Blaze destroys 50 houses in Tra Vinh

A blaze engulfed 50 houses in southern Tra Vinh Province's Dinh An Township on Sunday afternoon.

There were no casualties.

Local officials said most of the houses destroyed were thatched-roofed.

It took fire-fighters about two hours to put out the blaze.

The cause of the blaze is unknown.

Border police rescue 3 women from trafficking ring

Police at the Mong Cai border with China last Sunday rescued three women being trafficked to that country after being lured with offers of lucrative jobs in Quang Ninh, border officials said.

Three men, Vu Thanh Tung (17), Nguyen The Anh (19), Ly Van Dung (26), and a woman, Tran Thi Nga (26), were held when they crossed the border illegally, and they confessed they had planned to sell the three women in China.

The victims, who had been workers at a shoe firm in Hai Phong, were told to quit their job and work as waitresses on the border for wages of VND4-5 million (US$200-250) a month.

They did not even realize they were crossing the border until the police apprehended them.

Tung, Anh, Dung, and Nga are in custody, and the police have begun criminal proceedings again them.

Ha Noi to open 23 express bus routes

Express buses would help save time due to the reduction in the number of bus stops, said the director of the Urban Traffic Management Centre, Nguyen Hoang Hai.

Tax agency found withholding $69.2mil

Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 Tax Sub-Department has been found not reporting VND1.44 trillion (US$69.2 million) of taxes to the state budget.

The finding came out after a recent inspection at the sub-department after the Ministry of Finance’s General Department of Taxation received accusations from some employees, Dan Tri Newswire reported.

According to the inspectors, from 2007 to July 2011, the sub-department collected the said amount of tax payments and put it in its own account.

To defend itself, the sub-department said taxpayers had mistakenly transferred this amount to its temporary account instead of the state treasury.

It also said the state treasury sometimes also uses this temporary account itself for payments that need some clarifications.

The inspection team agreed that many businesses had mistakenly transferred their tax payments to the temporary account many times from April 2010 to July 2011, but their total amount was less than VND300 billion ($14.4 million).

Some experts also said the sub-department’s explanation was not convincing because it was impossible not to know that such a situation in 5 years.

The inspection team has thus concluded that the sub-department had not complied with regulations about the time limits for transferring tax payments to the state budget.

Talking with Tuoi Tre yesterday, Oct 4, Nguyen Dinh Tan, head of the HCMC Tax Department, said a new regulation, which took effect this August, now requires all tax payments to be paid directly to the state’s treasury.

War veterans encouraged to reduce poverty

The Veterans Association of Vietnam (VAVN) will strive to reduce the poverty rate amongst war veterans by 2.5-3 percent annually in the next five years.

It will also aim to lower the rate by 4-4.5 percent in 62 districts which are listed as the poorest in the country.

VAVN Vice President Lieut. Gen. Do Cong Mui announced the targets at a third national conference in Hanoi on October 4 to honour war veterans who have excelled in poverty reduction and economic development from 2007-2011.

Mr Mui said that the association will continue to classify poor war veteran households, especially those in the mountain, remote and border regions, and provide necessary assistance to help them escape poverty.

Notably, he said, it will speed up economic restructuring by developing farm models in the agro-forestry and fishery fields, and establish business associations in cities and provinces. 

Exemplary role models will be replicated across the country to encourage poor war veterans to perform well in economic development, said the vice president.

By the end of June 2011, war veterans owned 11,000 more farms, cooperatives and businesses as compared to 2007, generating about 480,000 jobs. During the past five years, nearly 133,000 poor households of war veterans have escaped poverty.

Justice official indicted for law breaking

The former deputy head of a district justice office in Hau Giang Province has been prosecuted for violent acts against a traffic police officer in Can Tho City.

Huynh Thanh Thang, 49, former deputy head of the justice department of the province’s Chau Thanh District, was charged with “acting against law enforcement officers on duty,” said Lieutenant Colonel Bui The Bang, head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Team of Can Tho City’s Cai Rang District.

According to the case file, Sub-lieutenant Pham Vinh Minh, of the city’s traffic police force, caught Thang speeding when riding a motorcycle on July 26 in Can Tho.

Minh wanted to test Thang for alcohol level in his breath but Thang refused and snatched a shoulder board, a nametag, and a button off Minh’s police uniform.

Thang also allegedly used indecent language and tried, but failed, to grab Minh’s gun.

Witnesses said he appeared to be drunk at the time.

Thang was later taken to the police station bare-chested.

On July 27, the Cai Rang District Police Department decided to detain Thang for 3 days for investigating his law-breaking acts.

NGOs and businesses encouraged to develop green growth

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the business community should be encouraged to participate in the development of green growth.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha emphasized this at the closing of the ASEM forum on green growth in Hanoi on October 4.

Ha said the role of the governments of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) member countries should be promoted for introducing policies on green growth that comply with the general trends and international institutions.

He also proposed an action plan giving top priority to completing global and regional institutions and policies as well as mechanisms to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation related to green growth including  a “green climate fund” and a “clean development mechanism”.

According to Ha, barriers preventing the popularization and transfer of green technologies among ASEM nations and between ASEM and the rest of the world should be removed.

In addition, he said developed ASEM nations should help the less-developed  train human resources in green economy in order to achieve the green growth target and sustainable development.

The two-day event provided a comprehensive overview of green growth in Asia and Europe with focus on models applied in ASEM member nations, experiences and practical lessons, creating relevant global and regional policies, and measures to boost green growth in ASEM member nations.

Presenters at the forum also analysed advantages and disadvantages of countries of different development level in pursuing the development of green growth and green economy.

Hotel contractor violates rule, causes accident

Before the accident that killed 1 and injured 7 at the Sailing Tower Hotel project, the hotel’s contractor, Hai Linh Join Stock Company, had been suspended for violating construction design, VnExpress newswire reported.

In late September, inspectors from Ha Tinh Province’s Department of Construction found Hai Linh was building a two-floor lobby instead of one floor as approved.

Despite an order to stop construction, this contractor continued with the project and met with the accident.

On Monday, Hai Linh said that the accident was caused by a “weak scaffolding system” that couldn’t stand the massive weight of hundreds of tons of reinforced concrete.

The Ha Tinh People’s Committee however has set up a committee to further investigate the case.

Construction accident claims three lives

Three workers died and two more were injured after a winch cable snapped at a construction site in the southern city of Can Tho's Ninh Kieu District yesterday morning, Oct 4.

The accident occurred while workers were winching bricks up to the fifth floor.

The injured were treated at Can Tho City General Hospital.

Initial investigations showed that the accident occurred because workers had failed to implement safety regulations.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre