Traffic congestion worsens at some gateways in HCMC

Traffic jams have gone from bad to worse in recent days at some of HCMC’s main gateways in Binh Tan, Thu Duc and other outlying districts due to road constructions and upgrades.

Vehicles were seen moving along inch by inch in a 10km line at the section of National Highway 1A in Binh Tan District on July 15 morning as its lanes have been rearranged in preparation for construction of an overpass at the crossroads between Road No. 2 and the national highway.

The road section in District 2 that leads to Phu My Bridge has been narrowed for upgrade, forcing hundreds of light and container trucks to move forward inch by inch on the bridge in the past three days.

The HCMC Department of Transport attributed the serious traffic jam to the Urban Traffic Management Unit 2’s plan to expand the approach road from two to three lanes. This unit has been told to speed up construction so that the third lane could be completed in the next ten days.

Heavy congestion has lasted around one week at the section of Kha Van Can Street near Go Dua Bridge in Thu Duc District. Residents living along the street said vehicles have been jammed since barriers were set up on the 3-kilometer-long section for road upgrade, leaving only one lane for traffic.

Seventy bridges need early replacement

Seventy degraded bridges along national highways in 25 provinces must be replaced by 2015, three years earlier than planned.

Transport Minister Dinh La Thang said the project had total investment of VND8.254 trillion (US$388 million), including VND6.555 trillion ($308) from Japan International Co-operation Agency.

Until now, bids had been accepted for only four of the 25 construction packages.

Replacement works for Tham Bridge and But Son Bridge on National Highway 10 in central Thanh Hoa Province have started.

According to the ministry's Project Management Unit 6 assigned to carry out the project, bidding for the other 21 construction packages will open in November.

Thang asked the management unit to complete replacing all 70 bridges by next year.

"If the unit cannot deal with the task, the work should be shared with other units," Thang said.

He said the project would improve road safety, meet travelling demands and contribute to socio-economic development.

Deputy director of the management unit, Nguyen Tan Khoa, said that a big problem was the slow dispersal of funds.

On top of this, many bridge designs and investment documents were not completed, thus tenders could not be called," Khoa said.

Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Hong Truong said that most of bridges in were only 200 to 300 metres long and would not take too much time to build.

"If the paperwork is solved, it's possible to complete the project next year," he said.

The project includes funding for land clearance and foundation enforcement for bridges, including Thot Not on National Highway 91 in southern Can Tho City, Muong Khai on National Highway 54 in southern Dong Thap Province and An Quy on National Highway 57 in southern Ben Tre Province.

The scarcity of vaccines for infants remains acute at a number of hospitals and clinics in HCMC.

The lack of much-sought-after types such as Infanrix Hexa or those used to prevent chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella has been so striking for the past six months that suppliers have had to make use of all possible sources from foreign countries.

The health sector has been unable to make accurate predictions of diseases, making it impossible to store enough doses in the first place.

In the first half of this year, many parents were afraid of getting their children vaccinated with Quinvaxem in the wake of some fatalities caused by the adverse drug reaction. As such, they have had to shift to using Infanrix Hexa, resulting in an undersupply.

A source said Vietnam has only a few vaccine manufacturers such as Sanofi Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline, but these companies said it may take at least six months to fulfill orders.

The Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health has officially announced the shipments of vaccines due to arrive in Vietnam soon in an effort to reassure parents.

Hong Thuy Company will import 10,000 doses of five-in-one Pentaxim as early as July 20 and an additional 23,000 doses in September while May Cosmedic Joint Stock Company will import 12,000 doses of this type on August 10.

As for the six-in-one vaccine Infanrix Hexa, Saigon Pharmaceutical Company is expected to have 100,000 doses on August 15. The Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 will import 10,000 doses of Varicella-GCC.

Toll collection at Ngang Pass suspended

The Ministry of Transport has told Song Da Corporation, the investor of Ngang Pass tunnel project, to stop its toll collection from last week until it has fixed the subsidence on the section leading to the tunnel connecting the central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh.

The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam said inspectors of the ministry found that the section on National Highway 1A leading to the tunnel has subsided and affected traffic safety for vehicles during their working trip to check works on the highway section from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien Hue provinces.

Previously, the directorate wrote to Song Da Corporation several times warning it of the subsidence but the investor has done nothing to fix the problem. So, the ministry had to make the decision based on Circular 52/2013/TT-BGTVT requesting the corporation to repair the sinking section; otherwise, it will not be permitted to collect tolls from vehicles running through the tunnel.

Regional Road Management Unit 2 under the directorate has been assigned to supervise the parties involved in the tunnel project built under the build-operation-transfer (BOT) format to see if they have stopped the toll collection and repair the road section as ordered by the ministry.

Put into use since 2004, Ngang Pass tunnel goes through Hoanh Son mountain range on National Highway 1A, and allows vehicles to pass the mountain range instead of running on a longer and dangerous road winding on the pass.

The six-lane tunnel is more than 2.1 km long. Vehicles are allowed to run at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour.

Central Citizen Reception Committee established

The Government Inspectorate has announced the decision to set up the Central Citizen Reception Committee in Ha Noi.

The establishment of The Central Citizen Reception Committee is based on the spirit of the Law on Citizen Reception and complaint and denunciation handling of the Government Inspectorate.

The Committee’s tasks are receiving, classifying, handling with complaint, petition and denunciation of citizens, particularly the complicated, unsolved and prolonged ones to make solution based on regulations of the law.

The Central Citizen Reception Committee is responsible for guiding citizens to perform the complaint, petition and denunciation in right order, organ, unit and individual who have jurisdiction.

Efforts made to save isolated ethnic minority

Authorities in Ha Tinh Province have agreed to submit a project plan to the government to build a road that would link the Chu ethnic minority group to the rest of the world.

The proposal was made by Tu Van Dien, Chairman of the local Fatherland Front at a recent meeting of the provincial People’s Council.

If the proposal is adopted, a 15-km road will be built to link the village of Chu ethnic minority in to save them from inbreeding which has had a serious impact on the children of the community.

Mr. Dien said that Rao Tre Village, where Chu minority live, at has 45 households with 137 residents. Despite the support of local authorities, living conditions there are still difficult.

The most serious problem for the villagers is inbreeding. Up to 60% of local people suffer from asthma, while the rate of the disabled people has been on the rise.

The construction of 15-km road is expected to give the community access to the outside world and hopefully help solve this problem.

Local authorities have shown support for the project and will submit it to the government for consideration.

H1 sees fewer labor accidents in HCMC

The number of labor accidents reported in HCMC in the first half of this year is 37, a reduction of six cases compared to the same period last year, the city’s Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs announced on July 15.

Of the 37 accidents, which killed 37 people and wounded one, 24 were in the construction sector, eight in industrial production and five in the services sector.

So far, authorities have pinpointed the causes of only ten labor accidents and the rest are still under investigation.

In the first six months, inspectors of the city’s labor department imposed fines totaling more than VND306 million on 28 companies for violating labor safety regulations.

The department also reported 184 fires occurring in the city during the period, which killed seven people, injured ten and destroyed properties worth nearly VND8.5 billion.

The labor accidents, fires and explosions were blamed on employers’ failures to train employees on labor safety and use low-quality equipment which cannot ensure safety for laborers at workplaces.

On the other hand, authorities have not strictly required workers to abide by labor safety regulations, which have also led to those accidents, said the city’s occupational safety office.

Highway 20 operator told to repair road or stop collection

The investor of National Highway 20 linking Dong Nai Province’s T-junction and Lam Dong Province’s Dalat City will be forced to stop its toll collection unless it completes fixing this deteriorating road before October 30.

The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam said on Monday the maintenance, repair and upgrade of some sections on National Highway 20 had not met standards, putting traffic safety at risk.

The parties involved in this project upgraded under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format are responsible for repairing the road now full of potholes, especially in the section in Lam Dong Province.

The project’s investor is a consortium between 7/5 Co. Ltd. under the Ministry of Defense, Hung Phat Co. Ltd., Dai Phat Investment and Development Co. Ltd., and Highway 20 BOT Joint Stock Company.

These companies would have to repair the damaged road surface, repaint signboards and prune trees to ensure visibility. They would also have to dredge and widen the road’s ditches and drainage to boost runoff in the rainy season.

The Ministry of Transport will force the investor to stop the toll collection unless they complete the repair of the road section before the end of October, the directorate said in a statement sent to the consortium.

In early July, several accidents were reported on the damaged road, causing two fatalities and prolonged traffic jams on Highway 20’s section in Lam Dong Province.

Previously, the toll station on Highway 20 stirred up controversies due to its location in Dong Nai Province instead of Lam Dong Province.

National Highway 20 is now being upgraded and expanded to serve traffic from HCMC to Dalat and the transportation of alumina from Lam Dong Province to Dong Nai Province’s Go Dau Port.

The directorate last Wednesday stopped the toll collection at Ngang Pass on National Highway 1A as the investor failed to upgrade the damaged road surface.

Tay Ninh to suspend polluting firms

Tapioca and rubber manufacturers that polluted the environment in the southwestern province of Tay Ninh would be suspended from operations, said the local Department of Natural Resources and Environment director, Nguyen Dinh Xuan.

"There are 74 tapioca and 27 rubber manufacturers in Tay Ninh, but only 31 of them have installed A-level wastewater treatment systems," said Xuan.

The municipal People's Committee had ordered the remaining manufacturers to install the system by late June or face suspension, but they failed to meet the deadline.

The local Department of Natural Resources and Environment conducted 360 inspections on wastewater treatment plants in the first six months of 2014, collecting fines of VND1.9 billion (US$91,350).

Quang Tri police seize smuggled cigarettes

Huong Hoa Commune Police seized thousands of smuggled cigarettes in the central province of Quang Tri on Wednesday.

The police found the goods in a raid at the house of 42-year-old Nguyen Thi Tuyen.

She failed to provide documents to prove the origin of 8,000 packs of Jet cigarettes and 50 boxes of Ensure milk.

The goods were worth VND200 million (US$9,600).

Tuyen said her house was used to store smuggled goods before they were transported to Dong Ha City.

The case is under further investigation.

Chief accountant jailed for embezzlement

A chief accountant who forged the signature of her company's general director to embezzle nearly VND10 billion (US$476,000), has been jailed for 20 years.

Dam Van Anh, 31, lives in Dai Kim Ward, Ha Noi's Hoang Mai District. So far, she has paid VND2 billion ($95,200) back to the company and will have to return an additional VND8 billion ($380,900).

According to the indictment, Van Anh started working as an accountant at the International Telecommunications Investment and Commerce Joint-stock Company in November, 2010. She was promoted to the post of chief accountant at the beginning of 2011.

Between February 24, 2011 and June 15, 2012, Anh forged the signature of Nguyen Thi Dung, general director of the company, to defraud the firm and used the embezzled money to buy a car and three flats in Ha Noi's Ha Dong and Hoang Mai districts, on gambling, and to loan the company VND700 million ($33,300) with interest.

Police seize smuggled drugs, medical equipment

About 7,000 bottles of smuggled antibiotics and medical equipment were seized while being delivered to a clinic on Wednesday, said Ha Noi Environmental Police Division Lieutenant Colonel Pham Giang Son.

The drivers of the two three-wheeler vehicles, on which the smuggled goods were being transported, could not show any documents regarding the origins of the drugs and equipment which, they reportedly said, were going to be delivered to the 168 Clinic on Ngoc Hoi Street.

The clinic's staff member, who was to receive the goods, was a foreigner and could not show any legal documents related to the drugs, a computer and a machine used for gynecology.

The 168 Clinic, formerly known as Thanh Tri Clinic, has earlier been penalised by the police for violating environmental norms.

The case is under further investigation.

Workshop seeks to push renewable energy development

A workshop was held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 17 seeking to further develop renewable energy resources in Vietnam, especially in southern localities.

In recent years, special attention has been given to researching and developing solar and wind energy as a replaceable source of fuel for the country.

According to the Energy Institute, a map tracking wind resources jointly made by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the World Bank is expected to be completed by 2015, hopefully aiding projects to generate power from wind.

The country is also seeking to develop other sources of renewable energy, such as bio-gas, waste energy and biomass energy.

Ly Ngoc Thang from the Energy Institute said the country will face the increasing needs for energy and electricity in the coming time and need to import coal for power generation after 2015.

Therefore, the development of renewable energy recourses should be speeded as fossil fuels are becoming exhausted. The move will help ensure energy security and protect the environment.

Ho Chi Minh City has carried out projects to turn solid waste into energy, bringing practical benefits to its 10-million population, heard the workshop.

Experts suggested the State come up with capital support and price subsidy policies to investors operating the field.

They called for clearing bottlenecks in administrative procedure and infrastructure for the sector’s development.

Binh Thuan moves to back offshore fishermen

The People’s Committee of the central coastal province of Binh Thuan has applied a number of support policies for fishermen during their long-term offshore operations.

According to Huynh Quang Huy, head of the provincial Fisheries Department, the policies focused on fuel assistance, insurance and communications devices.

Most of the fishing boats in Binh Thuan, accordingly, now have modern communication devices, enabling fishermen to stay at sea longer than usual, contributing to protecting national sovereignty, added Huy.

With a coastline of 192km, Binh Thuan is one of the 28 coastal localities playing a strategic role in Vietnam ’s maritime strategy.

During a recent visit to Binh Thuan, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has asked the province to further develop its maritime economy as it boasts one of the country’s three largest fishing grounds.

The province is now home to 7,500 fishing vessels, which caught 78,600 tonnes of seafood in the first half of this year, up 6.2 percent from the same period last year.

In the first half, Binh Thuan recorded a GDP growth rate of 8.6 percent.

Overseas Vietnamese youths tour central region

More than 170 overseas Vietnamese youths from 30 countries begun a five-day tour of Da Nang, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh on July 16.

The tour is part of an annual summer camp which started in Hanoi on July 8 and ends on July 27 in Ho Chi Minh City.

The first stop was Da Nang city museum to witness a collection of documents and maps outlining Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

"It's the first time that I have visited Da Nang," said Hoang Hiep, 17, a high-school student from Poland.

"I left Vietnam when I was a baby. My parents were from Bac Giang province," he said.

"This is the third time I have returned to Vietnam, but this journey is very exciting as I have joined up with other overseas Vietnamese," he added.

Khanh Ngan, 18, said she was interested in the annual summer camp because it gave her a chance to find her roots.

Nguyen Huy Truong Nam, 18, from Moscow, said he left Vietnam four years ago.

"The Vietnamese community in Russia has heard news of the East Sea tension and China's illegal placement of oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 inside Vietnam's continental shelf," Nam said.

"Many Vietnamese in Russia and their Russian friends flocked to demonstrations asking China to withdraw its oil rig from Viet Nam's waters," he said.

"This journey will help me learn more about the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands."

Colonel Tran Van Dung, of the Zone 2 Marine Police, and Vuong Manh Hoa from the Fisheries Surveillance Force, talked to the youths about the acts of violence by Chinese ships that endangered the lives of Vietnamese fishermen.

The youths were also shown the images of the wreck of sunken fishing trawler DNa TS 90152, which rammed by Chinese boats in Vietnamese waters.

The youths will join a ceremony for souls of martyrs at Linh Ung Pagoda in Son Tra Mountain on July 19.

They leave for a trip to Ly Son Island in central Quang Ngai province on July 18.

Ly Son Island preserves Am Linh Pagoda, a place of worship for seamen sent to the Paracel Islands in the Nguyen dynasty from the 17th century.

A museum of the two archipelagos displays over 200 ancient documents and 100 objects that show that the two island groups belong to Vietnam.

The summer camp has been organised by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2003.

The annual event creates an opportunity for overseas youngsters to learn about national traditions, culture and history, as well as enhance solidarity and exchanges.

This year’s summer camp takes places in many localities across the country with the theme “My country’s sea and islands.”

HCM City to improve workers' safety

The city is stepping up its inspections of local companies, especially those in the construction field, to prevent the usual spike in the number of workplace accidents near the end of the year.

Nguyen Quoc Viet, head of the labour-safety division at the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the number of workplace accidents had declined in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year.

Speaking at a meeting held on Tuesday, Viet said there were 37 workplace accidents during the first half of the year, leaving 37 people dead and one person injured.

Forty-three deaths were recorded in the same period last year, he said.

Most of the accidents are due to workers' poor awareness of labour-safety regulations, and enterprises' use of equipment that does not ensure labour safety at their factories and construction sites.

Viet said that department's inspectors had fined companies a total of VND306 million (US$14,570) in the first six months of the year.

In addition, the city recorded 184 fires in the first six months of the year, down 45 per cent compared to the same period last year. The fires killed seven people and injured 10.

Viet said that many households and companies still had not bought fire extinguishers and other fire-prevention devices.

In HCM City, 82 enterprises with a total of 8,385 employees work in a hazardous environment, according to the Centre for Environment and Health Protection under the Health Department.

Of these employees, 193 were diagnosed with occupational diseases, including stomach ulcers and loss of hearing. Another 863 people have to be monitored closely for workplace-related ailments.

Japanese environment firms introduce technology in Soc Trang

Four environment firms from the Japanese prefecture of Hiroshima introduced their technologies to their Vietnamese counterparts in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on July 17, in an exchange to strengthen their tie-ups.

The technologies are used to treat hazardous waste and water treatment, process farm by-products and develop aquaculture.

The exchange is also meant to spread the practices of sustainable farming in the locality.

The delegation grouped representatives from the Japan External Trade Organsation in Ho Chi Minh City, the Director of the Hiroshima Department of Commerce Industry and Labour and consultants from the Japanese association of environment enterprises.

Demand for renewable energy slopes upwards

Vietnam’s residential and business customers have started to embrace solar and other forms of renewable energy and its demand is forecast to rise fourfold by 2030.

This information was released at a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City on July 17, discussing measures for renewable energy development in southern provinces and cities.

Ly Ngoc Thang, Deputy Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Clean Development Mechanisms under the Energy Institute, said Vietnam will consume seven times more energy next year than in 2010, and is likely to become an importer of coal for energy generation after 2015.

He emphasized the need to develop renewable energy sources to gradually replace the use of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. It is also essential to promote energy efficiency to ensure national energy security and protect the environment, he added.

Other participants suggested that apart from wind energy, Vietnam should focus on other sources of renewable energy, such as solar, biogas and biomass.

Currently, HCM City has around 10 million residents who produce between 8,000 – 9,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) a day, thus offering an opportunity to generate thermal plant and produce several valuable materials, they said.

Nguyen Trung Viet, a climate change expert in HCM City, said MSW can make huge economic benefit if the city pays attention to waste treatment and recycling technology. Each year, HCM City can earn VND1,553 – 2,782 billion from waste recycling, enough to pay for rubbish dumping sites that cost around VND2,208 billion.

He called for State incentives to create more favourable conditions for investors in this field.

FLC persists with illegal sand mining for golf course

FLC Group has continued its illegal mining activities for its golf course project despite a warning from the local People's Committee in the coastal central province of Thanh Hoa.

The Ha Noi-based company, which specialises in tourism and services, received approval for sand mining from the People's Committee late May, but has yet to complete legal procedures to carry out the mining.

Dozens of sand mining ships hired by the company were reportedly operating illegally in the Hoang Chau Commune's Noi dune area earlier in June.

The mining hindered the waterway transportation and affected mangrove swamps and 20ha of clam farm of the commune.

Thanh Hoa People's Committee ordered the FLC Group to cease sand mining and complete legal procedures before resuming.

FLC had yet to identify and demarcate the sand mining zone inside an area of 60ha including 20ha in Noi dune area and 40ha of beach.

The company also had to submit an environmental impact assessment report and plans for environmental rehabilitation and safety of waterways.

Despite a warning from the People's Committee, the company is carrying on with its mining activities.

FLC is hiring about 20 to 30 ships a day to work in the area. Most of the ships are local or from the northern province of Hai Duong and Hai Phong City.

None of the ship owners have provided registrations for their ships, sand mining licences and contracts with the FLC Group.

The Maritime Administration of Thanh Hoa is coordinating with local authorities to deal with the violation.

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