| State President
launches national tree planting fest
President Nguyen Minh Triet launched the national
tree planting campaign at the Cultural-Tourism Village for Vietnamese Ethnic
Groups in Ha Noi’s Son Tay Town yesterday, Feb 10. Viet Nam is one of the countries
most seriously affected by climate change, so enhancing environmental protection
and climate change prevention are urgent tasks, he said. The President called upon relevant
ministries and agencies to continue to boost information dissemination to the
public, prevent actions harmful to the environment and strictly punish
organisations and individuals that violate regulations on environmental
protection. He also called on people nationwide
to plant more trees for a better life for current and next generations. In 1950, President Ho Chi Minh
launched the first-ever “Tree Planting Festival”. Since then, the festival has
become a national tradition. The country plans to develop
500,000 hectares of new forests in 2011, according to the forestry sector. The UN selected 2011 as the
International Year of Forests, aiming to boost sustainable forest management,
preservation and development and strengthen long-term political commitments by
countries on fighting forest destruction. Forest covers 31 per cent of Viet
Nam’s total land area.
Another truck catch
fire in the Hai Van Tunnel
A truck carrying enamel tiles caught fire on
Thursday night in the Hai Van Tunnel, Southeast Asia’s longest tunnel between
the provinces of Thua Thien Hue city to Da Nang.  | Head of the truck was destroyed in the fire. — File
Photo | The Hai Van Tunnel Management Unit
immediately said that the fire destroyed 20 tonnes of tiles but nobody was hurt
in the incident. The fire was stamped out in under 20 minutes with the support
of two fire trucks from Da Nang Province. Last month, another truck carrying
paper and stone powder also caught fire in the 6.28 km Hai Van Tunnel due to an
electrical failure.
Health Ministry says most A/H1N1 cases this year
mild
Nearly 100 patients have been diagnosed with the
A/H1N1 flu virus in eight cities and provinces since the beginning of this year,
but most are mild cases, according to the Ministry of Health. The virus was most prevalent in Ha Noi with 67 confirmed cases,
followed by HCM City with 22 cases. Nguyen Van Binh, head of the ministry’s Preventive Medicine
Department, said that the warmer weather and temperature fluctuations were not
favourable conditions for the flu to circulate. However, the deputy director of the Central Tropical Disease
hospital, Nguyen Hong Ha, warned the public to be precautious as there were
signs that the number of patients was on the steep rise during the last month.
Over the Tet holiday alone, more than 20 patients were tested positive for
A/H1N1. One severe case was a young healthy man whose health
deteriorated very quickly after being infected with the virus, Ha said. The first death related to influenza in Viet Nam this year was
a 52- year-old male patient from Dong Anh District in Ha Noi who died on January
27. He had been admitted to Bach Mai Hospital suffering from a shortness of
breath and a fever, and tested positive for the A/H1N1 flu virus on January 22.
The hospital said the patient had been addicted to alcohol and
smoking. Viet Nam had planned to buy 1 to 5 million doses of Pandemrix,
a type of vaccine which is widely used to combat the virus. Groups that are
highly susceptible to the influenza including the elderly, those with chronic
diseases, children and pregnant women would be eligible for a free shot, but the
vaccine has yet to arrive in Viet Nam. The A/H1N1 flu virus hit Viet Nam in May 2009, infecting 10,000
people, leaving 50 dead. The epidemic was described as being under control in
July 2010.
Isolated commune gets new road link
With a road linking it with the outside world set for
completion soon, the most isolated commune in the Central Highlands province of
Lam Dong is looking forward to mitigating poverty among its populace. Dung K’Noh Commune in the northernmost Lac Duong District is
virtually inaccessible due to the mountainous terrain, especially during the
rainy season when the earthen path lading to it turns to mud. A new road to the commune from the provincial capital Da Lat
will be completed later this year, according to Nguyen Duy Hai, chairman of the
Lac Duong District People’s Committee. In the commune, people live in scattered houses perched on
mountainsides, with the most outlying village being situated more than 10
kilometres away from the commune’s centre. More than 90 per cent of the commune is lying in forests, and
its 1,600-odd residents belong to the indigenous K’Ho ethnic group. A survey done by the district last November found more than 50
per cent of the commune’s population living below the poverty line, which is
defined as having an annual income of VND4.8 million (US$250), making Dung K’Noh
the most impoverished in the province. Only three families have concrete houses, including one which
was recently built at around VND500 million in Village 1. At its latest session, the commune People’s Council set a
target of lifting 20 families out of poverty this year to bring down the poverty
rate to below 44 per cent, connecting all houses with the national electricity
grid, and supplying clean water to all.
Memorial for first
education minister
A memorial service was held
yesterday for Professor Vu Dinh Hoe, Viet Nam’s first Education Minister, who
died on January 29 at HCM City’s Cho Ray Hospital. He was 100. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung,
deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien
Nhan and HCM City’s leaders and former offered condolences to Prof. Hoe’s family
at the funeral house. Representatives from the Ministry
of Education and Training, HCM City’s Party Committee, HCM City People’s
Committee and universities in HCM City and neighbouring provinces came to lay
wreaths at the coffin of the educator. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien
Nhan, in the memorial book, said the professor’s life and his contributions to
the country’s education sector was an example for generations of officials and
young people to follow. When he was Minister of Education,
Hoe re-opened Indochina University, the forerunner of Viet Nam National
University. During his tenure, two million
Vietnamese escaped illiteracy and nearly 6,000 primary and 29 high schools
opened across the country. Hoe, born in the small village of
Luong Ngoc in Thuc Khang Commune in the northern province of Hai Duong, was
among the first National Assembly deputies and the first Minister of Education
from August 1945 to March 1946. Later, he assumed the position of
Minister of Justice, and was also awarded the Independence Order, first class.
The funeral service will be held
today before the burial at HCM City’s Cemetery in Thu Duc District.
Vietnamese,
Malaysian workers die in blaze
A blaze occurred on Wednesday
killing three Vietnamese workers and one Malaysian at a Gasofa Company furniture
factory in Selangor State’s Puchong District in Malaysia. The Vietnamese victims include two
men from the northern provinces of Lang Son and Bac Giang and one woman from
northern Thai Nguyen Province. The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia
has received no official feedback from Malaysian agencies and Gasofa about the
case, according to Trinh Vinh Quang from the Vietnamese embassy.
35-year-old man dies after
eating puffer fish
A 35-year-old man died after eating
a puffer fish, despite a day of treatment at central Quang Ngai Province’s
General Hospital yesterday. His 6-year-old son, who also ate
some of the puffer fish, has also been treated at the hospital. The man had caught the puffer fish
at sea and cooked it to eat on Wednesday. According to reports from the
provincial Heath Department, one to three people die after eating puffer fish
each year in the province.
Container truck crushes four
to death
A container truck overturned and
crushed four people to death on Wednesday in southern Binh Duong Province’s Phu
Giao District. The victims, including a young boy,
were travelling on two motorbikes. It’s believed that the accident occurred
after the truck’s driver lost control of his vehicle, according to local police. Police are continuing their
investigation into the case.
50 blazes kill two in Ha Noi,
injure three
Nearly 50 blazes occurred killing
two people, injuring three others and causing property damage estimated at
VND800 million (US$41,000) since early this year in Ha Noi, according to the
city’s police reports. The main reasons behind the blazes
was the carelessness of local residents.
Extra ferry services to Ly
Son Island
The People’s Committee of central
Quang Ngai Province has increased the number of high-speed passenger vessels
servicing the district island of Ly Son and the port of Sa Ki from three to
four, according to district chairman Tran Ngoc Nguyen. The 500cc vessels will carry about
50 passengers each and are expected to meet travel demands that can double
during weekends and holidays.
VNN/VOV/VNS
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