Liquor maker donates fresh-water systems

Around 12,000 students in 24 schools in the central province of Ninh Thuan will be given access to clean water thanks to water supply systems that were installed yesterday, Sep 8.

The systems supply water treated with ultra-violet technology to the schools in Phan Rang city and Thuan Bac, Thuan Nam, Bac Ai, Ninh Son, and Ninh Hai Districts.

Until now the schools used water from ponds and there were no drinking-water taps.

The systems cost — and this was donated by alcoholic beverage producer Diageo Viet Nam Ltd. Charity organisation East Meets West co-ordinated the programme.

Truck causes wooden bridge to collapse in province

A truck overloaded with 12 tonnes of soybean oil cakes crushed Muong Lo Bridge in Tien Giang southern province at Thursday dawn, causing massive traffic jams on both sides of the bridge.

The 12m-long wooden bridge crumpled under the massive weight of the truck on September 8.  (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

There were no any reports of human casualties from the mishap.

Local authorities have put in place an emergency plan repair plan for the bridge.

It is expected to reopen after 3 days.

Suspect in boy killing turns himself

Police in Thanh Hoa central province say a 16-year-old man, who has been suspected of killing a boy who stole guava fruits from his garden last Sunday, has turned himself in to authorities.

Nguyen Van Duong, born in 1995, turned himself in on Thursday and confessed to his killing of 15-year-old Dinh Van Hung, who lived in Bac Son Ward in Thanh Hoa’s Sam Son District.

Duong has been kept in custody and charged with murder.

On September 4 afternoon, Hung together with four of his friends came to the river near his house for a swim. When they found some banana tree trunks floating in the river, they clung to them and swam to the other riverbank located in Chau Chinh hamlet in Quang Chau commune to steal guava fruits from Duong’s garden.

However, Duong caught their act and chased after to beat them. Hung could not escape since he was stuck in the tree. Duong then beat and thrust him down to the river. Hung died on the way to hospital.

Housing for State workers examined

The Ha Noi People's Committee has suspended granting land to and setting up new accommodation projects for State employees due to several cases of misconduct and insufficiency.

At the beginning of this year, city authorities had planned to build houses for around 580,000 people by 2015.

The number of State employees receiving salaries out of the State budget (currently around 355,200) is the highest in the country, according to the Ha Noi Statistics Department.

Since 2006, the city has approved 206 sites, covering an area of more than 596ha, on which to build accommodation for State employees.

To date, while nearly 30 projects have been started, some have fallen behind schedule and there have been signs of others being sold, purchased and used unlawfully.

The municipal People's Committee has called on the city departments of Planning and Investment, Construction, and Natural Resources and Environment to conduct an overall inspection of all projects by the end of next month.

Vu Ngoc Dam, head of the Department of Construction's Housing Development Division, said that inspections would start next week.

Violators could face fines of up to VND20 million (US$975), he added.

Housing regulations stipulate that State employees without accommodation, or those with accommodation smaller than 5sq.m per person, could be eligible for housing support.

8 arrested for stealing goods en route to port

The Dong Nai Province police have arrested eight men for stealing goods from containers being transported to a Ho Chi Minh City port for export.

With assistance from the Ministry of Public Security, they caught Tran Quang Hoat, 35, a driver from Bien Hoa city, and Nguyen Vuong Binh, 22, of Binh Thuan Province, Hoat’s assistant.

In the last two months Hyosung and Tongkook, two companies based in Dong Nai’s Nhon Trach District, reported big losses after their goods were stolen several times en route to Cat Lai Port.

But every time the seals on the container doors remained intact, making it hard to detect at what stage they were stolen.

Following complaints from the companies, the Nhon Trach police began investigating, focusing on some drivers from Tri Tin Transport Company in Bien Hoa, a subcontractor for Ho Chi Minh City-based Toan Cau Logistics Company, which transported the goods for Hyosung and Tongkook.

On August 30, a month after they began their probe, the police caught Hoat and Binh stealing from a container.

They confessed to the police that they opened the seals without fear of detection since Hoat had learnt from other drivers how to replace the genuine spring inside with a softer one.

From their confessions, the police arrested six other men, including two drivers and four others who sold the stolen goods.

They confessed to stealing seven times and that the value of the goods was at least US$20,000.

Hoat also admitted to stealing goods from containers transported to several ports in HCMC and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

The police are expanding their investigation to track down others involved in the racket.

US backs efforts to cut tropical diseases

Viet Nam yesterday renewed its efforts in eliminating and controlling neglected tropical diseases with support from the United States.

Diseases set to receive attention include lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), trachoma (eye infection) and intestinal ailments.

Viet Nam is expected to have eliminated elephantiasis and trachoma by 2014 and 2016 following a 10-year control programme, according to the World Health Organisation.

The US Agency for International Development will provide technical assistance to the Health Ministry to strengthen efforts to include surveys, surveillance activities and training in elephantiasis patient care.

Boy, 13, brain-dead after saving drowning classmate

A 13-year-old boy who saved his classmate from drowning in a river in Quang Nam Province yesterday, Sep 8, is tragically brain-dead himself.

Tran Van Nguyen was exhausted after he rescued Nguyen Van Thoi, who nearly drowned while bathing with Nguyen and five others in a river in Nui Thanh District.

After managing to bring Thoi ashore, Nguyen passed out on the bank and was taken to the Quang Nam General Hospital for emergency treatment where doctors pronounced him brain-dead.

The other boys who witnessed the incident said after bathing Nguyen had come shore but did not find Thoi and plunged back into the river again to find Thoi nearly drowning.

The seven had gone bathing after practicing for a dragon show they were to perform at the school for the Mid-Autumn Festival September 12, teachers said.

Nguyen was the only child in his family and an outstanding student, they added.

Internet fraudsters expelled from VN

Police in the southern province of Phu Yen yesterday announced that 59 people from mainland China and Taiwan who had been convicted of international internet fraud were to be expelled from the country and banned from returning for five years.

Colonel Nguyen Trung Nghia of the Phu Yen Public Security Department said they would also have to pay a fine of US$59,000.

The group were caught committing internet and telephone fraud on September 5. They are thought to have defrauded innocent Chinese civilians out of up to 500,000 yuan.

Police are also investigating three Vietnamese people involved in the case.

Killer's mother released, aunt charged

The mother of Le Van Luyen who murdered three people at a gold shop in Bac Giang Province last month, has been removed from the prosecution list while his aunt was added to it, the Bac Giang Province police said on Wednesday.

The police released Truong Thi Thom, 38, Luyen’s mother, as there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute her. Luyen’s aunt, Le Thi Dinh, who accommodated Luyen while he was at large and helped him hide the robbed assets in her house, would be charged, the police said.

On August 24, 18-year-old Luyen killed Trinh Van Ngoc, 37, his wife Dinh Thi Chin, 35, and his daughter Trinh Phuong Thao, 18 months old, and cut off the right arm of 9-year-old Trinh Ngoc Bich, another daughter of the couple, at Ngoc Bich Jewelry Shop in Luc Nam District.

He then went to Lang Son and stayed at Dinh’s house. On August 28, Dinh’s husband Le Van Nghi took Luyen to China but took him back three days later. Luyen was captured on August 31. The police said because he took Luyen back, Nghi wouldn’t be prosecuted.

Besides Luyen and Dinh, four others would be tried. They are Le Van Mien, 42, Luyen’s father; Truong Thanh Hong, 19, Luyen’s cousin; Truong Van Hop, 47, Hong’s father; and Duong Thi Luoc, 44, Hong’s mother.

Mien and Hong are charged with “hiding a criminal,” while the other three are indicted for “not reporting a crime.”

Luyen admitted to the crimes and told the police he had acted alone. DNA testing confirmed there was only Luyen’s blood sample besides blood samples of the four victims.

The Bac Giang Province Bar Association assigned lawyer Nguyen Ba Ngoc, director of the Law One-Member Co Ltd, as the defending lawyer for Luyen Wednesday.

Industrial park inspected for polluting acts

The Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Council has inspected the Le Minh Xuan Industrial Area after receiving complaints from locals.

After checking Gate No. 6 and 8, Canal B and 9, the inspectors found the wastewater discharged from the industrial area had a dark brown color and bad odor.

Previously, local residents complained about waste, air, and noise pollution as well as bad odors of pesticides and dyes.

According to Nguyen Van Truong, Deputy Head of Binh Chanh District’s People’s Committee, the district had also taken sample of 53 canals in the area and found all of them to be polluted.

Pham Van Dong, head of the People’s Council Economics and Budget Committee, said today the committee would talk to Le Minh Xuan’s management board about the complaints. 

HCMC requested to remove nail traps

The Ho Chi Minh City transportation association last Wednesday asked the municipal police to remove the nail traps aimed at cars.

Nails as big as 5x6cm, have been found on major streets including Hanoi Highway, Road 25B, Nguyen Van Linh Street, and National Road 1A.

The nails are scattered by the repair shops which charge VND100,000-400,000 (US$5-20) to fix a flat tire.

HCMC to try assaulters of Dutchman

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy may suggest a 3 years in prison for each of the three restaurant guards who assaulted 62-year-old Le Van Ngai, a Vietnamese-Dutch man at Minh Duc Restaurant last year.

According to the indictment, which has been sent to the HCMC People’s Court for trial, 23-year-old Bui Dinh Hoang and 20-year-old Duong Trong Nghia from HCMC and 32-year-old Nguyen Minh Duong from Long An Province were employees of Thanh Cong Security Services Co Ltd. which was contracted to guard the restaurant and its passengers’ vehicles last year.

On the evening of July 30, 2010, after dining at the restaurant, Ngai handed his parking ticket to Hoang whom Ngai thought would take his motorbike out from the parking lot for him. However, Hoang refused, saying he was too busy to handle Ngai’s bike.

This started a quarrel between Hoang and Ngai. Later, Hoang and the two other guards, Nghia and Duong, beat Ngai with an electric baton. Ngai tried to escape but Hoang called some more guards to attack him.

According to Lao Dong Newspaper, Ngai passed out after being assaulted. When he regained consciousness, he called the police, which further enraged the assaulters who continued to beat him.

The police later came and arrested the three guards. Ngai, who suffered injuries on his arms, back and face, was taken to Franco-Vietnamese Hospital. He was later confirmed to suffer an 8 percent permanent injury.

Hanoi Int’l Theatre Society aid secondary school in Ninh Binh

The Hanoi International Theatre Society (HITS) will provide ten computers and two air-conditioners to a secondary school in the northern province of Ninh Binh on September 10.

The aims to help ethnic minority teachers and students as well as local farmers to access information technology (IT) and get updated information on agricultural production.

The equipment will be sent to Ninh Binh through the Highland Education Development Organization (HEDO) - a nongovernmental organization working to improve education for ethnic minority people and children in remote areas of Vietnam.

The equipment was bought with proceeds from a HITS programme entitled “My Fair Lady”, which was recently performed in English and completely subtitled in Vietnamese.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre