Vietnam’s most modern surveillance ship handed over

Ha Long Shipbuilding Co, Ltd handed over fisheries surveillance ship KN-781 to the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Force in northern Quang Ninh province on June 30.

The fisheries surveillance ship KN-781 has been designed by Damen Group from the Netherlands in accordance with European standards. It is considered one of the two most modern fisheries surveillance ships in Vietnam.

The vessel can operate continuously in normal conditions on an area of 5,000 nautical miles and can endure the toughest of seas.

The ship 90.5 metre long, 14 metres wide, 7 metres high and has a loaded capacity of 500 tones putting out12,016 of horse power.

The completion and handover of the ship will help the fisheries surveillance forces to strengthen its presence at Vietnam’s territorial waters.

Guard dies after falling down elevator shaft

The guard of an 11-storey apartment building in Ha Noi's Trung Hoa- Nhan Chinh area died this morning after he fell down into an open elevator shaft.

The 50-year-old victim, Tran Anh Tuan, reportedly went to the seventh floor of building N5A with some others to check the elevator which was not working. He entered the shaft without realising that the elevator cabin was not there, but on the first floor, and fell into the shaft. Tuan was declared dead at the scene.

The building, which opened in 2005, has two elevators. The residents said that the elevator where the accident took place has been under maintenance for several months. They said that the managing company had ignored the problem despite complaints from the residents.

The concerned authorities are investigating the accident.

The Hanoi public transport system commenced a new bus route on June 30 along Yen Phu road.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony the capital city’s Transport Department Deputy Director Nguyen Hoang Linh voiced his appreciation for the French province of Ile-de-France funding of the project.

The project marks a turning point in the friendship and cooperation between Hanoi People’s Committee and France’s Ile-de-France province,” he said.

Hanoi People’s Committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Quoc Hung said that in the bilateral cooperation framework, the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Ile de France province have agreed to cooperate to share experiences and improve capacity in planning and urban management.

IIe de France has been instrumental in assisting the city develop its infrastructure on a number of bus routes, Hung said, specifically noting their assistance in erecting a bus route on Hoang Quoc Viet road.

Ha Noi calls for medical fee increases

The Ha Noi People's Committee has asked for a 20-per-cent increase of fees applied to 1,300 categories of medical services at public hospitals in its proposal to the municipal People's Council.

The services listed are those that were not subject to changes in the recent round of adjustments to medical fees for nearly 1,350 other services last August.

Under the proposal, the hospital fees at first-tier public hospitals will be raised from 80 per cent of the maximum levels regulated by the Ministry of Health to 100 per cent. In second-tier public hospitals, the fees will be raised from 75 per cent to 95 per cent. General public clinics at district levels and maternity hospitals will see the increases of fees from 70 per cent of the regulated maximum levels to 90 per cent.

The proposal also includes the regulated fees for 135 medical services that were previously not subject to the regulations.

Vice Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc told Cong Thuong (Trade and Industry) newspaper that Ha Noi would continue to improve the quality of medical services, promote ethical standards among medical staff and increase investment in facilities after the fee hike.

Earlier in April, Deputy Director of the Ha Noi Department of Health Luu Thi Lien said the medical fee increases were necessary and urgent.

She said many hospitals currently did not have enough funds to buy medicine, materials and equipment.

While it is regulated that hospitals should pay for medicine they bought within 30-50 days, many hospitals took four to five months to pay the bill due to the shortage of funds, she added.

Russian oil firm provides $60k grant

Russian oil company Rosneft Vietnam signed yesterday an agreement with the Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients of HCM City to provide US$60,000 for heart surgeries for underprivileged patients with congenital heart defects.

Rosneft Vietnam (formerly TNK Vietnam) provided funds in 2012 and 2013 as well, when the company gave $50,000 for heart surgeries for 36 poor patients, said Tran Thanh Long, the association's chairman, adding that about 40 more patients would benefit from the support this year.

Railway sector to cut transport fees

The Viet Nam Railway Corporation will reduce the transportation fee for goods by 2-5 per cent between July 11 and September 30 to increase the volume of goods transported by rail.

As scheduled, the fee will be reduced two per cent for goods transported from Da Nang City's Kim Lien train station to HCM City's Sai Gon train station.

The transportation fees for cargo trains running on fixed routes would be reduced by up to five per cent.

Loyal customers of the corporation would be given priority, the corporation said.

Nghe An's abandoned train route racks up massive annual losses

Abandoned for five years, a 32-km long train route connecting Quynh Luu and Nghia Dan districts in central Nghe An Province, is causing huge losses for the railways.

Each year, the Viet Nam Railway Corporation spends about VND7 billion (US$328,500) to maintain this route.

Pham Hong Nam, Director of the State-owned Nghe Tinh Railway Transportation Enterprise, said to Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper that, five years ago, the demand for transporting goods via this route dropped suddenly.

The results of a survey undertaken at that time by the enterprise, showed that almost all businessmen complained that trains carrying goods via the route ran very slowly – about 15 km per hour, Nam said.

Therefore, goods were not being delivered on time, he said, adding that high transportation fee was also believed one of the main reasons.

So, businessmen began transporting their goods by road instead of the rail, he said.

Cao Tien Hung, Deputy Director of Nghe Tinh Railway Management Co Ltd, told the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper that although no trains ran on this route for the past five years, the corporation still assigned their company to maintain the route to ensure its safety in case any train ran on the route.

Recently, when the Ministry of Transport tightened loading capacity on road transport, several companies which exploited minerals in the districts of Nghia Dan, Quy Hop and Quy Chau, had considered transporting their goods via the train route, Hung said.

The train route was built in 1966 with the aim of strengthening socio-economic development in the west of the province.

Tay Ninh: more soldier remains brought home from Cambodia

A ceremony was held at the Xa Mat international border gate in Tan Bien district, southern Tay Ninh province on June 30 to welcome home 143 sets of remain of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died in Cambodia during wartime.

They will be laid to rest at the Hill 82 War Heroes Cemetery on July 27, the commemorative day for war heroes and invalids.

The remains have been found and repatriated by search teams of the Military Zone 7 and the Tay Ninh provincial Military Command in the Cambodian provinces of Kampong Cham (74 sets), Pailin (14 sets), Siem Reap (28 sets) and Tbaeng Meanchey (27 sets).

From the 2001-2002 dry season to now, 2,785 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers died in Cambodia have been brought home with assistance from local Cambodian authorities, army and people.

Irrigators told to prepare for storms

Ha Noi Irrigation Works Department told irrigation companies to dredge and clean up rivers, lakes and other streams to supply water for agricultural production and flood prevention during this storm season.

The department has asked five irrigation enterprises to prepare machines to do the job.

The department will also inspect irrigation facilities in Me Linh, Phuc Tho and Phu Xuyen districts that have been encroached on by local people.

Ha Noi has 15 irrigation facilities, including 96 reservoirs and about 1,920 pump stations. In addition to being degraded after a long time of use, they have been seriously encroached on.

Seminar discusses policies for AO/dioxin victims

A seminar was held in Hanoi on June 30 assessing the efficiency of policies for Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims and proposed solutions for supplement and amendments.

Ass. Prof. Dr Nguyen The Luc, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) has affirmed that toxic chemicals sprayed by the US during the war in Vietnam continue to pose a significant threat to the environment and human health.

Over the years, the Party and the Government have paid special attention to devising policies to deal with the environment in areas having high levels of dioxin, as well as supporting AO victims in their struggles.

However, there are some deficiencies in implementing policies for Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims, which should be perfected in accordance with the real situation, Luc said.

Lyon city helps HCM City develop public transport

Leaders of Lyon have affirmed their willingness to aid Ho Chi Minh City in the field in the coming time, as the French city has strength in constructing and managing public transport projects.

Vice Mayor of Lyon city Max Vincent and other officials of Lyon and the Rhone-Alpes region made the pledge during a recent meeting with Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan, who led a delegation on a working trip to France in the last week of June.

The host also said they will work to further all-round links with Vietnam’s southern metropolis in the future, especially in economics and culture.

Ho Chi Minh City has established twin relations with Lyon and the Rhone-Alpes region, with many effective cooperation projects in culture, education and health care in the past.

Leaders of the two metropolises have also agreed to work closely together on heritage preservation, urban planning and green growth, which are fields of mutual interest.

Vietnam, Norway exchange experience in gender equality

A Vietnamese delegation recently visited Norway to discuss gender equality cooperation and the development of a coordinated action plan with the Scandinavian country to empower women.

During their June 21-29 visit, the delegation held working sessions with the Ministry of Children, Equality, & Social Inclusion, the Ministry of of Justice & Public Security, the KUN centre for gender equality (KUN), Legal Advice for Women Centre (JURK), some non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious organisations and other agencies.

They discussed issues related to legislation, policies, cooperation and mobilisation of sources for social affairs and gender equality. They also examined measures to raise public awareness and capacity for domestic violence prevention and protection.

The two sides shared experiences in developing grassroots-level networks, NGOs’ social affairs in Norway and Vietnam’s initial results in encouraging religious organisations to take part in social affairs, charity and humanity.

They agreed that the two governments are determined to resolve gender inequality and domestic violence through building legislation to ensure human rights.

While staying in Norway, the Vietnamese delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Vietnamese Embassy in capital Oslo.

Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai talked about the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in implementing cooperative development projects in gender equality within the framework of the Norway’s official development assistance programmes for Vietnam.

She emphasised that the embassy serves as a bridge to support domestic delegations in working with partners in Norway and help strengthen bilateral ties of friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

Football festival for Vietnamese students in RoK

The fifth IC Food Cup for Vietnamese students in the Republic of Korea kicked off at the sports complex of Chungnam National University in Daejeon city on June 29.

The annual event, hosted by the Association of Vietnamese students at the University and sponsored by the ICFood company, attracted eight men’s and eight women’s football teams, competing as of June 28.

Alongside the tournament, the students also participated in various outdoor activities such as cultural exchanges, a campfire, a kimchi (a traditional Korean dish) making contest, and a lucky draw. Draw winners were awarded valuable prizes, including a mountain bike, airfares to Vietnam and a number of other gifts from sponsors.

 “The festival was a good chance for students to relieve their stress by playing together and refreshing themselves,” said Park Kyun-ik, Chairman of ICFood. He hoped that the event would come to Hanoi in the near future.

For his part, Vietnamese Minister Counsellor Nguyen Manh Dong thanked ICFood for supporting the Vietnamese Students’ Association in RoK, and said the tournament helped not only improve the students’ physical health, but also connect with each other, contributing to strengthening friendship between the two counties.

MoH urges vaccinations against encephalitis

The Ministry of Health is urging all parents to get their children properly vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis in time, stressing that the vaccine is being supplied free in all districts across the country.

Local reports have cited a ministry advisory as saying the vaccination should be done at least thrice: first when the child is a year old; the second one to two weeks after the first; and the last a year after the second shot. Subsequently, the vaccine should be administered every three to four years until the child is 15 years old.

Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the national immunisation programme, said that this year was the first time the vaccine against Japanese encephalitis was supplied free-of-charge in all districts in the nation's 63 provinces and cities. Last year it was supplied free to about 90 per cent of the districts.

A total of 80,000 children in Ha Noi received the vaccine last week.

According to the Ministry of Health's Department of Preventive Medicine, the country has recorded 319 cases of encephalitis and four deaths so far this year. Nine per cent of the cases were Japanese encephalitis.

The National Paediatrics Hospital in the capital city has admitted 130 encephalitis patients this year, 36 of them suffering from Japanese encephalitis. Two of 36 patients have died.

To prevent the spread of this disease, the ministry has advised that people keep their homes clean, place livestock cages a good distance away from their homes and children, and use mosquito nets while sleeping.

Japanese encephalitis is caused by a mosquito-borne virus that can spread the disease throughout the year, but the peak season is summer. The disease is more common among children under 15. Pigs and birds are virus carriers. High fever, headache and nausea are early symptoms of the disease.

Meanwhile, the incidence of hand-foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has increased in some southern localities in southern area, health experts say.

Tran Dac Phu, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, said that at 2,000 new cases, the number of hand-foot-mouth patients in the last week of June increased by nine per cent over the previous week.

During this period, there was a 30 per cent increase in HCM City, 35 per cent in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and 15 per cent in Ca Mau Province.

Phu said that as a preventive measure against HFMD, people should focus on children's hygiene, including their toys, houses and schools.

Transport firms shut down for violations

Fifteen per cent of the nation's bus and cargo transport companies have been thrown off the road for violating traffic safety rules.

This follows recent checks on transport firms in 63 provinces and cities across the country.

The Ministry of Transport, in a report to the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, said it had withdrawn business licences from the companies because of the loose way in which they operated.

It said that while management had improved in many places and supervision devices installed in commercial coaches and buses, the situation was still out of control.

The ministry also accused many local departments of transport of not seriously cracking down on speeding bus and truck drivers. It said that after issuing licences, the local departments paid little attention to the rules.

Most of the violations were found in small-scale transport firms with only a few buses or trucks.

The report said many transport firms operated without a business manager or employed those who were sub- standard. Some firms were caught hiring their business licences to others and doing none of the real business themselves.

The report also said that inspection team discovered and recommended administration fines with 636 violations with the total fine reaching VND2.3 billion (US$108,000).

A total of 53 of 350 transport firms had their business licences withdrawn; 113 firms had their business licences suspended. The ministry also withdrew registration badges for more than 1,300 vehicles.

The ministry told the Prime Minister that the standard of transport control was high in the provinces of Hai Duong, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, Gia Lai, Kien Giang and in the city of Da Nang.

The inspection was carried out on 350 of the nation's 1919 transport firms, which control a total of nearly 12,000 vehicles.

Remove stinking chicken farm: residents

Environment pollution caused by a chicken farm in Thu Thua District of the southern province of Long An, has affected the health and lives of numerous households for many years.

According to local residents, the chicken waste of Minh Dung farm causes a stink while attracting a large number of flies.

The privately run Minh Dung farm is currently raising 30,000 chickens.

Pham Thi Tam, a resident, said there were so many flies because of the environmental pollution from the chicken farm and the situation had existed for years.

Many of the roughly 200 households have to hang up mosquito nets when they have meals to keep out the flies, she said.

The smell from the chicken waste was really terrible, she added.

"We asked local authorities on numerous occasions to remove the chicken farm to safeguard the health of residents, but no measures have been taken yet," she said.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Thanh commune in Thu Thua District, Le Quoc Viet, said the chicken farm owner promised to handle the environmental pollution and remove the farm before today following the provincial People's Committee's order.

However, he said, during a recent inspection it was discovered that the farm owner had failed to keep his promise.

The provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment has done regular inspections and asked the chicken farm owner to deal with the environment pollution, but the situation had not improved much, said the department's Deputy Director Huynh Thi Thep.

If the farm owner did not co-operate with local authorities in removing the farm, the department would propose stricter measures, she said.

Workshop heeds poverty reduction in central, central highlands

A workshop on promoting poverty reduction for ethnic minority groups in the central and Central Highland regions was held in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak on June 30 by the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs.

It was reported at the event that despite a rapid reduction of 3-4 percent each year in the regions’ poverty rate, the number of poor and near poor households, especially those of e thnic minority groups remains high.

Reports of relevant ministries, agencies and localities pointed to difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing policies on poverty reduction for people from ethnic minority groups in the regions.

Participants underlined the need to put forth consistent policies to raise efficiency of poverty reduction programmes. They also made detailed recommendations about what the localities in the regions should do to help their people escape from poverty sustainably.

The central and central highlands regions have received considerable attention of the Party and State, benefiting from important policies and programmes to foster socio-economic development in areas inhabited by ethnic minority groups in general and those designed specifically for the two regions in particular.

The policies include the Prime Minister’s Programme 755 on providing housing and farming land and clean water for poor ethnic minority households and Programme 135 on supporting socio-economic development in poorest communes and villages.

Vietnam’s labour force reduces by 10,200 people

As of June 30, the working age population in Vietnam has decreased by 10,200 from the same period last year to stand at 47.3 million people, the Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) reported.

The paper quoted Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai, head of the Population and Employment Department under the General Statistics Office as saying that the total number of working people, including those who are still working in spite of their old age, is estimated at 52.7 million, up 300,000 year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among people of working age is 2.14 percent, with the rate in urban areas higher than that in rural regions (3.62 percent against 1.47 percent), said Mai.

She added that 6.32 percent of youngsters aged from 15 to 24 are out of work. The rate is 11.87 percent in urban areas and 4.54 percent in rural ones.

However, Mai noted that Vietnam is still in the first stage of a golden population structure. This means that for every two people working, there is only one dependent person.

The structure is a chance to utilise the plentiful human resources for socio-economic development and improvement of the human resource for better social welfare, health care, education and jobs for the future.

Motorbike drivers wearing helmets unsafely to be fined

Drivers of motorbikes and electric bicycles who wear their helmets incorrectly will be fined up to VND200,000 (US$9.4) as of July 1, 2014.

Administrative fine of VND100,000-200,000 will be applied to those who drive or riding motorbikes with substandard helmets or with helmets worn incorrectly.

Traffic Safety Committee in Ho Chi Minh City said wearing helmets correctly can help reducing up to 69 percent of head injuries from traffic accidents and 42 percent of severe concussion.

Deputy head of the committee Nguyen Ngoc Tuong said that the city has strived to reduce traffic accidents and facilities. Especially, after drivers are forced to wear helmets on motorbikes, the number of deaths from traffic accidents is below 900 people a year.

A motorcycle helmet is designed to protect a motorcyclist’s head in case of an accident. Accordingly, a helmet should meet the mandatory safety standards. Good motorcycle helmets feature a hard outer shell capable of resisting penetration, soft inner shell to absorb 'impact energy', and retention system, which is usually a strap fitted to the lower jaw area, that ensures the helmet stays in place.

Education Ministry to send masters, graduates for Ph.D program in abroad

The Ministry of Education and Training has announced its plan to send masters and graduates to developed countries for postgraduate education as per Project 911 for the year.

1,200 entrants will be sent to the UK, Australia, the US, Russia, China, France, German, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Canada.

Candidates are full-time university lecturers, lecturers who work on long-term contract or permanent employment contract, postgraduates or graduates who have just finished higher education within 12 months.

For newly-graduated students, they must achieve good performance during studying in universities.

If being selected for the postgraduate education in abroad nations, they have to make a pledge of working for the university which sent them.

Moreover, entrants must be under 45 years of age and meet foreign language standard.

Ha Tinh opens medical clinic sponsored by US Pacific High Command

A medical clinic sponsored by the US Pacific High Command yesterday was inaugurated in Vu Quang District of the central province of Ha Tinh

The construction of clinic started in April, 2013 costing nearly VND9 billion (US$422,436).

The two-storey clinic, covering an area of 2,400 square meters will offer a range of health services expecting to improve healthcare quality for local people in Huong Tho Commune. It is also a safe accommodation for residents in flooding season.

Subsidence provides sinking feeling

Subsidence has caused serious headaches for contractors as well as transport authorities.

“Subsiding road surfaces have occurred with increasing frequency. It’s leaving me with sleepless nights,” said Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang in a recent meeting to discuss the issue which brought together leading industry experts, major contractors and asphalt concrete suppliers.

This is the second meeting of its kind within a month to seek remedies for the growing frequency of subsidence in highway construction projects across the country.

“We’re confused by this continuing problem, given the fact that we have tightened the control of input material quality and project execution,” said Le Ngoc Hoa, general director of Ministry of Transport (MoT)’s Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 4 (Cienco 4).

Cienco 4 is currently regarded as one of best performers in the transport sector. However, construction on Highway 1’s Vinh-Ben Thuy section in the north-central region as part of a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project has experienced the problem along a four-kilometre stretch of this road.

According to a report by the MoT’s Transport Engineering Construction and Quality Management Bureau, subsidence has been reported in at least seven highways where the MoT has acted as the developer.

The number of recorded roads suffering from technical faults would soar if all the projects managed by local governments were also taken into account.

Minister of Transport advisor Trinh Xuan Cuong attributed these technical faults to human shortcomings.

This argument seemed reasonable following inspections made by the MoT’s Institute of Transport, Science and Technology at four sites belonging to National Highway 18’s Uong Bi-Ha Long section in northern Vietnam which indicated poor quality construction due to lack of materials.

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said subsidence had grown into a critical issue and would potentially become a disaster unless remedies were rapidly found, especially when construction of nearly 2,000km of national highways 1 and 14 would soon begin.

Thang demanded greater commitments from consultants, contractors and project management units on the issue.

MoT executives also required the development of technical blueprints suitable to terrain, geological and climatic features of different regions; the testing of diverse road structures for best use, testing of surface materials and the ending of multiple contractors working on the same projects. In addition, closer checks should be made on vehicle loads.

For affected roads, Thang ordered that immediate measures needed to be taken to ensure road safety in the meantime, before a long-term solution was found.

“The specialist MoT team needs to scale up efforts to find the real cause to be able to radically address this phenomenon before the end of this year,” Thang stressed.

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