Drug trafficking detected in Quang Binh

Border guards in the central Quang Binh Province, in co-operation with the Laos' Khammouane Province Public Security Department, have discovered a trafficking operation of 22,000 ecstasy tablets running from Laos to Viet Nam.

A semi-truck, two motorbikes, three mobile phones and 1 million Lao Kip (US$127) were confiscated together with the pills.

The three traffickers apprehended are of Lao nationality.

The case has been under the two countries' supervision since July last year.

HCM City launches campaign “For the poor 2013”

The Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) on April 2 launched a campaign “For the Poor 2013”, encouraging more people to join hands in caring for the poor.

In 2012, the city’s Fund for the Poor mobilised US$6 million, helping build, repair nearly 2,000 houses, providing 126 scholarships and 130 means of transport, and offering low-interest loans to the poor.

In addition, member organisations of the VFF municipal chapter raised nearly US$20 million to carry out social welfare programmes.

Efforts in caring for poor households were partially attributed to reducing in the city’s poverty rate among households to 2.12 percent by the end of last year.

New road-worthy certificates welcomed

Since Monday, motor vehicle owners have been granted certificates after passing technical safety and exhaust checks, rather than books.

Under a new regulation set by the Ministry of Transport, the certificates will be renewed by authorised stations, while existing books must be kept by drivers for the vehicles' whole lives.

The move aims to ease administrative burdens and prevent document forgery.

Donors contribute VND460 bn to northwestern region

Businesses, organizations and individuals have donated VND460 billion to social welfare programmes for the north-western region at a gathering in Tuyen Quang province on April 2.

The event was in the framework of the 2013 conference on investment promotion and social welfare in the northwestern region, which groups 12 provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, Bac Kan, Cao Bang, Ha Giang and a number of western communes of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces.

The region has a strategic position in terms of defence and security and socio-economic development. However, it has lagged behind other regions in the country.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called on local authorities, businesses, agencies, international organizations and individuals nationwide to support in the development of the Northwestern region, where the rate of poverty is hovering at 25.6 percent.

On this occasion, Phuc and Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh presented 20 gifts, each worth VND30 million, to poor households in Tuyen Quang.

Last year, the region’s GDP exceed 9.6 percent with annual per capita income averaging VND18 million.

Social insurance violations targeted

The city plans to beef up inspections at businesses this year in an effort to curb the number of violations related to social-insurance payments and contributions.

Inspections at nearly 2,150 companies in HCM City last year found many kinds of violations at 128 businesses, according to the city's Social Insurance Agency and the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs' inspectorate.

Ninety-five of the 128 enterprises paid fines totalling VND2.3 billion (US$109,000), Huynh Tan Dung, head of the inspectorate, told participants at a workshop held in HCM City yesterday.

Among other violations, the city's Social Insurance Agency sued 594 enterprises for failing to contribute a total of VND236.9 billion ($11 million) in social insurance contributions to the city fund.

The agency has since that time recovered a total of VND64.5 billion ($3 million).

Nguyen Dang Tien, deputy head of the Social Insurance Agency, said the inspectorate had been offering guidance to over 1,700 enterprises on social insurance laws and obligations.

More than 56 per cent of the companies have paid their debts, Tien said.

Inspections also found that four employees at Freetrend Industrial Viet Nam Co Ltd in Thu Duc District filed phony records to get paid leave.

Dung said that three employees at VinaWood Co Ltd also filed phony papers to get social insurance payments.

Work begins on new friendship bridge to Cambodia

Construction began yesterday on a bridge crossing an upstream section of the Vam Co Dong River that borders Cambodia.

The US$2.2-million friendship bridge will link the southern province of Tay Ninh with Cambodia's Prey Veng Province at the Tan Nam - Mean Chay border gate near the districts of Viet Nam's Tan Bien and Kamchay Mear of Cambodia.

The bridge, which is just 100km away from the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, as well as the approach road are expected to support border trade development.

At yesterday's ground-breaking ceremony, Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, chairwoman of Tay Ninh Province's People's Committee, said the road and bridge will facilitate trade between the people of both provinces, stimulating economic development and cultural exchanges.

They would also strengthening security and defence ties, she said.

The Tay Ninh administration decided last year to build the bridge at the 131st border landmark. The bridge is expected to open after 18 months of construction.

The province also plans to build a market that is located about 10km from the transnational bridge.

At the end of last year, the 27m-long Song Mang Bridge that links Viet Nam's Binh Phuoc Province and Cambodia's Mondulkiri Province officially opened to traffic.

WB-funded project helps reduce pollution in rivers

A project to manage industrial pollution in the basins of Dong Nai, Nhue and Day rivers was launched in Hanoi on April 2.

The five-year project has a total investment of nearly US$59 million, including US$50 million in loan from the World Bank.

It will be initially carried out in the four provinces of Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Ba Ria–Vung Tau and Dong Nai.

The project will help enhance the institutional and technical capacity in the field, while encouraging the community to engage in supervising implementation of environmental protection regulations.

Vu Dai Thang, Head of the Industrial Zone Management Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said the project will set up observation stations to control waste discharged into the rivers, establish a fund for enterprises to build waste water treatment systems, and improve environmental quality management capacity.

Accordingly, 17 automatic water quality observation stations will be set up in these provinces.

At least 10 industrial zones will receive preferential loans to build their waste water treatment systems, while 2.500 officials will be trained to improve their pollution management capacity.

Toll booths to help pay for national highway expansion

The expanded National Highway 1A will have more than 20 tollbooths when completed in 2016 to enable investors to recover their invested capital.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong explained that the expansion of the highway required more money than the State budget could provide, so it was necessary to draw on other sources.

"The expansion of the 1,700-km highway from Ha Noi to HCM City, which increases the current two lanes to four lanes, will cost more than VND120 trillion (US$5.7 billion). That's beyond the capacity of the State budget," Truong said.

As a result, about 1,000km will be built under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, he told a press conference in Ha Noi yesterday.

For every 70km of road built under the BOT model, the investors can set up toll booths to recover their capital within 25 years.

"The fees collected from the booths will also be used for repair and maintenance on the BOT-built roads," Truong said.

Considered the most important highway in Viet Nam, National Highway 1A runs through half of the provinces and cities in the country, linking Ha Noi, Da Nang, HCM City and Can Tho.

"Some parts of the highway see 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles each day, so it needs to be expanded," said Truong.

The ministry aims for construction to start next month for all expansions under the BOT model.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA