Pot-holes appear after rush-job

The investor in the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh Highway has blamed the emergence of pot holes and depressions in sections of the road, which are endangering thousands of motorists everyday, on misjudgements that were made in the rush to finish the project on time.

The damage to the road has mainly occurred in the section of the highway running through Yen Hong Commune in Nam Dinh Province's Y Yen District.

Construction of the 50-kilometre, six lane highway, one of most modern built in Viet Nam so far, was started six years ago with work set to be completed in June. However, a series of unexpected delays hit the project.

The Viet Nam Express Corporation (VEC) of the Ministry of Transport, admitted last Saturday that they had been put under pressure to open the new highway, linking Ha Noi and Nam Dinh Province, on the scheduled date of June 30 in order to ease the burden of traffic on National Highway 1A.

Construction delays on the section of the road running through Yen Hong Commune were caused by slow site clearance - a situation that was not resolved until last March. At the same time it was discovered that the land in the same area was very soft, and extra technical work was needed in order to fully avoid depressions in the road surface, including the use of the heavy supports.

The VEC said that the full amount of work needed would have taken between four and seven months, preventing the entire highway from being operational until next year. Due to the time constraints and pressure to complete the project, this work was never sufficiently undertaken, and the corporation asked the Transport Ministry to allow the early removal of the supports in soft land areas, according to VEC vice director of Nguyen Van Nhi.

After the road was completed and put into use, the construction company continually introduced measures to minimise road depression, he added. In particularly susceptible areas, the speed limit was reduced from 120 kilometres per hour to 40.

However, late last month the road surface began to peel and significant pot-holes appeared, resulting in several regular drivers of the route showing their concern. Nhi has said that the corporation have now asked relevant agencies to fix the problems.

The highway was built under the terms of a Build-Operate-Transfer contract worth nearly VND9 trillion (US$428.6 million) and is expected to help save time and travelling expense for commuters travelling between Ha Noi and the neighbouring provinces of Ha Nam, Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh.

Hospitals told service quality must improve

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien has urged hospitals to improve healthcare service quality to integrate with the international community.

Three or even four children often share a bed at the Children No 1 Hospital in HCM City. An increase in bed space and room for patients is considered necessary to improve the quality of treatment in Vietnamese hospitals.

Tien spoke yesterday, Dec 5, at the first National Forum on Hospital Quality oganised by the Ministry of Health with support from the European Commission.

"Improvement of health service quality is the urgent task of all hospitals and also an expectation of all," Tien said.
More space, rooms

"Patients need more waiting space and rooms for examinations and treatment along with the simplification of administration procedures," Tien said.

She asked hospitals to comprehensively reform examination and treatment services to improve quality and minimise waiting times.

The ministry's Medical Services Administration director Luong Ngoc Khue said the improvement of service quality would focus on improving medical staff morale and attitude towards patients at hospitals and strengthening activities and services in examination units.

"A total of 1,050 beds were added to the country's health care system in 2012 in hospitals of Bach Mai, Cancer, Endocrine in Ha Noi and Quang Nam General Hospital in Quang Nam Province," said Khue.

A survey of 34 hospitals in 48 provinces and cities nation-wide showed remarkable improvements to examination and treatment quality. Around 30 per cent of hospitals had improved their administration procedures and expanded waiting and examination and treatment spaces for patients.

The ministry will introduce a process to measure patient satisfaction and introduce a national action plan on hospital management till 2020.

At the forum, health experts and hospital managers focused discussions on measures to improve the quality of healthcare after the increase in hospital fees; raising awareness among leaders, managers and professionals of the need to improve the quality of healthcare. They also shared experiences and best practices in management of care quality at both domestic and international hospitals.

The event was part of the technical co-operation provided by the health sector capacity support project, funded by the European Commission and implemented in Viet Nam to strengthen the institutional capacity for good governance of the sector and for improved health service delivery.

This week, Tien also urged the health sector to improve the health management information system as one of the measures needed to better serve the planning and monitoring of healthcare activities at a two-day workshop, also under the capacity support project.

Combating corruption in Vietnam

Vietnam has been listed among the two thirds of 176 countries that scored less than 50 points in the Transparency International (TI)’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2012.

With 31 points, Vietnam ranked 123rd in the list, which was announced on December 5.

The Corruption Perceptions Index operates on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very open), and shows that public institutions need to be more transparent and powerful officials more accountable.

It has become apparent that incidents of bribery, abuse of power and secret dealings are still very common in many countries. The TI’s latest index shows corruption continues to ravage societies around the world.

“Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, ensuring that public spending and contracting are more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to the people,” said Huguette Labelle, the Chair of Transparency International.

Towards Transparency (TT) - TI National Contact in Vietnam – praised the efforts and commitments made by the Vietnamese Party, National Assembly and Government in combating corruption. However, it said, more practical measures should be introduced to gain better results and consolidate people’s trust in the Government’s efforts against corruption.

The organisation said it believes that improving transparency in the public sector and central and local administration agencies is the key solution. Furthermore, it is essential to increase public access to information and create favourable conditions for citizens, media workers and the public sector to participate in the fight against corruption.

Vietnam joins 2012 Jakarta Charity Bazaar

The Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia has joined in the International Women’s Club 2012 Jakarta Charity Bazaar, together with the host country and 37 foreign embassies in Indonesia.

Vietnam’s stall presented numerous handicraft products, farm produce and traditional dishes which attracted many visitors’ attention.

At the opening ceremony, Ani Bambang Yudhoyono, the spouse of the President of Indonesia, spoke highly of humanitarian activities from embassies’ women in Jakarta.

The annual charity bazaar always donates collected money to help the poor and improve education as well as social welfares in one selected locality in Indonesia.

This year the event’s proceedings will go to Maluku, one of the oldest provinces in the country.

Gender crisis put under the spotlight

Making the public aware of the crisis looming over gender selection will be the main mission of National Action Month for Population, launched yesterday.

The General Office for Population and Family Planning launched the campaign to reduce sex imbalances at birth, especially in 11 provinces and cities with the highest rate.

The birth ratio of boys to girls in Viet Nam has increased to 112.3/100 from 110/100 six years ago.

The country is forecast to have 4 million more men than women in 40 years if no action is taken.

Second consultation conference for Mekong Delta Plan

The second consultation conference for the Mekong Delta Plan (MDP) was held in My Tho City, Tien Giang Province, on December 5 with the participation of 160 delegates.

The conference, jointly held by the Steering Committee of the Southwestern Region, the People’s Committee of Tien Giang and relevant ministries, was part of the 2012 Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation (MDEC) forum – Tien Giang.

Establishing the MDP was a key motion outlined in the strategic partnership agreement between Vietnam and the Netherlands on climate change adaptation and water resource management.

The Mekong Delta is an area with advantages in land, labour and water resources that can serve sustainable growth.

With strong agricultural development, people in the area have seen improved standards of living, and now agricultural products from the region are available for both domestic consumption and export.

However, the delta is also an area that suffers from the impact of climate change. Solutions are required to deal with these challenges in the future.

The MDP was set up to build and maintain a prosperous Mekong Delta, targeting socio-economic development, a strong and dynamic economy, and climate change adaptation.

The first MDP consultation conference was held in Can Tho City, in April 2012.

IAEA supports Vietnam’s nuclear power development

The Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) hosted a seminar in Hanoi on December 5 to review infrastructure for the development of nuclear power in Vietnam.

Participants at the 10-day event heard reports on Vietnam’s infrastructure and preparations for the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project.

MoST Deputy Minister Le Dinh Tien said Vietnam has made considerable progress in developing its nuclear power infrastructure, including nuclear inspection and security.

However, he said, the country needs to concentrate on developing human resources, finalise legal documents and assess locations to meet IAEA requirements.

An IAEA representative said Vietnam is in the second stage of developing nuclear power infrastructure. It is an extremely critical and challenging phase for countries new to nuclear power like Vietnam, as they lack experts in the field.

During the seminar, participants will discuss criteria set by the IAEA like national geography, support facilities, environmental protection, contingency plans, legal framework, human resources, nuclear materials and waste.

IAEA experts are expected to present recommendations to the Vietnamese Government and relevant agencies.

VNN/VOV/VNS