JICA helps Vietnam reduce landslides

The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) will help Vietnam manage and reduce landslide disaster in the transport sector.

This is part of a technical project signed in Hanoi on November 7 between JICA and the Ministry of Transport.

The five-year project is expected to help reduce the effects of landslides by developing new risk assessment technologies in monitoring and forecasting ground movements as well as enhancing the early warning system and disaster preparedness.

A feasibility study will be conducted in the selected sites along Ho Chi Minh Highway, National Highway 1 and north-south railway.

Vietnamese dies in Malaysia, family in the dark

Hong’s children distressed at their mother’s death. (Photo: VNE)
Nguyen Thi Hong, a mother of three who went to Malaysia last July to work as a domestic help, died there in a road accident, but her husband was not informed for two months.

Hong of Ha Tinh Province had sought to work abroad to earn enough money to pay for the treatment of their son who had pancreatic inflammation, Nguyen Van Hung, her husband said.

Through a broker, Hong contacted Tan Truong Son Company in Vinh for the employment paperwork.

"On July 24 my wife went to Saigon and then Malaysia, but since then I did not get a call from her or the company,” Hung said.

After waiting for weeks Hung went to the company several times to ask about her but was just told to wait.

On October 15 the commune police told him that Hong had died in Malaysia two months earlier. They had been informed by the company.

“We rushed to the company’s office for confirmation and they [the company] asked one member of my family to go with them to Malaysia to check. After reaching the country, my son-in-law found out that Hong had died on August 15 in a traffic accident.

“Why did the company not inform us about Hong’s death? Or was there any mystery in her death?”

On October 30 Hong’s body was brought to Vietnam – it is not cleat yet where her body had been kept for two months -- and Hung filed a petition to the district police seeking an investigation into Hong’s death and the company’s responsibility.

The district police have referred the case to the Ha Tinh Province police since it was not within its jurisdiction.

Dau Viet Hong, director of Tan Truong Son Company, told newswire VnExpress that Hong had gone abroad through a verbal contract with the company and a Malaysian woman named Lim Sew Fong.

Fong took Hong to Malaysia and introduced her to a family though not the one she had told the company.

Hong was killed along with her employer’s family in a car accident, but Fong only informed the company two months later.

“We could not contact the broker later and we asked the Malaysian police to help search for her,” Dau Viet Hong said.

The Malaysian police had made a report about the accident and the Vietnamese embassy in Malaysia had issued Hong’s death certificate for, he said.

No labor contract had been signed between Hong and her Malaysian employer. “It is a regretful incident arising out of our company’s negligence and we will have to be responsible for it,” he said.

Nguyen Dang Duong, head of the Nghe An Employment and Labor Division, told VnExpress that Tan Truong Son was not registered as a labor exporter.

Khanh Hoa hosts int’l conference on typhoon

The Typhoon Committee, an intergovernmental body, in collaboration with the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, is organizing a conference in Khanh Hoa province on measures to assess the damage and predict the impact of landing typhoons.

The November 7-11 event is attended by more than 70 specialists from 13 nations in the Asia-Pacific, the World Meteorological Organization, and the United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

At the opening ceremomy, participants agreed that Asia is the continent most vulnerable to natural disasters as more than 80 percent of its losses are inflicted by water-related phenomena.

Secretary of the Typhoon Committee Olavo Rasquinho highlighted the conference as an opportunity to join efforts in minimizing human losses and the effects of natural disasters on the economy, society and the environment, and in improving the living conditions of millions of people in typhoon-prone regions.

Delegates sought ways to deal with severe floods in Thailand.

Nguyen Van Tue, Vice Head of National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said in the past 10 years, natural disasters of various kinds have killed or left missing about 7,500 people in Vietnam and caused an economic loss equal to 1.5 percent of the country’s GDP.

At the conference, Vietnam will introduce the Typhoon Committee’s country members to its hydro-meteorological activities and efforts to cope with natural calamities.

Art program held to celebrate Buddhism

An art program themed “Vietnamese Buddhism accompanies the nation” has been held in Hanoi.

The program, which was one of the activities marking the 30th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), introduced a panoramic picture of the 2,000-year history of Buddhism in Vietnam highlighting the Sangha’s inception and its social and charitable activities.

Moving stories were told about numerous pagodas across the country which offer shelter and care to hundreds of orphans, children with disabilities and HIV/AIDS and Agent Orange/dioxin victims, as well as kind-hearted monks and nuns who spent their whole life caring for the poor and the unfortunates.

Addressing the event, Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Van Pha said the VBS’s 30-year history provides strong evidence of Buddhism harmony and unity.

He said he hoped the VBS will continue bringing into play its role as a member of the VFF and actively taking part in movements launched by the VFF.

Torrential rains continue to dampen central Vietnam

Torrential rains and floodwaters discharged by upstream hydropower dams continue to dampen the lives of millions of people in the central region of Vietnam.

Many road sessions of the central city of Da Dang, including the National Road 1A, have been submerged by floodwaters by 0.3-1 meter, causing serious traffic congestions.

Downpours in the central province of Quang Ngai have raised the water level of Tra Khuc, Ve, and Tra Bong rivers over the alarming level No.2, and caused serious landslides blocking many road sessions nearby and threatening the lives of many families there. 

Upstream dams in the central Thua Thien – Hue Province are overflowed, causing the water levels in the Huong and Bo rivers to exceed alarming level No.3 and flooding many road sessions in Hue City by 0.4-0.7 meter.

About 2,300 families in Huong Phong Commune have been isolated by rising floodwater which has risen about 0.5-1 meter high.

The situation in Quang Nam and Binh Dinh provinces have also been worsened as it did in aforementioned localities, with many remote areas also isolated by floodwater.

Eight hydropower dams in the region are draining water at a very fast pace, while 16 other dams are being filled up and will do so soon, said the regional storm and flood prevention center.

Local authorities have also been reported that the remaining dams in their provinces are discharging water or will likely to do so soon.

Provinces to set aside stock for Tet

Cities and provinces nationwide are set to reserve a significant volume of essential goods and foodstuff worth 2.64 trillion VND (126.5 million USD) to serve consumers during the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) Holiday under a price-stabilization program.

An official of the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said on Nov. 3 that the figure is much higher than that of 950 billion VND (45.5 million USD) spent by cities and provinces over the Tet holiday last year.

According to the department, the program has so far attracted 244 businesses from 47 cities and provinces to participate. Of this number, 61 companies will use their own capital to run the program without support from the State.

Under the program, businesses provide cheaper priced-commodities via two distribution channels. The first channel, accounting for 30 to 40 percent of the total supplies, is aimed at low to mid-income families, while the other focuses on wholesalers, trade centers and supermarkets.

In terms of pricing, businesses involved in the program will supply commodities at prices 5 to 15 percent lower than those on the market.

These companies will not be allowed to raise prices if the market prices go up. Also, they must reduce their prices by more than 5 percent if the market prices go down.

Deputy director of HCM City’s Department of Industry and Trade (DoIT) Nguyen Van Dong said that his department would provide favorable conditions for businesses to search for goods in other provinces to ensure low and stabilized prices. He also promised to conduct regular supermarket inspections and price stabilization shops to prevent speculation.

The MoF said that businesses involved in the program will be allowed to enjoy zero percent interest rates on bank loans. Compared with banks' current high lending interest rates over 20 percent, these companies are indeed given priority.

According to the MoF, HCM City is the leading city involved in these activities and was the first to run the program in 2002. Meanwhile, several other northern cities and provinces such as Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, and Bac Giang and the Central Highland province Kon Tum started implementing the program in 2008.

Official ignorant of subordinate’s ingratiatory test-taking

Following a case in which an official sat an exam ‘on behalf of’ his superior, the deputy director of the National Politics and Administration Academy Le Quoc Ly, told Tuoi Tre yesterday that such act was unacceptable.

Signing on the attendance sheet or sitting exams for others was intolerable and such acts must not be covered up in any way,” Ly said.

He made the statement in reference to the case in which Phan Thanh Quang, deputy head of a measurement division at the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment was caught sitting an exam in place of Nguyen Trong Dong, deputy director of the department, at the Le Hong Phong Officials’ Training School on October 19.

Quang later claimed in a report that he “voluntarily took the exam for Dong since Dong was on a business trip that day.” He also explained he wanted “to ingratiate himself with Dong.”
Ly said such as case was “abnormal”.

After Quang’s act was discovered, it is rumored that Dong did not attend classes and had somebody sign the attendance sheets for him but he rejected the allegation.

It is unacceptable for any official to plead being busy to have someone sit an exam for him, Ly said.

“When trainees only want to get a certificate as a platform for their career, they will pay no attention to what they are taught at the course. They came to class only to be present for roll call…”

Dong’s innocent: school’s report

Nguyen Van Sau, the school’s head master, had earlier confirmed that Dong had applied for absence at the exam because he would be busy on the exam day. “He thus didn’t cheat,” Sau said.

Based on the school’s report, Dong did not ask Quang to sit the exam for him, said Nguyen Thi Vinh, deputy head of the Hanoi Interior Department, which manages all officials’ training courses.

Yesterday, Vu Van Hau, director of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the agency would consider a disciplinary action against Quang for his act.

As for Dong, Hau said his department would continue working with the school and the Interior department to clarify the allegation against him.

US helps Vietnam fight HIV/AIDS

A conference on HIV prevention and treatment for intravenous drug users opened in Ho Chi Minh City on November 7 by the US President  Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Coordination Office.  

Since 2005, PEPFAR has provided more than US$400 million for Vietnam to help the country with comprehensive services to control the epidemic.

The Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health, Nguyen Thi Xuyen, praised the organization’s contribution to HIV prevention in Vietnam which enables the country to obtain remarkable achievements in combating the deadly disease.

The conference lasts four days.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre/VNE