Stele to honor late premier unveiled

The stele in memory of the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in Vung Liem District, Vinh Long Province. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Largest fossil fuel themo-electric plant to be built        

Construction of the Quang Trach 1 Thermo-electric Plant will commence on July 19 in Quang Dong Commune, Quang Trach District in the central province of Quang Binh.

The plant, which will cover 199.3ha of land and 100ha of sea, will use imported coal from Indonesia and Australia.

With a capacity of 1,200MW per day, the plant will be the largest fossil fuel thermo-electric plant in the country when it is completed.

Total investment capital for the project will hit US$1.2 billion.

PetroVietnam is the project's main investor. The Government has tasked PetroVietnam with ensuring 9,000MW of output per year from 2015-2020, accounting for 25 per cent of the country's electricity output.

The Quang Trach project is one of six the company has undertaken to fulfil its task.

The plant is expected to go into operation in June 2015 and supply about 8.4 billion Kwh per year.

Hanoi bar club fire kills two

A huge fire hit the Ez Club situated in Hanoi’s 55 Ma May street Thursday afternoon, killing two people.

Eyewitnesses said the blaze broke out from the club’s 3rd floor and quickly spread to the second and the first floors respectively due to inflammable materials.

Many employees chaotically rushed outside shortly after the fire.

Local firefighters arrived on the scene 30 minutes later to extinguish the fire.

It took 2 hours for them to put down the blaze

Two people inside the club were found dead, probably due to suffocation.

At 20:00 pm the same day, another fire hit the third floor of the house no. 89 also located on Ma May street, just meters away from the Ez Club. The fire was put under control about one hour and a half later.

The incidents also reportedly blocked some roads nearby for many hours.

Total losses were initially estimated up to some billions of dong.

Police are investigating.

High temperature causes fire on Hai Van pass

A high temperature coupled with strong winds yesterday caused a fire to break out on the Hai Van Pass in Thua Thien-Hue Province and spread to Da Nang City, burning at least 20 hectares of forest.
The fire started at 12:30 pm in the production forest in Thua Thien Hue’s Phu Loc District and rapidly spread to the nearby Northern Hai Van preventive forest.
Tran Van Gian, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Phu Loc District’s Lang Co Town said the district had to deploy more than 100 civil servants, rangers, border guards and local residents to help extinguish the fire.

At 3:30 pm, the fire in Thue Thien Hue was put under control but the blaze in Da Nang City continued on until 5 pm when the first fire truck was able to approach the fire.

The fire could not be put out until the evening. According to an initial calculation, the blaze consumed at least 20 hectares of forests in Thua Thien-Hue Province and Da Nang City.

1 killed in HCMC bloody rumble

One man killed and some injured in a bloody fight between two groups of harbor laborers in Hoang Quoc Viet street in district 7 Thursday morning.

Initial investigations found the two groups had made an appointment to handle mutual unresolved conflicts.

Eyewitnesses said the two gangs attacked each other with knife and scimitars and other weapons.

Nguyen Van Cuong, 34, hailing from Dong Thap southern province was killed during the clash.

Police in district 7 arrested four suspected men the same day and are promptly conducting investigations.

1 motorcyclist dead in Nha Trang hit-and-run crash

A truck crashed into a 53 year-old motorcyclist and immediately killed him at the crossroad of Cao Ba Quat – Le Hong Phong in Nha Trang central coastal city Thursday night.

The driver fled the scene shortly after causing the accident.

The motorcycle was seen lying underneath the truck.

Police identified the dead victim as Nguyen Duy Lang hailing from the city’s Vinh Thanh Ward.

Poultry prices cut in HCM City plan

The HCM City Department of Finance on Wednesday announced that the price of poultry meat sold under the city's price stabilisation programme would drop by VND2,000-6,500 a kilo.

Companies that participate in the programme will cut the price of industrial-bred chicken from VND90,000kg to VND83,000-85,000 kg.

Meanwhile, the price of duck has also fallen from VND64,000kg to VND62,000 a kg.

Nguyen Quoc Chien, head of the department's Price Division, attributed the price decline to the price of materials input for poultry breeding has been cut by 3-7 per cent. Poultry sales have been falling.

Based on inputs

Under the city's price stabilisation programme, participating companies have to reduce the price of the price-stabilised goods when the input cost of price-stabilised goods falls by 5 per cent.

The price of these goods must be 10 per cent lower than market prices.

The department estimates that from now to the year-end the supply of poultry will be abundant, as breeders have increased the number of poultry and the price is expected to be stable.

The department is also considering cutting the price of eggs under the price stabilisation prog-ramme.

The prices of several kinds of goods, including milk products, foodstuff and cosmetics, have been falling since early this month because of the government's macro-economic stabilisation policies, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper has reported.

The depreciation of the US dollar against the dong has caused the prices of several imported goods to fall.

A representative of the supermarket chain Co.op Mart said many milk suppliers had reduced the price of their products by 3-5 per cent over the past two weeks.

Nguyen Phuong Thao, director of Maximark Cong Hoa, said her supermarket had received price-reduction information from suppliers for several products, from foodstuff to cosmetics.

Beside reducing prices, suppliers have also worked with supermarkets to launch price promotion programmes.

Meanwhile, the price of vegetables at markets have become stable or even lower because of abundant supply.

The quantity of vegetables and agricultural produce from Da Lat supplied to the Tan Xuan Wholesale Market on Tuesday reached 720 tonnes, up 100 tonnes compared to last week, according to the market management board.

The prices of several vegetables at the market, including carrots, spinach and watercress fell by 20-40 per cent.

HCMC crossroad blocked by uprooted tree

A mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) with a trunk up to 1m diameter unexpectedly uprooted at a busy crossroad of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Mai Thi Luu in Ho Chi Minh City’s district 1 early Thursday morning, blocking the roads for hours.

The incident also reportedly caused an electric power pole to collapse and severed some cables.

Local residents said no one was killed or injured from the incident.

Immediately after being informed, workers from Ho Chi Minh City Green Tree and Park Company arrived on the scene to cut down the uprooted tree into smaller parts to handle the gridlock.

Khmer ethnic people to be hooked to grid

Electricity of Viet Nam has started a VND300 billion (US$14.5 million) project to supply power to Khmer ethnic people in Vien Binh Commune, in southern Soc Trang Province's Tran De District early this week.

Upon completion of the two year project, an additional 20,000 Khmer households will be connected to the power grid.

To date, about 98 per cent of the province's residents have been connected to the grid.

Bill suggests community services for traffic law violators

Traffic law violators will have to do community services, said a new bill on administrative violations to be voted on later this year.

The duration of a community service penalty will be 30 hours at most and there will be no payment for the services rendered, Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong said.
This new penalty will only be imposed on administrative violations of security and order, social safety, environmental protection, and traffic safety.
It must not be applied to violators who are under 15 years old or women over 55 or men over 60.
Local authorities where the violators live will monitor and supervise the execution of the forced community services, Cuong added.
But Cuong said because in other countries, courts hold the authority to issue a community service penalty rather than the administration in power as in Vietnam, his ministry would have to consult the government about this issue before putting the bill on the agenda for the second session of the National Assembly this year.

Food violations found in Lam Dong

Inspectors in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highland) province of Lam Dong's uncovered food safety and hygiene regulatory violations by 92 food producers and traders during a month-long inspection of 341 local food establishments.

Nine were suspended from operation and 21 were fined VND42 million ($2,000).

The inspection was conducted after more than 430 tourists suffered from food poisoning after eating at a local restaurant in Loc An Commune, Bao Lam District early last month.

A broken waste water pipe was later confirmed to have contaminated the restaurant's water source.

Low-quality medicines confiscated

Three types of low-quality medicines have been ordered confiscated throughout the central southern province of Binh Dinh, according to vice-director of the provincial Health Department, Tran Van Chuong.

The three medicines, including Omag-20, Seachfol-Z, Cam Xuyen Huong-Kigona, were found not to meet standards of solubility and weight uniformity.

Many power projects cut to help control inflation

The Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) and its subsidiaries have decided to cancel construction of 300 projects with total investment of VND12.5 trillion (US$609 million) in response to Government Resolution 11.

The resolution was passed to control inflation, stabilise the macroeconomy and ensure social security.

EVN reviewed its investment plans and was able to identify projects which could be cancelled without affecting the nation's power supply or other key projects of constructions.

Its subsidiaries have been actively co-operating with localities to develop land for the construction of power supply facilities as well as developing awareness raising programmes to inform the public about the need to save power.

EVN statistics reveal that the country saved 530 million KWh of electricity in the first half of the year.

The group also reports several successes so far this year. It has developed power supply systems for the Khmer ethnic minority in southern Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh and Soc Trang provinces, and poor households in northern Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien provinces.

EVN said that 1,700MW was added to the country's power system in the first six months of the year as a result of five new power projects with total capacity of 1,085MW. At the same time, power demand in the period was 18.3 per cent less than predicted.

It also completed 56 power grids ranging from 110KV to 500KV.

The group said that electricity regulations and controls had been effective due to a higher water level in reservoirs and power savings in production and consumption.

The group said the power system was expected to reach 314.5 million kWh per day this month.

EVN plans to maximise output by hydropower plants and mobilise other resources such as coal and turbines in addition to importing electricity to meet the country's socio-economic development needs.

The group has asked units to ensure adequate power for the upcoming university entrance exam and help localities prepare for flood prevention.

30 indicted for robbing doctors after patient’s death

Police yesterday, July 7, filed charges against 30 people who last week vandalized, looted, and robbed two doctors who - due to their negligence - indirectly caused a rape victim to die in Ca Mau province.
Police said the mob had no family relation with Duong Thi Thu Huyen, the 17-year-old patient who died on June 29 at Nam Can Hospital in Ca Mau.
They only took advantage of the situation to destroy and loot the houses of doctor Nguyen Duy Tu and doctor Tran Thien Thanh - Nam Can hospital’s director - and destroyed their properties on June 30.
Tu was on duty the night Huyen was admitted in an unconscious state, apparently from being brutally raped.
Tu only did a cursory check and announced Huyen was in no danger though she was suffering from a brain trauma. After Huyen died, her relatives put her in a cart and wheeled her body around the hospital in protest.

Investigation found out that the mob was incited by Nguyen Hoang Long, 30, who later confessed he initially called on some residents to bring Huyen’s corpse to the hospital and the doctors’ houses to simply demand compensations.
After damaging the houses, Long attempted to bring Huyen’s body to Ca Mau City to continue the vandalizing but was stopped by river traffic police.
However, the indicted claimed that their acts were to protest against Huyen’s death.
Meanwhile, police have arrest Le Quoc Lo for allegedly raping Huyen on June 27. On July 5, they filed charges against him.

CEO seized in million-dollar Galatic land scam

Hanoi police yesterday, July 7, arrested the chairman and CEO of Hanoi-based Galaxy BSG Vietnam International Trading JSC for setting up a bogus real estate project to sell lands it did not own.
Nguyen Huu Trong, of the Galaxy BSG Vietnam International Trading JSC, in Hanoi’s Cau Giay District, was arrested for swindling at least VND29 billion (US$1.41 million).
Besides Trong, 30, the police also arrested Bui Thi Hoa, 44, manager of the ‘project’, and Nguyen Nha Trang, 29, who is Trong’s co-founder of Galaxy BSG and the project designer.

Trang, from Hanoi’s Dong Da District, was indicted in October 2008, but has since been let on bail as she is having a baby under 36 months old.

In addition, Luu Thi Huong, a Galaxy BSG employee, was also detained.
All the four have been indicted, police said.

According to initial investigation, Trong and Trang set up the fake project called “Galatic BSG Upscale Residential Quarter” in the Nam Trung Yen Urban Area and then offered to sell the land for VND80 million ($3,900) per square meter.
To lure buyers, Hoa showed them many counterfeit documents that proved the company owned 5,000 m2 of land in Nam Trung Yen.
Trong even had his staff take potential buyers to the ‘project site’ in Nam Trung Yen.
One of Trong’s victims is Tran D., 55, from Hai Ba Trung District, who paid VND23 billion ($1.12 million) for 4 land plots.
Another victim from Tay Hoa District also paid Trong VND6 billion.

HCMC foreign backpackers spend $583 per stay

Foreign backpacking tourists who stay in the Backpacker’s Area in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 spend about VND12 million (US$583) per stay.
The figure is included in a report delivered by Dr. Nguyen Duc Tri, head the Tourism Department of the HCM City University of Economics, at a seminar titled “Planning the Pham Ngu Lao Tourism Area” held by the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism yesterday.
On average, a foreigner stays for a week in the backpacker’s area that comprises Pham Ngu Lao, Bui Vien and De Tham streets.
The area receives about 1,900 alien backpackers per day.
The quarter has long been attractive to foreigners as it offers them a range of diverse services at reasonable prices, including hotels, restaurants, bars, cafés, foreign exchange counters, vehicle renting, tourism agents and souvenir shops.

Illegal sand dredging threatens Hanoi rivers

Sand thieves have been illegally mining for sand for over ten years in Ha Noi, wasting natural resources, eroding the dike system, hindering waterway traffic, polluting the environment and sinking houses on the riverbanks.

Though police and relevant agencies have interfered, no concrete action has been taken.

Due to such illegal acts, many acres of paddy fields along the riverbank in Yen Phu and Xuan Lai hamlets have been eroded and turned into barren and uncultivatable land.

As sand has been extracted en-masse causing an empty layer underneath, farming on such lands could lead to their collapse into the river. The situation proves most dire at the Mom dune where sand ‘piracy’ occurs the most.

