Crazy truck hits local houses in HCMC

A truck was running high speed when it suddenly staggered, hit a separator and crashed into a local grocer’s by the National Road 22 in Tan Phu Trung commune, Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City at 2.45pm on Thursday.

According to witnesses, the truck was running from An Suong to Tay Ninh on high speed. After colliding the street separator, it crashed into an electricity pole, dragged it for a few meters before hitting the Cat Tien grocer’s.

According to Nguyen Thi Kim Mai, owner at the grocer’s, she was selling goods to many customers when the truck approached. Since people quickly noticed and ran away, there were no casualties.

At the scene, the truck’s front was seriously damaged, the electric pole and the house’s eaves were collapsed.

According to initial information, the truck is owned by Hoa Xuan transportation service trading Co. Ltd.

Authorities showed up at the scene to handle the case. Rescue car towed away the truck and staff from Cu Chi Electricity Company arrived to solve the problem.

At 7.45pm, the scene was yet to be cleared.

Job generation promotion for Vietnam youth

Representatives from youth-related organisations and relevant agencies gathered in Hanoi on Mar. 29 to raise their voices to policymakers on the promotion of job generation for young people in Vietnam.

The forum was held by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) office in Vietnam .

In the world, the rate of jobless youth triples the unemployment rate among the older working group and four out of every 10 unemployed are young people, the forum said.

It stressed Vietnam ’s priority of providing sustainable jobs for youth. In Vietnam , young people aged from 15-24 account for 50.4 percent of the total unemployed.

The forum mentioned the high unemployment rate among female youth, saying it was 8.3 percent compared to the rate among male youth of 5.9 percent in 2010.

Job quality issues were also on the agenda.

Addressing the forum, ILO Country Director Gyorgy Sziraczki said over 1 million youth join the workforce in Vietnam every year and many of them struggle to gain and keep their jobs.

Creating opportunities for all people, especially youth ranging from 15 to 24 years old, to have access to sustainable jobs is an important task for Vietnam , he said.

Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep affirmed the Vietnamese Government has unceasingly exerted efforts to help young people have access to employment, through policies on education and training, job services and job promotion programmes.

Vietnam will continue to pay attention to allocating resources in order to improve job prospects among the youth and implement the national goal on sustainable development.

A driver defies police decision, lies under truck

A driver last Saturday lay under a police truck at the Mai Xuan Thuong- Phan Boi Chau crossroads in Buon Ma Thuot city, the central highlands province of Dak Lak, to prevent it from carrying his bike away.

Nguyen Hong Cong, 37, was travelling from Buon Don district to Buon Ma Thuot city when he was stopped by the police because his bike was not equipped with a rear mirror. However, Cong ignored the order and continued on his way.

After being forced to stop, Cong complained that it was against the regulation for the police to stand on the sidewalk and signal him to stop. In addition, he did not see them standing on the sidewalk.

“On seeing Cong riding a bike without a mirror, senior lieutenant Ly Minh Hoai gave him the sign to stop but he kept going,” said Major Bui Ngoc Huan from the Buon Ma Thuot city police.

The Major added that when Cong failed to present proper documents including the bike’s registration, the police decided to impound his bike.

However, Cong refused to sign the report of his violation. Instead, he lay underneath the police truck to prevent them from taking his bike back to the station.

Mobile police force was called to the scene to take Cong and his bike to the police station. He was charged with acting against law enforcement officers on duty.

Major Bui Ngoc Huan said whether the policemen had falsified the report or added more penalties to it needed to be checked.

“Traffic violators who do not agree with a decision by police officers can write their comments at the end of the report and file a complaint to the authorities later. If they do not sign the report, we have to confiscate the bike in accordance with the regulations. Acting against law enforcement officers on duty is against the law,” explained the Major.

Hanoi bus driver assaults passenger

Yesterday a bus driver and his assistant beat a passenger in Hanoi so violently that he had to be hospitalized for treatment. The case is among many similar recent occurrences.

At 10 am on March 28, when Kim Van Chung, a man from Dong Anh District, was getting off the bus at the Yen Nghia Bus Station in Lang Ha Ward, Dong Da District, he got stuck in the bus door since the driver had hurriedly closed it.

After Chung showed his anger at the incident, the bus driver, Hoang Van Quy, and his assistant, Vu Doan Vinh, rushed to him and beat him.

The assault left Chung with bloody injuries in the face, and he had to be taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Witnessing the attack, some other passengers called the ward police, who later came to the scene, detained the bus and escorted Quy and Vinh to their office for questioning.

The two men admitted that they had beaten Chung.

The police are continuing with steps to punish the men for the charge of intentional assault.

Many similar cases have recently happened.

On December 8, 2011 Tran Thi Hanh, 46, a resident of Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa City, was beaten by a bus inspector who suspected that she had not bought a ticket.

Hanh later went to a local hospital for examination, and doctors confirmed that she had suffered multiple injuries.

Another case is one of Nguyen Ngoc Phuc of Vinh Phuc Province, who boarded a bus at the My Dinh Station to go to Le Van Luong Street in Hanoi on October 22, 2011.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, the bus driver’s assistant, told Phuc that the bus would pass that street, but other passengers told him that was not true.

Phuc then asked the driver, Do Huu Long, to stop so that he could get off and take another bus, but he refused and, along with Thanh, swore at him and beat him. They even asked Phuc to kneel in front of them if he wanted to get off the bus.

Long and Thanh were dismissed after the incident.

Air route between Laos and Danang opens

The first Pakse-Savannakhet-Danang flight landed at Danang International Airport on March 29 with 170 passengers, including some Lao senior officials.

This is one of two trial flights before Lao Airlines conducts regular flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by ATR72, each with 65 passengers on board.

The opening of the new air route marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Laos, and the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Friendship and Co-operation.

First Lao passengers will have the chance to play golf and visit heritage sites in the central region before making a fact-funding tour of Ba Na, Son Tra Peninsula, Ngu Hanh Son (Five Marble Mountains) and Cham Sculpture Museum.

UK shares experience in sustainable architecture with Vietnam

Leading designers and architects from Vietnam, the UK and regional countries are attending a conference on design and sustainable architecture in Ho Chi Minh City on March 29-30.

The organizers – the British Council and the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) – said the conference aims to share the knowledge and experience in sustainable architecture of the UK with Vietnam, and help build capacity among young Vietnamese designers and architects.

Participants discussed urgent issues related to the current design and architecture sector, such as an international sustainable development model, an urban sustainable development project in Vietnam, a real model on sustainable construction, management of construction projects, and energy use models in Ho Chi Minh City.

They have the chance to meet with speakers involved in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, Long Thanh Airport and Thanh Da Peninsula projects.

Speaking at the conference, UK Ambassador to Vietnam Antony Stokes emphasized that sustainability plays an important role in daily life, particularly in architecture and construction which seriously affect surrounding environment.

On the occasion, the British Council and the UK embassy in Vietnam opened an exhibition on design and green architecture at the Ho Chi Minh City Exhibition Hall to introduce the UK’s latest inventions on design, architecture and technologies.

The exhibition will run until April 20.

“Diamond billionaire” faces life sentence for swindle

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court yesterday opened a trial for Nguyen Thi Hoang Hoa, a local businesswoman, on charges of swindling more than VND113 billion (US$5.46 million) from her creditors.

Hoa, 42, who was dubbed as a “diamond billionaire” by many other businesspeople, has mobilized a huge amount of money from numerous people and then suddenly fled, leaving many of her creditors bankrupt, the court said.

Hoa handed herself in to police in mid-2010, confessing that the total debt she had to pay amounted to more than VND300 billion ($14.5 million).

Of the amount, VND131 billion came from her swindles to seven people from June 2009 to April 2010, and the rest was normal debt in her normal credit relations with others.

According to the indictment, Hoa initially paid loan principals and interest thereon to her creditors on schedule as agreed between them, but she later failed to continue the practice.

She offered her creditors an interest rate of 4 percent per month and in some special cases she promised to pay much higher, at a rate of 18 percent per month.

She lied to her victims that she wanted to mobilize capital to invest in making footwear for export, or in other large business affairs. She also boasted that she was a big trader of diamonds, often distributing the precious stone to many jewelry traders in An Dong and Ben Thanh marketsin HCMC.

She also showed her victims numerous copies of certificates of land use rights and falsely told them a footwear factory on Au Co street in HCMC's Tan Binh district was her own.

Believing Hoa’s words, many people provided Hoa with large loans only to find that they had not gotten anything in return.

Hoa said that by mid 2009, she had fallen into insolvency but continued lying, telling others that she was investing in large business projects to lure them into lending her money.

One of her victims is Chau Thi My Linh, who lent Hoa VND58 billion, and another is Tran Thi Kim Hoa, who lost VND36.5 billion to Hoa’s swindle.

Hoa said she had repaid VND42 billion to Linh but she failed to show the court any evidence for that payment.

When asked how she had used the mobilized money, including the VND131 billion, Hoa beat about the bush, denying an allegation that she had used the money on her personal needs.

It was not until the court announced evidence showing she had gone abroad 90 times and asked her about how she could pay for those overseas trips that she admitted that she had gone to Cambodia to gamble and eventually lost a huge amount of money, even tens of thousands of US dollars at a time.

Considering that Hoa had swindled a huge amount of money and her acts have caused serious consequences for her victims, the court prosecutor proposed the panel to give her a life sentence, the highest level for the charge of swindling to appropriate assets under the Criminal Code.

The court is continuing with the trial and will announce a sentence to Hoa on April 3.

Nearly 18,000 ecstasy pills seized in Quang Binh

The border guards in Vietnam’s Quang Binh province, in coordination with the drug-related crime prevention forces of Laos’ Khammouan Province, on March 28 seized four people carrying 17,986 ecstasy tablets.
 
They are Thao Xom Vang (born in 1968), Nang Chat (born in 1971) and Nang Ni Na (born in 1995) and Thao Viet Phan (born in 1987). All of them reside in Khammouan province.

The agencies from two countries continue to investigate the drug trafficking ring. Quang Binh province’s border guard is completing necessary procedures to hand over the case to Khammouan authorities.

This is a regular activity of the two provinces in the fight against crime and drug-related crime to ensure security along the border.

Vietnamese sailors held in Uruguay for arson

Two Vietnamese sailors are being held in police custody in Montevideo, Uruguay for allegedly causing a fire on South Korean fishing boat Jung Woo-1 on March 27.

The arrest of Ngo Duc Bau, 23, and Tran Van Quyet, 19, was confirmed by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry yesterday.

The fire was small and was put out quickly, causing no casualties or serious damage.

At the time of fire, there were 33 Asian sailors, including 9 Vietnamese, on the boat which was leaving the port to sea for fishing.

Media in Uruguay reported that the fire broke out in the boat’s cabin, where the two sailors were exchanging blows.

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry has ordered the Vietnamese Embassy in Argentina, which is also in charge of Uruguayan issues, to collect further information and take necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the detainees.

In a message issued to the Embassy, Deputy Chief of Montevideo Port Police Marcelo D'Anatro asked for interpreters to assist the police in investigating the case.

Nearly a month ago, a fire occurred on another South Korean vessel, Jung Woo-3, in the same port on March 3, killing two Vietnamese sailors and injuring six others.

The Jung Woo-1 is one of many Asian ships that often use the Montevideo Port as a place for engine repairs or maintenance. In the past several years, many ships, most of them from South Korea, have suffered from fires in the port.

In 2010 the Uruguayan Minister of Defense ordered naval military intelligence to launch an investigation of the fires, but the investigation has yet to reach to a conclusion.

Binh Phuoc builds bridge linking with Cambodia’s Mondulkiri

Construction of Song Mang Bridge, linking Bu Dop district in Binh Phuoc Province and Cambodia’s Mondulkiri, started at Hoang Dieu border gate on March 29.

The bridge, with a length of more than 27m and a width of 12m, is being built at a cost of nearly VND12 billion.

Once put into operation in October, the bridge will facilitate travel and trade between Vietnam’s south-eastern provinces and Cambodia’s eastern provinces.

Ho Van Huu, Director of the Binh Phuoc Provincial Department of Transport, said there is now only a temporary bridge over the Mang River. It is very difficult to travel and transport goods between Binh Phuoc and Mondulkiri in the rainy season, so the project is of great significance to promote bilateral trade ties between the two provinces.

Chicken in Hanoi lays tiny eggs

A chicken in the capital city of Hanoi has laid two tiny eggs that may be registered for Guinness recognition.

The chicken, a local breed named tre (bamboo), belongs to the Hanoian Pham Huy Tai living on Doi Can Street in Ba Dinh District.

It laid a 5.5-gram egg measured 2.35 centimeters and 1.9 centimeters in length and width respectively on Tuesday.

The second one is a little bigger than the first one, weighed 2.8 grams and measured 1.8 centimeters long.

The tiny chicken egg in comparison with other small things.

The sizes of the eggs are very small, even smaller than many quail’s eggs.

 The tiny egg in the palm of an adult.

According to World Records Academy at www.worldrecordsacademy.org, the latest world record for the smallest chicken egg is the one found by the American Donnie Russell in his farm in West Virginia, US last year.

It is 2.1 centimeters long, or a bit bigger than a penny, and weighs 3.46 grams - a little more than one-tenth of an ounce.

The Guinness world record for the smallest chicken egg is the one measured 2.7 centimeters long.

As a result, if one of the egg is registered for Guinness recognition, it may have a high possibility to be recognized as the world's smallest eggs ever. Tai told Tuoi Tre he also wanted to do so.

Roads, heritage go together
 
HCM City Department of Planning and Architecture has drafted a plan to improve the appearance of areas bordering HCM City's three most significant roads, and make them safer for mortorists and pedestrians.

To achieve this, more public facilities will be built and trees planted along the three roads, Vo Van Kiet Avenue, Tan Son Nhat–Binh Loi Road and Ha Noi Highway.

According to Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy director of the Department of Planning and Architecture's Centre for Architecture Research, the 24-kilometre Vo Van Kiet Avenue traverses four residential areas, including the new Thu Thiem residential area in District 2, the financial-centre in District 1, Chinatown in District 5 and the river and canal areas in districts 6 and 8.

Under the plan, the new Thu Thiem residential area would contain modern high-rise buildings. District 1 would keep older French-style buildings that represent the old Sai Gon, and any proposal for new buildings would be reviewed so they complement the French architecture.

The proposal also calls for the development of districts 5, 6 and 8 as a hub for trading activities, and envisions the Tau Hu–Ben Nghe Canal, which runs along Vo Van Kiet Avenue, as a floating market for trade and tourism activities.

Under the plan, the 19-km Ha Noi Highway, which is one of the most important gateways to HCM City from other provinces, would be improved.

Huynh Xuan Thu, director of the department's HCM City Planning Information Centre, said that Ha Noi Highway received a great number of vehicles every day, which has caused problems to people living along the road.

A safe distance between the road and residential areas along the highway must be maintained so that residents can access transport and feel safe.

To ensure safety and retain the landscape, pavements, overpasses and other public facilities must be carefully designed and built, Thu said.

Because one end of the Ha Noi Highway adjoins Sai Gon River and the other is contiguous with Dong Nai River, new high-rise buildings along the rivers must be planned well to preserve the beauty of the areas.

Under the proposal, the 15.33-km Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi Road, which links the Tan Son Nhat Airport to gateways in the northeastern part of the city, would be upgraded into a modern urban residential area.

Currently, the road goes through poorly-built residential areas in Go Vap and Binh Thanh districts. "These areas need upgrading as soon as possible," Thu said.

The city's urban plan also calls for the removal of polluting factories along Ha Noi Highway to other rural areas.

Under the plan, building density would increase with new high-rise buildings in Tan Binh, Go Vap and Binh Thanh districts while Thu Duc District would remain less dense.

HCMC female student gets life for drug trafficking

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court yesterday sentenced 22-year-old Tran Ha Duy and her younger sister, 21-year-old Tran Ha Tien, to life imprisonment and 20 years in jail respectively for working for a transnational drug trafficking ring run by foreigners.

Duy was a student at Hong Bang University while Tien was from Van Lang University. Both schools are in HCMC.

They were paid US$500-1,000 for each transnational trafficking trip.

The two confessed they worked for the drug ring since they wanted money for their daily needs.

According to the indictment, Tien was arrested at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC on July 18, 2011 after being caught carrying in 4 kg of methamphetamine hidden in the bottom of a suitcase from Doha, Qatar.

After Tien’s arrest, Duy surrendered herself to police.

Tien told police that a man with black skin, probably of African descent in Doha asked her to bring the suitcase to Vietnam. After checking the suitcase and finding the drug, she informed her sister Duy.

However, Duy asked Tien not to worry, adding Duy herself had previously brought drugs to Vietnam many times without being detected.

Duy confessed to the police that in 2007 she accidentally met a Kenyan man, named Francis, on a bus in HCMC.

Francis later suggested Duy deliver sample goods including garment and footwear from Vietnam to other countries for his company, which would pay her US$1,000 for a delivery in Benin and $500 for delivery in Malaysia.

Francis said he would pay for all expenses related to Duy’s trips abroad.

She said after some trips, she knew that drugs had been hidden in the goods sent from Vietnam, but she continued working for Francis to enjoy high reimbursements.

Duy also confessed she had asked Huynh Ngoc Loi, her boyfriend, to bring a suitcase with 3.5 kg of drug hidden inside from Cotonou, Benin to Vietnam, on the same day Tien was arrested.

Loi was seized when he was about to bring the suitcase to Cambodia.

However, after finding that Loi did not know about the drug, the police decided not to indict him.

Hand-foot-mouth affects 18,0000

More than 18,000 patients throughout the country have contracted hand-foot-mouth disease, of which 14 died so far this year, according to the Preventive Medicine Department under the Ministry of Health.

In recent weeks, 1,900-2000 new cases were reported, equivalent to the 2011 peak.

The latest confirmed death involved a three-year-old kid admitted to Can Tho Paediatric Hospital on Wednesday, raising the number of child fatalities at the facility to five this year.-

The diminutive boy who only sleeps standing up

A 15-year-old boy in the northern Vietnamese province of Ha Giang is only 80cm (31.5 inches) tall and weighs 11 kilos, about the size of a 3-year-old. Stranger still, he only sleeps standing up.

With this size, he is probably the smallest 15-year-old child in Vietnam.

Born to a poor 5-member family, Do Van Dung has only been able to sleep standing up since he suffered from an abnormal pneumonia at the age of 2 and a half.

Whenever he lies down, he develops terrible coughs and finds it difficult to breathe, Do Van Manh, the boy’s father, informed.

He only sleeps in short bouts. He will lean on others while standing and closes his eyes to get some sleep, the father explained.

His worry now is what he should do to reduce the frequency of his son’s fevers and help him breathe more easily.

Manh added his son often sits down and hugs his bed whenever he’s in a high fever.

Over the past ten years, the family has been knocking on doors of many hospitals, seeking treatment for him but all doctors failed to correctly diagnose his condition.

A few years ago, Dung’s parents borrowed VND7 million (US$337) from their relatives and neighbors and took their son to China for treatment.

However, Chinese physicians told them there was nothing they could do.

His current medical record shows that Dung contracts a chronic bronchitis and an innate backbone deformity.

Dr. Luong Cao Dong, head of pediatric ward of 103 Hospital in Hanoi, said Dung is diagnosed with severe pneumonia due to the overdose of antibiotics.

In spite of the strange disease, Dung said he never wants to quit school.

When Dung was a 6th grader in Vinh Phuc junior high school in Bac Quang district, he was the best student in his class with remarkable academic performance.

“In recent times, Dung is in bad health conditions. He often coughs uncontrollably and breathes heavily. Everybody wants him to take a rest at home but he still insists on going to school,” Vi Phuong, a teacher, said.

