2,300 Vietnamese going to work in RoK

The first batch of 2,300 Vietnamese labourers has been recruited by the Republic of Korea’ employers, according to Phan Van Minh, Director of the Overseas Labour Centre, under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Currently, the centre is completing procedures and organizing crash courses for them. 

The recruited labourers are scheduled to leave Vietnam in February and March.

 Police arrest gang of shrimp thieves in Bac Lieu Province

The southern Province of Bac Lieu Police on Thursday busted a shrimp-theft ring of 22 young people, including several workers and a former employee of a shrimp-processing factory in the province.

The Gia Rai District police arrested the 22 men involved in the thefts, after the Minh Anh Seafood Processing Company reported a mysterious loss of raw material shrimp stocked in the company's warehouse since the end of 2011.

The arrested include Vo Thanh Thai, 28, and Trinh Truong Giang, 24, leaders of the theft ring; Nguyen Van Hai, 28; Vo Van Vinh, 28; Nguyen Hoang Huan, 22; Tran Van Sang, 30; and others. Several of them were working at the company as the theft case was being conducted.

The company leaders said they could not trace the reason for the loss, although all video recorded by cameras in the factories had been screened carefully. They then petitioned help from the local police.

According to a representative of the company, 31 parcels, equal to 248kg of shrimp, went missing mysteriously on December 24, although they had followed strict procedures of importing and storing the materials.

Three days after the case, an additional 300kg was stolen. In December alone, the total amount of stolen shrimp at the company was reported at 1,200kg. But recorded videotapes did not show revealing details of any crime.

Thai, the theft ring leader, a former worker of the company, admitted that after quitting his job, he developed a relationship with Nguyen Hung Hoai, 23, a shrimp dealer in the district.

Thai talked to his friends, who still worked at the company, to take shrimp out of the factory so he could sell them to Hoai.

Before stealing the shrimp, the workers changed the direction of the security camera installed in the workshop.

Besides Minh Anh Company, the Bach Linh Seafood Processing Company, also located in the district, claimed the loss of two tonnes of shrimp material recently.

According to police, Duong Van Tuan, 22, masterminded the theft case. Tuan often met workers in the factory and planned the transport of the shrimp out of the factory.

Shrimp processing factories are not alone. Several farmers who breed shrimp have recently claimed that their shrimp was stolen, although they always kept a close eye on their farms to prevent theft.

Foot-and-mouth disease occurs in two localities

Foot-and-mouth disease is spreading quickly across Binh Lieu and Hai Ha districts in the northern province of Quang Ninh, according to the provincial Animal Health Department. 

In Hai Ha district, 450 pigs are confirmed to be infected with the disease and 135 have died from it in Quang Long, Duong Hoa, Quang Chinh, Quang Dien and Quang Thinh communes.

53 buffaloes in Binh Lieu district have also contracted the disease.

The province’s agricultural sector held an urgent meeting with leaders from the eastern districts of Ba Che, Tien Yen, and Dam Ha to discuss measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic and fight the disease.

*** Foot-and-mouth disease has also broken out in Hanh Dung commune, Nghia Hanh district, in the central province of Quang Ngai, with twelve cows being reported to be infected.

The veterinary agency in Nghia Hanh district has instructed people to treat the infected cows and vaccinate others.

In April, 2011, 100 cows contracted the disease when it occurred in Hanh Dung commune.

Tourist ripped off in Ha Long

A Thai tourist has been forced to pay VND10 million (around US$500) for a 6-kg fish at a fishing village in Ha Long Bay, northern Quang Ninh Province.

Kasilod Wuttichai from Thailand visited Ha Long Bay, a popular tourist site in Vietnam, with the excitement of exploring a new country.

After the boat carrying him stopped at the Ba Hang fishing village where many tourists like to visit, Kasilod and some friends went to a fishing craft for sightseeing. He caught a fish and told the owner that he wanted to buy it without asking the price first.

The owner told Kasilod that the fish he chose cost VND1.8 million per kg and weighed a total 6 kg.

As the result, he was forced to pay more than VND10 million (US$500).

“I told them I don’t want it any more, but they force me to buy it because they already beat the fish’s head to death,” Kasilod told Tuoi Tre.

After being informed about the scam, Nguyen Dang Truong, chief of Quang Ninh’s market management, reassured that during the Tet holiday from January 16 to 30, the price was very stable in the market and he had yet to receive any information about the rip-off at local fishing crafts.

However, he also warned tourists to be careful.

He said tourists should ask fishing craft owners to show the marked price first before deciding to buy anything.

In case they are ripped off, tourists should keep the receipts and notify authorities of the violation via hot-lines.

HCM City waterway-bus project suspended

The project to open a waterway-bus service in HCM City has been suspended due to difficulties in setting up docking stations at canal banks, according to Tran The Ky, deputy director of the city's Transport Department.

Ky said that District 1 authorities had permitted the use of existing docks along rivers and canals in the district for bus transport but had not approved the construction of new docks.