About ten hectares of alluvial plain in Yen Phu and Xuan Lai hamlets is estimated to be lost to such illegal dredging.

The thieves use unlicensed boats and hire amateur miners, police found.

Although police have many times inspected and confiscated all equipment on 6 sand-dredging vessels, the investigation and prosecution is still limited.

Bac Giang province also suffers from this issue.

Back in May, 2009, one such sand exploitation claimed one life at Bac Giang’s Thuong River in Lang Giang district. After being caught red-handed sucking sand, the ‘pirates’ on three boats turned aggressive and attacked the police, killing one traffic cop and injuring 3 others.

Local Red Cross chairman found destroying forest

Huynh Nguyen Ngoc, chairman of the Red Cross of Phu Yen Province’s Tay Hoa District has been accused of cutting down two acres of forest that belonged to the provincial Military Committee to expand his land.

Ngoc told the district People’s Committee that he had only cut down the trees to make way for an entrance to his family’s cattle ranch.

But Nguyen Huu Thoi, Chairman of the People’s Committee, said an investigation had found there was no cattle ranch in the area under question and Ngoc’s activity would be handled according to the law.

Low wages drive workers away from industrial zones

Many firms in industrial and processing zones in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring province are finding it hard to recruit as few people are willing to work for throwaway wages.

Nhu Quynh, an officer of the human resource department at Vinarack Corporation in Thu Duc District, said her company had only managed to recruit 10 workers who are willing to work for a monthly wage of up to VND2.5 million (US$100). Vinarack however needs 130 workers, Quynh said.

The Binh Duong-based Perstima Corporation and Sinh Dong Company in District 12 are facing a similar problem. Offering the same wage as Vinarack, they haven’t been able to recruit enough workers.

Nguyen Thanh Tung, director of the Center for Recruitment of HCMC-based Industrial and Processing zones, said his center is also desperately searching for more than 5,000 workers who are willing to work for up to VND3.5 million ($175) per month.

“The firms have even lowered requirements for workers’ education and ages, but still can’t find enough workers,” Tung said.

For their parts, workers say those wage levels are simply not competitive.

Nguyen Van Qua, a constructor in District 9, said VND3 million isn’t attractive enough to skilled and experienced workers like him who can find better employment elsewhere.

“This level is even lower than levels for sub-constructors,” Qua said. “How could you expect people to work for that?”

Nguyen Xuan Thuy, head of the operation office at Mtex Company, said only when firms are willing to offer enough for workers to live on can they hope to solve their shortage problem. Thuy said another solution is for firms to enhance their production technologies so that fewer workers will be required.

Nguyen Tan Dinh, deputy head of the management board of the industrial parks and processing zones in HCMC, said wage levels play an important role in recruitment. He said his board would petition the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for a rise in wages to provide workers with a better life and help solve firms’ worker shortage.

Two killed in car crash on national highway

Two drivers were instantly killed and five passengers were seriously injured in a car crash on National Highway 1A’s section in central Ha Tinh Province’s Ky Anh District earlier yesterday, July 7.

The police said a van was heading northward at a high speed when it crashed into a truck coming from a different lane at Km 551+200.

The accident left the two vehicles badly damaged.

The deceased were identified as Nguyen Van Trung, 25 from Nghe An Province and Nguyen Ba Hai, 29 from Da Lat City.

The five injured passengers are undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital.

Woman slapping policeman claims to have nervous problem

A Ho Chi Minh City resident who has recently slapped a traffic policeman and fainted in a Youtube video claimed to have a nervous problem.
In the video, 18-year-old Pham Thi My Linh pushed and slapped the two policemen and fainted in Le Van Khuong Street in HCMC’s District 12.
According to a report submitted by Nguyen Duc Anh and intern Vu Quang Long, while on duty at 4.30 pm on July 2, the two spotted Truong Thi Hanh, 37, from Dist 12’s Tan Thoi Hiep Ward carrying two other people in her back.
They signaled Hanh to stop to check for her driving documents. Hanh showed the policemen a bike registration license but said she had never heard about anything like a driver’s license. Anh then filed a report and told Hanh that her bike would be kept for 10 days.
Hanh then snatched her bike registration license back and insulted Anh. She intended to go but was stopped by the police. Hanh’s daughter, Linh, then pushed Anh away for her mother to escape. When Long held Linh back, she slapped him on the face and head, shouted and fainted on the street.
In an interview with Tuoi Tre, Le Van Ray, head of Ward 12’s traffic police said Hanh had apologized for the incident and said Linh suffered from a nervous problem that made her easily lose her temper and faint.
But Ray said Hanh hadn’t provided any medical record to prove Linh’s health problem.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre