Icy winds isolate Phu Quy Island

Icy winds from the north have isolated Phu Quy Island in south central Binh Thuan Province for 10 days, creating a shortage of food and other supplies for residents.

About 2,000 island boats and dozens of other vessels from the mainland have been forced to take shelter in island ports to escape the wind gusts and rough seas.

Vice chairman of Phu Quy's People's Committee Ta Minh Nhut said the bad weather had stopped boat communication between the island and Phan Thiet Town on the coast, more than 107 kilometres away.

Regular supplies are normally ferried to the island every two days.

Cargo and passenger ships plying the route have been stranded at Phan Thiet Port and Phu Quy Port for more than a week because of wind speeds up to 61kph.

As a result, food prices on the island have doubled. Leaf vegetables are being sold for VND15,000 ($0.7) per kilo, double that of two weeks ago, while the cheapest fish is between VND50,000 ($2.3) and VND80,000 ($3.8) per kilo.

There is also a shortage of food, petrol and other necessities, which could become serious if no cargo vessels arrive within two or three days, Nhut said.

Chairman of the People's Committee Huynh Van Hung said work on many buildings, including the general hospital and My Khe Primary School, had come to a halt because of the lack of materials.

It is now unlikely that the buildings will be finished before the Tet holidays, he said.

The committee has asked the provincial department of transport to increase the frequency of trips as soon as the weather clears so that there is enough food and other supplies to last through the holidays.

Charity event raises $315 million for impoverished

A fund-raising event entitled "Noi Vong Tay Lon" (Circle of unity), jointly organised by the Viet Nam Fatherland Front and Viet Nam Television, raised more than VND6.3 trillion (US$315 million) for the poor on Friday.

President Nguyen Minh Triet praised the programme that was launched a decade ago and said it had helped alleviate the suffering of those living in poverty.

"The programme has yielded tangible results,with the support of the State and the Government. It has helped improve the lives of the poor," he said.

Triet said he hoped the programme would continue for the next ten years.

During the event, an auction was held. The highest selling items was the cup "For the Poor", which was made from gold-plated silver that fetched more than VND7 billion ($350,000). The Lac Hong Cup, the biggest cup in Viet Nam, also went for VND5.45 billion ($272,500).

With money raised from a similar event at the end of 2009, 85,400 houses were built or renovated.

Since the programme for the poor was launched ten years ago, more than 1 million houses have been built or renovated.

HCM City generates 275,000 jobs in 2010

Ho Chi Minh City created 275,000 jobs for its residents in 2010, according to a survey conducted among more than 18,000 businesses in the city.

The most labour intensive industries are garment and footwear, plastic and packaging, services electronics and communications, and marketing and sale, with more than 50 percent of their workers unskilled.

19 percent of employees working in information technology, construction, architecture, business and human resources management, auditing and accountancy have university degrees or college certificates.

VND1.6 trillion for building new rural areas

Nearly VND1.6 trillion will be poured into a national target programme to create new rural areas, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The amount of money will be allocated to all the communes across the country to help them construct roads, provide clean water, improve the quality of the environment and build culture houses.

Under the programme, a zoning plan for 70 percent of communes and a master plan for the 2011-2015 period to develop new rural areas at district and provincial levels is expected to be finish by the end of this year.

The programme will also concentrate on training staff involved in the programme, restructure the economy, and renew forms of production.

Illegal businesses take over HCM City riverbanks

Many city residents now find it impossible to stroll along the riverside because of illegal cafes and car parks. Some walkers now sit down and pay to enjoy the fresh air and scenery that was once public.

Vice director of HCM City Transports Department's Inland Waterway Management Board Phan Hoang Tri said many householders not only occupied the pavements, but also illegally built embankments along rivers and canals and used them as private land.

Tri said they built houses or opened restaurants, cafes and parking lots on the banks, especially near the heart of the city.

"Local authorities, including those at ward or district levels, need to tighten inspections and punishment or there will be no land left to build public dykes and road," he said. "It is difficult to inspect and punish violators because of a shortage of staff and vehicles at the commune level."

Tri said his office had staff and vehicles, but no authorisation to impose fines.

The illegal squatters can be found along Te Canal in District 7, Doi Canal in District 8, Thanh Da Canal in Binh Thanh District and the Sai Gon River.

Tri added that the bank of the Sai Gon River bank had been cut up into many allotments, some of which were included in projects with legal licences. This made it difficult to establish a route along the river.

Vice chairman of Binh Hung Commune People's Committee, Phan Van Cong, said one restaurant on the Ong Lon River had been raided 20 times this year, but it still kept opening.

He said the owners of the restaurant even threatened committee officials.

Local resident Nguyen Van Lam said chairs and tables on pavements meant they were no longer open to pedestrians.

Similarly, illegal drinking stalls and car parks were also taking over space along Sai Gon River around Bach Dang Wharf in District 1.

According to the city's Transport Department, more than 180 encroachments had been found along 87 water routes managed by the city. However, Tri said the actual number could be much higher.

Fake cosmetics factory found

Police in Cau Giay District's Dich Vong Hau Ward have detected a unit manufacturing fake cosmetics.

The operation, owned by Hoang Manh Tan, 39, from Hai Phong City's Le Chan District, faked many famous perfumes, shampoos and soaps.

Police seized hundreds of cosmetics and manufacturing machines including printing machines and product packaging. The case is being investigated.

Temperatures drop to record low

Another cold spell hit northern provinces yesterday, Jan 3, according to the Centre of National Hydrometeorological Forecasting.

In northern mountain regions, temperatures dropped to a cold six degrees Celsius.

The temperature in Ha Noi would drop to around 11-14 degrees Celsius tomorrow, the centre said.

Very cold conditions are predicted for northern provinces.

Oil slick dirtiestourist beach

Thousands of blobs of oil have washed up on a one-kilometre stretch of My Khe Beach in Da Nang.

The oil started appearing on Sunday, said Phan Minh Hai, deputy head of Da Nang Eco Tourist Sea Board.

Hai said that the oil might have come from offshore ships and the prevailing north-east winds had blown it onshore.

The board has asked an environment company to clean up the mess.

Pollution causes fish deaths in Cai River

Up to 20 tonnes of red tilapia and carp bred on rafts in Cai River in southern Dong Nai Province's Bien Hoa Town, Hiep Hoa Commune have died as the result of water pollution.

Wastewater from surrounding settlements and factories polluted the river, local authorites said.

About 200 tonnes fish died in three wards in Hiep Hoa Commune last June, resulting in a loss of VND10 billion(US$500,000). Over 10 tonnes died in December.

VNN/VOV/VNS