Drug traffickers caught at Lao border after gun fight; Dengue fever death toll rises to 58 in Vietnam; Southern truck caught with illegal toxic metal waste; State provides more support for flood-hit provinces

The officials have waited in a forest of Que Phong District for four hours overnight before they spotted Tho Ba Gia and other members of his ring carrying seven heroin “cakes” each weighing 350 grams.

A shootout ensued for 15 minutes and Gia’s ring members ran away in the thick smog while Gia and his buyer Nguyen Van Cuong, a 36-year-old local, were caught.

Vietnamese police have been hunting for Gia from Houaphan Province of Laos for a long time. A source informed them that Gia would act early on Wednesday. The 45-year-old led a ring armed with short guns and grenades, with members trained to fight back by any means when necessary.

Two cell phones were also collected after the gunfight.

Police and customs officials have opened a case to arrest other members of the ring.

Dengue fever death toll rises to 58 in Vietnam

So far this year nearly 74,500 people have been infected with dengue fever, up 16.8 percent against the same period last year.

Among the infections, 58 have died, according to the Ministry of Health.

To limit the spread of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health has urged local clinics to strictly control the detection, treatment and care of patients. Blood samples and treatment methods for patient need to be carefully recorded in case they have to be transferred to higher level hospitals for further treatment.

Hospitals should direct and support the local clinics with staff, equipment and medicines. Local clinics will be trained to deal with complicated cases.

Southern truck caught with illegal toxic metal waste

Police in the southern province of Binh Duong Province caught a truck smuggling 14 tons of toxic metal waste on Thursday.

The truck was speeding when it carried steel, lead and iron dust in barrels, police said.

The truck’s 52-year-old driver, Phan Van Thanh from the nearby Dong Nai Province, said he had bought the barrels from a company at My Phuoc Industrial Zone in Ben Cat District, Binh Duong, near Ho Chi Minh City.

Thanh said he was bringing the waste back to Dong Nai to sell to ore burners, but he had no license or permit to sell the material.

Binh Duong police officer Tran Van Tru said on Friday that the transport of lead dust and the unlicensed trade of metal waste violated environmental protection laws.

State provides more support for flood-hit provinces

The Prime Minister has decided to allocate an additional VND98 billion and 3,500 tonnes of rice to the central and Central Highland provinces that were seriously affected by storm Ketsana in late September and early October.

Accordingly, Thanh Hoa province will receive VND10 billion and 1,000 tonnes of rice, Nghe An, VND10 billion and 2,000 tonnes of rice, and Dak Lak, VND20 billion and 500 tonnes of rice.

Meanwhile, Gia Lai province will be given VND20 billion, Ha Tinh, VND5 billion and Phu Yen, VND5 billion.

The remaining VND13 billion will be added to the Defence Ministry’s budget on rescue operations.

German NGO calls for continued support for Vietnam

The Germany NGO Solidarity Service International (SODI) has held a meeting in Berlin to publicise its projects in Vietnam and call upon the German authorities, other organisations and the public to continue supporting the Southeast Asian country.

Attending the meeting were Federal Parliament Senator Gesine Loetzsch, Hellmut Kapfenberger, the author of the German-written ‘the Ho Chi Minh’ chronicles and the Vietnamese Minister Counsellor Bui Manh Cuong.

Speaking at the event, SODI leaders highlighted the effectiveness of SODI’s projects in Vietnam and praised the spiritual and financial support of German organisations and individuals as well as the practical and effective co-operation shown by their Vietnamese partners.

Nguyen Van Cao, Vice Chairman of central Thua Thien-Hue city province’s People’s Committee, who was on a visit to Germany, spoke highly of SODI’s projects which have been carried out in his locality, saying that they have helped local people to stabilise their lives and access economic development opportunities.

Also on the occasion, Cao presented the province’s certificate of merit to the organisation and an insignia to SODI Project Manager in Asia Illona Schleicher.

SODI now has hundreds of projects worth tens of millions of euros all over the world. The organisation has carried out a large number of projects in Vietnam, focusing on mine clearance, vocational training, and supporting AO and landmine victims as well as disabled people in the three central provinces of Nghe An, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.

In Germany, SODI has also carried out various activities to support Vietnam, including holding meetings and seminars, photography exhibitions and distributing leaflets calling for justice and compensation for AO victims.

Boat accident kills two, leaves six missing in Mekong Delta

Rescuers in the Mekong Delta are looking for six people left missing after a boat accident killed two on Tuesday, a local official said on Thursday.

Deputy head of the Kien Giang Port Authorities Safety Inspectorate Vo Thanh Ha said the accident took place when an unidentified cargo boat crashed into a fishing boat owned by Tran Thi Cam Nhu, off the coast of Ca Mau Province.

Nhu’s boat from Kien Giang’s Rach Gia Town was carrying 13 people at the time, according to Ha.

He said the five others had survived, but little was known about their rescue. The bodies of the two drowned victims have been returned to their families.

“Kien Giang Port Authorities are working with Ca Mau Port Authorities to find the missing people and the boat that caused the accident,” the official said.

Can Tho to employ foreign consultants to revamp city

The Mekong Delta City of Can Tho will hire a foreign company to consult on adjustments to its master zoning plan, People’s Committee Chairman Tran Thanh Man said on Wednesday.

Another foreign consultancy company will then be asked to reevaluate the plan, which re-envisions the city through 2030, Man told a meeting reviewing the project.

Under the zoning project approved by the Prime Minister in 2006, Can Tho is planning to become the delta’s official industrial, commercial and educational center, a de-facto position it already holds.

More than 22,000 hectares of the city have been allocated as new urban areas under the plan.

Over 7,000 other hectares have been designated for industrial use and 3,000 hectares will be reserved for trees and parks.

Man said progress on the project had been slow, noting the city’s southern area had so far seen only 26 ongoing projects, accounting for some 50 percent of the newly-zoned areas.

PV