Council reviews amnesty for up to 10,000 prisoners

The Amnesty Consultancy Council is reviewing a list of 10,000 prisoners to be given special amnesty on National Day.

The list would be submitted to the President for a final decision, said Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister and the council's chairman, yesterday, Aug 23.

Phuc said the amnesty selection process was fair, democratic, transparent and in accordance with the law.

Lt Gen Cao Ngoc Oanh, director of the Ministry of Public Security's Department for Criminal Enforcement and Judicial Assistance, said the list would be shorter this year and eligibility requirements stricter.

In accordance with convention, robbers and members of organised crime gangs would not be eligible for parole and would have to serve their full prison term. This year, re-offenders, murderers and rapists would also not qualify for early release.

Oanh added that officials would ensure those granted parole posed no further risk to society.

"For example, the recidivism [the repeating of undesirable behaviour after punishment] last year was very low, just 17 out of 17,000 prisoners set free committed another crime," he said.

He attributed the low rate of re-offending to support from the prisoners' families and communities and the assistance of local authorities.

A list of those to be released will be made public available before the National Day on September 2.

Traffic safety month to focus on drunk driving

Police across the country will focus on penalizing drivers under the influence during September, the Month of National Traffic Safety, the Railway and Road Police Department said.

Checks would be strengthened in all provinces and cities to crack down on violations like speeding, driving in wrong lanes, overloading, not wearing helmets on motorbikes, and especially drunk driving, it said.

The theme this year would be “Fighting driving under the influence of alcohol,” the department added.

The police will also closely monitor grade crossings, which have frequently become the site of accidents.

More officers will be posted at crossroads to ease traffic congestions, especially on National Day, September 2, and the opening day of the new school year three days later.

So far this year there have been 560 road accidents in Ho Chi Minh City alone in which nearly 500 people have died and more than 260 others have been injured, the city Department of Transport reported. 

Vietnam-South Korea Peace Village opens

The Vietnam-South Korea Peace Village for disabled Vietnamese veterans opened in Quang Nam Province yesterday, Aug 23.

It was built at a cost of around US$2 million with funding from the Korean War Veterans Association.

The 2.6 ha village includes 10 blocks of housing, an administrative building, a job training center, a restaurant, a rehabilitation home for disabled veterans and their children, and other facilities.

It has already taken in 17 veterans, all Agent Orange victims, and is preparing to accept 40 others.

The village, in Tam Dan Commune, Phu Ninh District, can provide accommodation and healthcare for 150 people at a time.

Floods damage over 30ha of crops

A sudden flood damaged over 30 ha of crops and swept away three local suspension bridges and hundreds of poultry on Monday night in central Ninh Thuan Province's Ninh Son District.

A four-hour heavy rain caused the deluge, which was the largest in the district's history, according to the district People's Committee.

The committee has worked to remedy the effects of the flood.

Vietnamese gambler killed in Cambodia

The Vietnamese man whose body was found floating on a river in Cambodia August 11 and buried nearby has been identified by his wife.

Do Thanh Cong, 34, is thought to have jumped off a casino in Svay Rieng Province August 9 after being detained by loan sharks for failure to repay a debt of US$2,000.

His body was buried near a pagoda, but his wife Bui Thi Huong identified him from some photos taken before the burial.

Huong arrived in Cambodia after being informed by a man who had also been detained along with Cong but had escaped.

Svay Rieng authorities said they would help Huong take her husband’s remains to Vietnam.

On August 14 Cong’s companion told the Long An Border Guard Command that he had been detained along with Cong and some others after losing all his money gambling.

They had been beaten every day and told to call their relatives to bring money to Cambodia as soon as possible.

He said he managed to flee on August 12 while Cong and a man named Tung had jumped off the casino three days earlier.

Cong died on the spot while the other man broke limbs, he said, promising to inform Cong’s wife about it.

The Long An Border Guard Command contacted the Svay Rieng police, who confirmed that a Vietnamese man named Tung was injured after jumping off the building.

Efforts to trace Cong’s continued until his body was found in the river, Colonel Le Duc Hanh, deputy chief of the Border Guard Command, said.

The Svay Rieng police said they had arrested the loan sharks who had detained Cong and the others and would charge them.

A source told Lao Dong yesterday that Tung died at the Svay Rieng General Hospital.

Huong told Lao Dong that Cong, a motorbike-taxi driver, went to Cambodia to gamble on July 20. Several days later he called her from a casino asking her to sell a plot of their land to repay the $2,000 he had taken from a loan shark in Cambodia. He was being held for not paying.

Huong could not sell the land immediately. An unknown man had called her from the number 00855979532703 and told her to bring money to Cambodia or Cong would be killed.

“Which option do you prefer: paying $2,000 or receiving your 70-kg husband’s body?” he had asked.

Huong borrowed money from friends and tried to call that man and also Cong but could reach neither of them until she met Cong's companion.

Two substandard medicines suspended

The Drug Administration of Viet Nam has suspended two substandard drugs from distribution nationwide.

The suspended drugs include Omeprazole 20mg capsules imported by the Central Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company No 2 and Thai Dien, a powdered drug turned out by Thanh Hai Producer.

Both the drugs are used to treat symptoms of stomach-aches.

Pollution hits lake in Da Lat tourism city, again

The famed Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat tourism hotspot now shows signs of pollution as dead fish and rubbish have recently been found there.

This happened barely one year after local authorities spent dozens of billions of dong on tackling water pollution at the lake.

Nguyen Hoa, owner of Moi Truong Xanh (Green Environment) company, said blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) and uncontrolled fishing from local residents have caused the death of the fish.

Pollution is also the consequence of locals and tourists carelessly throwing litter into the lake, he added.

The lake could be filled up with blue-green algae in October or November if no action is taken, Hoa warned.

In 2010, Da Lat authorities spent dozens of billions of dong on dredging mud at the lake bottom and preventing blue-green algae from thriving.

Japan to receive Vietnamese nurses

The Japanese health sector needs to recruit a large quantity of Vietnamese nurses for its hospitals at high salaries along with incentives.

The statement was made by a Japanese expert delegation who attended an international seminar on elderly and disabled people in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, Aug 23.

Candidates are required to have a good command of foreign language, are well trained in nursing profession, and have a profound understanding of psychology of elderly and disabled people.

Prof. Dr. Fujimoto Bunro, chairman of the Asian Elderly and Disabled People Care and Social Benefit Association, said the Association would give assist a number of Vietnamese universities, colleges and medical high schools in building nursing training programs in conformity to Japanese standards.

Two months ago, at its cabinet meeting on June 21 on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the Japanese Government confirmed its policy to receive Vietnamese nurses as the third nursing supply for Japan, after Indonesia and the Philippines, according to Japan’s JIJI Press.

Japan has the world’s oldest population with 23 percent of its citizens aged above 65, according to the Japan Research Institute.

Earlier this year, Nguyen Duc Hinh, headmaster of the Hanoi Medical University, said the school was the first in the country to launch an advanced nursing training program with a total cost of US$2-4 million.

The US, Australia, Taiwan, and Japan are in short of nurses, a Vietnamese nurse working in the US can earn US$70,000-80,000 per year, while the initial income of a nurse in Australia is about AU$50,000 per year, he said.

Ecological violators to be fined up to $24,000

People found violating biodiversity laws in protected areas will be fined up to VND500 million (US$24,000) under a draft decree issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Those destroying landscapes and ecosystems will be fined from VND1 million to VND300 million.

Construction of houses and other buildings will attract fines of VND200,000 to 500 million, with the violators also being forced to remove the illegal structures.

Illegal surveys will be fined VND1-50 million while mining in parks and other protected areas will attract fines of VND2-100 million.

For poaching, the fines will be VND300,000-VND5 million, increasing to VND500,000 to VND500 million in case the animals hunted belong to endangered, rare, or precious species.

Who’s to blame in cop-beating-cop case?

The two policemen who had a public fight on a busy street in Ho Chi Minh City last month Tuesday had a face-to-face talk under authorities’ arrangement in order to point out who was to blame.

Police in Binh Thanh District brought Tran Dai Phuc, a mobile policeman who has been dismissed from the force, to meet with traffic policeman Van Thanh Luan over their brawl in late July.

The meeting was attended by Phuc’s lawyer.

The two sides admitted they hadn’t known each other before the fight on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street in Binh Thanh District on July 28.

According to Phuc’s Tuesday statements, when he was driving, he was unexpectedly hit on the right shoulder.

Phuc turned back and found a man wearing traffic police uniform patrolling alone but didn’t wear name tag, so he asked: “Why did you beat me?”

However, Luan made another elbow attack on Phuc’s head, Phuc continued his story.

Phuc said he had to run into a tea shop nearby but was still chased after by Luan.

Phuc added that according to traffic police regulations, there should have been at least two policemen wearing name tags and having specialized police motorcycle while patrolling on the street .

Traffic police officers also have to salute and greet violators before issuing fines, Phuc explained.

However, according to Phuc, Luan didn’t wear a name tag and patrolled alone without a specialized vehicle so he suspected Luan of pretending to be traffic cop.

According to Phuc, he picked up an aluminum bar nearby and viciously attacked back but he didn’t know whether he hit Luan or not.

However, traffic cop Luan insisted Phuc’s declarations were wrong, adding Phuc was driving a motorcycle without wearing a helmet.

The traffic policeman said Phuc revved up the engine after he asked him to stop.

He then “slightly hit Luan on the shoulder with the baton” and asked: “Why didn’t you wear a helmet?”

In Luan’s words, Phuc - the dismissed mobile policeman - retorted back “You didn’t know the law?”.

Luan dismissed Phuc’s accusations that he [Luan] initiated the attack.

But the traffic policeman admitted that Phuc did ask the question “Why did you beat me?”.

Luan added Phuc punched him in the face as soon as he stopped the bike so he had to defend himself by hitting the baton on Phuc’s shoulder.

Police are still investigating into who’s right and wrong in the case.

Meanwhile, Phuc has been sacked and Luan is facing departmental punishment.

Work accelerates Tan Thanh sewage treatment complex

Officials of the Long An southern province and Ho Chi Minh City on August 23 surveyed the implementation of Tan Thanh industrial sewage treatment complex project.

Invested by the Vietnam Waste Solutions company, the 700 million USD complex in Thu Thua, Long An province will be equipped with the latest technologies from the US to treat solid waste collected from Ho Chi Minh City and Long An.

Once finished, it will become a large-scale complex in the Southeast Asian region.

Nguyen Van Phuoc, Deputy Director of HCM City’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that once operational by the end of 2012 or early 2013, the complex can process 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of household solid and industrial solid waste per day, and up to 30,000 tonnes at peak time.

Darryl Petker, director of the Tan Thanh project said that the complex will include solid and industrial waste recycling areas, a compost fertiliser production area and a wastewater treatment area.

Impersonating security officer, businessman jailed

A Ho Chi Minh City court Monday sentenced the leader of a mining company to 16 years in jail for swindling two people off US$1 billion (US$48,000) after he pretended to be a security officer and told them he could help them out with legal problems.

Ha Duc Dung, 36, chairman of the Dat Viet Mineral Exploitation Joint Stock Company, was given the sentence by the HCMC People’s Court at yesterday’s trial.

The two victims are Nguyen Minh Tuan, director of Loc Binh Phu Tourism Company, and Tran Thi Kim Thu, a resident in Phu Nhuan District, HCMC.

The court judged that all the money appropriated by Dung would be submitted to the State budget instead of returning to the two victims, since their dealings with Tuan were also illegal.

According to the indictment, Dung received from Tuan VND480 million in exchange for helping Tuan who was facing police investigation into his illegal business.

Dung had boasted that he was a security officer and had many relationships with police. He said he could help Tuan out.

Meanwhile, Dung told Thu that he was an official of the Government Office and could interfere with the police in Dong Nai Province to release Thu’s brother who had been arrested for gambling in .

Dung asked Thu to pay him US$50,000 and the woman gave him $30,000 in advance.
After receiving the money from the victims, Dung did nothing to help them and avoided to meet them.

After a long time of waiting, Tuan and Thu independently reported to the police.

HIV counseling, testing project wraps up

More than 28,000 people, mostly between the ages of 15 and 29, have been provided with voluntary HIV counseling and testing services in Bac Ninh, Phu Tho and Quang Ninh provinces as well as Ha Noi, through a project on HIV prevention that ends this month.

The project has also provided 91,000 condoms, 25,000 needles and more than 16,000 leaflets and mini-books on HIV/AIDS prevention and harm reduction to Vietnamese communities over the past four years.

The US$460,000 project aims to provide at risk youth easy access to counseling and testing services.

The Asian Development Bank funded the project, which was implemented by Marie Stopes International in Viet Nam and the Viet Nam General Department of Population and Family Planning.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre