Quang Bình farmers lose pepper plants, suffer loss

Authorities of Nông Trường Việt Trung Township said farmers ignored repeated warnings that the local soil and weather conditions would not suit pepper plants.

Nguyễn Thị Quýt, a local farmer, said she cannot explain why the 500 pepper plants in her farm gradually withered and died.

When the plants started withering slowly 10 months ago, she purchased and sprayed chemicals recommended by pesticide traders to stop root decay, but the chemicals only hastened the damage, Quýt said.

The local farmers’ association said 22 farms in the commune lost pepper plants, with 10 farms losing the plants entirely. Association chairman Nguyễn Đức Phong said all the affected pepper plants died in a similar manner, with their leaves withering and roots decaying. Phong has sent reports to related agencies, appealing for help.

Local farmers said they have suffered huge losses, as the pepper was planted to replace rubber after a storm destroyed rubber trees in 2013.

“At least 300 of the 1,000 pepper plants in my farm are dead, and others are withering. If all plants die before we can harvest the pepper, my family will have to go hungry as we have put all our money in the farm,” said farmer Nguyễn Minh Châu.

One hectare of pepper farming costs local farmers around VNĐ350 million (US$15,000), and pepper plants yield seeds after three years. Most of the farms have used bank loans to do pepper farming as they had no funds after the loss of rubber four years ago. 

“I believe the actual affected area is even larger [than 15 hectares], as some farmers have not reported their damaged crop to local authorities,” said Phan Văn Trưng, the township’s deputy chairman. Trưng said they have not reported the loss as they did not consult authorities before they started planting pepper.

Soil and climate conditions are different across different localities in the country, and the main cause for withering is underground flooding, according to Trưng. Local authorities have not included the pepper plant in the township’s agriculture development plan, but despite that, local framers chose to plant it.

“The first time, when many farmers started growing pepper, we conducted technical training courses, but they did not apply the information to their farms, which has led to this situation,” he said.

Farmers admitted that they learnt how to plant and grow pepper plants from each other, and that they did not make little mounds of soil, which would have helped prevent water from flooding the spot.

If farmers wanted to continue growing pepper on these farms, they would have to wait for another two years now, Trưng said.

Insurance profiteering a plague

Health insurance profiteering is still common in private hospitals and health clinics, with medicine improperly prescribed and purchased, leading to an imbalance of. the healthcare fund, health experts have said.

The statement was made at the dialogue on legal policies on health insurance between Việt Nam Social Insurance and Việt Nam Private Hospitals Association held yesterday. The dialogue was a chance for representatives of private hospitals and health clinics to highlight difficulties in implementing the amended Law on Health Insurance.

Deputy general manager of Việt Nam Social Insurance Phạm Lương Sơn said that since the amended regulations were implemented two years ago, the number of hospitals providing health insurance services and patients increased greatly.

Figures from the organisation showed that 365 private hospitals and health clinics signed contracts to provide health insurance services in 2015, and this number increased to 444 in 2017.

In 2015, the fund paid VNĐ2.8 trillion (US$123 million) to more than 6.5 million insurance card holders. In 2016, the fund paid VNĐ6.6 trillion ($290 million) to more than 16.6 millions cald holders, with this year’s number expected to rise strongly - VNĐ1.58 trillion ($69 million) for 4.2 million card holders within the first three months.

However, there were shortcomings in health insurance services at private clinics.

Nguyễn Tá Tỉnh, head of the organisation’s Medicines and Medical Equipment Unit said that clinics persisted in selecting, purchasing and using drugs and medical supplies that were not cost-effective.

Some private hospitals held drug bidding, but the selection of contractors remained ineffective.

For example, 92 types of drugs sold at Vinmec International Hospital cost more than at Saint Paul Hospital with total difference value of VNĐ2.8 billion.

Some facilities prescribed expensive drugs or offered many medical techniques for health insurance holders to attract more patients.

Dương Đức Tuấn, director of the Centre for Health Insurance Coverage and Multi-level Payment in the north agreed, saying that some services were unnecessarily prescribed and the prescriptions were often repeated.

At the conference, Việt Nam Social Insurance signed a co-ordination agreement with Việt Nam Private Hospitals Association to solve difficulties and improve the effectiveness of the implementation of the health insurance regulations. 

Quang Ninh to relocate people from landslide-prone areas in 2018

The northeastern province of Quang Ninh will mobilise financial resources to relocate people from landslide- and flood-prone areas in 2018.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vu Van Dien has requested the Vietnam National Coal-Minister Industries Holding Corporation Limited (Vinacomin) to soon stabilise the lives of 1,200 households in Doi Che region, Ha Long city, affected by coal mining.

Plans to move residents from the landslide- and flood-prone areas and prevent natural disasters in 2016-2020 have been quickly implemented by the province after historic floods in late July and early August in 2015.

Nearly 2,000 households will be relocated from dangerous areas.

The province will zone off some 105 hectares of land and spend more than 2 trillion VND (87.9 million USD) for the relocation.

The Department of Construction reported that by April 30, 2017, the province relocated 283 households, including 237 under the aforesaid schemes in 2016-2020, with a vision to 2025.

The province will relocate the remaining 1,637 households, and implementing other projects to build houses for poor people and revolutionary contributors.

Quang Ninh aims to spend 96 billion VND (4.2 million USD) building and upgrading houses for 3,127 revolutionary contributors in 2017-2018.

Dien asked the provincial Bank for Social Policies and the provincial Fatherland Front Committee and other political groups to mobilise financial resources from the central government and sponsors to complete these accommodation projects as soon as possible.-

Quang Nam boosts cooperation with Lao localities

Chairman of the Planning, Finance and Audit Committee of the Lao National Assembly Vilayvong Budakham hoped the central province of Quang Nam will continue increasing cooperation with Lao localities.

During a meeting with Secretary of the provincial Party’s Committee Nguyen Ngoc Quang in Quang Nam on June 28, the Lao official recognised the locality’s effective assistance for and coordination with southern provinces of Laos, especially Sekong, in the fields of education and healthcare.

Quang Nam is helping train nearly 100 Lao students at the local universities and colleges, he said.

Secretary Quang briefed cooperation outcomes between Quang Nam and southern Lao localities, particularly Sekong province bordering Quang Nam.

He hoped Vietnamese and Lao NA deputies will forge ahead with coordination to boost the establishment of the East West Economic Corridor – which is important in connecting Cambodia’s northeastern provinces, Laos’ southern provinces, Myanmar, and Vietnam’s central provinces.

The construction of a road from Sekong to the Nam Giang – Dac Ta Ooc border gate is expected to boost trade activities between the Lao province and Quang Nam as well as other central coastal cities and provinces in Vietnam, he added.

Vietnam Red Cross prepares for stormy season of 2017

The Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) held a conference in Hanoi on June 28 to publicise its natural disaster forecast in 2017 and evaluate its capacity and resources to respond to emergencies.

The VRC predicted that in the rest of the year, El Nino and Southern Oscillation will maintain at medium level. There is a low possibility of El Nino while storms and tropical low pressures arising in the East Sea are likely to increase with less effects on the mainland, except the central region.

Average temperature may be higher than that in the past years but hot weather will not last for long, according to the VRS.

Participants at the event agreed on the need to equipped people in risky areas with necessary skills to cope with natural disasters, with strengtheningpopularisation on preventive measures to minimise impacts of natural disasters.

At the conference, the VRC and the International Red Cross and Crescent Societies discussed and agreed on a cooperation framework for the 2017-2022 period, which aims to meet the requirements of affected people based on the capacity of each party.

VRC President Nguyen ThiXuan Thu said that the organisation has prepared over 100 billion VND, more than 20 packages of household commodities, more than 3,000 water purification capsules, and more than 1,700 family water filters, among others, to respond to possible disasters.

The VRC also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on coordination in implementing activities on preventing natural disasters, managing and developing protection forests, building new-style rural areas, and supporting the poor.

It also inked a cooperation programme with the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to carry out the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in the 2016-2020 period.

The VRC is a member of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control. In the past six months, the society launched many activities to provide urgent support for those affected by natural disasters in Khanh Hoa, Lai Chau and Hoa Binh provinces.
The organisation has also implemented 14 programmes and projects on natural disaster prevention and response.

NA Chairwoman meets Can Tho voters

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and deputies met constituents from Vinh Thanh and Ninh Kieu districts in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on June 28. 

Constituents raised issues of concern regarding rural road transport, hygiene and environment, food safety, farm produce prices, sand exploitation, medical insurance, gender equality, mass mobilisation, public and bad debts, among others. 

She took note of a proposal to offer more support to martyr’s mothers living in need in rural areas. She vowed to ask the government to closely monitor sand exploitation. 

Ngan assured the voters about environmental protection in the Lee & Man paper mill built in the southern province of Hau Giang, saying that relevant agencies have inspected wastewater and production in the mill and released a report assessing its environment impact. At the same time, an automatic exhaust gas monitor system that transmits data from the mill to the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment has also been installed. 

About the collection of empty plant protection drug cans and packs and farming wastes in rural areas, Ngan asked authorities concerned to raise their responsibility and public awareness of environmental protection, partly by guiding farmers how to properly collect empty cans and build biogas pits in farms. 

Regarding the settlement of bad debts in credit organisations, she said the issue will be addressed in line with the Resolution which will take effect on August 15, 2017. 

The same day, the top legislator visited and presented gifts to several policy beneficiary families in Can Tho.

Dong Nai: 79 percent of children wear helmets

The helmet use rate of primary school pupils in the southern province of Dong Nai reached 79 percent in 2017.

The information was released at a June 28 ceremony to review the project “Promoting action on child helmet use 2016 - 2017” funded by the Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation.

Dinh Kim Phuong, Country Manager of the AIP Foundation, said the project has been carried out in ten primary schools in Dong Nai province over the past five years.

It has helped reduce the number of accidents at these schools from 24 in 2012 to three in 2017.

The foundation will continue cooperating with the provincial Department of Education and Training to enhance the awareness of law observation, ensuring traffic safety for locals, particularly pupils, she said.

Home to numerous highways, Dong Nai has recorded the largest number of traffic accidents in the nation.

Under the project, more than 10,000 free helmets and road safety tips have been offered to students at schools near national roads in the province.

In the 2016 – 2017 academic year, the Foundation distributed over 4,000 leaflets for ethnic minority pupils, guiding them how to wear a helmet in their local languages.

Similar projects have also been carried out in the central province of Quang Nam and the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.

Israel donates wheelchairs to disabled children

The Embassy of Israel in Việt Nam on Wednesday handed out 15 wheelchairs to children with disabilities who are being treated at the Orthopedics & Rehabilitation Hospital in HCM City.

Wheelchairs of Hope, an initiative to design, manufacture and provide wheelchairs to children in need of mobility, together with ALYN Hospital-Israel’s Pediatric and Adolescence Rehabilitation Center, provides good-quality wheelchairs which are lightweight and affordable with an attractive design.

Speaking at the ceremony, Doron Lebovich, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Israel in Việt Nam, said a total of 100 wheelchairs would be given out to children with disabilities in Việt Nam.

The wheelchairs are expected to help children with disabilities increase their social integration.

Lưu Thị Ánh Loan, acting director of Disability Research and Capacity Development Centre, said Việt Nam was home to around 1.2 million children with disabilities, with a majority of them failing to access education, health care and entertainment activities.

Children with disabilities also face a shortage of support tools such as wheelchairs to enable them to become mobile, Loan said.

The wheelchairs, which are specifically designed for children, will enhance daily activities, and are expected to lead to self-confidence and independence, she said.

Fishermen of Quảng Trị Province go overseas

Coastal central Quảng Trị Province is paying attention to labour export to address challenges faced by locals who suffered from the consequences of last year’s environmental incident.

According to the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, following the incident up till May this year, nearly 500 labourers from four districts -- Hải Lăng, Triệu Phong, Gio Linh and Vĩnh Linh - went overseas as part of labour export to markets such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Gio Việt Commune, Gio Linh District, in particular, saw a large number of locals going overseas following the incident. In 2016, there were more than 150 labourers who were sent abroad.

In the first five months of this year alone, 67 labourers were sent to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, mainly through the job exchange programme of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. Nguyễn Văn Thọ, 48, a fisherman in the commune, incurred enormous losses due to the incident last year, with his family facing huge challenges since he was unable to go fishing.

Upon receiving support from local authorities, Thọ sent his son and daughter to Japan and Taiwan for work. Currently, they send home nearly VNĐ40 million (US$1,780) per month.
“My son and daughter have stable jobs and have helped the family pay debts and resume production,” Thọ said.

Nearly 100 locals from Cửa Việt Town, Gio Linh District, also went abroad to work in the first half of this year, with average wages reaching more than VNĐ20 million ($890) per month per person.

Nguyễn Văn Hai, a resident of the town, said earlier only a few people went overseas for work. Since the environmental incident, most of the families in the area have at least one member, some even three to four, working overseas.

According to Trần Đình Cảm, chairman of Cửa Việt Town’s People’s Committee, following the environmental disaster, local authorities have taken significant measures to help locals shift their means of livelihood and supported them with jobs to resume production and stabilise lives.

Labour export has contributed to the province’s socio-economic development; however, it has also resulted in labour shortage in the province.

Local authorities are, therefore, studying measures to ensure a balance between labour supply and demand.

Dương Thị Hải Yến, deputy director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the department has introduced professional training courses and dialogues between State management agencies and labour export enterprises so that locals increase their awareness about labour export.

The department has co-operated with the provincial job centre to introduce and provide free consultation to labourers and support fishermen with loans to go overseas.

Sepak takraw event kicks off in Nghệ An

The National Beach Sepak Takraw Championship kicked off in the central province of Nghệ An on June 26.

The rattan-ball kicking competition attracted nearly 100 athletes from seven cities and provinces. They are competing in the men’s and women’s categories, with two divisions in each.

The event, which was coordinated by the National Sports Administration and the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will continue until June 30.

The event’s best athletes will be chosen for the national team to compete at international tournaments this year.

Hanoi reconsiders changing office, school hours to combat traffic congestion

Hanoi is planning to review and adjust school and business hours in a bid to reduce traffic jams and pollution.

Police in the Vietnamese capital have surveyed over 15,000 residents, and 71% said they were in favor of the plan.

The proposal will be reviewed by the city's People’s Council, the municipal legislature, in early July. However, the city needs to make further reports to the government and related ministries before it can implement the plan.

Details are sketchy at this point. It is not clear if the city will rehash a short-lived timetable that it once tested.

In 2012, the city adjusted school hours in 12 districts to finish at 7 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. to avoid rush hour. However, the plan was scrapped after two weeks following complaints that it made no difference to the traffic.

Normally, state-run organizations in Vietnam run through 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m, while banks may close half an hour earlier.

Central Highlands heritage month starts July 1

The National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism in Hanoi will celebrate Central Highlands Heritage Month in July with a bevy of special activities and events, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

A highlight of the month long activities is a musical program featuring folk songs and dances of the Central Highlands region performed by ethnic minority residents of the village.

Additionally, a host of activities showcasing Central Highland traditional musical instruments such as gongs, T’rung and K’rong put (local traditional bamboo xylophones) is on the agenda.

An educational program will transpire at the Khmer people’s pagoda, which offers youth an opportunity to learn about traditional beliefs of the Central Highlanders and their faith that filial piety and respect for elders constitute the root of goodness.

A requiem for soldiers who sacrifice their lives for national independence and freedom is planned at the village, as part of activities to mark July 27, the 70th anniversary of War Invalids' and Martyrs' Day.

Visitors will also have ample opportunity to enjoy photo exhibitions, an exhibition on the Spratly Islands, traditional food and drink of the Central Highlanders, along with a wide range of their other customary activities.

Ninh Thuan strives to become ideal tourism destination

With unique potential in marine, cultural-historical and ecological tourism, the south central coastal province of Ninh Thuan is expected to become a top tourist destination.

The province has recorded annual average growth of 16% in the number of tourists.

It is home to several tourist attractions such as the Ngoan Muc Pass, Poklong Garai, Porome and Hoa Lai towers, Vinh Hy bay, Binh Son-Ninh Chu beach, along with traditional brocade weaving and pottery villages of the Cham ethnic people.

Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chau Thanh Hai said the Ninh Thuan People’s Committee has created the best conditions for the tourism sector to lure investment.

As a result, tourism has recorded significant strides in recent years, he said, noting that the province welcomed 1.7 million tourists in 2016, a year-on-year rise of 13.33%. Tourism brought home VND752 billion (over US$33 million) in the year, up 22.9% against 2015.

Local economic sectors also poured money into tourism infrastructure, with the province recording 120 hi-end accommodation facilities with 2,544 rooms.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Van Binh said authorities have built a plan to develop Ninh Thuan into an attractive and highly competitive tourism destination nationwide by 2020, with a vision to 2030.

To develop tourism sustainably, the locality is intensifying State management in association with protecting the environment, encouraging the development of community-based tourism, devising policies to enable businesses to improve tourism infrastructure and expanding tourism markets at home and abroad.

The province also aims to develop human resources and create special tourism products.

Racing underway at Juniors Cycling Nationals in Binh Thuan

More than 150 young cyclists made their way to the city of Phan Thiet in the southern province of Binh Thuan where the Juniors Cycling Nationals got underway today (June 28).

Young men and women in the 16-18 age category will contest in 14 events at the national omnium, the multi-race event that will crown a national champion based on points earned over the week-long event, said the organizers.

The opening day session saw Tran Kim Yen from An Giang Province besting the women’s 30km with Le Thi Ngoc Tran from Vinh Long Province and Dieu Thi Vuong from Binh Duong Province coming in second and third, respectively.

In the men’s 40km, Nguyen Anh Khoa from Ho Chi Minh City came out in full force claiming first with Ha Kieu Tan Dai from Binh Duong Province in second and Nguyen Quoc Bao from Dong Thap Province in third.