Germany supports sustainable forestry; Vietnam calls for int’l assistance in rural development; Father claims he drowned son due to lack of cooking; U.S. funds $450,000 to help Vietnam fight pandemics

The US$15.5 million project was designed to improve the efficiency and sustainability of forest management while assisting the processing industry. It also aimed to boost the sales and marketing of forest products within Vietnam.

The German Government will provide US$5.18 million of non-refundable official development assistance for this phase, with Vietnam contributing US$307,000.

The phase will be implemented from 2009-11 in the northern mountain province of Yen Bai, the two central coastal provinces of Quang Binh and Ninh Thuan and the two Central Highland provinces of Dak Lak and Kon Tum.

The project will focus on the management and utilisation of forest resources in combination with consistent policy and the strengthening of institutional capacity at national and sub-national levels.

It will also deal with using financial incentives to encourage the private sector to consider forest products in economic development.

People from rural areas in selected regions and forestry offices would benefit from learning about sustainble forest management methods and advanced processing technologies.

The first phase was implemented from October 2005 to November 2008.

Vietnam calls for int’l assistance in rural development

Vietnam needs international assistance for a programme to develop a new model in rural areas in the 2010-2010 period, with an estimated average of between VND120-150 billion for each commune.

The call was made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) at a workshop held in Hanoi on September 16 to consult with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and other international organisations.

According to Tang Minh Loc, Vice Head of MARD’s Department for Cooperative and Rural Development, the programme aims to develop socio-economic infrastructure in rural areas, combine agricultural with industrial, services and urban development, and improve people’s living conditions.

Mr Loc said the ministry is drafting 11 projects on rural development, particularly on poverty reduction, educational training, and health care.

MARD Deputy Minister Ho Xuan Hung said the programme will first prioritise 797 communes in poor districts under a governmental resolution. He said the programme will have a hefty price tag so Vietnam expects to receive assistance from international organisations to set up a fund for rural development.

Representatives from the World Bank, IFAD and the Irish Embassy shared their concerns about capital disbursement in Vietnam’s programmes and projects, particularly those on rural infrastructure.

Vietnam aims to have at least 20 percent out of nearly 10,000 communes nationwide reach the new rural model’s standards, to raise farmers’ incomes by 50 percent, and reduce the rate of poor households to below 8 percent by 2015.

By 2020, half of the communes will meet the standards, farmers’ incomes will be doubled and the number of poor households will be kept under 3 percent.

Father claims he drowned son due to lack of food

A father admitted to drowning his 4-year-old son after the boy’s body was found in a stream in Lam Dong Province Tuesday.

Father Luu Can Danh told police he had thrown his son, Luu Minh Hung, in a stream because he had nothing to feed the boy.

Local authorities said Danh might have psychological problems.

Police are investigating the case further, saying they take Danh to hospital for a psychological examination.

Hung’s family had contacted the police last Saturday when he went missing, the newswire Vnexpress said Wednesday.

Police and residents in Quoc Oai Commune, Da Teh District, first found the child’s slippers along the bank of the stream, around 200 meters from his home.

They then found and fished out the body. Danh admitted to the crime once the boy was found.

U.S. funds $450,000 to help Vietnam fight pandemics

The American Embassy in Hanoi announced Thursday a US$450,000 grant for a project designed to help Vietnam combat A/H1N1 flu and other diseases.

The one-year project aims to strengthen the role of civil society in fighting this flu and other threats.

With the grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Vietnam Red Cross Society will develop a pandemic influenza preparedness and response plan and provide training for civil society organizations active in the country.

The project is expected to enhance Vietnam’s ability to respond to community needs in an influenza pandemic in areas of health, food security and livelihoods in the country.

Vietnamobile signs 5-year deal to support Can Tho Uni.

Students of Can Tho University in the Mekong Delta will get more chances finding a job as mobile network operator Vietnamobile has signed an agreement with the university to assist in training and job seeking.

Vietnamobile, a partnership between Hutchison Telecommunications International and local operator Hanoi Telecom, will support the university, a major in the delta, in training students and bringing about job opportunities under the five-year agreement, which was signed on Sep. 12.

Can Tho City is an economic hub in the delta – a granary of the country and also a center of fruit and fisheries. Can Tho University serves as a higher education center for the whole region, currently offering 76 majors for BA degree and many others for the two higher levels.

In addition to signing the supportive agreement, Vietnamobile awarded 30 scholarships of VND1 million each to 30 Can Tho University students on that day.

The operator started its service over its GSM network in April this year, with footprint present in all 64 provinces.

School roof collapse claims two lives

Two workers died and three others suffered serious injuries after the roof of a preschool under construction collapsed in the north-central province of Ha Tinh Tuesday.

Nguyen Quang Ho and Nguyen Khac Thanh died at the scene while Duong Tinh, Hoang Doan, and another person are now under emergency treatment at Ha Tinh Province General Hospital. They were working at Preschool No. 2 when it collapsed.

The project’s main contractor, My Ha Company, has given Ho and Thanh’s families VND12 million (US$673) each to pay for funerals.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

HCMC man arrested for murder over gambling dispute

Do Nguyen Khang is accused of murdering a man due to a conflict over a football bet.

Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday arrested a local resident suspected of killing another man due to a conflict over a football bet.
Police reports said investigators had reason to believe that Do Nguyen Khang, 22, and Nguyen Dao Minh Huy, 23, both from Tan Binh District, were involved in a disagreement on a recent football match.

Last Saturday, Huy asked Khang to meet him at a hotel in District 6 to solve the conflict, said police. He also acted Pham Thanh Tam to attend as an objective moderator.

But Khang then stabbed Huy to death at the hotel, according to investigators.

Police have also arrested 31-year-old Tam for investigation.

Betting on football games is illegal in Vietnam.

50 tons of illicit animal fat seized in Vietnam’s capital

Police in Hanoi on Friday seized nearly 50 tons of undocumented animal fat from a local company unlicensed to trade in lard, investigators said.

The fat – mainly from buffalos, cows and pigs – was bought from various suppliers, said Nguyen Thi Xoa, director of Thang Long Company, where the fat was found by inspectors in Dong Anh District, according to police.

The company was not licensed to process and trade animal fat products, police said, adding that they had launched a wider investigation into the case.

On Wednesday, Hanoi police also confiscated three tons rancid and undocumented animal fat and bones with from a local man who was stopped while transporting them by car in Hoang Mai District.

Trinh Van Ngoc, head of the Hanoi Market Management Agency, said an initial investigation showed the fat may have been destined for use in mooncakes – traditional cakes on the Full Moon Festival held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.

Kien Giang natives jailed in lottery scam

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on Tuesday sentenced seven Mekong Delta residents from five to 17 years in prison for “appropriating others’ property.”

The seven members of a ring headed by Le Van Hong, 51, bought 56 phone directories from across the country in July 2005 and called up residents introducing themselves lottery company employees with inside information on winning numbers.

People called were lured to playing so de – an illegal numbers game based on the state lottery, that allows players to bet any amount they want on the last two or three digits of the winning number in hopes of a payoff up to 80 times the original wager. The conmen told people that the winnings would be split halfway between them.

Those lucky enough to win were persuaded further to buy shares of the lottery companies for VND30-500 million in order to be informed of more winning numbers.

Many others who lost couldn’t contact the ring members again.

Hong was sentenced to 17 years in jail.

Hong and the other six members of the ring - Tran Quang Hai, Phan Van Nhuong, Nguyen Tri Tam, Do Thanh Nhon, Pham Ngoc Tam and Tran Van Thoi – 27-53 years of age, are natives of Kien Giang Province.

In just a month or so after they began calling, 130 people from different cities and provinces gave the ring members more than VND6 billion (US$…?) in total, according to the indictment that the court upheld.

Based on their accusations, police officers from the Ministry of Public Security on August 30, 2007 caught Hong while he was receiving money from a lottery player at the District 10 post office. The other members were arrested later.

Investigations have since identified 71 victims, who were cheated of more than VND3.7 billion.

PV