Thousands of OV families in Cambodia hit by floods

Photo: VNA

Preliminary statistics of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Cambodia showed that dozens of houses were swept away, thousands of dwellings were submerged and locals forced to evacuate to shelters.

Cambodian media said that OV living in provinces near Tonle Sap lake were also severely affected.

According to Cambodian authorities, flooding in 15 cities and provinces since the end of last month has claimed 61 lives, including 43 children; with damage affecting over 90,000 families, including 13,000 forced to evacuate; and destroyed 132,000 hectares of rice.

Officials’ drinking buddy arrested

A man who attended a deadly feast on a river in Long An Province with some officials and five young women has been arrested for swindling US$23,000.

43 year-old Le Van Pho, a real estate broker from the province’s Can Giuoc District, was arrested yesterday after being found appropriating VND480 million (US$23,000) from a man to whom he had earlier promised to help in a criminal case.

Pho told his victim that he had many connections and could help his wife - arrested on charges of running a brothel – be released on bail and get a lower sentence.

On December 5, 2010, Pho asked Dang Ngoc Nguyen - the husband - to give him VND10 million in return for the bail.

On January 5, 2011, the wife was let on bail. Three days later, Pho told Nguyen to give him another VND100 million. Nguyen gave Pho VND93 million in advance.

At the trial on March 18, the woman was sentenced to three years in prison. Pho later received VND250 million from Nguyen.

But after the sentence was commuted to 2 years at the appeal trial on July 18, Pho asked Nguyen to give him another VND160 million so that the wife would be released on probation.

However, in late August, after police informed she would have to serve her prison sentence, Nguyen complained to Pho who demanded an additional VND5 million. Nguyen agreed but secretly reported to the police.

Some days later, when Pho was receiving VND3.7 million from Nguyen at his home, police rushed in.

Used connections to sway court rulings?

Le Quang Hung, deputy judge of the Long An Province People’s Court, who chaired the appeal trial, told Tuoi Tre yesterday that the court had issued the commutation since the convicted suffered a cervical cancer and had little knowledge of the law.

“I announced that verdict only based on the case file. I do did not know Pho.”

But Pho seems to know many influential figures.

He was among the 14 guests – including 5 women – of a party thrown by a businessman on August 20 in which a 20-year-old woman drowned in Vam Co River.

Also attending the party were Nguyen Kim Doan, former chief of district People’s Procuracy and his deputy Nguyen Huong Giang, who were later given warnings for violating code of conduct prescribed for state employees and the Party’s members.

The police also found Pho had a previous conviction for gambling and organizing gambling. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation in March 2003.

After serving the sentence, Pho became friends with many local court officials and prosecutors and frequently joined parties with them, according to Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.

Some locals wonder whether Pho used his connections to get the sentence reduction.

More funds sought for HIV prevention

Viet Nam needed further support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in order to combat these diseases, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thi Xuyen told international delegates at a meeting in Ha Noi yesterday, Sep 27.

The 8th East Asia and Pacific Meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria drew over 200 participants from various countries to a three-day meeting in Ha Noi.

Xuyen said that Viet Nam still needed huge support from the fund and the international community, especially with donors cutting aid now the country had reached a middle-income status.

Xuyen added that the results of projects sponsored by the fund had played an important role in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria prevention in Viet Nam.

Thanks to these projects, Viet Nam had completed many of the targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals, and would achieve the remainder by 2015.

Health Ministry statistics said that the fund had contributed US$405 million to Viet Nam since 2002.

Of that amount, nearly $280 million went to HIV/AIDS prevention, $80 million to tuberculosis prevention and nearly $46 million, malaria prevention.

Nearly $165million has been disbursed on projects in Viet Nam.

In HIV/AIDS prevention, projects spread to 50 provinces and cities in various fields, such as voluntary consulting and testing; preventive treatment and ARV treatment; community care for people with HIV/AIDS; HIV/AIDS prevention from mother to child; awareness programmes and Methadone treatment.

In tuberculosis prevention, the fund's support made up nearly 40 per cent of the country's total spending on the issue over the past decade, the ministry said.

Hosted by Viet Nam's Ministry of Health, the meeting aimed to update regional partners on information from the global fund and handle existing bottlenecks in financial system management, procurement supply management and monitoring and evaluation areas.

The Geneva-based Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing institution that invests the world's money to save lives. Since its inception in 2002, it has committed $ 22.4 billion in 150 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programmes against the three diseases.

Interpol General Assembly heads to Hanoi

The 80 th General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) will be held in Hanoi from October 21 to November 4, drawing 1,000-1,200 participants from 188 Interpol member counties.

Major-General Vu Hung Vuong, Deputy Head of the General Department for Crime Prevention, said on September 27 that hosting the Interpol General Assembly affirms Vietnam ’s commitment to international cooperation in transnational crime prevention.

According to Colonel Dang Xuan Khang, Chief of the Interpol Vietnam Office, the first General Assembly to be held in Vietnam , under the theme of “Connecting Police for a Safer World – Strong Partnerships, Innovation and Capacity Building ”, the 80 th Interpol General Assembly will be a special diplomatic activity of the Vietnamese police force in 2011.

The General Assembly will assess the implementation of Interpol’s crime prevention resolutions, working plans and programmes, as well as offer a chance for member countries to exchange experience in fighting transnational crime.

It will set out the organisation’s future goals in line with globalisation and international integration and approve resolutions on police cooperation in transnational crime prevention.

In 1991, Vietnam became the 156 th member of Interpol. During 20 years of operations, the Interpol Vietnam force has received and handled 45,000 items of information, including 12,000 relating to the international search for criminals.

Through Interpol channels, Vietnamese police have arrested and handed over more than 200 wanted persons to foreign police forces and coordinated with foreign police in the arrest and extradition of 49 Vietnamese criminals to the homeland.

Substandard crash helmets remain rife in city

Dodgy crash helmets continue to be sold with impunity in Ho Chi Minh City since regulations lack teeth and enforcement agencies are shorthanded, delegates said at a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, Sep 27, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon newspaper reported.

Officials from the city market management agency said producers of such helmets could make one in a mere two minutes by assembling it from parts.

But the parts were usually of poor quality, including recycled and brittle plastic and thin layers of sponge, and extremely unsafe, they said.

Since the producers could make a large number of the helmets every day, they sold them for as low as VND30,000 (US$1.46), they said.

Tran Van Dung, director of the Quality Assurance and Testing Center 3, said most legitimate local manufacturers had failed to compete with the illicit producers.

“A large number of producers have shut down and only 15 of them are still operating,” he said.

Luu Song Hung, director of Chi Thanh Plastic Co Ltd, said his business had taken a hit from the cheap helmets. Production had dropped by 30 percent last year and the workforce had to be cut from 800 to around 250, he added.

But delegates admitted it was not easy to stop the illicit producers.

The market management officials said they constantly changed the location of their production facilities to avoid raids.

They also used ruses like labeling their helmets as used for walking, golfing, and bicycling. Though the authorities knew they were made for use as crash helmets, they could not charge the producers since there were no quality regulations for these products.

“Market management officials also find it hard to stamp out the low-quality helmets sold on the streets due to lack of personnel,” they said.

Even in cases where products were seized occasionally and the producers fined, the regulations were unreasonable, they pointed out.

For instance, if locally-made products are found to fail quality requirements, they have to be taken to the place they were produced for recycling and not destroyed.

“But with those caught in shops or on the street, officials do not know their origin.”

The conference was organized by the city-based business grouping Center of Business Studies and Assistance and Chi Thanh Plastic.

Boarding schools to lure ethnic kids

More than VND4.1 trillion (US$197 billion) will be spent on upgrading and building boarding schools in mountainous provinces during the 2011-15 period under a new decision signed by the Prime Minister.

The project under Decision 1604/QD-TTg aims at helping to provide at least one boarding school in each province and district with a large number of ethnic minority residents.

Viet Nam will strive to have 317 primary boarding schools nation-wide serving 85,000 ethnic students with a view to registering about 7 per cent of total students at the junior and senior secondary levels by 2015.

The decision also calls for 30 per cent of new boarding schools to meet national standards. Teachers and managers at boarding schools will receive further training to improve the quality of teaching and learning as well as management at these schools.

A website about boarding schools and a journal on boarding education will also be published as part of the project.

Robbers stalk women in Hanoi

The incidence of robbery targeting women who drive bikes and even cars is increasing in Hanoi. The robbers strike with impunity at any time of the day and even in crowded places.

On September 20 My was driving back from work at night when three men accosted her on Nam Trung Yen Street in Cau Giay district. They shouted obscenities at her as if they knew her before and tried to grab her Air Blade motorbike.

“Realizing they were robbers, I tried to drive off,” My said.

However one of them pulled the bike, causing her to fall off. But by then some people arrived, and the men fled, but not without cursing her.


“I won’t take that road to work again, even though it is the shortest,” My, who still has injuries on her face, arms, and legs, said.

Nam Trung Yen is a big road where apartments and skyscrapers are under construction.
One night a few months ago it was not deserted but three robbers still waylaid a young woman and stole her SH bike.

Mai (27), a hotel staff, was on the way home early in the morning. Four men had followed her all the way to alley 132 in Cau Giay Street. One of them who was riding pillion kicked her bike and they also hit her on the head with steel rods. When she fell on the road, they took the bike worth more than US$5000, her iPhone, and $1000 and VND5 million ($250) in cash.

Women withdrawing money from ATMs also seem to be targets.

One night in September, after drawing money from an ATM in Thanh Xuan district, Lan was on a bike with her boyfriend and heading to Nga Tu So overpass when two men approached and snatched her bag. Lan could hardly yell “thieves, thieves” before they melted into the busy traffic.

Thieves do not hesitate to use knives to hold up victims.

At 8am one day a woman had stopped at a traffic light when a man jumped on the back of her bike. He brandished a knife and ordered her to ride to a deserted area where he took all her belongings.

Even women in cars are apparently not safe. One woman stopped her car at Pham Ngoc Thach when a man came and opened the unlocked door.

“I was surprised and before I could regain my composure, he had taken away my purse from next to my seat. By instinct, I tried to grab it back but could not.”

Police advice women to avoid deserted streets early in the morning or late at night, not to flash gold and other jewelry, and, especially, not to speak on the phone while riding since it causes them to lose track of their surroundings.

Mud waste found illegally buried at garbage dump

Ho Chi Minh City’s Crime Prevention and Fighting Police Department Monday morning found 40 tons of mud waste illegally buried at the Dong Thanh garbage dump in Binh Thanh District.

Last Thursday, several trucks from Go Vap District Public Services Company dug a hole at the top of the dump and buried the waste there, a representative of the dump told police.

Man sues lottery company for not paying up

The Binh Phuoc Province People’s Court is set to hear a lawsuit filed by a man against a local lottery company for not paying him VND1.5 billion (US$72,100) on the ground that the ticket he held was invalid.

Dao Xuan Thanh, 35, of Dong Xoai town told the court that he had won the special prize in the draw held on September 3 by the Binh Phuoc Lottery One-member Co Ltd.

A few days later, when he went to the company to claim his prize, the company refused.

He went to relevant agencies to confirm it was indeed valid, but the company still refused to make payment.

Thanh admitted the ticket had become wet and he had dried it using an iron. But it was not torn and everything on it remained intact, he said.

The court said it would gather information from relevant parties before starting the trial.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre