S.Korean firm’s managers denounced for beating workers

Workers at South Korean-financed Wondo Vina Garment Factory in Tien Giang Province's Cho Gao District have denounced the firm’s human resources managers for beating some of their fellow workers.

The workers are among 3,000 who stopped working on September 4 morning to oppose the factory for not paying them bonuses on Reunification Day (April 30), May Day (May 1) and National Day (September 2). Plus, they only received unsuitable subsidies for their extra working time.

According to the workers, when they stopped work, Head of the factory’s Human Resource Department, Phan Chi Do, beat some of them.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of the department took the electric rod of a body guard and pressed it against a pregnant female worker who then fell to the ground.

Therefore, a worker smashed the bodyguard’s room and hundreds of others surrounded the human resources area to oppose the managers’ behaviour.

Due to the stressful atmosphere, several workers fell into a faint.

Later, traffic police had to protect the two human resource managers. One of the policemen confirmed the use of the electric rod to attack the woman.

Authorities of Cho Gao District have advised workers not to behave impatiently and to work with the factory’s management board to settle the problem.

Four arrested for trafficking 30,000 packs of cigarettes

The Crime Investigation Police in Ho Chi Minh City on September 4 detained four smugglers who were caught trafficking in 30,000 packs offoreign cigarettes.

A day earlier, the City Police had raided a house on Ba Diem 12 Street in Nam Lan Village in Ba Diem Commune in Hoc Mon District and found a truck containing more than 15,000 packs of foreign cigarettes.

Keeping a close eye on the house, the police then detected Duong Minh Hoang, 38, delivering the cigarettes to Lam Van Xuan, 46, in District 12.

From him, police seized nearly 10,000 packs of cigarettes.

At the house, police also uncovered three more packages of cigarettes in the kitchen.

After the confessions of the two men, police arrested Vo Quang Cha, 35, and Dang Thanh Quoc, 23, both from the Mekong delta province of Vinh Long who were also dealing in cigarette smuggling.

Police said these people belonging to the large scale cigarette trafficking ring led by a couple T. Each day, people in the ring make from 15 to 20 deliver trips  from Duc Hoa District in the Mekong delta province of Long An to the house for later consumption.

Company official arrested for fraud

Ha Noi Police yesterday arrested the vice general director of the State-owned Quang Trung Engineering Limited Company, Nguyen Duy Xuyen, 58, for intentionally violating regulations on economic management.

The alleged violations are reported to have led to the financial collapse of the company.

Police investigations revealed that in the last two years, Xuyen, who was also director of an import-export service factory, a subsidiary of the company, abused his power to borrow nearly VND50 billion (US$2.3 million) from two banks.

He allegedly used VND28 billion ($1.3 million) to invest in another company owned by his family. He is also alleged to have misused more than VND32 billion ($1.5 million).

Police are investigating Xuyen's violations and the involvement of other people.

Remains of US servicemen repatriated

Remains of US servicemen who died during the Vietnam War were handed over to the US at the Danang International Airport on September 4.

Present at the event were representatives from the Board of Directors of Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Personnel (VNOSMP) and the Consulate General of the US in HCM City, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and the US MIA Office in Hanoi.

The Vietnamese representatives handed over to the US three boxes of remains which were turned in by Vietnamese people and recovered by joint teams during the 112th Joint Field Activities from July to September 2013.

The remains had been jointly reviewed and concluded byVietnamese and US forensic specialists that they might be associated with the US servicemen missing during the Vietnam war and were recommended to be brought to Hawaii island, the US, for further review.

Addressing the ceremony, a US Government representative expressed high appreciation for the steadfast humanitarian policy, goodwill and increasingly efficient cooperation of the Vietnamese Government and people.

The search for the remains of US servicemen missing during the Vietnam War is a humanitarian cooperation between the Vietnamese and US Governments. This is the 128th hand-over of American missing servicemen’s remains since 1973.

Russia still needs legal Vietnamese workers

The Russian Government’s recent ratification of the immigrant worker agreement with Vietnam is suitable with the two sides’ socio-economic development goals, Vladimir Volokh, head of the Russian Federal Migration Service's Public Council, has said.

Radio the Voice of Russia quoted the official saying the agreement signed in 2008 will help officialise the immigration and put forth specific measures to accelerate the process.

He also noted that 100,000 Vietnamese guest workers worked in the former Soviet Union, mainly in Russia, in the 1980s.

Vietnamese workers have made considerable contributions to the economy, he said, adding that this is a great source of labour force. Russia now needs to utilize in an open and legal manner.

