VietNam Society: 9/26/10

Saturday, October 2, 2010

British Council helps develop English teaching in VN

British Council helps develop English teaching in VN Upper secondary teachers of English teaching in Vietnam will have an opportunity to take part in a competition on using a bilingual website.

The competition will be launched in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept. 17 by the British Council and the Ministry of Education and Training.

People, who pay concerns to the competition, can visit the website at www.teachingenglish.edu.vn and deadline for competitors to send their entries to the British Council will be Nov. 15.

Three first prize winners of the competition will receive trips to the UK and three second prize winners will visit Singapore .

According to Nguyen Vinh Hien, Deputy Minister of Education and Training, the site is a very useful source of materials for both teachers and learners of English in Vietnam, especially for upper secondary school sector, which can help meet the need for strengthening the English teaching and learning capacity as the country is implementing the project on teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system in the 2008-2020 period.

British Council Deputy Director Simon Beardow said that the website is a great example of how British Council’s Access English project remains committed to working in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Training to provide teachers of English across Vietnam with access to quality teaching resources and opportunities to engage with other English teachers from around the world.

Access English is a four-year project developed and run by the British Council in partnership with education sectors in Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The project aims to provide support to changes in English Language Teaching in three areas: support for policy makers, lecturers and teachers./.

Fun run to raise money for kids’ facial surgery

Participants in last year’s red dress fun run organized in Ho Chi Minh City by the SaiGon Hash House Harriers

Photo: SaiGon Hash House Harriers

A fun run October 3 in which the participants will all be in red will raise funds for charity organization Operation Smile which will provide surgeries for kids born with facial deformities.

The annual Red Dress Fun Run, organized by the SaiGon Hash House Harriers, is expected to attract 70 men and women and raise VND10 million (US$513).

“We really support the great work that this not-for-profit group does in arranging facial reconstruction,” Brian Lamprell of the Harriers said, referring to Operation Smile.

“This life-changing surgery uses volunteer surgeons and while most hospitals donate the use of their facilities, there are still considerable expenses, and if Hash can help to pay those, we feel we’ve made a difference.”

The Harriers have a fun run every Sunday.

They depart from outside the Caravelle Hotel by bus at 2 pm and travel for an hour out of town. In the countryside, they set off for a 90-minute run or walk following a trail of shredded paper laid the previous day. Snacks and beers are served as participants socialize before heading back to town at around 8 pm.

To join them, there is no need for membership or payment of fees: One can simply turn up at the Caravelle in running gear before 2 pm on a Sunday.

Brian Lamprell can be contacted at 0904 141 187.

Ha Noi to address city's drainage

Pump maintenance is carried out at Thuong Le Pumping Station in Me Linh District in Ha Noi. The Prime Minister asked the city planners to draft a sewage plan that could manage the annual heavy rainfail. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuan Truong

HA NOI — A recent Prime Ministerial Decision has asked the Ha Noi People's Committee to compile a comprehensive proposal on water drainage planning until 2030 with a vision towards 2050.

The full-scale planning would be conducted on the capital's entire footprint, including new districts that were incorporated in 2008. Experts have been asked to design a water drainage system that would function over the -3,350-sq.m area, home to about 6 million residents.

Planning for the water drainage system would have to comply with the city's master plan, the decision said.

City planners were asked to carry out a comprehensive study on the existing drainage system and to incorporate computer weather models into their analysis to offer a comprehensive solution for drainage management in the city.

One component of the planning would focus on rainwater drainage with the aim of mitigate flooding in central areas of Ha Noi and gradually preventing any floods due to heavy rainfall.

Bui Huu Doan, deputy head of the Ministry of Construction's Technical Infrastructure Department, said the existing drainage situation in Ha Noi was defective and inadequate, a fact that was acutely evident during periods of heavy rainfall.

Deputy General Director Nguyen Xuan Dieu of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Irrigation Department said that in addition to the low capacity of pumping stations, another problem was the collection of stagnant water that could not flow into lakes or rivers due to blocked outlets.

Last July, a three-hour downpour dumped 130mm of rain and flooded many areas of the city, which clearly demonstrated the low capacity of the city's water drainage system.

However, the situation was far better than the flooding in early November 2008 when all city streets were submerged in water due to the record 500mm downpour in the urban area.

Doan said most projects were focused on renovating the existing system rather than creating an entirely new one.

The existing system didn't separate rainwater runoff and sewage. Nor did the designers of the old system take into account the maximum rainfall or drainage pressure, he said.

The committee must finish its tasks by June. — VNS

HIV/AIDS training course for Buddhists opens

A two-day training course opened Monday in Ho Chi Minh City for Buddhist monks, nuns and followers on how to prevent discrimination against people infected with HIV/AIDS.

The course was jointly organized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s (VFFCC) Standing Committee and Scandinavian NGO Nordic Assistance to Vietnam (NAV).

Those taking part are Buddhist dignities and followers from Vietnam’s Buddhist Institutes in Hanoi, Hue and HCMC along with the Khmer Theravada Academy for Buddhist Studies in Can Tho.

This is part of activities to respond to the law on preventing HIV/AIDS and the VFFCC’s call on people to get involved in HIV/AIDS prevention work and religions’ commitment to participate in the fight against the disease.

During the course, the participants learned about current developments in HIV/AIDS in Vietnam and the world, as well as being provided with the necessary information and skills to prevent the spread of the virus and discrimination against people suffering from HIV/AIDS.

According to Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Head of the Committee for Religious Affairs, recently, many religious groups in Vietnam and Buddhists in particular have participated in the campaign to prevent HIV/AIDS with a wide range of activities such as providing consultations, care and support for people with HIV/AIDS.

Netherlands helps to improve life in Lao Cai

A meeting was held in the northern province of Lao Cai on September 13 to review cooperation outcomes with the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) for the 2008-2010 period and to discuss a plan for the 2011-2015 period.

In the review period, Lao Cai province and SNV jointly carried out socio-economic development projects, helping to improve local people’s living conditions, and increase access to advanced farming technology. About 85 percent of households also gained access to clean water.

Tourism development assistance activities helped the local people raise their income by 15-20 percent, combining community-based tourism development and sustainable poverty reduction.

Apart from continuing cooperation projects on socio-economic development for the 2011-2015 period, the two sides agreed to engage in a consultancy on clean water supply management and tea development, including a trademark and connectivity model between farmers and the processing and business units.

They also agreed to conduct market surveys for travel agencies, in order to meet the demand for community-based tourism.

At the meeting, Pham Van Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Lao Cai Province People’s Committee, praised SNV’s cooperation and help over past years and expressed his wish for the organisation’s further cooperation in tourism, sustainable agriculture and rural development./.

Jailed former official to be tried for taking bribes

Jailed former official to be tried for taking bribes Vietnam’s supreme prosecutor's office issued an indictment Thursday against a former official who is alleged to have accepted US$262,000 in bribes while overseeing a major development project in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Supreme Procuracy has accused Huynh Ngoc Si, former vice director of the city’s Department of Transport, of committing crimes that could result in a death sentence - if he is convicted.

Si, who is currently serving time for "abuse of power," has denied all wrongdoing.

According to the official indictment, Si was assigned to oversee the East-West Highway Project on September 26, 2000. Over VND14 trillion (US$718.5 million) in foreign and domestic funds had been set aside for the project.

In January, 2001 the project’s management board invited five companies, including the Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) firm, to bid on the project.

According to prosecutors in both Japan and Vietnam, PCI’s officials bribed Si in an effort to win a consulting and supervision role on the project. The indictment further alleges that Si took steps to ensure that PCI was treated generously after they had been selected for the job.

Prosecutors say that after several meetings, PCI agreed to pay Si 11 percent, or $1.7 million, of a supervision contract, and 10 percent, or $900,000, of a consulting contract.

Officials from the Japanese Ministry of Justice claim that on May 28, 2005 Si accepted $262,000 from Sakano Tsuneo, chief representative of PCI in Vietnam, and Takasu Kunio, former managing director of PCI at his office.

On November 11, 2009 while standing trial in Tokyo, PCI leaders testified that they had bribed Si on six additional occasions. Japan prosecuted the officials for offering $820,000 in bribes.

Vietnam is bringing Si to trial for the afformentioned bribes while continuing to investigate the further allegations. The deadline for the initial investigation has ended, according to prosecutors, creating something of a time crunch.

Si is currently serving a six-year jail term for illegally leasing office space to PCI from August 2001 and November 2002 and pocketing VND1.2 billion (current $62,959) from the agreement.

Jailed former official to be tried for taking bribes

The Supreme Procuracy has accused Huynh Ngoc Si, former vice director of the city’s Department of Transport, of committing crimes that could result in a death sentence - if he is convicted.

Si, who is currently serving time for "abuse of power," has denied all wrongdoing.

In January, 2001 the project’s management board invited five companies, including the Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) firm, to bid on the project.

Prosecutors say that after several meetings, PCI agreed to pay Si 11 percent, or $1.7 million, of a supervision contract, and 10 percent, or $900,000, of a consulting contract.

On November 11, 2009 while standing trial in Tokyo, PCI leaders testified that they had bribed Si on six additional occasions. Japan prosecuted the officials for offering $820,000 in bribes.

Si is currently serving a six-year jail term for illegally leasing office space to PCI from August 2001 and November 2002 and pocketing VND1.2 billion (current $62,959) from the agreement.

Delta firm files lawsuit asking US exporter to take back red-eared slider turtless

Delta firm files lawsuit asking US exporter to take back red-eared slider turtless A Mekong Delta seafood company that imported 40 tons of invasive red-eared slider turtles has asked a local court to make the US exporter take back or destroy the creatures.

The Can Tho Seafood Import and Export Company (Caseamex) late last month filed a lawsuit with the Can Tho People’s Court, asking Oakland Ninja Company to take back or destroy all the turtles still alive, under a contract they signed on February 25.

The court said it tried to have the two companies negotiate with each other once but the US firm did not cooperate.

Earlier, the Can Tho company that imported the turtles in April had many times asked for more time to solve the problem as the US company refused to take back the turtles.

Nine tons of the imported turtles have died in an unsuitable enviroment while waiting for the problem to be solved. The turtles were first sent to Vinh Long Province to be bred for meat but authorities ordered that they are returned or destroyed.

It is said that the species is likely to invade the habitat of local turtles and that it can cause typhoid.

Officials from Vinh Long Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said they’re worried some red-eared turtles in the shipment had laid eggs that might have been swept into local water ways.

“If the General Fisheries Office (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) gives more time to solve the turtle problem and wait for the court’s decision, it will be a big problem for local authorities who do not want to let the red-eared turtles spread out into the local environment,” a Vinh Long official said.

Caseamex has not presented a permit allowing it to import the turltes but said it didn't know the turtles are harmful when importing them.

The red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans) is native to North America and was included in the list of the world’s 100 worst invasive species by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) - a global network of scientific and policy experts on invasive species, organized under the auspices of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Vietnamese experts earlier said the country lacks legal backing and scientific wherewithal to deal with invasive species from overseas.

The consequences have been seen with the Mimosa pigra (Giant Sensitive Tree) or “mai duong” in Vietnamese, an American invasive species and one of the world’s worst environmental weeds; and the yellow snails (oc buou vang) that has become the nemesis of rice and water spinach.

Man injured in Hai Phong street shooting

A man was seriously injured in the northern city of Hai Phong Thursday when masked men came up on a motorbike and shot at him with shotguns.

The victim Tran Thai Bao, 30, was driving his motorbike with his brother at around 2 p.m. when the shooting happened.

Eyewitnesses said Bao left his motorbike and tried to run away but the masked men continued to chase him, loading their shotguns to shoot him again.

Bao turned back and grappled with the man who held the gun, but the other man then drew another shotgun and fired it into his belly before both attackers fled the scene.

Gun fights have become notorious in the northern port city with the latest incident taking place in broad daylight on a crowded street. One brother of Bao had already been shot dead by local gangsters on a street in January.

Bao had been previously convicted of murder and deliberately causing injury after he had his gang, armed with knives, had caused public disorder in the city.

He gave himself up to the police in July this year and was out on bail in August for medical treatment.

Police are investigating the case further.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Man injured in Hai Phong street shooting

A man was seriously injured in the northern city of Hai Phong Thursday when masked men came up on a motorbike and shot at him with shotguns.

The victim Tran Thai Bao, 30, was driving his motorbike with his brother at around 2 p.m. when the shooting happened.

Eyewitnesses said Bao left his motorbike and tried to run away but the masked men continued to chase him, loading their shotguns to shoot him again.

Bao turned back and grappled with the man who held the gun, but the other man then drew another shotgun and fired it into his belly before both attackers fled the scene.

Bao had been previously convicted of murder and deliberately causing injury after he had his gang, armed with knives, had caused public disorder in the city.

He gave himself up to the police in July this year and was out on bail in August for medical treatment.

Police are investigating the case further.

River polluter signs pacts to pay $6.1 mln in compensation

River polluter signs pacts to pay $6.1 mln in compensation Taiwanese river polluter Vedan Vietnam company Friday signed an agreement to pay nearly VND120 billion (US$6.1 million) in compensation to affected farmers in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Under the agreement, the monosodium glutamate maker will pay 50 percent of the compensation within seven days after the signing, and pay another 50 percent by January 14, 2011.

In return, all the 5,034 affected farmers have agreed to drop lawsuits against the company, according to Dong Nai Farmers’ Association.

However, Vien Dong Ltd. Co., which runs a 28-hectare aquaculture farm in Long Phuoc Commune, has not accepted the compensation and will file a lawsuit against Vedan, said Nguyen Van Ngau, chairman of Long Thanh District Farmers’ Association.

The company claimed over VND17 billion ($872,689) in compensation, while the calculation by the Institute of Natural Resources and Environment put the compensation payable to the company at VND900 million ($46,201) of nearly VND120 billion, Ngau said.

“So, the company didn’t accept the compensation, although we have tried to convince them many times,” he said.

Last month Vedan signed the same agreements with farmers in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Ho Chi Minh City for compensation worth VND53.6 billion (S$2.8 million) and VND45.7 billion (US$2.39 million) respectively.

The company was caught in 2008 discharging untreated effluents directly into the Thi Vai River through secret underground pipes. Government inspectors found that the company had been doing so for 14 years.

The discovery sparked a public outcry which rose even higher as the company declined to meet compensation requests made the affected farmers, making meager counter offers.

However, following a public boycott of its products that were pulled off supermarket shelves, Vedan caved in and agreed to pay the demanded compensation to farmers in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and HCMC.

It also offered to pay Dong Nai farmers VND119.5 billion, but provincial authorities did not accept the offer until later.

The compensation sums were calculated by an agency authorized to do so by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Italian expert urges Hanoi to preserve old houses

Italian expert urges Hanoi to preserve old houses Without its old houses, visitors to Hanoi will not stay in the city for more than one day, an expert from the Italian Embassy said during a Friday conference about preserving Hanoi’s Old Quarters.

The ancient small houses have cultural value and are unique to Hanoi, and foreigners like to rent these houses rather than stay at modern urban areas like Ciputra, Cesara Bieller was cited by local news website VnExpress as saying.

Bieller said he was sad every time he visited Hanoi and saw several of the old houses demolished and rebuilt.

One of the things that attract tourists to Hanoi is the Old Quarters, not skyrocketing buildings, he said, adding if Hanoi is not concerned about preserving its old houses, the city would have to build fake old houses in the outskirts 20 years later.

Dao Ngoc Nghiem, former director of the Hanoi Department of Planning and Architecture, said experts from 15 countries have offered to help Hanoi preserve the Old Quarters but both the city government and residents were not bothered.

“We have precious assets but we don’t know to protect them,” Nghiem said.

For several years, only four of more than 200 old traditional houses in the quarters have been restored with state budget and foreign support. They have become popular tourism attractions.

Residents who own old houses outside the Old Quarter area have renovated them as they liked, some pulling them down to construct high-rise buildings.

The Hanoi Old Quarters Management Board has set some conditions for restoring and/or renovating old houses, such as using light colors such as yellow or white for painting, using only lime, sand and cement as construction materials and tiles for roofs.

Old houses facing main streets must be no taller than 12 meters and any billboard on the first floor must not conceal the second floor, the board has said.

Italian expert urges Hanoi to preserve old houses

Bieller said he was sad every time he visited Hanoi and saw several of the old houses demolished and rebuilt.

“We have precious assets but we don’t know to protect them,” Nghiem said.

For several years, only four of more than 200 old traditional houses in the quarters have been restored with state budget and foreign support. They have become popular tourism attractions.

Residents who own old houses outside the Old Quarter area have renovated them as they liked, some pulling them down to construct high-rise buildings.

Old houses facing main streets must be no taller than 12 meters and any billboard on the first floor must not conceal the second floor, the board has said.

Violent guards could face criminal charges

Violent guards could face criminal charges Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday proposed criminal charges against workers of a city security firm after they assaulted a guest at a major restaurant.

The three guards of Thanh Cong Saigon Motorbike Security Company are facing charges of “deliberately causing injuries”.

According to investigators, eight of the guards on July 30 had beaten, tasered and stripped of the pants of a Vietnamese-Dutchman who came to have lunch at the Minh Duc Restaurant on Ton That Tung Street after he reprimanded one of them.

The customer scolded the guards for being rude and refusing to retrieve his motorbike. The guards were posed to look after the motorbikes of restaurant patrons.

A man in a shop nearby tried to help, only to be beaten and tasered himself.

The Dutchman, Le Van Ngai, 60, has been released from hospital and suffered permanent disability measured at being eight percent by local doctors.

The guards were hired in early July and assigned to protect motorbikes and cars, and prevent hawkers from bothering their customers, said the owner of the Minh Duc Restaurant, known for its traditional Vietnamese cuisine.

Police investigation found the Thanh Cong Company commiting many violations.

Guards of the company did not have a license granted by authorized agencies and were not using the tools given properly,

Following the incident, police said they would consider withdrawing the business license of the restaurant but no action has been taken.

Retired Major General Le Van Kinh, who heads the campaign for the establishment of private security enterprises in Vietnam, said many employees of nearly 700 security firms in Vietnam have not been properly trained because of a shortage in human resources.

Water shortage may delay first run of largest power plant

Water shortage may delay first run of largest power plant Insufficient water may make it impossible for the nation's largest hydropower project in Son La to start running at the end of this year as planned, a local weather expert said.

The Son La power plant began to receive water in mid May, but its water level was just 160 meters, below the "dead point" of 170 meters.

Nguyen Lan Chau of the Central Hydrometeorology Center said water levels have been low this year and will not improve soon due to the lack of rain. She said she was worried that Son La will not have enough water by the end of the year.

Chau also said two of the three largest hydropower reservoirs in the northern region, Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang, have also seen water levels fall this year.

Construction of the 2,400-megawatt Son La power plant is scheduled to be completed in 2012 but its first unit is to be put on line in December.

The government in April had already forecast that lack of water in reservoirs could translate into a loss of nearly 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity at hydropower plants this year.

Nguyen Hong Ha, head of the Son La project, said water shortage was the “biggest difficulty” for the power plant now. However, he said he still believed that the plan to start running the plant on December 25 was viable.

The problem is that, by storing water, Son La could affect the operation of Hoa Binh power plant, which is located downstream the same river.

Hoa Binh is expected to generate 8.5 billion kilowatt-hours this year but the plant’s general director, Nguyen Van Thanh, said it may have to cut the target to 7.5 billion.

Water shortage may delay first run of largest power plant

The Son La power plant began to receive water in mid May, but its water level was just 160 meters, below the "dead point" of 170 meters.

Chau also said two of the three largest hydropower reservoirs in the northern region, Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang, have also seen water levels fall this year.

Construction of the 2,400-megawatt Son La power plant is scheduled to be completed in 2012 but its first unit is to be put on line in December.

The government in April had already forecast that lack of water in reservoirs could translate into a loss of nearly 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity at hydropower plants this year.

The problem is that, by storing water, Son La could affect the operation of Hoa Binh power plant, which is located downstream the same river.

Hoa Binh is expected to generate 8.5 billion kilowatt-hours this year but the plant’s general director, Nguyen Van Thanh, said it may have to cut the target to 7.5 billion.

Train rams container truck in Hanoi

Train rams container truck in Hanoi A train hit a container truck in Hanoi Sunday morning, but there were no casualties.

The train, carrying 234 passengers and coming from Ho Chi Minh City, hit the truck as the latter passed railway tracks at a crossing with automatic barriers.

Luu Van Ly, the 34-year-old truck driver, said he only noticed the signal of a train coming when the truck was about to cross the track.

Ly said the truck was too heavy, weighing more than 46 tons, so he could not do anything then.

No one was killed as the accident pushed the truck 15 meters further and collapsed the wall of a nearby café. The truck driver and his assistant were slightly injured.

The cabins of the truck and the locomotive were damaged heavily, as were the barriers and signs in the area.

Dinh Ngoc Son, the train's guard, said the train was running at around 30 kilometers per hour when it hit the truck.

Son said the train had just sped up after stopping for 18 minutes following a clash with a resident. Otherwise, the crash would have been much more severe, he said.

Training course for Buddhists on HIV/AIDS

A two-day training course is being held in Ho Chi Minh City for Buddhist monks, nuns and followers on how to prevent discrimination against people infected with HIV/AIDS.

The Sept. 13-14 course was jointly organised by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee’s (VFFCC) Standing Committee and the organisation, Nordic Assistance to Vietnam (NAV). Those taking part are Buddhist dignities and followers from Vietnam ’s Buddhist Institutes in Hanoi , Hue and HCM City along with the Khmer Theravada Academy for Buddhist Studies in Can Tho.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Designs proposed for new performing arts complex

Two possible designs for the planned Thang Long performing arts centre in the new urban area west of Hanoi's West Lake have been submitted to the city's People's Committee for review.

The complex, on a site of 22ha, will include a symphony hall with a capacity of 1,200-1,500 seats, a multi-purpose performance theatre of 1,800 seats, and an open-air performance space.

In the first design, the theatre space would be divided into two buildings in the form of two bronze drums lying in a lotus pond. The buildings would be covered by a shared roof in the form of a tortoise's shell.

The second design would take inspiration from the red sails of a ship on Ha Long Bay, and the whole theatre would be built over water and surrounded with trees.

In this design, the symphony hall would be situated above the multi-purpose performance hall, and the buildings would be constructed of steel and glass, with solar power systems on the roof. Water drainage pipes would also be made of glass to help dissipate heat during summer.

The People's Committee will choose one of the two designs and exhibit the model and hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the site early next month, in time to celebrate the city's millennial anniversary.

Most of the city's concerts and musical performances are now held at the Hanoi Opera House, built between 1901 and 1911. But it has only 900 seats.

Another performing arts centre, the 730-seat Au Co Arts Performing Centre on Huynh Thuc Khang Street , was put into operation earlier this year./.

Low-cost housing projects gear up

Apartments for low-income earners in the town of Vinh Yen in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. – VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI — Over 100 low-income housing projects are planned or under construction, but would-be residents are still waiting on specific guidelines on how to qualify for the more affordable accommodations.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam said the number of projects reflected the great effort of businesses in executing the Government's public housing programme.

The programme, commenced last year, aims to provide affordable housing for 60 per cent of college and university students and a half of all industrial park workers by 2015. The country currently has about 1.5 million industrial park workers and 33 million students at universities and colleges.

Nguyen Quoc Tuan, deputy director of Ha Noi's construction department, said the number of students in the city would reach a million by 2015. Around 60 per cent would need dormitory housing, creating demand for 75,000 apartments at an occupancy of eight students per apartment.

Thirty projects for workers have begun, at a total estimated investment of VND2.6 trillion (US$134 million), according to the construction ministry. With a total area of 750,000sq.m, these projects are expected to provide accommodation for nearly 125,000 workers by next year.

Another 55,000 low-income earners have already been provided housing in 33 projects with a total area of 655,000sq.m, Nam said.

"Housing projects with prices of VND7-10 million ($360-515) per square metre in Ha Noi, even in the face of increasing building materials prices, can be seen as a positive sign to lower the average cost of housing closer to the people," he said.

A high annual urbanisation rate of 25 to 30 per cent resulted in a housing shortage in urban areas, Nam added, making the issue of affordable housing increasingly urgent.

Prices of VND350-500 million ($18-25,770) per 35-65sq.m apartment represent a huge burden on people with low incomes, Nam admitted.

"However, people will be able to pay through mortages over 20 years at favourable interest rates," he said, adding that it would be difficult to ask businesses to provide lower prices under current market conditions.

The ministry would continue to seek more preferential policies on land use rights, taxes and administrative procedures for enterprises taking part in public housing programmes, Nam said.

Builders would also be allowed to increase building density up to 1.5 times more than usual and borrow 70 per cent of the total costs of a project from the Viet Nam Development Bank, he added.

Nguyen Minh Tuan, deputy director of Viglacera, which is building 1,000 low-cost housing units in the capital city's Gia Lam District, said Viglacera had been given favourable conditions in developing public housing.

The time for administrative approvals of public housing projects has also been reduced sharply, Tuan said.

Prospective home buyers were still encountering difficulties buying low-cost housing, however.

Do Manh Hung of Ha Noi's Ha Dong District said he was still fumbling to complete the necessary procedures to buy a low-cost house in the Ngo Thi Nham project being developed by Vinaconex Xuan Mai Concrete and Construction Joint Stock Co.

"Criteria to define who is a low-income earner have not been stipulated," Hung said. "The city's construction department would not accept my application."

Nam agreed the reason was that some localities had not completed criteria to define people who were eligible for buying the houses.

Vinaconex Xuan Mai general director Dang Hoang Huy agreed that local governments had not yet promulgated regulations to clarify who was eligible to buy low-cost housing.

"Investors want to sell their apartments," said Huy. "The matter is that we should have complete planning."

Nam said the ministry would issue criteria defining eligibity for those with monthly incomes of less than VND5 million ($258). — VNS

Training project to ease social worker shortage

Children in northern Ha Nam receive Vitamin A. The Government has approved the National Programme for Children for 2011-15, which includes a project to improve the quality of staff working in child protection and other social services. — VNA/ VNS Photo Ninh Duc Phuong

HA NOI — The shortage of professional social workers has triggered the Government to begin training staff that specialise in protecting vulnerable children across the country.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam said social work contributes to social development and several countries around the world attach special attention to training social workers.

"Social work is still new in Viet Nam," said Dam. "Professional social worker training has only begun very recently."

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs are working on a project to train more social workers.

The VND464 billion (nearly US$25 million) project aims to help all social workers improve their management skills and increase the child protection programmes' efficiency.

The project also targets to increase 50 per cent of the social workers skills and collaborators at the commune and hamlet level. While there were 160,000 collaborators at hamlets and villages in 2007, the figure has dropped to about 7,000.

According to the ministry's report, the country does not have enough professional social workers who are able to uncover, intervene and support children with special circumstances or children who are vulnerable to exploitation.

The report says there are more than 12,000 social workers, but a majority of them do not work full time. There are currently about 7,000 collaborators and volunteers working in the child protection sector.

In accordance with the project, the ministry will ask the Government to grant social allowances to collaborators that are equivalent to 10 per cent of the country's minimum wage, which is VND730,000 a month.

The ministry estimates that there are more than 23.6 million children in the country, of which more than 4 million are living in special or impoverished circumstances. These children need help from the community and social workers.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the National Programme on Children Protection for the 2011-2015 period. The programme aims to reduce the existing number of children living in special circumstances to less than 5.5 per cent of the total number of children.

A 10-year national programme on the development of social work was approved as well.

The programme aims to develop a legal framework for social work development, to increase professional social workers' knowledge and skills, to improve social services and increase public awareness about the profession.

According to the plan, 35,000 social workers would be trained and 25,000 Government staff members would be provided with social work training before 2020.

Dam said the country needs more than 10,000 social work professionals who have university degrees. — VNS

NA group to discuss eight proposed laws

HA NOI — The National Assembly Standing Committee will discuss eight bills during its five-day 34th working session which begins today in Ha Noi. The bills up for discussion include: Denouncement Law, Capital Law, amended Stock Exchange Law, Independent Auditing Law, amended Civil Litigation Law, Law on Human Trafficking Prevention, and the Laws on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils.

The discussions will aim to prepare for the eighth sitting session of the 12th National Assembly from October 20 to November 27.

Committee members will also give opinions about State budget allocation in the 2011-15 period; a draft decision on tax reductions and exemptions for agricultural land from 2011-20; and the implementation of policies for labourers working abroad.

The committee will also hear preparation reports for the 31st ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly meeting that is scheduled to take place in Ha Noi this month.

On the last day of the session, the Government will present a summary of the pilot programme to cease the organisation of People's Councils at district and ward levels. — VNS

Officials raise alarm at rising spread of STDs

HA NOI — Officials and public health experts are concerned about the country's family planning sector and an increase in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Next year, the country's funds for condoms will expire and individuals will be forced to personally pay for contraceptives.

As Viet Nam approaches middle-income status, international aid for condoms would be cut down, said the Department of Population and Family Planning director, Do Ngoc Tan.

He said no international organisations were offering to supply condoms to the country's population and family planning programmes after 2010.

From 1996 – 2009, the programme supplied more than 1.2 billion condoms to the country, of which 435 million were free and 780 million were sold at subsidised prices. Condoms cost between VND1,000 to VND3,000 (up to US$0.15).

It is estimated that from 2011 to 2015 the country will need about 2.3 billion condoms, which would cost about $57.5 million, Tan said. Currently, 62 million condoms have been provided by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Nguyen Duc Son, an official from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, said if the country continued its subsidised contraceptive programme, Viet Nam would only be able to afford one-third of the total cost for condoms each year .

Tan said that people in remote and poor areas depended on the free supply.

Need for a change

The Government's social marketing programme, which is part of the population and family planning programme, will supply condoms to people at subsidised prices.

The programme is primarily carried out mostly in urban areas where people earn higher incomes and are willing to pay for condoms themselves. The programme would need to focus on remote and poor areas initially to provide access to low-price condoms and then gradually make people pay for contraceptives individually, Tan said.

General Director of the General Department of Population and Family Planning Duong Quoc Trong said a comprehensive programme to co-ordinate, manage and supply condoms must be set up.

Communication campaigns would be needed to encourage people to purchase contraceptives themselves and not to rely on free condoms.

Other officials have called on couples to financially share the cost with the Government.

Deputy head of the Sub-department of Population and Family Planning from southern Dong Nai Province Huynh Cao Hai said if couples could buy the condoms themselves, the programme would be sustainable.

Currently, about 20 per cent of people who use condoms pay for the contraceptives individually. —VNS

Youth lend a helping hand ahead of Ha Noi's birthday

Students donate blood at Ha Noi's Thong Nhat Park. The event was one of many activities in the lead up to celebrations marking the capital city's 1,000th anniversary. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Tran

HA NOI — More than 5,000 people participated in social activities on Saturday in the lead up to Ha Noi's millennium.

More than 100 young doctors from 25 hospitals provided free medical check-ups and treatment to more than 1,000 former volunteer youths, war invalids, family members of fallen combatants and poor children.

Students and young people donated more than 1,000 units of blood to the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion.

Others collected waste, rode bicycles around Ha Noi's Old Quarter to disseminate information about environmental protection, and removed illegal advertisements from streets in Hoang Mai and Cau Giay districts.

Meanwhile, 1,000 students of the Nhat Nam martial arts' school gave a public performance and another 1,000 young people showed off their dancing and singing talents.

On this occasion, the Ha Noi Union of Young People presented 1,000 national flags to officers and soldiers on the Truong Sa islands and the City's Young Entrepreneurs Association granted scholarships worth VND500 million (US$25,700) to 1,000 poor students. — VNS

Inspectors uncover cache of illegal DVDs

HCM CITY — Inspectors of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and city police last Friday discovered a warehouse containing 300,000 illegally printed CDs, VCDs and DVDs in Binh Tan District.

Warehouse keeper Vo Thi Ngoc Lan told the officials that the discs were printed at other places and brought to the warehouse for distribution to various parts of the city

Man fined for mobile phone harassment

HCM CITY— Chung Huu Phuoc, 34, of HCM City's District 6 was fined VND7.6 million (US$400) for using his mobile phone to annoy someone at the office of the Party Central Committee in the south.

The police's investigation showed that between April and June this year, Phuoc used seven telephone numbers and made calls to the office.

However, he said, he intended to disturb a person, not the office.

Enterprises still owe social insurance

HUE — As many as 300 companies in central Thua Thien-Hue Province owed social insurance payment worth VND13 billion (US$690,000) since the beginning of this year.

About 4,500 employers and workers were uninsured.

Province Social Insurance vice director Nguyen Truc Phuong said the problem was due to low fine – VND30 million ($1,500) – applied to violators.

Private clinics join Bluestar network

HCM CITY — Marie Stopes International Viet Nam, a non-profit organisation, on September10 enrolled 17 private healthcare providers in HCM City in its Bluestar social franchising network, raising the network's membership in the city to 48.

The organisation together with the Viet Nam Centre for Reproductive Health pioneered the use of social franchising to provide people greater access to quality reproductive healthcare at a reasonable cost through existing private providers, To Thi Kim Hoa, deputy director of the city Department of Health said.

The four-year initiative had also helped the private health sector improve its quality by helping to develop infrastructure and providing traing in clinical skills, sounselling and marketing, she added.

The network, set up in 2007, has 171 members in Ha Noi, Hai Phong and HCM City and the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and An Giang. — VNS

2 Vietnam turtles crawl to brink of extinction

Vietnam’s Red River giant softshell turtle, one of the world's most endangered turtles

Photo: Asian Turtle Program

Two turtles found in Vietnam are listed among 10 of the world's most threatened freshwater species by Conservation International.

The Red River giant softshell turtle and the Annam pond turtle are included in the list compiled by Dr Peter Paul van Dijk, director of CI's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Conservation Program.

A new study undertaken for World Water Week says more than 40 percent of the world’s estimated 280 freshwater turtle species are facing extinction, making them among the most threatened groups of animals on the planet.

CI blamed it on habitat loss, hunting for food, and a lucrative pet trade.

With only four individuals remaining alive anywhere in the world, the Red River giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) may be the most threatened of all turtles.

Two animals held in captivity for a long time in China were brought together three years ago to produce eggs, but they failed to hatch.

One lone reptile in Hoan Kiem lake in downtown Hanoi is revered as a symbol of Vietnam's independence.

The last animal remaining in the wild – also in Vietnam – escaped death when the reservoir where it lives burst in November 2008, washing it downriver. The turtle was caught by a fisherman who only released him after protracted negotiations with conservationists.

The Annam pond turtle (Mauremys annamensis), a species restricted to the marshy wetlands of central Vietnam, was hunted down in the 1990s to supply the Chinese food trade, and only a handful are now left in the wild.

There are good populations in captivity. They breed well and their repatriation to Vietnam as a first step towards reintroduction has already begun.

Other eight other most threatened turtles are the red-crowned river turtle, Myanmar river turtle, Roti snake-necked turtle, Southeast Asian giant softshell turtle, Yunnan box turtle, Central American river turtle, bog turtle, and Coahuila box turtle.

Dead rhino found in Vietnam park was shot: WWF

John E. Cooper of the WWF with the skull of the Javan rhino at a meeting Thursday at Cat Tien National Park

Photo: Tuoi Tre

A Javan rhino that was found dead in the Cat Tien National Park in April may have been shot in the leg, World Wildlife Fund experts told a meeting last Thursday.

Park rangers found the endangered animal in an almost completely decomposed state and without its horn.

John E. Cooper, a veterinary endoscopy expert, said tests showed a trace of a bullet injury at the leg but it is not known if the animal died on the spot.

It may have died of an infection or some other cause to find out which requires more research, he said.

The animal’s sex is not known yet but from its tooth and bones it is thought to have been 20 years old.

Another WWF expert, Ed Newcomer, said the rhino could have been shot five or six months before it died.

The rhino may have been shot by one poacher and had its horn taken by another later, he said.

“We did not find blood at the place the horn would have been. So it can be said the rhino was dead long before.”

Sara Brook, a WWF official based in Vietnam, said the shooting of the rhino is a warning for Vietnam about its lax management of wildlife resources.

Rhino horns are highly valued in the illegal wildlife trade, while the skin and feces are used for medicinal purposes.

Vietnam’s Javan or lesser one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) population is one of only two left on the planet. Official estimates say there are fewer than 60 Javan rhinos in the world.

The larger population, of 40-60, is found in Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia. There are no Javan rhino in captivity anywhere.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Youths host activities towards Hanoi’s anniversary

More than 5,000 volunteers and young people of Hanoi participated in social activities on Sept. 11 in the lead up to the city’s 1,000th founding anniversary.

Over 100 young doctors from 25 hospitals provided free medical check-ups and treatment for more than 1,000 beneficiaries of social policy, who are former volunteer youths, war invalids, family members of fallen combatants and poor children.

A large number of students and young people donated more than 1,000 units of blood to the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion.

Others collected waste, rode bicycles around the Hanoi Old Quarters to disseminate information about the protection of the environment or removed illegal advertisements on streets in Hoang Mai and Cau Giay districts.

Meanwhile, 1,000 students of the Nhat Nam Vietnam martial art sect gave a public performance and 1,000 young people showed dancing and singing talents.

On this occasion, the Hanoi Union of Young People presented 1,000 national flags to officers and soldiers on the Truong Sa islands and the city’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Association granted scholarships worth totally 500 million VND to 1,000 poor students./.

Vietnam joins L’Humanite newspaper festival

The Nhan Dan (People’s) newspaper - the official voice of the Communist Party of Vietnam - opened a pavilion at the 80th L’Humanite Newspaper Festival in Paris on Sept. 10.

While addressing the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Le Kinh Tai said since its inception in 1930, the festival has become an important political event of the Communist Party of France (CPF) and the L’Humanite newspaper.

The event is a festival of people and a friendship meeting of representatives from social organisations, politicians and activists for social progress, peace, solidarity and development, he said.

The ambassador stressed that cooperation between the Nhan Dan and L’Humanite newspapers has contributed greatly to strengthening and developing friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and France .

Jacques Fath, member of the Executive Board and Head of the CPF Central Committee’s Commission for International Relations, underlined the Nhan Dan newspaper’s presence at the festival, saying it reflects Vietnam ’s increasingly important role in the world.

The CPF always pays attention to the development of Vietnam as well as its renewal process and reform policies, the official said.

For his part, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Nhan Dan newspaper Dinh Van Luyen expressed his belief that the time-honoured relationship between the two parties would further develop in the future./.

VUSTA deems Hanoi Master Plan impractical

The Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations has expressed its disagreement with the construction of a highway linking West Lake and Ba Vi district as called for in the "Hanoi Master Plan by 2030 With a Vision to 2050".

VUSTA proposed the Office of the Party Central Committee to deny the project's approval because it was impractical and unrealistic.

VUSTA experts said the proposal to construct the West Lake-Ba Vi Highway lacked a scientific basis, especially considering that engineers in the capital were currently focused on building the Thang Long Highway, Western Thang Long Road, Lang-Hoa Lac Railway and upgrading Road No 32.

"The projection that the population of Hoa Lac Satellite City in Son Tay district will reach nearly 1 million by 2030 is groundless," said to the document signed by VUSTA's standing deputy chairman Ho Uy Liem.

"Therefore, the West Lake-Ba Vi Highway has no reason to exist. It would be a waste of land and not suitable to traffic needs and the urban landscape."
The Master Plan should focus on measures to prevent traffic jams, such as building flyovers or tunnels, said VUSTA experts.

VUSTA said the confirmation to locate the national administrative and political centre, along with some ministry and sector offices, in Ba Dinh district and the city centre under the revised Master Plan was reasonable.

However, the proposal to reserve land in Ba Vi district was unreasonable because the location for official offices from now to 2020 was fixed and management of e-government would definitely improve.

"Ba Vi is a great ecological zone and a valuable lung for Hanoi . It is home to a number of historical relics and famous landscapes, so it needs to be preserved. We should not use the land there for construction. Expanded Hanoi has a lot of area, so we can reserve land somewhere else," the VUSTA document said.

Master Plan's proposal to keep the city's administrative centre in its present location was unreasonable. The buildings housing the municipal Party Committee, People's Committee and People's Council were downgraded and too narrow, so they were not worthy of being the capital's nerve centre, it further said.

Those offices should be upgraded or rebuilt somewhere near Hoan Kiem Lake .

VUSTA said the Master Plan was large in scale, covered a number of fields and was developed too quickly by international consultants, making it inadequate and impractical./.

Teacher and funding shortages halt English learning

An ambitious programme to teach English in primary schools has been postponed due to teacher shortages and a dearth of funds.

The programme was designed to give pupils an early grounding in the language. The Ministry of Education and Training wanted at least 20 percent of primary school pupils to be taught English in the 2010-11 academic year.

Under the programme, English will be a compulsory subject for third-grade to the fifth-grade students who will have four lessons per week.

However, a shortage of teachers has forced the ministry to withdraw the plan.
Le Tien Thanh, director of the Ministry of Education and Training's Primary Education Department, said the programme had been successfully implemented in a few schools.

The programme was launched in 2003. However, the results have been disappointing.

Hoang Thi Dieu, principal of Bac Phu Primary School in Hanoi 's Soc Son District, said students were only taught English twice a week.

She said the school had only two qualified English teachers and that it did not have the funds required to buy tapes, projectors and equipment to properly teach the subject.

An official at Soc Son Education and Training Bureau said some primary schools had already piloted teaching English but teacher shortages had meant they'd had to abandon the project.

The Vietnam Education Science Institute said there were more than 4,000 teachers teaching English in primary schools across the country.

Institute deputy director Nguyen Loc said there were sufficient teachers to conduct a pilot programme in the country.

But Loc said about 2,000 more teachers needed to be trained each year. Only by so doing would primary schools be able to meet the ministry's requirements, he said.

Thanh said teacher quality was a major concern.

"It depends on the actual capability of the teaching staff whose English language proficiency must meet international standards," said Thanh. "University degrees are meaningless by themselves."

About 15 cities and provinces will be selected to pilot the English teaching programme in the 2010-11 school year. In each area, between five and ten primary schools will take part in the scheme.

Loc said students from these schools would start learning English four times a week. The number of students taking part in the programme would increase in years to come, until the programme matures in 2020, he said.
HCM City pioneered the programme in primary schools.

Le Ngoc Diep, head of the city's Education and Training Department, said the programme was implemented 12 years ago and that more than 47,000 primary school students had been taught English compulsorily.

He said the department would teach English to first-grade students from the second semester of this school year. Students of remaining grades had already studied English from the beginning of this school year, Diep said.

Under the programme, students must be able to listen to, identify, speak and write simple English words and phrases. They are also expected to answer simple questions about themselves and other people./.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

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