Scaffolding collapse kills worker, injures six

A scaffolding collapsed at My Son apartment buildings on Nguyen Huy Tuong Street in Ha Noi's Thanh Xuan District, killing one person and injuring six. — Photo baodatviet.vn

A scaffolding collapsed on Sunday, killing one person and injuring six at a construction site of My Son apartment buildings in Ha Noi's Thanh Xuan District.

The accident reportedly occurred at about 10.30am on Nguyen Huy Tuong Street, when the workers were finishing the 10th-floor stairs of the buildings.

All the injured workers were taken to Construction Hospital for emergency treatment.

Dr Tran Quang Sang of Construction Hospital said the injured workers were taken to the emergency department at 11am the same day. Lo Van Thom and Lo Van Tham, two of the seven workers, were seriously injured and, after 15 minutes of hospitalisation, were transferred to Hospital 103. However, Thom died of his injuries a few hours later.

Hoang Van Hai, 29, and Hoang Van Ly, 25, who live in Vinh Phuc Province's Tam Dao District, had suffered minor injuries and were discharged at 5.30pm on the same day.

An investigation into the accident is under way.

My Son Apartment building is a complex comprising two blocks -- with 24 floors and two basements -- that have a business centre, office and residential apartments. My Son Investment Import and Export Joint Stock Company, the project developer, is expected to complete the project in the first quarter of this year.

Police uncover drug trafficking ring

HCM City's Drug Crime Investigation Police, the public security ministry and Tan Binh District's Police have jointly smashed a ring that smuggled 18.5kg of drugs from China to Viet Nam.

The police captured 25-year-old Do Thai Dung of Hai Phong City, the alleged leader of the ring; 36-year-old Tran Quang Hung, a teacher from the northern Hung Yen Province; 37-year-old Vuong Duy Hien of Hung Yen Province; and 47-year-old Vo Xuan Tu of Ha Noi; besides alleged drug users 54-year-old Dao Thi Hong and 43-year-olds Le Thi Bao Anh and Nguyen Tuan Kiet, all residents of HCM City.

Dung hired Tu, who has been previously convicted for drug trafficking, and Hung to join the ring.

Hung then invited his friend Hiem to join the gang.

Dung ordered Tu to receive a suitcase containing drugs and transport it to the southern region on January 9.

Dung went to H T hotel in Ton That Tung Street, District 1, on January 9 to receive the suitcase from Tu, and then took it along with him to a restaurant in Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, where he went to have a meal.

Police caught Dung and his accomplices at the restaurant and confiscated 18.5kg of crystal meth, 120gm of heroin, 99 ecstasy pills and VND565 million (US$25,200) in cash.

The police are investigating the case further.

Nearly 2,000 children in Vietnam suffer abuse each year

The rate of child abuse in Vietnam has reached an alarmingly high level with thousands of cases reported in the past five years.

Officials from the Ministry of Public Security said at a recent meeting in Ho Chi Minh City that 9,920 Vietnamese children suffered from various forms of abuse over the period.

Ho Sy Tien, director of the ministry’s criminal police department, said the trafficking of children has been especially “serious” in Ho Chi Minh City, the central province of Nghe An, and Quang Ninh and Lai Chau Province near the border.

He said many teenagers are sexually trafficked.

Ho Chi Minh City also has one of the highest rates of crime against children, including murder and sexual abuse, together with southern provinces such as Vinh Long, Dong Thap, Dong Nai and Tien Giang.

Police from Ha Giang said many children in the province were trafficked to China by their own parents or other family members.

Officers at the meeting also said many women from the country have been victims of trafficking and sexual abuse as well, although specific figures were not released.

Police have busted several cases in which Vietnamese people colluded with restaurant owners in Malaysia and Singapore to traffic children and women under fake tourism or labor contracts.

Tien said the traffickers usually target poor rural areas where people are desperate for money.

The victims were then forced to do sex work and they would be beaten or starved if they refused to, officers said, adding that some women trafficked to Malaysia had to serve dozens of customers each day.

Naval soldiers who died on southern continental shelf commemorated

A ceremony commemorating naval soldiers who died while working on Vietnam’s southern continental shelf was held on the ship 624 in the Bai Tu Chinh (Vanguard Bank) in the East Sea.

During the past decades, soldiers of Battalion DK1 served at the economic-scientific-service cluster (DK1) to protect sea and island sovereignty.

However, harsh weather conditions and storms made several DK1 platforms collapse and claimed the lives of some officers and soldiers.

Colonel Le Duc Viet, deputy head of the inspection committee of the Naval Region 2 High Command, recalled the sacrifice of Sen. Lt. Nguyen Huu Quang, who served at the DK1/3 Phuc Tan platform. After days of drifting out at sea after the platform collapse, he gave up his lifebuoy and dry provisions to the weakest soldier and passed away on December 5, 1990.

Colonel Vu Quang Chuong – Chief Commander of the 2A DK1/6 Phuc Nguyen platform – calmly steered the evacuation of his soldiers during a typhoon in 1998. Meanwhile, Warrant Officer Le Duc Hong tried until the last moment of his life to keep contact with the mainland after the platform collapsed, Viet added.

The officer said their sacrifices were a noble symbol of naval soldiers’ heroic virtue. He encouraged the DK1 soldiers to continue their mission of safeguarding the country’s maritime sovereignty and continental shelf.

Traffic violations on HN highway on the increase

The number of traffic safety violations on Ha Noi's highway No.3 has been increasing, endangering the safety of road users, reported the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper.

Without the patrol of the traffic security force and police, pedestrians and motorbikes often travel on the road, which is supposed to be only for cars.

Passenger cars have also ignored traffic regulations by using many road sections for picking up and dropping off passengers. These violations cause danger to other vehicles on the road.

On the section of Nguyen Trai and Khuat Duy Tien, dozens of xe om (motorbike taxi) block part of the road by for waiting clients.

Lieutenant colonel Nguyen Anh Son of the traffic police of Thanh Xuan District admitted that the police and other traffic security forces do not control the violations because the road spans through three districts.

He said that there are several cameras equipped on the road to monitor the vehicles but the motorbikers and car drivers seemed not to care.

Recently, the Ha Noi Traffic Police has carried out patrols regularly on the road to curb the situation of passenger cars and taxi motorbikes picking up and dropping passengers on the road.

However, the violations continue to occur if the patrol teams are off work.

Lieutenant colonel Do Manh Ninh said there were difficulties in eliminating the situation of picking up and dropping passengers on the road by taxi motorbikes.

Bac Lieu utilises green energy

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Bac Lieu inaugurated a 99.2MW wind-power plant yesterday.

The facility, covering more than 100 ha, is situated in Vinh Trach Dong Commune, Bac Lieu City.

Construction began in September 2010 with an investment of over VND5.2 trillion (US$231.1 million), sourced from the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV).

With 62 wind turbines, the plant is capable of generating 320 million kilowatt hours per year. It joined the national grid in May 2013 when its first 10 turbines were completed.

Social banks committed to gov't targets

Social and development banks will intensify their service quality to fulfil their missions this year, their leaders said, after they were entrusted with government targets.

In Decision No 2525/QD-TTg issued on December 31, 2015, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung set the year-on-year credit growth rates at 4.5 per cent for the Viet Nam Development Bank (VDB), and 8 per cent for the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) this year.

He assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to allocate detailed lending quotas for the institutions.

He particularly designated VDB to reserve loans worth VND10 trillion (US$444 million) for exports and distribute official development assistance (ODA) worth VND12 trillion ($533 million) in 2016.

VDB General Director Tran Ba Huan told its meeting last week that it would continue to implement tasks in accordance with a strategy that the government adopted for it until 2020, with vision to 2030.

The development bank, with VND30 trillion ($1.33 billion) in equity, focuses lending in such areas as socio-economic infrastructure, support industries, agriculture and rural areas, besides education, healthcare and environmental protection, along with green technology and clean and recycled energy.

It also finances important exports, distributes ODA capital to specific projects, and guarantees loans borrowed by small and medium-sized enterprises.

Huan said the bank would need to mobilise funds worth some $2.23 billion to assure the disbursement progress and liquidity security this year, while Dung enabled it to issue government guaranteed bonds worth VND25 trillion ($1.11 billion) this year.

Last year, the VDB raised funds of more than VND47 trillion ($2.09 billion) for major national projects, and it disbursed nearly VND17 trillion ($755.56 million), besides having around VND20 trillion ($888.89 million) implemented.

Several key projects were inaugurated while some others were completed in important phases. These included Ha Noi-Hai Phong Highway, the Son La-Lai Chau 500kV electric line, the Lai Chau hydroelectric plant, and the Bac Lieu wind power factory.

The bank also lent VND8.8 trillion ($391 million) for exports during 2015.

In 2016, Huan said the bank would try to improve the quality of credit, diversify services and foster organisational restructuring for more efficient operations.

Meanwhile, VBSP Deputy General Director Tran Lan Phuong told its meeting on January 10 that the bank would extend lending to meet the allocated credit growth target of 8 per cent this year.

The bank, entrusted by the government to eradicate hunger, reduce poverty and ensure social security, mobilised about VND147 trillion ($6.53 billion) and lent more than VND142 trillion ($6.31 billion) to nearly 6.9 million poor households and other beneficiaries of special policies last year.

As of December 31, 2015, it helped about 400,000 households get above the poverty line, created jobs for 173,000 people, and assisted 103,000 pupils and students, besides supporting the construction of 7,800 houses for the poor in the country's central and southern regions.

The bank would prioritise loans for provinces with high poverty rates and impoverished localities in border and island areas in 2016, while it actively reviewed poor households following standards for the next five years.

In his decision, Prime Minister Dung asked the banks to especially monitor financing for the concretisation of irrigational canals and channels and roads in rural areas, following an ongoing national programme. People's committees of provinces and cities directly under the central government were required to review how they carried out the programme as of the end of 2015, and propose capital needed to implement it during 2016. The local authorities are to submit reports on this to the MPI and the Ministry of Finance by January 31, before they are presented to the prime minister for consideration by the end of March.

According to official data, the country's total investment capital for development is estimated to reach 31 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), while the GDP is expected to grow by 6.7 per cent this year.

Nearly 2.7 million USD raised for needy children

Nearly 60 billion VND ( 2.67 million USD) was donated to disadvantaged children under a fundraising programme organised by the Vietnam Children Sponsor Fund (VCSF) and Vietnam Television in Hanoi on January 16.

The programme, “Mua xuan cho em” (Spring for children), was part of activities to support needy kids in honour of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Attending the event, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen affirmed that the Party and State always paid special attention to caring for, protecting and educating children.

The State has been making every effort to promote the participation of communities, toward providing better supports to children, Chuyen said.

In 2015, the VCSF raised 88.7 billion VND (over 3.9 million USD ), and helped more than 100,000 children with difficult situations nationwide.

Close to 14,000 children were given free check-ups during the year. Around 3,000 of them got free heart, eye, harelip and musculoskeletal malformation surgeries. Meanwhile, more than 13,000 children benefited from construction and upgrades on schools, and more than 10,000 received unscheduled support.

The programme also gave scholarships and long-term sponsorship to nearly 6,000 children, while presenting bicycles and study tools to over 6,000 others.

According to Minister Chuyen, Vietnam is still facing great challenges in caring for and educating children.

Statistics show that Vietnam has 26 million children. A round 1.5 million of them are facing difficult conditions and have yet to gain access to protection, care and education services.

The Minister called for stronger efforts from the community, aiming to bring a better future for Vietnamese children.

On the occasion, Minister Chuyen presented certificates of merit to 11 organisations and individuals for their contributions to caring for, protecting and educating children in 2015.

VN coal power waste increases

While the amount of ash discharged by coal-fired power plants has increased in Viet Nam, the country still lacks guidance and policies to support enterprises in managing this waste, experts said.

Tran Dinh Sinh of the Green Innovation and Development Centre (Green ID) told a seminar in Ha Noi last week, discussing opportunities and challenges created by ash waste from coal-fired power plants, that Viet Nam ranks second in the world, after China, in terms of ash and cinder density, with 45.5 tonnes per sq.km.

Studies conducted by Green ID indicate that as many as 15 million tonnes of ash and cinder were emitted annually by the nation's 19 coal-fired power plants. Further, this volume of ash was forecast to double by 2023.

Since 2014, the Prime Minister has issued decisions on taking measures to treat ash, cinder and gypsum from thermal power, fertilizer and chemical companies in the production of building materials.

Under the Decision, coal-fired power plants are requested to invest in installing equipment to treat ash and cinder that can meet technical regulations and standards for building material production and bring these into operation by 2020. The Ministry of Construction was assigned to work with agencies in creating regulations and technical standards for ash treatment by the end of last year. However, no regulations or standards on the management of ash and cinder have been issued, or preferential policies to support enterprises that engage in recycling this waste.

Nguyen Van Nhon, deputy head of Binh Thuan Province's Department of Science and Technology, said the current waste treatment method - burying ash and cinder — was not only wasteful, but also had a negative affect on the environment.

In April last year, thousands of residents living near the Vinh Tan 2 plant in Binh Thuan Province gathered to protest pollution at its cinder landfill. The protest happened after strong winds blew large amounts of coal dust from the plant into residents' homes over a period of several days.

The province's agencies have urged the Vinh Tan Electricity Complex, which consists of four thermal plants, to take measures to reduce pollution, and even fined the company VND1.5 billion (US$66,900), though the complex has still done nothing to address the ash issue.

According to Kieu Van Mat, General Director of Song Da Cao Cuong Joint Stock Company – which specialises in producing building materials, although ash and cinder from coal-fired thermal power plants were not now a resource, they could be considered a cheap source for construction materials in the future.

He also said his company was the first in the country to study and install production lines to handle ash and cinder waste from thermal plants.

The company's prominent product, fly ash, has been used in making cement at a number of cement companies, including Hoang Thach, Nghi Son, Holcim, But Son and Tam Diep. Fly ash was used effectively in producing roller-compacted concrete, helping speed construction and reducing production costs, he said.

Mat proposed that agencies inspect and make an evaluation of the company's production technology and its products, such as fly ash and artificial gypsum, which are made from residues of thermal and fertiliser plants. If they meet quality standards and their prices are less expensive, compared with imported materials, they should be allowed to be used on a large scale, he said.

Participants at the seminar have suggested that ministries, agencies and localities soon issue guiding documents on the implementation of the Prime Minister's decision. They also called for the early creation of preferential policies for enterprises that engage in waste treatment, and those that were using and would use recycling products, in order to encourage them to utilise waste and reduce the exploitation of natural resources.

Participants urged the government to strengthen inspections and strictly deal with companies, organisations and individuals that violate regulations on waste management and waste treatment, especially those emitted by coal-fired power plants.

Abandoned resort project stifles locals

As many as 37 hectares of reclaimed land along Cua Tung-Cua Viet beaches of central Quang Tri Province has been abandoned for years, leaving locals without cultivation land, the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported.

In 2007, the land lot was reclaimed for a resort construction project worth nearly VND600 billion (US$26.7 million).

At that time, residents were compensated at a price of VND12,000 (50 cents) per square metre, Tran Xuan Tuong, Chairman of People's Committee of Trung Giang Ward in Gio Linh District said.

However, until now the land is still surrounded with a corrugated iron fence. On the locked gate leading to the land are painted letters saying "No entry".

Tuong said that nearly five hectares of reclaimed land was forest protection land. The rest could mainly be used for cultivation purposes.

Having difficulties in earning their living from the sea, locals shifted to planting farm produce.

As their land was reclaimed, many of them have to leave their village and work for other employers, Nguyen Van Tao, head of Thuy Ban Hamlet of Trung Giang Ward, home to nearly 175 households, said.

He said that the road leading to the sea, which was situated within the reclaimed land lot, was also blocked by Cua Tung Tourism Service and Trading Joint Stock Company, the project's investor.

Many locals have shown their anger by removing a section of iron fence for cows to enter the land and eat grass, he said.

Trung Giang Commune authorities said that they could not get involved in the case as the project was under the management of Quang Tri Province.

Dang Trong Van, deputy director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the department had made a fact-finding inspection on the land and submitted a document to the provincial People's Committee, urging the investors to implement the project by the end of last year.

He told the newspaper if the bank (the unit assigned to the land) was reluctant to implement the project, the land would be recovered following the laws.

However, last week, a Tien Phong reporter headed back to the locality and did not find out any new movement.

HCM City leader praises efficient FOSCO

HCM City People's Committee deputy chairman Le Thanh Liem has praised the Service Company to Foreign Missions (FOSCO) for completing the tasks assigned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the city administration.

Speaking at a New Year meeting with foreign envoys, international organisations, and representative offices of foreign economic agencies in HCM City on Friday, he said the specialised State firm for diplomatic services has also done a good job of public diplomacy, building relationships with foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations, NGOs, and representative offices.

Last year the country underwent deep global integration, especially economic, with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community and signing or imminent signing of several free trade agreements, he said.

In this situation, the business community, including FOSCO, stands to benefit much but also faces many challenges, he said.

New flowers grown for Tet

Farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta will offer new varieties of flowers for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, which falls on February 8 this year.

In Sa Dec flower village in Dong Thap Province's Sa Det City, which is one of the largest flower villages in the delta, many farmers have grown new varieties of flowers and ornamental trees.

The new varieties of roses, lilies and zinnias are in high demand.

Tran Van Phuong, who is growing about 10,000 lily pots in Sa Dec City's Tan Quy Dong Ward, said traders from Can Tho City, Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Vinh Long provinces had contracted to buy his lily pots for Tet.

Last Tet, Phuong planted more than 8,000 lily pots, all of which sold out.

Besides lilies, Phuong has also planted new varieties of flowers ordered by traders.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc, chairwoman of the Tan Quy Dong Ward People's Committee in Sa Dec, said before farmers began their flower crop for Tet, local authorities worked with co-operatives and flower associations to warn flower farmers to reduce the cultivation areas of traditional flowers such as chrysanthemums.

Farmers have been told to grow more roses and ornamental plants.

With this shift, flowers farmers are expected to have good sales for this Tet, she said.

The Dong Thap Province Hi-Tech Agriculture Centre has supplied farmers with 150,000 seedlings produced by a tissue-culture method. Most of them are chrysanthemum varieties.

Pham Huu Phuoc, the centre director, said the centre had improved more than 22 varieties of roses and lotuses and collected beautiful flower varieties.

The centre has also provided planting techniques to farmers, and plans to produce about 1-2 million tissue-cultured seedlings a year.

Do Van Tham, head of the Sa Dec City's Economy Bureau, said tissue-cultured flowers sold well and had stable outlets because of high quality and reasonable prices.

"Instead of relying on traders, many farmers here have also contracted directly with companies and partners to grow flowers," he said.

The weather is favourable this year so the flower quality has been good, according to farmers.

The prices of flowers are expected to be similar to last year's Tet season, they said.

Farmers in Sa Dec Flower Village expect to supply more than 3 million pots of various kinds of flowers this Tet.

Similarly, farmers in Ben Tre Province's Cho Lach District, which is famous for its flower and ornamental plants, are also expected to provide millions of flowers and ornamental plants for Tet.

Last November, about 30 farmers in Cho Lach District and Sa Dec Flower Village cooperated in finding outlets at home and abroad.

Nguyen Thi Nguyet Thu, who grows ornamental plants in Cho Lach District's Hung Khanh Trung Commune, said her family had focused on planting ornamental plants for indoor decoration and exports for the Tet season.

Thu said her family had exported about 5,000- 10,000 ornamental plants to Japan a month.

In Tien Giang Province's My Tho City, farmers have also planted new varieties of flowers for Tet.

Truong Van Nhung, chairman of the My Phong Flower and Ornamental Plant Co-operatives in My Tho City, said this was the first year that My Phong Flower Village had planted lisianthus.

The village has planted about 80,000 pots of lisianthus.

The My Tho Economy Bureau has given farmers seedlings for new plant and flower varieties, including tomato, bell chilis and strawberries.

Hundreds of fishermen in central Thua Thien Hue Province's Loc Vinh Commune petitioned provincial authorities for help, after more than 100 fishing boats become blocked due to a newly-built estuary.

The fishermen claimed the Lach Giang Estuary, which became blocked by silt, has caused difficulties for local fishing boats seeking to sail in and out of the estuary.

Earlier this month, two motorboats carrying fishermen from Loc Vinh Commune's Binh An 2 Village became stranded in the estuary. The boats were then struck by strong waves and quickly capsized, throwing ten fishermen into the sea.

While no fishermen were injured, the boats were heavily damaged.

Due to the build-up of silt in the estuary, accidents have been reported, such as losing control of boats and propellers being broken.

According to local fishermen, such accidents have repeatedly occurred since the management board of Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone invested in a 2-kilometre road, which connected the economic zone to Chan May Port.

The construction unit filled in part of Chu Moi Estuary, where local fishing boats anchored as they sailed in and out. The estuary also provided shelter for boats during the storm season.

When Chu Moi Estuary became too narrow for boats to sail on it, a new, artificial estuary was built. However, Lach Giang Estuary, located in the east, was affected by coastal tides and built without embankments. This has caused the estuary to suffer from serious sedimentation in only a short time.

After last year's storm season, the situation became worse, blocking many vessels.

Since then, Loc Vinh Commune's People's Committee has asked the management board of Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone to build an embankment and dredge the estuary to assure the continuous flow of water.

It has also reported to provincial authorities about the situation. However, none of the complaints have yet to receive replies.

Nguyen Que, head of the management board, told Tien Phong (Vanguards) newspaper that the company had asked an enterprise to evaluate the level of sedimentation and propose measures to resolve the problem.

EVN vows to ensure stable power supply

Viet Nam's power supply will meet the anticipated surge in demand during the dry season this year, said the Electricity of Viet Nam Corporation (EVN).

The corporation affirmed that the country's electricity network would meet demand around the year despite the El Nino phenomenon causing water shortages in hydropower and irrigation reservoirs.

EVN say they are prepared to tackle the falling output at hydropower plants due to the prolonged drought in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) and southern region.

To ensure a year-round electricity supply and especially in the dry season which lasts from October to March, EVN has focused on maintenance work on generators at hydro- and thermal-power plants as well as water storage at hydro-power reservoirs, especially in power plants in the central and southern region.

The corporation has also asked electricity companies to put more generators into thermal-power plants in the south.

The National Power Transmission Corporation was requested to speed up the progress of major projects including a 500kV transmission station in Tay Nguyen's Pleiku City and a 220kv power line in the central region.

PM Dung calls for expansion of satellite hospital system

At an online conference yesterday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged the health sector to tighten food safety management and improve the quality of examinations and treatment, while also taking action to prevent hospital congestion at central hospitals.

"Priority should be given to train more skilled doctors and to expand the satellite hospital system to train more medical staff and transfer more medical techniques to provincial and district hospitals," he said.

At the conference, which was held to review health activities in 2015 and implement tasks for 2016, PM Dung praised the efforts and achievements of the health sector last year, which he described as an important step towards development.

"Remarkable results in preventive medicine, such as the National Expanded Programme for Immunisation and outbreak prevention activities, were bright points in Viet Nam's health care in 2015," said Dung.

The PM asked the health ministry to continue to improve its preventive medicine and primary health care programmes to ensure that basic and quality health care services are accessible to all people and to prevent epidemics.

Favourable conditions should be created to mobilise more investment from the State and private sector into health infrastructure development projects to better serve the increasing demand for health care, he said.

Dung said the health ministry should also expand health insurance coverage and population and family planning programmes as well as improve its State management from central to local levels through the application of IT and procedure reforms.

Provinces and cities were asked to restructure their health care systems at district levels and implement overall measures to achieve health care targets from 2016 to 2020.

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the health sector faced many challenges due to the fact that State investment for health care fell short of the national demand, especially investment in commune health stations and district preventive medicine systems.

Private medical facilities have faced difficulties in accessing priority policies while human resource shortages were a common concern among health care systems at grassroots levels.

The quality of health care services and the health index varies greatly from one region to the next, which poses challenges for the provision of health care and protection, according to Tien.

She said the health sector will focus on improving the effectiveness of grassroots health care systems as well as enacting a preventive medicine programme in 2016 with an aim to actively prevent diseases and epidemics.

"Overall measures would be taken to improve examinations and treatment, reduce hospital overloading and expand health insurance coverage to at least 80 per cent of the country's population by 2020," said Tien.

The health ministry said remarkable results have been achieved in health care activities from 2011 to 2015. The life expectancy age rose to 73.3 in 2015 compared to 72.9 in 2010. The number of doctors was 8 per 10,000 people in 2015 compared with 7.2 in 2010, and the number of pharmacists was 2.2 per 10,000 people compared to 1.76 in 2010.

The maternal fatality ratio fell from 68/100,000 birth deliveries to 58.3/100,000 in 2015. The fatality rate of children under age one sank to 14.74 per thousand from 23.8 per thousand in 2010. The underweight rate of children under five was 14.1 per cent in 2015 compared to 17.5 in 2010.

Last year, the number of beds per 10,000 people increased to 24 compared to 21.5 in 2011. Hospital congestion was handled at more than 80 per cent of central hospitals in Ha Noi and HCM City as a result of a satellite hospital model system, which helped reduce the number of patients sent from district and provincial hospitals to central hospitals.

National road opened to public use

National Road 19 from the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai to the central province of Binh Dinh was opened for use yesterday.

Colonel Nguyen Dang Giap, general director of Company 36 under the Ministry of Defence, said that National Road 19 was upgraded through the build-operate-transfer model.

Construction on the highway, which is 56.7km in length, started in 2013.

Total investment in the project was VND2 trillion (US$88.8 million).

A tollbooth is scheduled to be operated on the road within 22 years.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said that the road's inauguration was important as it connected the Central Highlands area with central southern provinces and brought agricultural products from the Central Highlands area to the sea port in Quy Nhon City.

Dong asked the provinces and investors to effectively manage and use the road and ensure its longevity.

Vegetable labelled organic sold to Ha Noi pre-schools

The Ha Noi police, in co-operation with the city's agricultural inspectors, found hundreds of kilogrammes of vegetables without clear origins labelled as organic products sold to pre-schools and primary schools.

The police yesterday inspected the food hygiene and safety at Nhat Tan Pre-school in Tay Ho District's Nhat Tan Ward.

Tran Thi Dau, in Dong Anh District's Van Noi Ward, was found to transport about 152kg vegetable for the school to be used in meals for students. Dau failed to show proper papers of its origins.

Dau confessed that she was a staff of Trung Thanh Vegetable and Fruits JSC in Dong Anh District. She was in charge of transporting vegetables to Nhat Tan and Tu Lien pre-schools.

Previously, Trung Thanh Vegetable and Fruits JSC had signed a contract to supply organic products to some pre-school and primary schools in Tay Ho District.

A large number of vegetables were seized at Phu Thuong Primary School as it lacked clear origins.

Under the reporter's observation, none of the staff members at the schools checked the bills and the origins of the products that were shipped.

The case is under investigation.

Work starts on key Mekong road

Construction on a road linking Can Tho City and Kien Giang Province in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region began yesterday in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The 53.3km Lo Te-Rach Soi Road will run from Thot Not District in Can Tho to Kien Giang Province's Chau Thanh District with a maximum speed of 100km/h.

Using official development assistance (ODA) from the Republic of Korea (RoK) through the Economic Development Co-operation Fund, the project is significant to socio-economic development and transportation in the region.

Its first phase will cost VND6.7 trillion (US$301 million). Of this, VND4,2 trillion ($200 million) came from the RoK government. Construction will last 30 months.

Addressing the event, PM Dung said the road formed part of the Ho Chi Minh Highway running from Pac Bo in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang to Ca Mau Cape in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

The Ho Chi Minh Highway, along with National Highway 1, was built in service of national defence, and to protect national security and socio-economic development in regions across the country, he added.

The Lo Te-Rach Soi section played an important role in socio-economic links between HCM City and other localities in the Long Xuyen Quadrangular area, which covers Kien Giang and An Giang provinces and Can Tho, the leader stressed.

It would also help form a regional transport network, consolidate national defence and security in the region, and fully tap the southern coastal corridor, he said.

The PM used the occasion to thank the RoK government and investors for their support for Viet Nam's infrastructure development.

On Saturday, PM Dung attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a facility symbolic of the Ha Noi flagpole in Ca Mau Cape, the last point of the Ho Chi Minh Highway.

The flagpole will be built at a cost of VND140 billion ($6.3 million), funded by the capital city of Ha Noi and through other resources.

The same day, work started on the construction of a wind-power plant on Khai Long beach in Dat Mui Commune, Ngoc Hien District, Ca Mau Province in the presence of PM Dung.

The 100MW plant is part of the country's clean energy development programme in line with national industrialisation and modernisation and adapting to climate change.

The repaired sinkhole in Bang Lung town, Cho Don district of the northern province of Bac Kan, sank again on late January 16.

The sinking, happened at 09:35 p.m. on January 16, caused a hole that is bigger than the old one, which was about 12 metres wide and 20 metres deep.

The provincial road 254, where the sinkhole appeared, has been sealed off while the hole is monitored by authorised agencies.

The sinkhole first appeared on January 2 and was filled in with over 1,500 cubic metres of earth and rock one day later. Four affected households were also evacuated to a safer place.

Belgian friends hail Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements

Rik Vermeersch, President of the Manifiesta Festival of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), lauded Vietnam’s socio-economic situation.

In an interview with a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Brussels ahead of Vietnam’s 12 th National Party Congress slated for January 20-28, Rik Vermeersch said the Southeast Asian nation escaped the global economic crisis in 2008 and reaped significant economic successes.

Vietnam has also invested a lot in social welfare and culture, he said, noting that he has seen much progress in all fields, from politics to economy, culture and social affairs.

Rik Vermeersch expressed his hope that the upcoming National Party Congress will put forth suitable solutions to deal with challenges and difficulties facing the country.

Herman Dereymaeker, also a PTB member, said the Doi Moi (Reform) policy, launched in 1986, has brought about a range of economic and political changes.

Vietnam has mobilised all resources in service of national development while seeking to attract investments in order to boost the country’s economic growth, he said.

The PTB and the Communist Party of Vietnam boast close ties, as evidenced by regular exchanges of delegations and experience.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri