Floodwaters threaten Cao Bang Province

Hundreds of families have moved to higher ground after water levels of the Hien and Bang rivers swelled up quickly on July 26, causing widespread flooding and threatening households living along the river banks.

At 17.00pm, water levels were spilling out across the banks into local people’s houses, forcing them to evacuate from the flooded areas.

The Provincial People’s Committee has asked relevant agencies to stand by around the clock to help with rescue activity.

Despite dissipating two days ago, tropical storm Vicente has dumped heavy rains on Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Tuyen Quang, Son La, and Yen Bai provinces in the northern mountainous region, causing flash floods and landslides.

At least five local people were washed away and three others remain missing, and many public works were damaged.

Hai Phong authorities pledge to improve pitiful bus service

Bus companies are facing difficulties in northern Hai Phong City with nearly a quarter of the buses off the road and 75 per cent of the regular routes either closed down or running intermittently.

Nearly a quarter of the city's buses are out of action.

The situation has prompted the People's Committee to come up with a VND234 billion (US$11.2 million) proposal to improve bus transport in the city.

At present only 90 of a total 129 buses are still running on six out of 13 routes and of those six routes, four have irregular timetables.

The city Transport Department said the bus service carried 6 million passengers a year, only 1 per cent of the potential demand of nearly 600 million passengers.

Business turnover was decreasing and service was deteriorating, he said.

People's Committee Vice Chairman Le Van Thanh said one of the reasons for the drop was that people had lost the habit of travelling by bus, causing a fall in patronage.

The lack of overall management and subsidies for bus companies and an unsynchronised transport infrastructure had contributed to the situation, he said.

Only two bus routes received a subsidy – VND2 billion ($96,000) each – compared to Ha Noi which provided a total subsidy of VND1.2 trillion ($57.6 million) a year, he said.

The committee's proposal was to improve public transport by 2016 with a vision to meet 15-20 per cent of demand by 2020.

If approved by the People's Council, the project would be funded by VND85 billion ($4 million) from the local budget, VND62 billion ($2.9 million) from Official Development Assistance and VND86 billion ($4.1 million) from public transport enterprises.

Illegal miners destroy rivers

Rampant and illegal gold exploration along rivers in the northern province of Lang Son has altered the flow of rivers and led to landslides.

A Viet Nam News Agency reporter said about 50 floating dredges were hunting for the precious mineral on three rivers running through Binh Gia, Huu Lung and Loc Binh.

Nguyen Huu Chien, a representative of the provincial people's committee, said local leaders were determined to put an end to the practice.

He said district heads who failed to act would be fined by the committee.

Despite efforts to control the mining, exploiters often operate at nights to escape attention.

If they decide to work during daylight hours, workers are sent up and down river to keep watch and phone if, and when, inspection vessels are coming.

Random checks reveal that most of the dredges do not have licences or if they do, they are just for sand exploitation.

Ten dredges have so far been fined between VND20-30 million (US$950-1,400).

However, many believe the fines are not heavy enough to stop the operations. Miners often spend up to $20,000-$50,000 for a vessel.

Dredge owners can earn up to VND10 million ($500) a day.

500 sets of remains unearthed in Quang Nam

More than 500 sets of remains have been discovered by a construction team in Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam Province.

Some human bones were first detected by Mai Van Sau at 4.30pm on July 25 when his team was doing construction work on Ly Thuong Kiet road.

They said there was a huge heap of human bones placed in different postures in a mass grave.

So far, twenty sets of remains have been identified as army soldiers wearing uniforms, including Nguyen Van Hong (31).

The investigation is still underway.

Nghe An benefits from Pacific Partnership programme

Local people in the central province of Nghe An have received free medical check-ups and treatment from the Pacific Partnership 2012 programme, which finished on July 24.

During the time in Nghe An, with a crew of over 1,200 the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy conducted over 12,000 medical treatments; performed 207 surgeries; and completed renovations and a new building for two health clinics.

Nghe An’s authorities said besides its humanitarian purpose, the programme also offered opportunities for Vietnamese medical workers to share professional knowledge and experiences with experts from the US and Japan, thus helping boost Vietnam- US and Vietnam- Japan ties.

The mission’s Commander, Captain James Morgan, expressed thanks to the government of Vietnam and local citizens for the incredible support they provided. “Without their help and local knowledge we would not have been able to accomplish so much,” he said.

The USNS Mercy is now heading towards Sihanouk-ville, Cambodia, for its fourth and final mission port.

Four jailed for trafficking women

The People's Court of southern Tay Ninh Province has given a 14-year jail sentence to a local woman for human trafficking.
The 47-year-old woman, named Tran Thi Lan, was found to have tricked Vietnamese women into agreeing to go China, where they would be married off to Chinese men.

Three of Lan's accomplices were given jail sentences ranging from 30 months to 10 years.

In 2009, Lan and her husband began working with a Chinese man who planned to search for Vietnamese women that would be married off to men in China, where the gender imbalance has been serious.

The couple were offered to be paid VND3 million (US$143) for each woman.

Between 2010 and 2012, Lan and her partners deceived 33 Vietnamese women and trafficked them to China.

Norway helps Vietnam fight geo-disasters

Norway will continue to help Vietnam build up its capacity for mitigating and adapting to geo-disasters in the 2012-2015 period following the success of a programme conducted between 2008-2011.

An agreement on phase 2 of the programme “Capacity building for mitigation and adaptation of geo-disasters related to the environment and energy development in Vietnam”, was signed in Hanoi on July 26 between the Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) and the Norwegian Embassy in Vietnam.

In the first phase, more than 100 Vietnamese working in the field have received training in the investigation, assessment, mitigation of geo-hazards using modern technological equipment and procedures.

Research conducted under the programme has also contributed to building geo-disaster maps in several areas, including Hanoi, providing a reliable basis to put forward appropriate strategies for mitigating consequences of geo-hazards, serving sustainable socio- economic development in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, phase 2 is expected to focus on technological transfer in field investigation, instrumentation, numerical modeling, and assessment of vulnerability and risks of geo-hazards.

Illegal abattoirs closed by health authorities

The Department of Animal Health in south-eastern Binh Duong Province in co-operation with the provincial Preventive Health Centre on Tuesday closed down illegal slaughterhouses at Hai My Market.

Four unregistered establishments equipped with eight portable chicken-feather cleaning machines were found operating.

Vietnam, Cambodia trade unions boost ties

A delegation from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) is paying a working visit to Cambodia from July 24-28 to foster cooperation between the two countries’ trade unions.

VGCL Vice President Nguyen Hoa Binh held talks in Phnom Penh on July 26 with Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Ith Samheng, and Secretary of State at the Labour Ministry Oum Mean.

Ith Samheng and Oum Mean thanked Vietnam for its whole-hearted support for Cambodia in the past and at present, said that they hope the VGCL will continue speeding up cooperative activities to support Cambodia’s trade unions, especially in human resources training.

Binh affirmed that the VGCL is always willing to strengthen cooperation with the Cambodian trade union for the development of the two agencies and the protection of legal rights and interests of labourers, contributing to each country’s socio-economic development.

Earlier, on July 25 the Vietnamese guests met with the delegation from the National Union Alliance Chamber of Cambodia (NACC) and Cambodia Council of National Union (CCNU) led by Som Aun, NACC President cum CCNU President.

The two sides agreed to further promote ties between trade unions in the spirit of friendship and solidarity, continue exchanging information and experience, and support each other at regional and international forums.

They also pledged to try their best to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding which the VGCL and NACC signed in April 2011, with the focus on human resources training

Five people die in landslides, floods

At least five people have been killed and three others are missing in flash floods and landslides triggered by Storm Vicente in northern mountainous provinces over the past three days.

Among those killed were a five-month-old girl, her five-year-old brother and their mother.

Rescue teams found it difficult to locate and rescue some victims due to the heavy rain, said Lieutenant-colonel Tran Van Manh, head of Ha Giang Province's Lung Lan Border Station.

Initial reports from the localities said that hundreds of hectares of crops had been inundated and many houses destroyed by floodwaters. Roads were also blocked by landslides on National Highway No 32 connecting Yen Bai City and Van Yen District.

Thousands of cubic metres of rock brought traffic to a standstill on Cao Bang Province's National Highway No 34.

The daily life of people in the province was disrupted by water up to two metres high swirling through their homes.

About 20 families living in Son La Province's Muong Bu Commune were evacuated to a safer place to avoid flash floods and landslides.

Hoang Duc Trong, vice chairman of Yen Bai Province's Luc Yen District, said schools and households were evacuated to safer areas as water continued to rise.

In Dien Bien Province alone, the damage is estimated to be up to VND1 billion (US$48,000). Other provinces are yet to make their reports.

Agencies mobilised militiamen and rescue teams to be on duty round the clock to help residents.

According to the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre, water levels are at a dangerous 23.5-31.5 metres along Phu Tho Province's Thao River and Tuyen Quang Province's Lo River.

Vincente weakened into a low tropical pressure after passing border areas of Cao Bang and Lang Son provinces on Thursday.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre