Drug addicts escapes center, some captured

This escape came Saturday on the heels of another abortive attempt to escape at the 05-06 Vocational Training Center in Hoa Bac Commune in Hoa Vang District, the central city of Danang.

Earlier this week, 4 inmates also tried to run away but were captured one day later.

The night before yesterday, the center’s inmates caused a ruckus and security forces had to try hard to bring back order.

The 164 who attempted escape make up almost half of this center’s total enrollment – 398 inmates, 42 of whom are females.

Of the 164 who ran away, 6 are females. This is the biggest attempt to escape the center has ever witnessed.

Pham Tao, Vice Director of the center, said local authorities were coordinating to capture the rest, who were hiding on nearby mountains.

All roads connected to Highway 1A are being monitored to block the inmates’ escape.

City looks to collect more blood

The HCM City People’s Committee has asked the municipal Red Cross Association to closely work with the city’s health sector in increasing blood donations this year.

At a meeting yesterday, the association said it would collect at least 150,000 blood units this year, an increase of 10 per cent against last year.

More than 1 million people will benefit from the programme.

According to a report from the association, between November 2009 and 2010, the association received and handed over more than 130,000 units of blood to the city’s Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion.

The association has organised other charitable programmes, such as assisting disadvantaged people in the city and neighbouring provinces, and caring for Agent Orange victims.

Nguyen Thi Hue city, head of the association, said that last year the value of the association’s charitable activities and social works was estimated at VND220 billion (US$10.4million), far more than the 2009 figure of VND145 billion ($7million).

Japan to help boost VN’s natural rubber production

Japan’s International Co-operation Agency (JICA) will help Viet Nam to improve the country’s rubber industry, which will help reduce the nation’s greenhouse emissions.

The US$3.9 million project was signed yesterday by representatives from the Vietnamese Government and JICA.

The five-year project aims to help Viet Nam create a plan to replace synthetic rubber, which is made from fossil fuels, with natural rubber.

“Under this project, we (the Vietnamese and Japanese experts) will work together to develop methods to create natural rubber as well as methods to purify the material and develop highly functional polymers,” said President of Ha Noi University of Science and Technology Nguyen Trong Giang.

“Moreover, we also plan to develop advanced technology that will treat wastewater created during the production of the commodity,” said Giang.

The project will be managed by five research groups, who work at Nagaoka University of Technology of Japan, Ha Noi University of Science and Technology and Rubber Research Institute of Viet Nam.

“Rubber and the use of rubber products are popular in Viet Nam, where rubber production has been exponentially growing in recent years,” said JICA Chief Representative in Viet Nam Tsuno Motonori.

“Products that are made from natural rubber are known as ‘green material’, which is environmentally friendly,” said Motonori.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will also co-ordinate with JICA to implement a four-year project that will improve agricultural production and the quality of produce in Viet Nam.

The $3.46 million project aims to protect and cultivate safe plants and crop varieties that meet standards that are congruent with the international treaties that Viet Nam has signed.

The project will also teach workers how to produce ‘safe plants and crops’ in Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Thai Binh and Hoa Binh provinces.

Disabled people get help to find work

More than 15,000 workers at 10 manufacturing companies in the four northern provinces will join a programme called Opportunity for All.

The programme will implement policies and create strategies to aid disabled people and promote HIV prevention at the work place.

The four-month pro-gramme was launched yesterday at the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

“Keeping a large number of people with disabilities unemployed is a huge burden on the Vietnamese society,” said Director of the ILO Office in Viet Nam Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard. “Opportunity for All will help enterprises improve their bottom line through reducing the costs of HIV and hire people with disabilities.”

The comprehensive programme includes training and in-factory assistance to help enterprises develop an HIV prevention policy and create disability management policies.

At the event, participants agreed that people with disabilities are loyal, efficient and productive workers, which would reduce recruitment costs and staff training, due to low turnover.

“Disabled people usually are loyal employees who devote all of their efforts at the work place,” said Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, human resources manager of the French Hospital in Ha Noi where some disabled have been recruited to work in administrative positions.

“Priorities are given to the disabled who want to work at Ford Viet Nam since the company started it business in Viet Nam a decade ago,” said Tran Dinh Khiem, deputy director of Ford Viet Nam.

Khiem also admitted that his facilities lack the basic infrastructure necessary for disabled labourers, especially at the Ford Viet Nam assembly facilities in northern Hai Duong Province.

Ford Viet Nam is one of 10 companies that will participate in the Opportunity for All programme.

In Viet Nam, the 2009 Census shows that 7.8 per cent of the population or 6.1 million Vietnamese have disabilities. The Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs estimates that 69 per cent of the disabled are of working age (16 to 55-60) and only about 30 per cent of them have a job and a stable income to support themselves and their families.

UNAIDS estimates that about 280,000 people will live with HIV/AIDS in Viet Nam in 2012 and more than 40,000 people are infected each year. The HIV epidemic is becoming a significant economic issue for enterprises in Viet Nam, who have to bear the costs of lost work and lost skills through illness related to HIV.

Nation supports UN rights council

Viet Nam supports the rationale, principles and targets of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism introduced by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), reported a Vietnamese diplomat.

The country was also flexible about the schedule for the UPR sessions to help other nations have more time to implement previously signed proposals, said Ambassador Vu Dung, Viet Nam’s Permanent Representative to the UN, the WTO and other international organisations in Geneva, at the Inter-governmental Working Group’s second session on the Council’s review on Thursday.

He stressed that the proposals needed to be executed and they needed to focus on new developments in the human rights’ sector at the UPR session and during following sessions.

The Ambassador suggested that UPR documents have clear guidelines approved by the Council.

He also stressed that it was essential to have detailed regulations concerning the governance and disbursement of Voluntary Trusts Funds as well as the Voluntary Fund for Financial and Technical Assistance. He said the regulations needed to be developed soon to ensure that the funds were effective and transparent.

The Council review would help increase co-operation between countries and emphasise what should be done at the moment and in the future, said the ambassador.

He said he believed that co-operation and constructive dialogue were vital to the Council, adding that although there were many differences, countries could still work together based on the spirit of mutual understanding and respect.

Also during the session, the Vietnamese diplomat expressed his support for the speeches delivered by representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Cars barred from Rach Chiec flyover during rebuilding work

The municipal Department of Transport has closed the central section of the Rach Chiec Overpass – which is to be demolished and rebuilt – and diverted traffic to two adjacent sections of the overpass.

Trucks, buses and cars are directed to pass the overpass via two adjacent sections while motorbikes and bikes must use a road on the side of the overpass.

The overpass, located in the northeast of HCM City, is an important traffic route connecting the Ha Noi Highway to the downtown. It has seriously downgraded after it opened to traffic more than 36 years ago.

Last month, city authorities banned vehicles from the central section of the overpass to begin construction work but had to delay work due to serious traffic congestion during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Le Toan, deputy director of the department, said the department had required the management unit of the Ha Noi Highway to close four toll stations on the route, map out lane division and install crossing barriers to ease traffic jams at the two ends of the overpass.

After the construction of the 26.5-metre-wide central section with six lanes is complete in 2013, the overpass will accommodate a total of 10 lanes.

Plan to bury overhead cables

Ha Noi Department of Information and Communications has unveiled a beautification plan to bury many of its wires and cables underground by 2015.

Department director Pham Quoc Ban said electricity and telecommunications cables would be buried in the major streets of inner Ha Noi in an attempt to reach the target.

Wires and cables had already been buried on 29 streets out of 312. Another 15 streets would have wires and cables running underground this year.

Ban said it would cost US$130 million to do the job by 2015.

Of that, about $107 million would come from the city budget and the electricity sector. Enterprises owning cables would pay the rest.

Ha Noi People’s Committee deputy chairman Nguyen Van Khoi said progress had been slow and pavements and roads had not been restored properly after the burial process.

Khoi attributed the situation to the contractor’s poor human resources and equipment shortages as well as poor supervision by investors.

He pledged to seek better co-ordination among all units and offices.

Quang Ninh strengthens inspections of all cruise boats

The Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee has established an inspection team to check all the cruise boats operating on Ha Long Bay.

The inspection, which will take place from February 19-23, will focus on technical standards and registration, the quality of services, crew and staff, and compliance with regulations on fire prevention, environmental protection, and safety equipments. Only boats that meet the required criteria will be allowed to operate.

The delegation, headed by the Director of the Quang Ninh provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, includes representatives from the police force, the Ha Long Bay Management Board, and the Ha Long municipal People’s Committee.