He stressed that Russia must simplify its migration procedures as the country’s employment permit system is so complicated that a large number of immigrants are working illegally.

In reducing the number of illegally immigrant workers in Russia, the nation should provide more information to help overseas workers better understand its immigration policies and regulations, the official said.

Russia’s agencies need to strictly investigate and detect the cases of illegal immigration and impose serious punishments on individuals and state agencies and officials involved in the illegal immigration activities, he said.

Pedestrians to finally get a better deal

More than VND1.8 trillion (US$85.7 million) is expected to be invested in repairing and resurfacing the pavements in more than 600 streets in Ha Noi over the next seven years, according to the city's Transport Department.

Deputy director of the department, Nguyen Xuan Tan, said pavements had been rampantly dug up and destroyed by projects to put power lines and other cables underground and building construction.

He said that on top of this, motorbike parking, phone boxes, transformer stations and illegal advertising boards set up on pavements had further degraded the streets. This lowered the image of the city and continued to block pedestrians.

Tan said no relevant agencies took responsibility for managing pavements. Department statistics show that nearly 400 out of more than 600 pavements in the city are seriously run down.

Nguyen Ha Anh, a resident from Dong Da District, complained that it was hard to walk on street pavements because they were too uneven and narrow.

They were dirty on rainy days and covered with mud and sand left by construction sites.

Le Van Sang from Thanh Xuan District said he was once trapped in a hole on Chua Boc Street at a night.

He added that he was lucky to attract help from some people nearby.

Other pavements are taken up by cloth vendors and motorbikes, so there is little room for pedestrians.

Under the city's draft plan, five pavements in each district will be upgraded under a pilot scheme during 2013-14. A set of design models is expected to define paving materials, colours, shapes and sizes of pavements suitable for different locations.

These must also suit the movement of disabled people. Infrastructure works built on pavements will be removed if they are considered unnecessary. All street pavements will be then repaired.

According to the city's Department of Architecture and Planning, there should be a database listing the location of telephone boxes, electricity poles, power transformer stations and information boxes on pavements as well as underground cable and electricity lines. A representative from Hoan Kiem District's People's Committee said the lids of many big sewer holes on pavements had been stolen, creating extra dangers.

Bac Giang police seize smuggled heroin

Police in northern Bac Giang Province intercepted three drug smugglers on National Highway 1A on Tuesday, seizing 32 packages of heroin.

The three suspects, aged between 23 and 38, including northern Lang Son Province's residents Ly Quynh Son, Tran Thi Thuy and Nguyen Dang Vinh from the northern province of Bac Ninh, were caught trafficking the substance in a four-seat taxi through Quang Thinh Commune in Lang Giang District.

Six cell phones and nearly VND12 million (US$571) were also seized.

Police are conducting a full investigation into the case.

Smuggled chicken seized in Quang Ninh

Viet Nam Coast Guard seized 30 thousand chickens being illegally transported on a high-speed canoe through northern Quang Ninh Province on Tuesday.

The two suspects have been identified as Giang Van Voong and Vu Van Nghia from Mong Cai City. The men attempted to avoid capture on the unregistered canoe after being asked to stop for inspection by local authorities. The canoe was later intercepted.

Voong and Nghia failed to provide valid documents for the chickens smuggled from China, and later confessed to local authorities.

Leaders attend events to mark new school year

The country's leaders yesterday joined opening ceremonies with students and pupils at various schools across the country to mark the new academic year.

Visiting Hung Yen Specialist High School in the northern province of Hung Yen, National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong applauded the achievements made by the school's teachers and pupils over the past years.

She noted that the school should continue to strive towards leading the province in the quality of education and training.

She instructed the provincial education sector to tighten management work, give more priority to disadvantaged schools to turn out good citizens for the province.

Attending the opening ceremony at the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai's Ethnic Minority Boarding High School, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said education and training remained a top priority for the Party and State, particularly for ethnic minority children.

He urged the school to create favourable conditions for pupils and build a strong teaching staff in terms of both quality and quantity while encouraging pupils to overcome difficulties.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan visited the Ha Noi Medical University, hailing its achievements over the past year, particularly its renovations in training, scientific research and infrastructure.

Nhan stressed that the school helped to train many leading experts in the fields of healthcare, treatment and disease prevention, proving its prestige, capacity and close links between training and real social demand.

On the same day, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and leaders of the ministries of Education and Training and Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs visited an ethnic minority boarding school in the northern province of Hoa Binh.

On this occasion, Doan granted 10 scholarships worth VND5 million (US$238) each to excellent pupils from poor families.

Visiting Ly Tu Trong Secondary School in the central province of Khanh Hoa, National Assembly Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu instructed the school to continue renewing education management and improving education and training quality.

Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, said yesterday that practical measures for fundamental, comprehensive reforms in the education and training sector should be undertaken this year.

Addressing an inaugural ceremony for the new school year at the Nguyen Du High School in District 1, he said the municipal Department of Education and Training and school leaders should create optimal conditions for students to excel.

Le Hong Son, director of the HCM City Department of Education and Training, had said earlier that more than 1,330 new classrooms were put into use for the 2013-14 school year.

The department earmarked VND1.55 trillion (US$73.8 million) to build more than 2,800 new classrooms and more than VND730 billion ($34.7 million) for acquiring teaching devices and accessories this school year, he said.

30,000 truck drivers fined for traffic violations

The Ha Noi's Police Department said more than 30,000 truck drivers were punished for breaking traffic rules in the first nine months of this year, with 44 trucks seized in August alone.

The violations included driving in restricted streets, breaking the speed limit and illegal parking.

Further inspections to bring the situation under control are expected in the coming months.

The city now has over 43,500 trucks on the road, including more than 30,000 trucks weighing between 1.25-10 tonnes.

Gov’t okays funds for new hospitals in city

The Prime Minister has approved in principle to earmark some VND10 trillion, or roughly US$480 million, for building Children’s Hospital and Tumor Hospital in HCMC, both set for operation at the end of 2015.

The approval was confirmed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh at a meeting on the 2011-2013 socio-economic situation with the city’s leaders last week. The good news came after the city’s Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong had proposed the Government soon approve the capital allocation of VND10 trillion to the two hospital projects.

The capital amount is part of the hefty sum of VND20 trillion set aside for construction of new hospitals in the country’s south earlier endorsed by the Prime Minister.

The load of medical treatment at hospitals in the city is really heavy as these facilities have to treat up to 40-50% of patients from other localities besides local residents, Hong reported. The city has upgraded the existing hospitals over the past time but it has still failed to meet the rising demand for medical examination and treatment, she said.

Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the municipal health department, said at the meeting that the Children’s Hospital project with 1,000 beds will be constructed on 12 hectares in the outlying district of Binh Chanh. Once in place, it would help ease the current chronic overload at Children’s Hospital 1 and Children’s Hospital 2 in downtown HCMC.

The Children’s Hospital project which had its space leveled at the end of July comprises of a general medical examination area and wards for inpatient and outpatient treatment equipped with medical, non-clinical and functional technologies.

The Tumor Hospital meanwhile will be built in District 9 with 1,000 beds on a total area of five hectares. Both schemes will start construction early next year at a total cost of some VND10 trillion.

The two hospitals will be given priority for urgent construction first, Binh told the Daily. The city will also continue building new general hospitals in Cu Chi, Hoc Mon and Thu Duc districts and upgrading many in other districts to reduce overload at hospitals in the central area, he informed.

HCM City’s hospital medicine prices to be slashed

The HCMC Health Department next week will announce a selection of medicine suppliers for local hospitals via biddings, with prices estimated to be subject to discounts of up to 20-30%, according to Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the department.

The city has 31 hospitals belonging to the health department and 23 others managed by districts citywide, Binh told the Daily on the sidelines of a meeting on the city’s January-August socioeconomic situation on Thursday.

The separate medicine price biddings at local hospitals in recent times have resulted in price differences among these healthcare facilities, with prices of certain medicines up to 20% more than market levels, he noted.

The announcement on bidders selected to provide medicines including local and imported ones will help the department collect all necessary medicine categories and volumes to ensure the reasonability of prices to be paid by patients, Binh said.

The department on Wednesday held a meeting with the participation of 190 pharmaceutical producers and suppliers to local hospitals to study their medicine supply capability and the products’ quality and prices. Subsequently, the department will choose suppliers providing quality products with the most affordable prices for announcement next week.

Regarding medicine shortages at hospitals as reported by local media recently, Binh informed his department had directly worked with the facilities’ directors to master the situation. The information on medicine shortages at local hospitals was wrong, he insisted.

He ascribed the slow implementation of medicine supply biddings to the shortcomings of related regulations, adding the Bidding Law should be amended to set aside a separate chapter for medicine bidding as soon as possible.

Experts concerned about bulky city model

Establishment of four satellite cities in the eastern, western, southern and northern parts in line with the pilot urban administration model in HCMC may make the government apparatus prolix, while local citizens and enterprises wish for a simplified mechanism.

Speaking at a conference in HCMC on Tuesday, Nguyen Phuoc Hung, acting general secretary of the HCMC Business Association, said that setting up a two-level apparatus (instead of three levels like now) was in line with expectations of local citizens as it would help simplify the mechanism and speed up administrative reform.

Some enterprises said that results of establishment of four satellite cities remained unknown, but the authority mechanism would be bulky. Therefore, effects of the municipality would be not convincing, Hung said.

Huynh Van Minh, chairman of the HCMC Business Association, said the city should field suggestions from citizens to pilot establishment of the municipality.

Speaking to the Daily on the sidelines of the conference, Minh said that an enterprise needs three factors to develop, namely capital, strong staff and policies.

If the enterprise has capital but its policies are not safe, it will face the danger of losing capital. There are many reasons for mass bankruptcy of enterprises in recent times but one of these is unsuitable policy.

Enterprises expect that the government apparatus will be as simple as possible, administrative procedures will be less prolix. Besides, civil servants should be clean-handed and helpful to enterprises during the production and business process, Minh said.

The biggest concern is that policies are not stable, leading to poor investment of businesses. The number of enterprises that report gains but actually suffer losses is potentially very high in the business community, Minh added.

Most business delegates at the conference agreed with the pilot urban administration model. However, they were concerned about how the model would be organized to simplify the government apparatus and bring the authorities closer to the public and enterprises.

The scheme on piloting the urban administration model in HCMC will be sent to the Government and later put forward at the sixth session of the National Assembly (NA) slated for October and November. As an urban administration, HCMC is projected to have four satellite cities, namely East City, West City, South City and North City.

If the NA gave its nod to the scheme, HCMC would arrange personnel, determine the function of each satellite city and make budget estimates. All these jobs would be finished by 2015, so that the city could start applying the new model in 2016, when election of deputies to the NA and local people’s councils for the 2016-2021 tenure takes place.

HCM City to launch salary probes at 53 State firms

HCMC chairman Le Hoang Quan has instructed competent authorities to make investigations into salary funds of 53 State-owned companies under the city’s jurisdiction in the aftermath of a salary scandal at four public welfare companies in the city.

At a meeting on the Jan-August socioeconomic situation, chairman Quan asked relevant agencies to inspect the irregularities relating to payments to State officers after several executives at State enterprises were reportedly paid billions of Vietnam dong each a year. The abnormally high pays at the four companies violate State salary regulations, thus need to be handled drastically, he insisted.

Le Ngoc Thuy Trang, director of the city’s Corporate Finance Department, told the Daily on the sidelines of the meeting that there were two salary funds at 100% State-owned enterprises, one for workers and the other for executives. The city’s government considers and approves the executive salary fund annually, Trang said, adding the forthcoming inspection would focus on this amount.

The city in a report on 2012 salary payments released last Monday detected four public welfare enterprises to have paid extraordinarily high salaries to leaders, which are many times higher than normal workers’ salaries.

Specifically, the salary of the director of Urban Drainage Company is up to 41 times higher than that paid to seasonal staff members, at a staggering VND2.6 billion annually or more than VND200 million per month, while the chairman was paid VND1.6 billion. Similarly, the director and the chairman of the HCMC Public Lighting Company earned VND2.2 billion and VND2.4 billion annually respectively.

Saigon Traffic Works Company paid VND856 million to the director and VND853 million to the chairman annually while the director and the chairman of Green Tree Company got VND759 million and VND691 million annually.

According to the municipal Committee for State-owned Company Management Renovation, there are a total of 22 public welfare enterprises active in districts and 16 others under the city’s departments.

Ha Nam, Hiroshima to cooperate in water issues

Japan’s Hiroshima province has proposed for closer cooperation with Vietnam in water supply and wastewater treatment.

At a meeting with the Ha Nam provincial People’s Committee on September 5, Yoshio Sato, an official from the Hiroshima Department of Commerce, Industry and Labour said that Hiroshima is interested in local investment projects.

He urged the two sides to work together on cooperative orientations and measures as well as specific projects, so that Hiroshima can choose suitable firms to collaborate with.

In the short-term, the Japanese prefecture will focus on upgrading the existing water supply projects in Duy Tien district and Phu Ly city, and building a wastewater treatment plant in Dong Van 3 Industrial Zone.