Power turbine to start ahead of schedule

The second 250MW turbine at the Nhon Trach power plant in southern Dong Nai Province is expected to begin generating power early next week, a month ahead of schedule.

The first turbine began turning on December 26, three months ahead of schedule. The turbines have a combined capacity of 500MW and are forecast to generate 11-12 million kWh of electricity each day.

Construction of the US$700 million plant in Ong Keo Industrial Park in Nhon Trach District began in June 2009, as part of the nation’s 2006-15 power plan.

Two teenage sisters rescued from brothel

Border guards in the northern mountain province of Lai Chau’s Phong Tho District on Wednesday arrested and charged a woman for alleged human trafficking.

The 29-year-old woman was accused of selling two of her cousins, who are sisters, aged 16 and 17, to a brothel in China on February 14.

The force rescued the girls from the brothel 12 days later.

Sunk ship found by salvage company

Van Don Ship 02, which sank two months ago off the coast of southern Kien Giang Province and killed 11 sailors, has been located, said Director of Quang Ninh Shipping Joint Stock company, Do Trieu Quang.

The wreckage was found by Viet Nam Salvage and Rescue Corporation and the location was reported to the Viet Nam Maritime Administration but details have not been publicised in order to protect the ship’s cargo.

The bodies of the missing 11 sailors have not been found.

Salvage operations are expected to begin in the next few days.

Two drowned children found floating in river

Two children, aged six and 10, were found floating in a river by a resident of Vinh My B Commune in the Hoa Binh District of southern Bac Lieu Province on Thursday.

Officials declared the deaths were caused by drowning.

Protected gorillas in village confiscated

Two small gorillas were confiscated from the Dai Hai Commercial Ltd Company in Tan Vinh Hiep Commune, Tan Uyen District by police following a random check.

This species of gorilla has been listed as protected from illegal confinement, hunting and sale.

Manager of Dai Hai Commercial Company, Le Trung Hieu, could not prove the legal origin of the animals.

Rapid bus transit on highway approved

The HCM City People’s Committee has approved the development of a bus rapid transit route on a section of the Vo Van Kiet Highway from District 6 to the downtown area.

The approval comes even as a feasibility study is being done for building tramway No 1 (Sai Gon – Cho Lon – Mien Tay bus station in District 6) along the highway.

The cost of building a BRT is US$1 million – $2 million per kilometre while for the tramway the comparable cost is $20 million, the Department of Transport says.

Le Khac Huynh, head of the HCM City Urban Railway Management Department, says the city, which has earlier refused the proposal, is now calling for investment in tramway No 1.

The 21.9km highway, earlier known as the East – West Highway, runs from Highway 1A on the west of the City, through several city districts, under the Sai Gon River to District 2, and links up with the Ha Noi Highway.

Training provided for rural workers

Ninh Thuan Province has earmarked more than VND281 billion (US$13.3 million) to provide vocational training to 50,000 people in rural areas by 2020.

More than half of them will be agricultural workers who will be taught how to produce more competitive farm produce.

More than 10,000 people in non-agricultural areas will get training in services, industrial, handicrafts and other skills. At least 70 per cent of them are expected to get jobs after the training, according to the province’s Job Training Steering Committee.

The southern-central province will also provide refresher training to more than 8,500 commune-level officials, most of them working in administration and socio-economic management.

Disease-causing organisms found in Can Tho’s cooking

Half of food samples tested in Can Tho Mekong Delta province contained harmful chemicals and bacteria, according to a health official.

Ha Van Truong of Can Tho’s Agricultural Product Quality Agency said Thursday its latest inspection revealed an alarmingly poor quality of food products in the province.

Seventeen out of 35 food samples taken randomly for testing in local markets and supermarkets failed to reach standard safety level.

Four vegetable samples contained higher amounts of carbamate pesticides and pyrethoid insecticides than is safely allowed.

Nine pork and four chicken samples were contaminated with food poisoning’s salmonella bacteria and Staph infection’s staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

The department’s inspection visits to Can Tho’s slaughterhouses last year also turned up very negative results, Truong said.

A hundred and seventy nine of the 220 poultry and cattle meat samples and 32 of the 35 water samples taken at these places did not meet safety standards.

Former province official gets 30 years for bribery

Le Mao, former deputy director of Phu Yen Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, was sentenced to 30 years in jail for deliberately acting against the laws and taking bribes.

The sentence was announced at the People’s Court of northern Phu Yen Province yesterday, the last of the 4-day court of first instance trial against Mao and his 12 accomplices, who were given from 1-year suspended sentence to 6 years and 9 months in prison.

Mao was also former head of Phu Yen Irrigation Project Management Board.

Mao and his accomplices and other involved people had to pay a compensation of VND936 million (US$45,000).

According to the indictment of the provincial People’s Procuracy, from April 2001 to February 2002, Mao and his accomplices committed acts against the State’s regulations on investment management, construction, technical design, supervision, appraisal and payment.

Their law-breaking acts caused a total loss of VND1.063 billion ($51,100) to the State.

From December 2001 to February 2002, Mao abused his position and power by helping a corporation win a bid package for a construction project at the Da Nong River estuary and took a bribe of VND150 million ($7,200) from Nguyen Thanh Nam, head of the construction team of the project.