He is now undergoing a long-term treatment at a hospital in Hanoi but wishes to return home to continue school. “I miss lessons so much,” he told Tuoi Tre.

According to his family, Dung was born normal but hair never grew. When he was 2 and a half, he contracted pneumonia and his body has not grown ever since.

It is suspected Dung could have been infected with Agent Orange but no one in his family lived in areas affected by the herbicide.

His father is over 1.7m and his mother is over 1.6m. Even, his 3-year-old biological brother is taller and weighs more than him.

Party man to be sacked for gambling

Dong Phu District's Party Inspection Committee of southern Binh Phuoc Province requested the district People's Committee to sack Tran Quoc Tuan, deputy secretary of Thuan Phu Commune's Party Committee, for gambling.

Previously, Tuan and nine women, including his wife, were caught red-handed for gambling at his residence, with the seizure of four motorbikes and VND50 million (US$2,300).

District police has fined Tuan VND9 million ($428) and taken nine women into two-month custody.-

Police asked to probe trading in lean-meat agents

After many pork samples were found containing lean-meat agents, the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry has called for a police probe into the trade and use of the banned substances to save honest breeders from losses.

The call was made by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan and other officials at yesterday’s meeting of the National Steering Board for Cattle and Poultry Epidemic Prevention and Control.

Banned lean-meat agents such as salbutamol, chlenbutarol, and ractobamine have recently been found in pork samples in Dong Nai and some other localities around Ho Chi Minh City, raising concerns among consumers, Hoang Van Nam, head of the Veterinary Department, said.

These substances belong to the group of beta-agonists, which stimulate growth and quickly develop lean meat in cattle, but have been banned since 2002 in Vietnam due to their harmful effects on human health.

The discovery of banned substances in pork have caused many breeding farms, especially pig farms, to suffer losses due to a decline in pork prices on the market.

Currently, the price of live pork in HCMC and its surrounding areas has dropped by VND10,000 (US$ 0.48) per kg to VND40,000 per kg, and at such a price breeders will suffer a loss of VND5,000 per kg, Nam said.

But more worryingly, consumers have tended to opt to use other food instead of pork, and if this trend is prolonged, many pig breeders may have to shut down their business, he warned.

The ministry has set up inspection teams and coordinated with many local authorities to take samples and conduct tests to confirm the locations of pigs that have been fed with banned substances, and in what levels.

Currently, test results in Dong Nai Province have shown that 3 percent of the pork samples taken randomly on the market contained the banned substances, Nam said.

Meanwhile, the provincial Veterinary Sub-department reported that from March 20-24, it took 66 samples of pork, pig urine and feed for testing according to the qualitative analysis method. The test results showed that 15 of the samples contained banned agents.

However, the sub-department will put the 15 samples to a quantitative analysis test before it comes to a final conclusion about whether they have been contaminated with lean-meat agents, Tran Van Quang, head of the agency, said.

He also recommended that authorities require breeders, feed traders and slaughterers to make written commitments stating that they will not use banned substances.

Bach Mai Hospital to offer free check-ups

The capital's Bach Mai Hospital is scheduled to offer free health check-ups and medicine to bronchial asthma patients on April 15.

Doctors from the hospital's Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Division of Respiratory will oversee proceedings.

The move aims to raise public awareness on asthma and mark World Asthma Day (May 4).

City struggles with BRT projects

HCMC has yet to complete bus rapid transit (BRT) projects citywide despite the support from the World Bank (WB) to deploy such a transportation system since 2005.

Duong Hong Thanh, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Transport told a meeting here on Wednesday that it was difficult to develop these bus routes in the city due to few multi-lane roads.

A project to set up a BRT network for the whole city has been taken into account since 2005 thanks to WB’s assistance. Some boulevards in the downtown area had been recommended for the BRT development but none of them had been deployed so far.

It is not until August last year the city launched the first rabid bus route between Ben Thanh Market and Mien Tay Coach on Vo Van Kiet Boulevard.