VietNam Society: 10/24/10

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Fraudulent lenders cheat farmers

BA RIA - VUNG TAU — At least 20 farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province's Dat Do District each have lost hundreds of millions of dong to conmen posing as middlemen to help farmers access loans.

The conmen typically help the farmers get the bank loans and appropriate a large part of it, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reports.

Nguyen Van Lam, a duck breeder in the district, is one of the victims.

In 2006, Lam was in a critical situation after his flock died of disease and his house was flattened by a storm.

Huynh Thi Phong, who resides in Vung Tau City's Thang Tam Ward, offered to help Lam complete procedures to get a bank loan.

To earn Lam's trust, Phong lent him VND50 million to pay back his previous loan at the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam, Ba Ria – Vung Tau branch, and retrieve the certificate of land-use rights to his 10,000sq.m of land that had been used as collateral.

With Lam's certificate of land-use rights, Phong helped Lam complete procedures to borrow VND100 million from the Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Joint-stock Bank (Techcombank)'s Ba Ria-Vung Tau branch.

Instead, without Lam's knowledge, Phong applied for a VND600 million loan.

Lam said he trusted Phong, so he only followed the latter's instructions when signing the documents for the loan without reading it carefully.

It was only when Lam got the loan from the bank that he knew he had applied for VND600 million and that Phong would keep VND500 million.

Because he urgently needed money to repair his house, Lam could only accept the loan and ask Phong to sign a note saying she had borrowed VND500 million from him and would repay it with interest when the loan was due.

On the due day, Lam came to Phong's house to ask for the payment, but she had run away.

Finally, Lam had to sell his land to pay the loan and interest rate, which had reached VND696 million.

It turns out Phong had similarly swindled more than 10 people in Dat Do District.

Some of her victims have filed lawsuits against Phong.

Tuoi Tre reports that other people in the province have also used similar tricks to cheat several farmers, leaving the latter facing huge bank debts.

The victims have lost between hundreds of millions of dong to VND2 billion to this ruse, and many have had to sell off their land to repay the bank loans. — VNS

Dong Nai faces grave labour shortage as orders mount

HCM CITY — Companies in Dong Nai Province are faced with a serious labour shortage as orders for the rest of the year are increasing, according to the province's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The department's initial report shows that more than 30,000 workers are needed in the textiles, footwear and wood processing industries. For the last three months, Dong Nai-based Binh Tien Co Ltd, which produces footwear, has tried to recruit 2,000 manual labourers, but has only been able to employ a few hundred.

Ngo Hoang Ho, manager of the Viet Nam NOK OC Ltd, which produces oil sealant, said most labourers were not qualified. His company employs about 500 new workers each year.

Even though his company must retrain labourers for a three-month period, it still has a high worker attrition rate.

Only 15 employees of a total of a few hundred who are trained remain at the company.

Dang Vu Anh, a human resources representative for Mabuchi Motor Viet Nam Co Ltd, said the company had been unable to fill its annual need for 120 employees.

Lam Duy Tin, the department's deputy head, said that low salaries were also to blame.

In addition, because many industrial parks have been built in provinces and cities, there are too many companies competing for employees.

"If companies in Dong Nai Province do not improve working conditions as well as salaries and allowance policies, recruitment will remain difficult," Tin said.

Currently, Dong Nai Province has more than 1,000 foreign-direct investment projects, attracting nearly 400,000 labourers. —VNS

Youth scholarships programme launched

HCM CITY — The Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in co-ordination with the Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Company (MobiFone) last week launched a VND1 billion (US$52,000) scholarship programme for students in 30 cities and provinces.

The programme will award a total of 500 scholarships to highschool and university students who are union members and have a good academic track record.

The programme, first initiated last year, will run until March 2011.

Navy urged to save 18 fishermen adrift at sea

PHU YEN — Two tuna fishing boats with 18 fishermen were still adrift offshore the Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelago due to their engine failure, the Phu Yen Province's Border Guard Command said last Friday.

The boats PY 92179TS and PY 92684TS were reportedly damaged and drifted out to sea due to strong winds last Wednesday.

The provincial Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Search and Rescue on Friday asked the National Committee for Search and Rescue to mobilise naval forces to rescue the boats.

Unification trains departing time adjusted

HA NOI — Thong Nhat trains operating between Ha Noi and HCM City will follow a new schedule beginning on Wednesday, the Viet Nam Railway Corporation has announced.

Trains SE5 and SE6 will depart at 3:45 pm, 3 hours and 20 minutes later than the current timetable. SE7 will depart from Ha Noi at 6:15 am and SE8 will depart from HCM City at 6:30am, one hour later than the current timetable.

The corporation is also planning to add more express trains to transport goods along the route in addition to its current 14 trains.

Three porn websites shut down in HCM City

HCM CITY — The Ministry of Public Security's Information and Communications Security Agency announced on Wednesday that it had shut down three pornographic websites.

25-year-old Pham Ba N of Tan Binh District was accused to set up the website http://phimvang.com at the end of 2008. The site featured free pornographic movies and earned revenues from online advertising.

Last February, he and two other men, Dang Bui Phi H, 33, and Tran Ngo Q, 25 allegedly installed programmes to automatically update and provide access to pornographic films on foreign websites to attract more visitors.

Another porn website, http://chophieubong.com, which was set up by one of the three men, has also been shut down. — VNS

Thang Long Boulevard project open for traffic

HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday announced the completion of a five-year project to expand the Lang-Hoa Lac Expressway.

The highway has been renamed Thang Long Boulevard.

"The modernised boulevard has a crucial meaning to the socio-economic development of not only the capital and its surrounding cities, but also the north-west of the country," Manh said.

The boulevard, just shy of 30km, was one of the projects implemented to celebrate Thang Long-Ha Noi's millennium and is now the longest boulevard in the country. It starts at the intersection of Lang-Hoa Lac road and Belt Road III, and ends at the intersection between Lang-Hoa Lac Road, National Highway No 21 and Ho Chi Minh Road.

Thang Long Boulevard, which is 140-170 metres wide, has 6 express lanes and two additional lanes for motorcycles and bicycles.

Project costs reached VND8 trillion (US$410 million).

The boulevard will connect Ha Noi with satellite cities including Xuan Mai, Mieu Mon and Son Tay, and tourist sites such as Viet Nam Ethnic Villages, Ba Vi Mount and Hai Stream. It is also an important foundation for the development of nearby Lang-Hoa Lac high-tech zone.

The boulevard, which is the first in the country to be designed and built by Vietnamese architects and construction companies, will also play an important role in the expansion of Ha Noi to the west and southwest. — VNS

Unsnarling the traffic mess

Since a new decree to ease traffic problems throughout the country has been in force, Ho Chi Minh City has experienced noticeable improvements on its busy streets.

The decree, which has been in force since May 20, imposes higher fines for traffic violations.

Traffic fines were increased from 40-200 percent compared to the previously relevant Decree 146, which was issued in 2007, said Vo Van Van, deputy chief of the city police's Road Police Division.

For example, drivers who park their cars in forbidden zones or drive in the wrong lanes will be fined VND1.4-2 million (US$73-105) under the new decree as opposed to VND100-200 ($5.2-10.5) under the previous decree.

The new decree has helped cut down on the number of accidents and traffic jams in the city. In the first half of this year, the city reported 485 accidents, 76 fewer than during the same period last year, said Van.

"Public awareness about traffic laws has also been improved," he said.

The problem of drivers using the wrong lanes has decreased sharply, especially on National Highway 1A, he added.

"Since Decree 34 was put into force, my colleagues and I drive much more carefully because if we were to break the rules, the fine would be equal to one month's salary," said taxi driver Le Hoang Hai.

Some residents have praised the new decree.

"Strict fines help change bad driving habits," said Thai Thi Thanh Tra, a resident of Go Vap District.

However, several limitations remained, said Van.

Under Decree 34, pedestrians will be fined VND60,000-120,000 for disobeying traffic lights or climbing over separation barriers, but most pedestrians do not carry any money or identity papers so police cannot make a report or fine them, said Van.

"In a crowded city like HCMC, many pedestrians violate traffic laws," he said.

In the first six months of the year, pedestrians who disobeyed traffic laws caused 26 accidents, 10 more than the same period last year, which resulted in 19 deaths.

The decree also prohibits people for from encroaching on the pavement for private purposes, such as doing business. Violators will be fined VND20-30 million ($1,052-1,578).

"Most violators are poor people who sell vegetables or meat. The fines are too high for them and are not suitable with reality," Van said.

The decree also regulates that drivers carrying children older than 6-years who are not wearing helmets will be fined, but it's difficult for police to assess children's' ages, he said.

"Many parents lie when asked about their child's age by a police officer," Van said.

Police officers can do nothing about illegally parked cars with absent drivers.

"I think the decree should be amended to allow police officers to take photos of illegally parked cars in order to fine the driver by mail," said Van.

Unsnarling the traffic mess