Thuong Nhat Company, the project investor, said it would abandon the project since setting up qualified docking stations were crucial, Ky told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

In addition to the project, HCM City authorities have recently asked the city-run Sai Gon Mechanism and Transport Corporation (SAMCO) to invest in a waterway-bus system in order to offer commuters another travelling choice and promote waterway tourism.

However, SAMCO has not had a clear reply to the city authorities. Ky said the company might need incentive bank loans and assistance from the city authorities in site clearance to build up the system.

He explained that most riverside land plots with potential for docking stations were under management of individuals. Thus, city authorities have to offer compensation when they take the land.

Ky said that most investors were willing to invest in boats, and that the city would be responsible for dredging canals as well as a subsidised ticket policy for passengers.

Both local authorities and the public support the proposal for the new waterway bus system, saying that it would deal with roadway traffic congestion and make use of the inland canal system in HCM City.

The proposal for the waterway buses was introduced last year.

Hue police detain overloaded coach

Police in the central city of Hue held up Sunday a coach that carried 1.5 times the number of passengers it was able to.

The driver could present neither a vehicle nor driver’s license as they had been all seized by police in other provinces following his similar violations of traffic rules during previous drives.

Nguyen Manh Hung, the 42-year-old driver, said he was driving 59 passengers from the northern province of Nam Dinh to the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong even though his coach could only carry 39, according to Le Viet Phuong, a local traffic policeman.

Accordingly, 20 passangers had to lie on the coach floor during the trip.

The driver was fined VND7.2 million (US$346) and the coach was then towed to a Hue City bus station, the local police said.

All of the passengers were then moved to other coaches to continue their trip.

FAO funds integrated lagoon management project

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will provide US$495,793 for the integrated management of the lagoon project in Thua Thien-Hue province, says the provincial People’s Committee.

The project aims to improve the living conditions of local people who depend on the lagoon through sustainably managing resources, applying advanced technologies, and promoting aquaculture, especially for shrimp and molluscs.

It will also help local people increase their incomes, devise plans for Sam Chuon lagoon in Phu Vang district and continue to support management for villages that receive its funding.

Covering more than 22,000 hectares, Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon stretches through five districts: Phong Dien, Quang Dien, Huong Tra, Phu Vang and Phu Loc. It is the largest lagoon in Southeast Asia with a diversified ecosystem which is home to thousands of aquatic species with a high economic value. Around 350,000 people earn their living from the lagoon therefore, protecting its resources is an urgent issue related to creating favourable conditions for local people to become involved in sustainable aquaculture.

Over the past two years, the fisheries sector in the province has proposed establishing a community-based seafood protection zone. In addition to Con Chum and Vinh Phu, five more protection zones have been set up on more than 160 hectares of the Tam Giang-Cau Hai Lagoon, including Con Cat in Dien Hai village, Doi Choi in Phu Dien, Dap Tay-Chua Ma in Vinh Giang, Vung Me in Quang Loi and Nui Quen in Loc Binh. The province is also planning to establish two more zones in Con Sao and Ganh Lang.

Thua Thien-Hue has banned seafood exploitation in these areas and authorized communes to manage the aquaculture zones.

Southern province to relocate government seat

Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, located in southern Vietnam, will officially move its seat of government to Ba Ria Town from Vung Tau City on April 30, according to Tran Minh Sanh, chairman of the provincial people’s committee.

The central government already had plans to construct new facilities in Ba Ria for relocating the local government seat here 19 years ago but, due to many reasons, the construction was only initiated in late 2009.

The office buildings where the province’s administration agencies will be located are nearly completed now, said the local Department of Construction, also the developer.

Nguyen Huu Manh, the department’s director, said the whole complex would be finished in late March.

Ba Ria, 20 kilometers northwest of the tourist City of Vung Tau, is the de facto seat of government as most of the province’s administration agencies are situated here although Vung Tau has been the provincial capital ever since Ba Ria-Vung Tau was established in 1991.

The relocation is intended to give impetus to the development of Ba Ria’s surrounding districts and, simultaneously, to make tourism the focus of Vung Tau, Sanh, the chairman, said.

Border gate gets master plan

The Prime Minister has approved a master plan for the Thanh Thuy border gate economic zone (EZ) in northern mountainous Ha Giang province to 2030.

The zone is set to become a trade and tourism complex aimed at promoting international integration and socio-economic development while ensuring national security.

The EZ is expected to have a population of about 35,000 – 40,000 people by 2030, about 60 percent of whom will be workers.

Seven economic centres are also scheduled to be established, including Thanh Thuy and Lao Chai as the two largest. Tourism sites will also be developed at Lang Ping, Suu and Nam Tha springs along with the Phong Quan and Tay Con Linh protected areas.

Infrastructure development is a key focus for comprehensive development of the EZ. New roads and bridges over the Lo River will be constructed along with upgrades to the portion of National Highway 4 which goes through the zone.

The EZ spreads over an area of more than 28,700ha through seven communes in Vi Xuyen and Phuong Do districts.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre