VietNam Society: 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

Outlook eyes heritage preservation

Viet Nam's rapid urbanisation during the past several years has produced many benefits, but one of the drawbacks has been the growing threat that modernisation poses to the nation's heritage.

This month's issue of our news magazine Outlook examines efforts to preserve the nation's rich culture - from historical sites to centuries-old art forms.

Outlook, which goes on sale in Ha Noi, HCM City and other major centres this morning, reports that ensuring effective preservation of historically important relics and art forms faces many challenges, including a lack of funds for preservation work.

We travel to Hoi An to report on the threat of urbanisation and a booming tourism sector to the city's old quarter, while in the Central Highlands, we find that the local gong culture is in danger of being lost as a dwindling number of musicians chose to keep their traditional art alive. We also report on successes in restoring the highly refined and unique art form of nha nhac (court music), and talk to the director of the Institute for Preservation of Monuments, Le Thanh Vinh, about recent successes in heritage preservation.

Elsewhere in this issue, we visit the sleepy village of Lo Hanh, tell the story behind Nguyen Dinh Thi's revolutionary anthem The Hanoian and meet an English singer who has been wowing local audiences with his fluent performance of Vietnamese songs.

Readers can also catch up on what's hot in the country's culinary, sports and arts scenes - and check out our listings for everything from bars to embassies.

Outlook retails for VND15,000 at news-stands, major hotels and restaurants, at the head office of the Viet Nam News at 11 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ha Noi, or at our HCM City office at 120 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street. — VNS

Vietnamese man ‘nabbed with frozen tiger’

Vietnamese man ‘nabbed with frozen tiger’ A Vietnamese man was arrested in possession of a frozen tiger before he was able to sell the body of the endangered animal to collectors, state media reported on Tuesday.

Pham Hai Nam told police he bought the animal for VND600 million (US$30,800) in the northeastern port town of Hai Phong and planned to sell it for VND46,000, according to An Ninh Thu Do newspaper.

The 39-year-old, who was detained in Hanoi on Monday, also reportedly told police he would crush the tiger’s bones to make traditional medicine if he failed to find a buyer for the whole carcass.

The animal, which weighed 150 kilograms (330 pounds) and was 1.5 meters (five feet) long, has been given to the Museum of Nature for preservation, the report said.

It is believed the tiger was smuggled into Vietnam from overseas.

Environment police in Hanoi declined to comment.

The natural habitat of tigers has been threatened by rapid urbanization in Asia where they are hunted for fur and body parts used in traditional medicine.

Tigers are threatened by rapid urbanization in Asia where they are hunted for their fur and body parts

Man charged with anti-State propaganda

Hanoi police on Nov. 15 charged Cu Huy Ha Vu with “conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” pursuant to Article 88 of the Penal Code.

Vu, 53, a permanent resident at No. 24, Dien Bien Phu Street, Dien Bien ward in Ba Dinh district of Hanoi, will be held in custody for four months for investigations.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Agency arrested Vu and initiated a criminal case against Vu’s illegal actions.

The case was handed over to Hanoi Police’s Investigation Agency for further investigations under supervision by the Hanoi People’s Procuracy, according to the decision of the Supreme People’s Procuracy.

While raiding Vu’s house, police seized documents containing information against the Vietnamese State, as well as distorted information and libel against the people’s administration, propaganda arguments for the psychological warfare, calling for overthrowing the regime, and demanding pluralism, multi-party and foreign intervention which is contrary to the nation’s interest.

According to the police, Vu has ties with anti-State elements and overseas forces hostile to the Vietnamese State. He has also created documents containing groundless, fabricated and distorted information on the State and government’s leadership and management to incite the public to sabotage the State./.

VUFO celebrates 60 years of service

People’s diplomacy for of peace, solidarity, friendship and aid from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has created breakthroughs and a social, public foundation for the relationship between Vietnam and other countries and peoples, said the head of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO).

VUFO President Vu Xuan Hong made this statement on the outstanding results over the past 60 years of the construction and development of VUFO as an external relations agency of the Party and State.

In a letter sent to a conference on the establishment of the Vietnam World Peace Protection Committee on Nov. 17, 1950, Uncle Ho affirmed the Vietnamese people’s ardent desire for peace and their noble task in protecting world peace.

The inauguration of the Vietnam World Peace Protection Committee and friendship associations and the Committee of Solidarity with Foreign Countries has reflected the clear-sighted vision of the Party and Uncle Ho on the important and unique role of people’s diplomatic organizations in each of Vietnam’s revolutionary periods, said Hong.

Hence, Nov. 17 has become the traditional anniversary day of the VUFO, he said.

In the context of national integration and the renewal process, VUFO has fulfilled its task in the fields of peace, solidarity, friendship, cooperation, keeping contact with old friends and developing relationships with new partners to set up a network of friends understanding, uniting with and helping Vietnam.

Talking about the role of people’s diplomacy in the new situation, the VUFO leader said that VUFO’s mission aims to help people worldwide understand Vietnam.

Apart from the role in national liberation, external relations have an increasingly important position in mobilising foreign NGOs in national socio-economic development, Hong said.

According to VUFO President Hong, foreign NGOs operating in various fields in Vietnam have made significant contributions to directly supporting and helping humanitarian aid projects, overcoming the aftermath of the war and engaging in sustainable development.

Boasting achievements in hunger eradication and poverty reduction worldwide, NGOs have provided not only financial assistance but also diversified experiences in building hunger eradication and poverty reduction models.

Vietnamese people have effectively used this aid source and the effective application of various hunger eradication and poverty reduction models in the nation have been recognized in the world.

In addition, NGOs have experience as well as scientific and technological expertise to help Vietnam in clearing bombs, landmines and unexploded ordnances (UXO) in war-devastated provinces and also help people injured in the war.

Over the past 10 years, NGOs have provided around 1.3 billion USD to Vietnamese people in non-refundable aid. This is a significant source for the most disadvantaged, poorest and most remote areas in Vietnam, stressed Hong.

The aid, which has a direct impact on the country’s socio-economic development and other fields, has increased, reaching 275 million USD in 2009 and is expected to reach around 300 million USD this year, said the VUFO leader.

A VUFO traditional house was inaugurated on Nov. 16 at No. 105 Quan Thanh Street, Hanoi, on the occasion of its 60th traditional day./.

Vietnam attends ASEAN Skills Competition

Vietnam has sent 36 competitors to the 8 th ASEAN Skills Competition being held in Bangkok , Thailand from Nov. 14-24.

Competing in 18 of 21 events, the Vietnamese team hopes to rank third at the competition.

Last September, the General Vocational Training Department in coordination with the British Council held a training course for those Vietnamese competitors under the instruction of four experts from the vocational skills organisation of the UK . The British experts said the Vietnamese workers have good skills.

The Lao dong (Labour) daily on Nov. 16 quoted Mark Forsyth, Director of the Corioliss International Co., and an expert in refrigerating-electrics as saying that Vietnamese competitors are enthusiastic and determined and have good basic skills. He said he believed that they would attain good results.

Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalid and Social Affairs Dam Huu Dac said that participating in the competition gives Vietnamese competitors and trainers opportunities to learn experiences from other countries, thus helping improve the quality of vocational training in Vietnam .

The ASEAN Skills Competition has been held since 1997 and Vietnam took part in the event in 2001 for the first time.

Vietnam ranked first among participating teams at the 2004 and 2006 events, ranked second at the 2002 competition, and ranked fourth in 2001 and 2008./.

Vietnam hands over Chinese, Taiwanese cheaters

The Security and Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security early this month handed over 16 Chinese and Taiwanese swindlers to China and Taiwan for further investigation.

The leader of these swindlers, Tsao Chia Lin, pleaded guilty after they were found to use telecom equipment in Vietnam ’s territory to deceive Chinese people to appropriate their money.

These people, including 11 Taiwanese and five Chinese people, were arrested, together with equipment they used for the trick, at the Yen Hoa Urban Area in Hanoi ’s district of Cau Giay on October 26, 2010.

According to investigators, these swindlers, who belonged to various cross-border criminal rings, had operated in China , Taiwan , Thailand and Indonesia before sneaking into Vietnam to escape from these countries and territories’ police.

Previously, police in Ho Chi Minh City , the Mekong delta city of Can Tho , and the southern province of Binh Duong , brought to light a number of hi-tech crimes involving Chinese and Taiwanese people./.

VN leads SEA in student enrollments in US

Vietnam currently ranks first among countries in the Southeast Asia in the number of students in the United States.

The International Institute of Education (IIE) in Vietnam quoted its annual Open Door 2010 report as saying that the number of Vietnamese students enrolled at universities and colleges in the US during the 2009-2010 academic year increased slightly from 12,823 to 13,112, up 2.3 percent over the last year.

Also according to the report, the total number of international students in the US during the 2009-2010 academic year was 690,923. China now boasts the largest student enrollments in this country while Vietnam remains at the ninth place.

The Open Doors report is released by the IIE, the world’s leading non-profitable organisation in the exchange of culture and education.

Established in 1919, IIE is headquartered in New York and conducts annual surveys in the number of international students in the US, with support from the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs under the US Department of State./.

Decree aims to curb kindergarten overcrowding

Six-year-olds learn to draw at a kindergarten in the southern coastal city of Vung Tau. A decree drafted by the Ministry of Education and Training that aims to limit classroom sizes to 35 is said to be unfeasible. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phuong

HA NOI — There are growing public doubts about the Ministry of Education and Training's new draft decree stipulating that there should be no more than 35 children in each public kindergarten classroom.

Many people say the plan is unpractical and unfeasible, especially as students at schools are often divided into different age groups that share the one classroom.

While classrooms often have several teachers, the draft decree, which was released early this week, stipulates there be no more than between 25 and 35 children aged between three and six years old in each classroom.

The decree also stipulates that day-care centres must ensure each carer looking after children under one year of age has no more than four children to look after. Previously each carer could look after up to 15 children.

For children aged two to three years of age, each carer should have no more than 25 children to look after.

Apart from the required number of teachers and carers at kindergartens and day-care centres, the decree also regulates that one additional teacher was needed for four or more disabled children at public nursery schools.

The regulations aim to gradually ease the serious overload of pupils at pre-schools in major cities across the country, while also improving the quality of teaching.

However, the regulations have been criticised as being too difficult to reach.

Nguyen Thu Hang, mother of a three-year-old student enrolled at Ba Dinh A Public Nursery School in Ha Noi, said there were more than 50 children in her child's classroom and only three teachers to take care of them.

"Only private pre-schools can ensure no more than 35 students in each classroom," said Hang. "Public schools may have more than 50 students in a class and the better a school's reputation, the more crowded the classes."

Principal of Tuoi Hoa Public Nursery School Nguyen Thai Thuan said many students would be left with no place to go if schools were forced to limit class sizes.

"Parents do not have many choices," said Thuan. "Few feel secure about sending their children to small private child care centres, as the larger private child care centres that offer peace of mind are a lot more expensive.

"Not many parents can afford the VND2-3 million (US$95-142) in fees charged each month at good private schools."

School representatives also said the municipal Department of Education and Training's new regulation, which encouraged all children to enrol at pre-schools before starting primary school, would put nursery schools under pressure to receive more students and make classrooms even more crowded.

Statistics from Ha Noi Department of Education and Training shows that there are 667 State-owned pre-schools and 160 privately-operated schools. State-supported schools are reported to have an average of 50 to 60 students in each class.

Many parents have to queue up all night for a chance to register their children at one of these schools, which are often larger and better equipped, as well as less expensive than private schools.

Hoang Thi Kim Thuy, senior official from the ministry who is in charge of collecting feedback on the issue, admitted the target might be hard to achieve.

"But the ministry will collect feedback from the public on the issue during the next two months and adjust the regulations if necessary," said Thuy.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan called on the Ministry of Education and Training to complete proposals on construction and upgrades of schools and teacher-training facilities that used official development assistance.

The nation aims to spend more than VND14.6 trillion (US$736 million) on developing education facilities for five-year-olds during the 2010-11 period.

The programme, which will be submitted to the Government for approval, includes the construction of new schools and classrooms, purchase of study and teaching aids, training of teachers and support for poor students.

Also under the programme, 86 new kindergartens meeting national standards will be built in 62 poor districts, of which 24 are in six mountainous provinces bordering the Central Highlands. — VNS

Gov't bids to speed up administrative reforms

HCM CITY — The Government has pledged to complete its administrative reform programme for the 2001 – 2010 period in an aim to reduce cumbersome procedures for both individuals and businesses.

The Government has urged several ministries involved in pressing issues like land and taxation to complete their tasks by the end of the year.

Of the 194 administrative procedures of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 117 will be changed, nine replaced and 38 abolished, according to minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, director of the Government Office.

The ministry said it would modify 43 procedures involved in land issues by the end of the year, including simplifying land transfer and inheritance, land-right use and property-on-land use rights.

It also plans to simplify the issuance and reissuance of land and house-ownership certificates.

Because many fees will be abolished, reforms related to land procedures could help save around VND10 billion (US$500,000) per year, according to Phuc.

The Ministry of Construction has asked the Government to abolish three and modify 13 procedures related to housing and house construction.

Construction fees will no longer be collected, and construction licenses will be valid permanently and will not need to be renewed.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance will ask the Government for permission to simplify 271 out of 330 procedures.

These reforms would help individuals and organisations save about VND1,921 billion ($96 million) per year.

The ministry has also asked the Government to modify 35 priority procedures, which would help save VND1,582 billion ($79.1 million) per year.

As for customs procedures, the Government wants to simplify 138 out of 168 procedures, which would help save about VND705 billion ($35.25 million) per year, according to Phuc. — VNS

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Floods wreak havoc in central region

Flash flood coming down from Dong Tranh Mountain damaged thousands of houses in Quang Ngai Province's Binh Son District. More than 1,500 households were isolated and a road was ripped apart. Two people were killed and 11 reported injured in the flooding. — VNA/VNS Photo Tien Tri

QUANG NGAI — Torrential rain and floods left at least two dead and 11 injured, submerged multiple houses and blocked roads in Quang Ngai and Quang Nam provinces yesterday.

According to the Quang Ngai Province Committee for Flood and Storm Control, Binh Son District was the worst hit region.

Nearly 3,000 houses in the district were flooded. Flood waters pulled down 19 houses, damaged schools, rice fields and cereal crops, and swept away animals and poultry.

The Binh Son District People's Committee estimated the total loss at VND58 billion (US$3 million).

Floods also caused landslides and blocked traffic routes linking Binh Son District with National Highway 1A.

Thousands of passengers moving between the North and South got stuck in Quang Ngai Province because of the storm's effects.

"Many passengers and I were wrestling with idle time waiting for flood water to recede," said Nguyen Bay, who travelled to HCM City by bus to visit his ill son.

Son Binh Bridge that crosses To Hap River was buried in soil, isolating Son Lam and Thanh Son communes in Khanh Son mountainous district.

About 6,000, mostly ethnic people, live in the two communes.

According to the Khanh Son District People's Committee, local donors have provided 19 tonnes of rice to the two communes.

More than 330ha of the district's cereal crops were completely damaged and nearly 40ha of agricultural land destroyed.

The committee has asked authorities to help impacted locals. In Binh Son District, each family whose house collapsed has been given a tent and 50kg of rice.

Work is also underway to repair damaged roads and clear routes to isolated regions.

About 1,586 houses in low-lying and submerged areas in Binh Son, Tra Bong and Nghia Hanh districts were relocated to higher ground.

The Quang Ngai Hydro-Meteorology Forecast Centre said river water levels had already reached the third alarm level. Water levels on Tra Bong and Tra Khuc rivers were reported to be even higher. In fact, Tra Bong River is said to have water levels that surpass the historic flood in 1999.

To cope with this issue, the province has moved an additional 660 vulnerable houses from the same three districts.

Eight of the eleven big reservoirs in Quang Ngai Province are full. Two of them, Da Ban (in Mo Duc District) and Hoc Mua (in Binh Son District), are reportedly in danger of overflowing.

Provincial authorities have already crafted solutions to cope with the worst circumstances.

Other localities

Prolonged downpour also blocked traffic routes and separated many districts in Quang Nam Province.

Mo Su Mountain caved in, blocking traffic roads connecting the town of Nui Thanh with Tam Quang Commune and those linking National Highway 1A with the Ky Ha sea port.

Many communes of Nam Tra My and Nong Son districts were also submerged under 0.5 to 1.5 metres of water.

Central provinces from Quang Tri to Thua Thien-Hue also experienced between 50mm and 100mm of rain yesterday. In Binh Dien of Thua Thien-Hue Province, water levels reached 163mm.

Heavy rain caused river water levels to rise quickly. As a result, flash floods and landslides are forecast at an alarming level.

Since about 40,000 wells were submerged, the National Centre for Rural Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation has also supplied Cloramine B powder, Pur chemical and individual hygiene bags to disinfect the water in Phu Yen Province.

Cold spell in north

The National Hydro-Meteorology Forecast Centre says that low pressure mixed with a cold spell have brought rain and wind to the northern and mid central regions since last night.

Rain also occurred in some areas in the north and central Thanh Hoa Province.

Ha Noi is expected to experience low temperatures of 16 to 19 degrees Celsius.

The centre said river water levels from Thua Thien-Hue to Quang Nam would continue to increase while levels in the rivers of the Quang Ngai, Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces would recede.

The centre also warned of flash floods from Thua Thien-Hue to Quang Nam provinces. — VNS

Can Tho official arrested for accepting bribes from brides

Can Tho official arrested for accepting bribes from brides Can Tho Police took a Justice Department official into custody, on Thursday, for receiving bribes to help local girls obtain necessary papers for marrying foreigners.

Phan Thanh Dung, 58, Deputy Director of the Judicial Administrative Section under the city’s Justice Department, was caught red-handed accepting US$900 in bribes from Tran Ngoc Trung at a coffee shop on Nguyen Trai Street on Thursday, according to Colonel Le Viet Hung, Deputy Chief of the Can Tho Police Department.

Trung, 32, admitted to the police that he gave the sum to Dung in exchange for speeding along paperwork for local girls looking to marry Korean and Taiwanese men.

Many girls in the Mekong Delta region view foreign marraiges as a ticket out of poverty.

After the arrest, the police raided Dung’s office, confiscating $12,125 and VND161 million (US$8,500) in bribes which the official allegedly admitted accepting from local girls seeking foreign marriages.

The police also seized two savings books worth 46 taels of gold (One tael is equivalent to 1.21 ounces), 19 taels of gold, and an illegal gun at Dung’s house on Hai Ba Trung Street in Ninh Kieu District.

The investigation continues to be underway.

Steel bar shoots through Hanoi taxi

Steel bar shoots through Hanoi taxi A falling steel beam impaled a parked taxi cab in Hanoi on Friday and settled right next to the steering wheel. The driver was not hit.

The driver said he was starting the engine and he heard thunderous crash, the next thing he knew, he was covered in broken glass.

He had just managed to calm down, when the steel bar (around five meters long) suddenly appeared through the windshieldof the car.

“I quickly stopped the engine and left the car,” he said.

Police said the bar had gone from the windshield on the head of the cab through the space under it.

The driver had stopped to drop off a passenger at the Momota apartment building, which sites near a building whose the 23rd floor is under construction.

Hanoi police are still trying to determine the origin of the bar.

Another construction-related accident also on Friday injured four employees at a branch of ANZ bank in Ho Chi Minh City.

A huge chunk of plaster (more than 25 sqare meters, in all) fell from a four meter-high ceiling insie the ANZ building.

The four women were rushed to hospital while other employees were evacuated to avoid further accidents.

ANZ has rented the building from Saigon Jute Company.

Steel bar shoots through Hanoi taxi

Steel bar shoots through Hanoi taxi A falling steel beam impaled a parked taxi cab in Hanoi on Friday and settled right next to the steering wheel. The driver was not hit.

The driver said he was starting the engine and he heard thunderous crash, the next thing he knew, he was covered in broken glass.

He had just managed to calm down, when the steel bar (around five meters long) suddenly appeared through the windshieldof the car.

“I quickly stopped the engine and left the car,” he said.

Police said the bar had gone from the windshield on the head of the cab through the space under it.

The driver had stopped to drop off a passenger at the Momota apartment building, which sites near a building whose the 23rd floor is under construction.

Hanoi police are still trying to determine the origin of the bar.

Another construction-related accident also on Friday injured four employees at a branch of ANZ bank in Ho Chi Minh City.

A huge chunk of plaster (more than 25 sqare meters, in all) fell from a four meter-high ceiling insie the ANZ building.

The four women were rushed to hospital while other employees were evacuated to avoid further accidents.

ANZ has rented the building from Saigon Jute Company.

Landslides hit central Vietnam hard, Phu Yen declares emergency

Landslides hit central Vietnam hard, Phu Yen declares emergency Authorities in the central province of Phu Yen on Friday announced a state of emergency as landslides triggered by heavy rains badly damaged a section of the National Way 1A.

Pham Dinh Cu, chairman of Phu Yen’s People’s Committee, said landslides had hit more than one-third of the section or nearly 100 meters of the road in Tuy An District, and were threatening to spread the damage further.

At the moment, vehicles are only being allowed to move in one direction of the main road only.

In the announcement, Cu asked the district’s authorities to evacuate locals from the landslide-stricken areas, and ordered traffic police to be on duty twenty-four-seven to manage traffic.

The provincial authorities also urged the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam’s Roads Management Area No.5, which is in charge of roads in the central region, to open another road on the mountainous side.

Nguyen Van Son, chairman of People’s Committee in Chi Thanh Town of Tuy An District, said the town has been struck by a big landslide and many “dangerous cracks” have appeared near residential areas.

Torrential rain starting last weekend have also brought floods and landslides to other provinces on the central coast like Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, isolating thousands of people, local news website VnExpress reported.

Meanwhile, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Friday warned about a tropical low in the East Sea, about 330 kilometers from the coast of Quang Ngai and Khanh Hoa provinces.

There’s little chance that it will strengthen into storm, but it would mainly cause rains in the sea, the center said, stressing that it still needs close observation.

Since last month Vietnam’s central region has been continuously lashed by floods that have left hundreds of people dead or missing.

River sans bridge puts lives of children, adults at risk

River sans bridge puts lives of children, adults at risk Children from a village in Thanh Hoa Province cross a fierce river everyday on a raft because many promises to build a bridge have never been kept.

The Bon Village with a population of more than 600 people is isolated from other places in the province by the Muong Min River and every time heavy rains raise the water levels, the students would quit class for a week.

But most of the time, the villagers accept the risk, and take turns to row the raft.

Vi Van Son, 60, was rowing the raft on Thursday, when the river was in spate and the waters were rough.

“This water is dangerous indeed but the raft still has to run as many children and adults need to cross the river,” Son told local news website VietNamNet.

The waters being too rough for independent navigating, a cable tied to two trees on either sides of the river is held on to as the raft crosses there with the aid of another cable attached to a pulley.

The villagers made the raft themselves and bought the cables. They fix the rudimenatary system themselves when it breaks down and no one pays anything to cross the river.

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Hau said when it rained heavily, he couldn’t go to school to teach the children.

“There have been several deaths in this river. Falling into the river is a common occurence,” Hau said.

Vi Thi Hang, an eighth-grader, said, “I am scared every time I go on the raft, especially during heavy rains, but I couldn't go to school otherwise.”

Vi Van Nguyen, a nurse in the village, said there were times the water was too strong for him to carry sick people to medical stations across the river, so he had to tie bottles to his body and swim across the river to get the medicine.

“It almost got me killed last year,” Nguyen said.

“Our situation is miserable,” said Vi Van Hoa, another villager. “For many years, we have had to be reckless to cross the river when needed. The poorest ones are the teachers and children, having to cross the river two to three times every day.”

Hoa said many visitors, district and province leaders have promised to help then with a boat but this has not been materialised yet.

River sans bridge puts lives of children, adults at risk

But most of the time, the villagers accept the risk, and take turns to row the raft.

Vi Van Son, 60, was rowing the raft on Thursday, when the river was in spate and the waters were rough.

“This water is dangerous indeed but the raft still has to run as many children and adults need to cross the river,” Son told local news website VietNamNet.

The villagers made the raft themselves and bought the cables. They fix the rudimenatary system themselves when it breaks down and no one pays anything to cross the river.

Teacher Nguyen Xuan Hau said when it rained heavily, he couldn’t go to school to teach the children.

“There have been several deaths in this river. Falling into the river is a common occurence,” Hau said.

Vi Thi Hang, an eighth-grader, said, “I am scared every time I go on the raft, especially during heavy rains, but I couldn't go to school otherwise.”

“It almost got me killed last year,” Nguyen said.

Hoa said many visitors, district and province leaders have promised to help then with a boat but this has not been materialised yet.

Vietnam mulls end to flood-causing power plants

Vietnam mulls end to flood-causing power plants The Ministry of Industry and Trade plans to put an end to small hydropower projects that have serious environmental impacts, an official said Saturday.

There are 86 small hydropower plants with a capacity of less than 30 megawatts and many of them have caused severe flooding, Deputy Minister Hoang Quoc Vuong told a conference in Hanoi.

Vuong said his ministry will ask its energy department to review all small plants and take action to stop inefficient projects.

He has also asked the plants to follow strictly the operating procedures of their reservoirs and to cooperate with local communities and authorities to prevent floods.

Several power plants in the central region, including Ba Ha in Phu Yen Province and A Vuong in Quang Nam Province, have been blamed for worsening flooding and causing huge damages.

Early this month, Phu Yen provincial authorities said the reservoir at Ba Ha Power Plant discharged more water than it was allowed, making it difficult to relocate residents.

But at Saturday’s conference, some experts argued that these plants were not completely responsible for the serious flooding.

They said Ba Ha and A Vuong plants, for instance, became operational around two or three years ago while flooding in the central region has been a serious problem for years.

Landslides cut off mountainous district

Landslides cut off mountainous district Around 6,000 people in Khanh Hoa Province’s mountainous Khanh Son District have been isolated for the last ten days as landslides destroyed many road sections and a bridge, a local newswire has reported.

The Provincial Road No. 9, which runs along the mountain cliffs in the district, has many of its sections seriously eroded, VnExpress reported Saturday. At one place, the road has a 20-meter-long and seven-meter wide hole.

The Son Binh Bridge which crosses To Hap River to connect the two communes of Son Lam and Thanh Son with To Hap Town, has collapsed.

Some people have used large plastic containers and sacks to carry residents over for with a fee of VND5,000 (25 cents) per person and VND20,000 per motorbike.

Those who can't afford this carge wade across the river by themselves to buying food and goods despite potential risks.

The Khanh Son District People’s Committee and some sponsors have sent around 14 tons of rice to residents of the two communes. Military personnel have also transported five tons of the grain to these areas.

Nguyen Quoc Thinh, deputy chairman of the committee, said work on repairing Tinh lo 9 Street was underway.

Thinh said construction and repairs to the Son Binh Bridge will be carried out after this year’s rain and flood season.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Landslides cut off mountainous district

The Son Binh Bridge which crosses To Hap River to connect the two communes of Son Lam and Thanh Son with To Hap Town, has collapsed.

Some people have used large plastic containers and sacks to carry residents over for with a fee of VND5,000 (25 cents) per person and VND20,000 per motorbike.

Those who can't afford this carge wade across the river by themselves to buying food and goods despite potential risks.

Nguyen Quoc Thinh, deputy chairman of the committee, said work on repairing Tinh lo 9 Street was underway.

Thinh said construction and repairs to the Son Binh Bridge will be carried out after this year’s rain and flood season.

France helps Nam Dinh’s water works

A French National Assembly member for Hauts-de-Seine province has pledged continued financial assistance to the northern province of Nam Dinh to carry out water works and environmental hygiene.

At a working session in the province on Nov. 15, Andre Santini, who is President of A Public Drinking Water Service for the Greater Metropolitan Paris Area (SEDIF), told Nam Dinh authorities that he was happy at bilateral cooperation over the recent past.

Vice Chairman of the Nam Dinh Provincial People’s Committee Doan Hong Phong highly valued works of a SEDIF-financed solidarity fund establishment project for Nam Dinh water sector.

This is a humanitarian project which not only directly benefits people where the project is carried out but also helps alleviate hunger and reduce poverty for provincial people in difficult regions, Phong said.

The project has been carried out under a document to implement a framework agreement signed between SEDIF and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s National Centre for Rural Water Supply and Environmental Hygiene on June 26, 1998.

It is intended to improve the social and medical conditions for rural people through supplying safe water for their daily use, disseminating environmental hygiene information in the community and establishing a solidarity fund of the provincial water sector by using 8-10 percent of water plants’ turnover to invest in small projects in the field.

Since the project was carried out in 1998 in Nam Dinh province, 10 water works with a combined capacity of more than 8,500 cu.m of water per day have been built with almost 15 billion VND, of which 5.5 billion VND sourced from SEDIF. Seven out of 10 works have been upgraded with an investment of around 5.8 billion VND.

In addition, SEDIF provides a funding of more than 105,000 EUR to a water supply service assistance project in Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh provinces.

Also on Nov. 15, SEDIF delegation toured Ninh Binh province to inspect water and hygiene projects.

Founded in 1923, SEDIF has been implementing 141 projects that benefit around 1.6 million people in almost 20 Asian and African nations. In Vietnam, SEDIF has funded seven projects, worth more than 1 million EUR, that benefit almost 164,000 people./.

City needs over $1 billion to hold back rains, tides

City needs over $1 billion to hold back rains, tides Flooding caused by rising tides and heavy rains has gotten worse in Ho Chi Minh City; officials say they need more than US$1 billion to fix the problem.

Figures from the Southern Hydrometeorology Station showed the high water markin the city has continued to rise since 2004. It reached 1.47 meters in 2006, then 1.49 meters in 2007, but 1.55 meters in 2008 and 1.56 in 2009.

On Saturday and Sunday high tide topped 1.55 meters, very near the record high.

Pham Viet Thang, Deputy Office chief of the HCMC Flood and Storm Prevention and Rescue Steering Center, said the tide at the upstream Saigon River in Binh Duong Province reached 1.36 meters on Monday, the highest since 1966.

The Southern Hydrometeorology Station said that tides have risen throughout the year.

HCMC will get a late start this month, constructing a system of 12 drains to control high tides at local waterways. The drains will work in coordiation with a 172 kilometer dyke that stretches from Cu Chi District to the city's border with Long An Province.

Nguyen Ngoc Cong, Standing Deputy Director of the HCMC Center to Coordinate the Flood Prevention Program, said the drains are expected to be completed in 2015. The drain is slated to be installed first along Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe (the city's major canal) and the dyke is to be finished in 2016, costing around VND20 trillion in total.

“[Our center] will take responsible for flooding after this project,” Cong said.

He said the city has spent around VND10 billion ($513,200) every year to maintain concrete dykes in canals located on the outskirts of town but they continue to break, regularly.

Cong said the city has the money to fund the project but lacks skilled irrigation and drainage engineers.

In the city's downtown, valves have been installed at the mouths of drains which automatically close when the tide gets too high.

The method has proved effective. Three hundred and ninteen valves have been installed since October 2008. In 2007, the downtown HCMC reported 92 flood spots during high tides but during Monday's high tides only 12 streets were flooded, he said.

But Cong said some valves in Districts 8 and Binh Thanh were installed when the high water mark was much lower than today. These drains no longer funciton properly, he said.

He also claimed that the rampant dumping into drainage ditches has blocked the valves. In addition, residential development has encroached onto certain ditch sites, blocking the valves from being installed.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, the temporary head of the Southern Institute for Water Resources Planning, said that in order to tackle the problem, the city needs to set aside at least 17 percent of its total area for drainage ponds.

Vietnam’s second CSO awards go regional

The 2010 Chief Security Officer (CSO) awards will be presented to individuals not only in Vietnam but also in other ASEAN member countries, according to the organisers.

At the 2010 CSO Conference and Awards, the second in Vietnam and the first in ASEAN, slated for Dec. 9-12, CSOs from Vietnam will compete for 10 awards and those from other ASEAN countries for nine awards.

The organisers said the expansion will bring an opportunity for CSOs of Vietnam to exchange experiences with their regional colleagues.

By now, 61 candidates, including 36 from Vietnam, have registered for the awards, which rate not only professional skills, but also management capacity and prestige of the CSOs.

Alongside with the awards presentation, the event will include a CSO conference under the theme “The Evolving CSO from Incident Reaction to Proactive Management”.

CSOs together with State officials and foreign experts will discuss hot issues related to information security.

The CSO Awards organisers include the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications, the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT) and the International Data Group (IDG)./.

Foreign NGOs praised for contributions to Vietnam

Foreign non-government organisations (NGOs) have made practical contribution to Vietnam’s hunger elimination and poverty reduction and development, said the President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO).

VUFO’s President Vu Xuan Hong stated this at a ceremony to honour contributions of foreign NGOS in Vietnam. VUFO presented its certificates of merit to 109 organisations on the occasion.

Foreign NGOs have granted nearly 1.7 billion USD as non-refundable aid to Vietnam over the past ten years, focusing on such areas as economics, health care, education and hunger eradication and poverty alleviation. They have also helped Vietnam deal with post-war consequences, natural disasters and social evils, President Hong said.

He noted that over 700 NGOs operating in Vietnam have actively contributed to expanding the friendship and cooperative relations between Vietnam and countries worldwide.

On the occasion, 61 NGOs pledged 157 million USD to help the country in poverty reduction in 2011.

Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan along with representatives from relevant ministries, agencies and organisations attended the event./.

Hanoi hospital upgrades get approval

The Hanoi People's Committee has approved the spending of almost 41 billion VND (2.09 million USD) to upgrade medical equipment at the Son Tay General Hospital.

It has also approved the spending of 27 billion VND (1.3 million USD) to upgrade the Mai Huong Daycare Psychiatric Hospital.

The spending for Son Tay General Hospital will be done between 2011 and 2012 and focus on buying modern emergency, recuperation, anaesthetics, blood transfusion and diagnostic equipment.

The committee has instructed the hospital management to list the medical equipment necessary for the upgrading and oversee the work.

The purpose of the work at the Mai Huong Daycare Psychiatric Hospital is to improve treatment quality for disadvantaged patients.

The hospital is required to work with relevant municipal departments to mobilise the money for the two-year project.

Its director, Dr Ngo Thanh Hoi, said work would start at the beginning of the next year with the capital drawn from the city's budget and government bonds.

"Much of our medical equipment and machines are obsolete and do not meet the patient requirements, especially as diseases have become more complex and difficult to cure," said Dr Hoi.

The money would help the hospital buy specialised equipment for the in-residence treatment of rural psychiatric patients.

Son Tay General Hospital has 400 beds, 27 wards and treats about 140,000 patients each year. The Mai Huong Daycare Hospital has just 50 beds.

Both are overcrowded with an average of three patients for each bed./.

Landslides cut off parts of central VN

Torrential rains have caused a series of landslides in the mountainous central region, blocking many highways and roads for the last several days.

In Quang Nam province, a wall of earth and rock slid down Soi Mu Mountain in Nui Thanh district on Nov. 10, cutting off Ky Ha Port (Chu Lai) from National Highway 1A.

A 100-metre stretch of Road 618 is buried under 2 to 10 metres of rock and soil.

A minor landslide occurred in mountainous Son Tay Commune in Quang Ngai province on Nov. 11, cutting off the Tra Trung – Di Lang road.

On provincial road 622B, soil and rock cover a third of the road's width following a landslide, slowing down transport to Tay Tra district in Quang Ngai.

Also in Quang Ngai, a massive landslide blocked traffic on the road connecting Tra Bong and Tra Thanh districts as well as roads in Tay Tra district.

In Binh Dinh province, the floodwaters have been receding gradually since Nov. 11, but several stretches of Road 640 from Tuy Phuoc town to the eastern communes and Phu Cat District remain under up to a metre of water.

In the province's Van Canh district, soil and rocks on the Dai slope slid on to the newly built road below, covering 3km of it.

Seven people have been killed and two injured so far in the floods while one person is missing. Besides, 85 houses have collapsed and 117 are severely damaged.

The total damage is estimated at 513 billion VND (26 million USD).

The Binh Dinh People's Committee has asked the Government for 150 billion VND (7.7 million USD) besides 3,000 tonnes of rice, 400,000 doses of foot-and-mouth disease vaccines, 500,000 doses of cholera vaccines for pigs, and 20 tonnes of disinfectants./.

Rural residents pay through the nose

Local residents buy food at Dong Da Market in central Da Nang City. Residents in rural areas miss out on price-stabilised products sold at wholesale markets and supermarkets in urban areas. — VNS Photo Xuan Quang

HA NOI — Residents in rural areas are missing out on price-stabilised products that are mainly being sold at wholesale markets and supermarkets in urban areas.

Nguyen Thi Yen, from Suoi Ngoc Hamlet in Ha Noi's Tien Xuan Commune, said she had heard that some shops were meant to be selling price-stabilised goods in rural areas but that she had yet to encounter one.

Tien Xuan Commune has been asked to establish two shops to sell inflation-busting low-cost goods. However, Pham Van Tinh, the commune's Party committee secretary, said there had been a supply problem.

"There are no shops at the moment because the commune has not yet received any price-stabilised products."

Elsewhere in Da Nang City, six shops selling price-stabilised rice have been established. However, all of them are based in central districts where locals earn higher incomes than their rural counterparts.

In Hoa Vang District, which is largely populated by poor farmers, low-skilled workers and students, there are no outlets.

Rice is meant to be sold at 10 per cent below the market price at certain outlets. However, Le Thi Minh said she hadn't even heard of the programme. Furthermore, she said the price had actually risen almost daily.

It is a similar story in Cuu Long (Mekong) delta provinces where low-cost rice is sold mainly at supermarkets and wholesale markets in urban areas.

"I don't have a clue where to find one of these outlets selling price-stabilised food," said Le Thanh Chien, a farmer from Tan Quy Dong Ward in Dong Thap Province.

Nguyen Van Chien, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Domestic Market Department, said a lack of funds was hampering the programme.

Chien called on provincial authorities to implement the programme HCM City, Ha Noi and Da Nang had done.

"The price stabilising programme is aimed at the poor," he said.

Le Viet Tuoi, deputy director of the Da Nang Department of Industry and Trade, admitted that the programme had not been fully implemented.

He attributed the failure of the programme to a lack of co-ordination among relevant offices and the Da Nang Food Joint-Stock Company, which was tasked with implementing the scheme.

Tuoi pledged to take steps to ensure more people got access to below-market-price goods.

Vu Quang Tuan, deputy director of the Thai Binh Province Department of Industry and Trade, said it was easier to implement the programme in cities such as Ha Noi and HCM City.

"The department does not have the money to fund the scheme," Tuan said.

He added that in Thai Binh, there was a high proportion of poor farmers who could not afford expensive products such as canned goods.

"Farmers are put at the greatest disadvantage because they are endeavouring to supply agricultural products for the price stabilising programme but do not get access to cheap goods," Tuan said.

Participants at a workshop in Ha Noi last Thursday to review the "Vietnamese people using Vietnamese goods" campaign that was launched a year ago, were told that more than 58 per cent of consumers were interested in home-produced products.

They also heard that enterprises focused on urban residents because they had greater purchasing power than their rural counterparts.

Yet according to a survey conducted by the Central Institute of Economic Management, rural areas consumed 70 per cent of domestically made food stuffs, that 70 per cent of consumers lived in rural areas and that 97 per cent of retail outlets were located in those parts.

The institute also cited other surveys conducted by different organisations that showed that the number of rural customers was three times that in urban areas. — VNS

Xe om drivers to receive ID badges

Xe om drivers wait for passengers in HCM City. Xe om and three-wheel vehicle drivers will wear their licence ID cards beginning on January 1 next year. — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HCM CITY — Drivers of xe om (motorbike taxis) and three-wheeled vehicles will be required to wear a licence ID card on their shirts under a new regulation issued by the HCM City People's Committee, effective January 1.

To obtain the cards, the drivers must be at least 16 years old, pass a traffic health check and have a valid driving licence.

Drivers can apply for the card from a ward-level People's Committee.

The card, valid for five years, will be issued or reissued within three days after the required documents are submitted.

Nguyen Ngoc Tuong, deputy head of the HCM City Traffic Safety Department, said placing the xe om service under the management of city authorities would improve traffic safety and customer service.

Ton Van Khe, a xe om driver on Khanh Hoi Street in Ward 6 in District 4, welcomed the move, saying it would increase customer confidence in their services.

In May, Nguyen Van Thuan, head of Ministry of Transport's Traffic Safety Department, called for improved management of xe om and three-wheeled transportation services. — VNS

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Red Cross lifts ties in Laos, Cambodia

HCM CITY — The Viet Nam Red Cross will help its Lao and Cambodian counterparts train their staff, increase medical services and conduct free eye surgery for people in their border provinces.

Tran Ngoc Tang, President of the Viet Nam Red Cross, made the commitment at a Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia Red Cross Leaders' Meeting in HCM City last Saturday.

Tang said co-operation between the three countries' associations had contributed to improving the living conditions of people in border provinces.

During the past four years of work in the field, the Viet Nam Red Cross has helped provide health care and services worth more than VND8 billion (US$410,000), he said.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of co-operation agreements between the three Red Cross organisations during the 2006-10 period. Participants also discussed co-operation programmes for the next five years.

The three associations would encourage all border provinces to better share information on natural disasters and diseases while increasing discussions on preventive measures, mutual assistance and improvement of health care during emergency situations, Tang said.

He noted that the three groups would also share information on their activities, international Red Cross movements and humanitarian co-operation programmes. — VNS

Science, social welfare contributions hailed in annual awards

HA NOI — Three groups and five individuals have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to society in the fields of applied science and technology, and social welfare at the 8th annual KOVA Awards.

Former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh handed out the awards in a ceremony yesterday.

In the field of applied science and technology, the award went to farmers Thach Van Nhon, Nguyen Van Hung and Pham Van Lieu for their research and construction of 210 drawbridges in the Cuu Long Delta region. Their drawbridges have replaced dangerous bridges built from trunks and made travel more convenient and safer for the region's residents, especially children.

Staff of the Ha Noi Safe Food Research and Application Centre received the award for their project on applying bio-energy in agricultural production and community health protection.

Two individual awards went to Doctor Le Phi Long at the Thai Nguyen Medical and Pharmaceutical University for his research project on applying micro-surgery techniques to reconnect severed hands and fingers that were lost in work-related accidents; and engineer Pham Van Hung of My Tho Town, Tien Giang Province, for his research project and manufacturing of farming machines with an aim to increase productivity and reduce agriculture-related expenses.

Group awards for outstanding contributions to society went to the Phuong Huy Construction Group whose staff are invalids and Agent Orange victims who united to overcome life's difficulties.

Individual winners of the outstanding contribution to society prize were Nguyen Dieu of Quang Binh Province who campaigned relentlessly against backward customs; teacher Nguyen Thi Nguyet of Hoa Binh Primary School in Quang Ninh Province who has dedicated her life to educating the area's minority students; and Nguyen Thi Kiem, chairwoman of the Quang Phuc Commune Women's Union in Quang Binh Province, for her contributions to the population and family planning movement.

The KOVA Award Committee also presented awards to nine excellent students and granted scholarships to 40 talented low-income students currently studying at several universities nationwide.

Funded by the KOVA Paint Manufacturing Group since 2002, the awards aim to encourage students, individuals and groups, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to pursue advances in the areas of science and technology, and social welfare. —VNS

Support continues for central flood victims

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WASHINGTON — Overseas Vietnamese in many places throughout the world continue to send support for their flood-hit compatriots in the country's central region.

In response to a fundraising campaign launched by the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, official Vietnamese representatives in the US contributed more than $7,000 while many overseas Vietnamese in the state of Texas donated over $50,000.

Other Vietnamese businesses in the US donated more than US$5,500 to assist the victims.

The Global Community Service Foundation, a US non-governmental organisation, has also contributed assistance funds, and officials from Germany's state of Hessen donated seven water filters to aid the flood victims.

Anti-crime hotline to dob in criminals

HA NOI — The Ministry of Public Security has set up a hotline and email address to facilitate reporting of crimes.

People can call 069.37077 or email phongchong-muabannguoi@gmail.com to denounce criminals. — VNS

Overseas Vietnamese in UK meet in Dublin

Vietnamese people who live and work in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland gathered for the first time in Dublin city, Ireland , on Nov. 12.

Addressing the meeting, the Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Tran Quang Hoan, highlighted its significance to uniting Vietnamese expatriates.
The Ambassador said that the meeting provided an opportunity to develop overseas Vietnamese communities and seek more cooperation between Vietnamese businesses in these two countries.

Representatives of the Associations of Vietnamese in Ireland and the UK and the Association of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in the UK delivered speeches on their current activities and orientations for the future.

On this occasion, on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Ambassador Hoan presented the Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Ireland with the certificate of merit for its outstanding achievements in developing the community and holding activities towards the homeland./.

Vietnam Red Cross to increase ties with Laos, Cambodia

The Vietnam Red Cross will help its Lao and Cambodian counterparts train their staff, increase medical services and conduct charitable eye surgery for people along border provinces of Laos and Cambodia .

Tran Ngoc Tang, President of the Vietnam Red Cross made the commitment at a Red Cross Leaders’ Meeting of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia held in Ho Chi Minh on Nov. 13.

According to Tang, cooperation between the three countries’ associations has contributed to improving living conditions of people in border provinces.

Over the past four years of signing cooperation in the field, the Vietnam Red Cross has helped the two others in health care and charitable activities worth over 8 billion VND, he said.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of cooperation agreements of the three countries’ red cross organisations in the 2006-2010 period and discussed cooperation programmes for the next five years.

The three associations will encourage all border provinces to cooperate in red cross movements in order to share information on natural disasters, diseases and discuss preventive measures, mutual assistance and improvement of health care in emergency cases, Tang said.

He noted that the three will also share information on their activities, international red cross movements, humanitarian cooperation programmes./.

Friday, December 31, 2010

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