Heavy rain create havoc in Ha Giang

Heavy rain has destroyed crops and disrupted the lives of ethnic people in the northern mountain province of Ha Giang.

A two-day downpour, which ended yesterday, July 9, flooded 260 houses in Vi Xuyen District's Viet Lam Commune.

Hundreds of hectares of farm crops were destroyed, traffic was brought to a standstill on the route connecting Viet Lam, Thuong Son and Quang Ngan communes.

Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, Dam Van Bong, said that the committee ordered teams to calculate the damage and develop plans to support affected residents.

Hundreds of soldiers were sent to help the militia and self-defence forces handle the situation.

In the meantime, five hours of heavy rain totalling 100mm flooded several main streets, including Luong Ngoc Quyen and Hoang Van Thu in northern Thai Nguyen Province.

The flooding occurred in areas close to examination rooms at the university, making it difficult to gain access.

The provincial Military Commission sent three amphibious vehicles to carry students to the exam rooms.

German journalist’s charity visit to central Vietnam

Journalist Lothar A. Baltrusch has travelled 15,000 km by his motorbike from Germany to Vietnam to see a poor girl in the central province of Quang Tri.

Photo: VOV

The German journalist arrived in Vietnam on July 9 after he left Schwerte city, Germany, on May 17 and went through many countries, including Poland, Latvia, Russia, Mongolia, China and Laos.

His first destination in Vietnam is Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province, where he is going to provide financial support for Pham Thi Thao Huyen, a poor girl introduced to him by the World Vision – a non-profit organization.

Lothar is prepared to see a 13-year-old girl named Huyen and her family whom he has financially supported since September 2009.  To him, money is not enough and he likes to meet the girl personally.

During his journey, Lothar will also visit and present gifts to underprivileged children and a number of families involved in a World Vision project in Quang Tri.

Lothar says he has raised more than 16,000 Euro and received an additional sum of 4,000 Euro donated by Wolfgang Thierse, Vice-President of the German Bundestag in four years for charity work in Quang Tri where he plans to fund the construction of a school.

Born in 1962, Lothar is a journalist for Antenne Unna, a radio station in the German Northrhine-Westphalia's radio network.

Poor people receive free health services

More than 2,500 poor people in the two central provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai enjoy free health care and medicine from a charity programme run by the Korean Doosan Vina Inc. and the Hospital of Chung Ang University.

Accordingly, it costs US$133,200 to check the health of 1,500 elderly people and children in Quang Ngai province and about 1,000 poor people in Quang Nam province.

Within the framework of this fifth charity programme, 13 children with cleft lips will receive free surgery and two children with congenital heart disease will later be transferred to the Hospital of Chung Ang University in the Republic of Korea for surgery.

On the first day of the five-day programme, nearly 600 patients were examined and given medicine, said Dr. Lee Chee Song, the head of the charity group.

Since the programme was launched in 2009, nearly 12,000 people in these two localities have been given health check-ups, and 60 children suffering from cleft lips, 19 cataract patients and two children with heart disease have been operated on. To date, the programme funding has received US$1.88 million.

Vietnamese contestants show off World Skills

Vietnamese contestants bagged seven vocational certificates of excellence at the 42nd World Skills Competition, which was hold from June 26th to July 8th in Leipzig, Germany.

The contestants were among 13 Vietnamese candidates under 22 years old who displayed proficiency in 12 vocations including cooking, restaurant services, fashion, web design, IT solutions, plumbing, refrigeration and air conditioning, electrical installations, electronics and carpentry.

The contest saw more than 1,000 candidates from 67 countries and territories worldwide competing across 46 vocations this year.

Incence burning has old Hoi An catch fire

An old house in Tran Phu street in the old quarter of Hoi An City caught fire yesterday morning after the owner burnt incense inside, said vice chairman of the city's People's Committee Truong Van Bay.

While firefighters extinguished the blaze within an hour, most of the two-storey 100sq.m house's wooden interiors and floors were damaged. No one was injured in the blaze.

Local residents burn incense on the first and 15th day of each lunar month.

US$550 mln tourism, residential project restarts

Dubai property developer Limitless will this year restart its Halong Star mixed-use residential and tourism project in the northern province of Quang Ninh, which was delayed for several years due to the company’s financial difficulties.

According to a memorandum of understanding on the project’s implementation signed recently by representatives of Quang Ninh province and Limitless, the US$550 million project will cover 125 hectares of land.

The project will feature a 250-room five-star hotel, a 100-room luxury boutique hotel, 226 top-end villas, 85 luxury townhouses, 114 apartments, and a trade centre.

In May, Limitless signed a new joint venture agreement for the construction of Halong Star with Hanoi-based Sovico Holding.

Additional EUR1 mln for developing tourism workforce

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has been allowed to add EUR1 million as non-refundable aid from the Government of Luxembourg to continue implementing a project to strengthen human resources in the hospitality and tourism sector in Vietnam.

The project has been jointly conducted by the MCST and the Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation since 2010 to advance the capacity of four hotel schools in Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau.

It also aims to propagate best practices in newer hotel schools in Haiphong, Danang, Da Lat, Nha Trang and Can Tho.

In 2013, the project will support the Hue Tourism College in operating the Villa Hue and provide equipment for practice to the Da Nang Vocational Tourism College.

The project will end by late 2014.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA