HA NOI — The southern province of Kien Giang has rushed to withdraw 50,000 traffic safety leaflets from circulation due to their erotic content, said the province's director of Information and Communications Department Truong Van Nhu.
Last week, the province's Traffic Safety Board published the leaflets to disseminate information on traffic safety in schools for "Traffic Culture Month 2010".
However, the leaflets contained vulgar sentences with implications of a sexual nature connected with a number of road signs.
As soon as the mistake was spotted, the province in collaboration with education and training offices immediately made the decision to withdraw the leaflets.
Nhu said that 47,500 out of the 50,000 printed had been withdrawn from circulation.
He said the matter had made parents in the province angry and raised concerns over the possible impact on the children.
Le Thi Hoa, mother of a boy who attends Nguyen Trung Truc High School in Rach Gia,ùsaid she was "shocked" to see the leaflet.
"I never imagined an erotic leaflet would be delivered to the students. It may have a damaging effect on our children," Hoa said.
Nguyen Van Chanh, director of the province's Transport Department, had signed a contract with Rach Soi Printing and Advertising Company to print 122,000 leaflets with a total value of VND181 million (US$9,330).
He said the situation had resulted from the fact that the content had not been checked thoroughly enough.
Head of the province People's Committee Bui Ngoc Suong said it would review the role of relevant individuals.
Le Viet Hai, head of the Information and Communications Department's Inspectorate said the printing violated regulations as it had not been licensed by the department.
Hai said they would fine the board VND15 to 30 million ($773-1,546) for failing to apply for a printing licence and other violations would also be punished depending on their severity.
Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc from BASICO law firm said other parties might face prosecution for spreading depraved cultural items according to Criminal Law Article 253.
He said the violators could be fined as much as VND5-50 million ($257-2,577) and sentenced to up to three years in prison.
"This was a serious violation given the number of leaflets involved," Duc said.
Deputy director of the provincial Education and Training Department Ninh Thanh Vien said they had been co-operating with authorities to remove the leaflets from circulation.
Chief of the National Traffic Safety Committee Secretariat Than Van Thanh said he had not received an official report from the province on the matter.
Thanh said the provincial Traffic Safety Committee was in charge of resolving the violation as his committee would only instruct and carry out plans at a national level.
He added that designing and publishing leaflets on traffic safety was a common procedure.
"However, this mistake is by far the most serious ever made. The persons who were directly responsible will have to pay the consequences for their actions," he said.
He said the committee had sent leaflet samples to provinces around the country during the campaign and that localities had been instructed to brand them with their provincial logos before delivering them.
"It has been stipulated for years that no one was allowed to make unauthorised changes to the content of the leaflets," he said, adding that people who made alterations would be fined.
It also emerged that Rach Soi Company had been operating without a business registration licence.
The case is awaiting further investigation. — VNS
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