New dyke needed to protect HCMC

A sea dyke system should be built in Vung Tau and Tien Giang provinces to reduce the effect of climate change, floods and salt-marsh contamination, experts have said.

The dyke system would not only reduce floods in Ho Chi Minh City, Go Cong and Dong Thap Muoi areas, but also support socio-economic development, according to Dao Xuan Hoc, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Hoc said at a HCMC conference on sea dike systems on Thursday that the dyke system would be 32 kilometers long and 50 meters wide, and a 56,000-ha lake would regulate tides and floods caused by rain.

The dyke system would contribute to reducing the salt-marsh contamination of the rivers Dong Nai, Sai Gon and Vam Co.

Costs for the construction of a sea dyke system is estimated at about VND30 trillion (US$1.5 billion).

The event's participants asked the ministry to conduct research on the project's investment capital mobilization, environmental effects and traffic and transport problems.

Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in co-operation with the city's People's Committee, the conference attracted dozens of agricultural officials and experts in the field.

Related Articles

• NA Committee debates Law on Denunciations
• Harvard man says originality helps growth
• North should ensure sustainable growth
• VN attends conference of Asian Political Parties
• HCMC urges efforts to save Dong Nai River

Firm suggests motorbike skyways for Vietnam metro

A technological firm requested permission from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transportation to build on a skyway system for the city's motorbikes.

High-rise roads can reduce traffic jams by ten times, reduce traffic accidents and increase the area for trees, Tran Son Tuong, director of Viet Tiep Khac (Vietnam-Czech) Company told the city Transport Department on Thursday.

The company said motorbikes accounts for 80 percent of number of vehicles in the city and are involved in 70 percent of traffic accidents, thus, they need to be separated from other means of transport.

According to the plan, the high-rise roads will be connected to multi-function stations, which will be linked to elevators to the ground.

Director Tuong said the company would also build parks at the stations to increase the green area for the city. The stations would feature public toilets and provide first aid to traffic accident victims.

The whole system will use composite-coated iron, which is cheap as it only costs around VND10 million a square meter and can be erected ten times faster than concrete, Viet Tiep Khac said.

It added that the flexible system will stand more firmly during earthquakes.

The company proposed to build the first skyway system leading into downtown Ho Chi Minh City, then on crowded streets in the city such as Dien Bien Phu, Tran Hung Dao and Cach Mang Thang Tam.

It said the project won’t be a burden to the state budget as it will be carried out under the BOT (build-own-transfer) model, in which the investor would collect toll fees 50 years after the roads are put into operation.

The city government has required the company to work more on the project and propose a more detailed plan for the city to consider.

Related Articles

• Firm suggests motorbike skyways for Vietnam metro
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Vietnam Air accepts web check-in for int’l flights
• Prime Minister discusses relations, co-operation with Lao counterpart
• Shanghai urged to help promote trade relations

Technology helps improve efficiency

HA NOI — Investment in technology to develop a complete electronic payment system to control social insurance payments was key to improving the efficiency of payment collection.

That was the general agreement made by participants at the 26th ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) board meeting held in Ha Noi yesterday.

Hiroshi Yamabana from the Social Security Department of the International Labour Organisation, with over ten years of experience in the sector, said that investing in technology was expensive but more efficient than investing in human related elements.

Technology also helped insurance offices to keep track of employers and employee registration, which is an essential part of efficiently collecting insurance fees, said Juergen Meierkord from the German State Pensions Association, while presenting a successful model that his organisation had applied.

The need for social security planning has become crucial as socio-economic forces constantly reshape the environment, and the collection of social insurance contributions has become an urgent topic. Issues arising from the collection process and how to improve collection efficiency were therefore the main theme addressed at the meeting.

"The development of information systems by the Central Provident Fund of Singapore via e-submissions and the replacement of ID cards with smart cards in Thailand not only made the task more efficient, but also gave us models of successful collection systems," said the ASSA chairman, Winai Sawasdivorn.

Thai participant Variya Wongprecha from the Government Pension Fund said that the meeting was a great opportunity for her to build a network and exchange information with others in the field. "I like the German model very much as they use a paperless system. It is challenging to apply an electronic payment and registration system. However, Thailand has started to implement the process and we hope to have a 100 per cent computerised system in the near future," she said.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs and Director General of the Viet Nam Social Security Le Bach Hong yesterday was officially appointed as the new chair of ASSA for the 2010-11 term. — VNS

Related Articles

• Lack of credit hampers SMEs
• Workshop calls for longer-term plans to audit State entities
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• Liquidity hits one-month low
• Prime Minister Dung sets construction sector agenda

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

Related Articles

• ICham becomes affiliate of EuroCham
• Hanoi T&T win first V-League after scoreless draw
• NA chairman hails Japanese ambassador’s role
• Chau Doc’s curried fish vermicelli: Bun nuoc ken
• Saigon-Hanoi charity caravan heads north