Hai that she would sell him a 10-day old baby boy from HCMC for VND40 million. Hai agreed to the deal and asked Sang to go to HCMC to get the baby and carry him to Hanoi.
After Sang got the baby from a woman from HCMC, Hai transferred the amount to an account Loan had given him.
In another development, the Hanoi police received a tip-off about a ring trafficking children from Vietnam to China and consequently launched a thorough investigation into child trafficking.
At 1 am on January 31, when Sang got off a bus in Hanoi’s Thanh Tri District with the baby in her arms, she was stopped by the police who found something suspicious about the newborn baby.
The police detained Sang as she failed to explain the origin of the baby.
Based on Sang’s testimony, the police later arrested Hai.
Local investigators then found Hai had transferred money to Loan twelve times with a total amount of VND268 million ($13,000).
As Loan is yet to be caught, the police have yet to know how many babies Hai bought from her.
At the trial yesterday, Hai said he had bought the baby for a childless couple in Thai Nguyen Province but failed to provide any information about the couple.

Dong Nai bus overturned, one killed

One person was killed and eighteen were injured when a bus was overturned on National Road 20 in Quang Trung Commune, Thong Nhat District, Dong Nai Province yesterday morning.
According to bus driver Huynh Thanh Phong, he was driving from National Road 1A to 20 when he saw a biker from another direction crossing the street.
Phong tried to avoid the biker by steering the wheel but the bus still hit the biker and fell into a stream. The biker, Nguyen Thanh Tam, died.
Among the injured passengers, two are in a serious condition.

Scientists successfully artificially inseminate fish

Artificial reproduction of Blue Botia (Botia modesta) has been successfully carried out by scientists from Can Tho City's University and the Cuu Long (Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta) Aquatic Breeding Centre in An Giang Province.

The fish, which live in the Mekong River basin, can be bred for food or even kept as pets.

Radar holds the answer to preventing ‘death holes'

The application of geo-radars (ground-penetrating radars) can help detect "death holes" caused by road subsidence in HCM City, said Dr. Nguyen Thanh Van at a workshop organised by the city's Department of Science and Technology on Tuesday.

Van and the other researchers suggested that geo-radars could scan road surfaces for signs of subsidence. A total of 130 "death holes" have already been reported in the city.

Many rally, hold banners at gov’t headquarters

The mayor of Da Nang City said Wednesday there have been many people standing in groups and holding banners in front of the Committee headquarters in the past days, demanding talk with city leaders over certain land dispute.
Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Van Minh told a press conference they belong to 15 households that have lodged complaints related to site clearance, compensation and relocation.

The petitioners had some disagreements with number of project developers, Minh added.

Although the State Inspectorate and the Prime Minister have issued final decisions on the matter, they still gathered in groups to file complaints at city and central levels, the city leader informed.

Citizens can now rate state officials online

A government office in downtown Ho Chi Minh City has just installed 11 machines for citizens to rate civil servants on their helpfulness, transparency and timeliness.

Citizens submitting papers to District 1 People’s Committee can now rate state officials by pressing certain buttons on the 11 touch screens hung around the Committee headquarters.

Anyone interested can select different officials listed after which his/her face will appear on the screen next to various criteria like speediness, timeliness, transparency, following procedures, attitude and helpfulness.

The Committee is in charge of handling complaints, land-related papers, notarizations and other paperwork.

VNN/VOV/VNA/VNS/Tuoi Tre