Invasive slider found in Kien Giang Province

One member of the red-eared slider turtle species has been spotted in Kien Giang Province, after Mekong Delta governments have made several efforts to stop the foreign invasive reptile from spreading.

A farmer in U Minh Thuong (Upper U Minh) forest area found the turtle, weighing around one kilogram, caught in his net. Experts have identified it as the red-eared slider, local media said Sunday.

Local authorities said there must be many of them in other places in the province that have not been discovered, coming in from nearby provinces or released by local residents who bought them and found them harmful.

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

Can Tho Seafood Import and Export Company (Caseamex) in April imported nearly 26,400 sliders from the US company Oakland Ninja and sent them to Vinh Long to be bred for meat.

The authorities warned the company about the harm they could cause, but it failed to return or destroy the creatures. 

The Kien Giang government has asked its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to watch out for more sliders and take strict measures to control them from spreading.

The department plans to send officials to check retailers of ornamental sea creatures in the area and inform local residents of the danger of red-eared sliders so they would hand over any  turtles they might have.

Vietnamese conservation experts have complained that the country lacks legal backing and scientific wherewithal to deal with invasive species from overseas.

Several invasives have already become established in Vietnam, making the local ecosystem less hospitable to native species. 

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Bad weather claims a life in HCMC

A man in his 30s died after he fell off his bicycle and was dragged into the sewer by torrential waters

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Bad weather Sunday caused a man in his 30s in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc district to fall off his bicycle and be washed away by torrential waters before his corpse could be recovered 30 minutes later from the sewer.

A cold front from China’s mainland heading to Vietnam has been causing bad weather in the South of the country. Last Sunday, flooding at more than 40 locations across Ho Chi Minh City caused gridlock traffic and serious disruptions.

The work-to-home commute took many residents up to 4-5 hours instead of the usual 30 minutes average.

According to the National Center for Hydro –Meteorological Forecasting of Vietnam, showers and thunderstorms will persist throughout Southern Vietnam during the first three to four days of the week.

Heavy rains lightning-storms and whirlwinds are expected across south-eastern provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta area.

Potential subsequent fog in and around the Mekong River Delta, Tien and Hau Rivers risks affecting both waterways and road traffic.

There is also possibility of heavy rain-falls from mid-week to the beginning of next week in Central Vietnam which is still recovering from human loss and extensive damage brought on by recent flooding.

Heavy showers and thunderstorms are affecting the southern area of the East Sea, offshore Khanh Hoa-Ca Mau, Ca Mau- Kien Giang and the gulf of Thailand.

In the early morning of October 11, Area 5 Navy team coordinated the rescue of three fishermen aboard a fishing boat who battled a thunderstorm and wind whirls for one hour after their engine broke down in the western marine area of Phu Quoc district (Kien Giang province).

Ships were advised to stay clear off Truong Sa islands, Southern East Sea, Southern Ca Mau, Kien Giang marine area and marine areas near the Philippines.

On Phu Quoc Island, heavy rains lasted uninterrupted from 8am to 16.30 last Sunday. Vietnam Airlines and Air Mekong flights were delayed due to the bad weather causing 700 passengers to be stuck in the island.

Both Vietnam Airlines and Air Mekong flights were resumed on Monday October 11.

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Foreign oil and gas firms help poor students

The National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC) has signed an agreement with oil and gas firms from the US, Japan and Thailand to finance a 125,000 USD programme on education development in five southern provinces.

Under the agreement, Chevron Vietnam , a subsidiary of the US Chevron Group, the Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd of Japan and the PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand will provide 755 scholarships each worth 1.2 million VND to Vietnamese poor students. The three companies will also help upgrade some schools in the Mekong delta provinces of Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu and Can Tho city.

Between Aug. 17-19, representatives of the three firms and the NFVC presented 280 scholarships to disadvantaged children in Kien Giang, Ca Mau and Can Tho.

Between 1994 and 2009, the NFVC mobilised funding from domestic and foreign organisations and agencies, providing over 30,000 scholarships worth more than 17.5 billion VND to poor students across the country./.

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