| Happy
Land project in Long An gets underway
The Phu An Investment, Construction and
Infrastructure Development Company, part of the Khang Thong Group held a
groundbreaking ceremony on February 14 for the Happy Land Entertainment Complex
in Thanh Duc commune, Ben Luc district in the southern province of Long An.
Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said that the
project will contribute to the country’s socio-economic development and preserve
cultural identities, which will help to promote Vietnam around the world.
Sitting on a site of 338 hectares, the 2 billion USD tourism, trade and services
complex is expected to open its doors in April, 2014.
Once completed, the project will generate 10,000 jobs in the local and
neighboring areas and is estimated to welcome around 14 million visitors
annually.
According to the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper, Joe Jackson, father of deceased
musical legend Michael Jackson also attended the ceremony.
Health
Minister pledges comprehensive reforms
The Health Minister has encouraged health workers in
disadvantaged rural and mountainous areas to respond to Deputy Prime Minister
Nguyen Thien Nhan’s call for comprehensive reforms. At a meeting in Hanoi on February
21, Minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu said that in celebration of Vietnam Physicians’
Day (February 27), the medical sector will upgrade the national network for
monitoring cooking quality, hygiene and safety. The ministry will also increase
investment in scientific research and technological application while developing
the domestic pharmaceutical industry, especially essential drug production, in
order to meet public demand for medical treatment. Other targets include expansion of
international cooperation, stronger foreign aid attraction and better use of
foreign aid for the medical sector, and acceleration of the relevant
policy-making process. Also at the meeting, Deputy Prime
Minister Nhan called on the Health Ministry to reform its management mechanism
in order to ensure good supply of quality medicines and increase equality in
medical checks and treatment among the population, especially the poor, and
children and families subject to social welfare policy. “The Ministry should take the
initiative in forecasting epidemics, in an effort to prevent them from breaking
out,” Nhan said. Average Vietnamese lifespan is now
73 years. Beds in public hospitals can accommodate 20.5 in every 10,000 citizens
and health insurance covered over 60 percent of the national population,
including over 16 percent of the poor having access to free medical insurance
cards.
US$30 million
for dealing with AO/Dioxin consequences
Delegates at a round table discussion on the
consequences of Agent Orange (AO/Dioxin) in North Carolina, the US, pledged
US$30 million for Vietnam to help it clean AO-infected areas, improve the
eco-system and expand services for people with disabilities. At the talks on February 18 at Wake
Forest University in North Carolina, the delegates said that under a special
initiative on AO/Dioxin, around US$300 million will be raised within ten years
to help Vietnam deal with AO/Dioxin-related issues. So far, approximately 10 percent of
the total has been collected, including US$15 million pledged by the US
Government for the initiative. Director of the Ford Foundation
Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin, Charles Bailey said overcoming the
consequences of AO/Dioxin is part of the unfinished work left by the US war in
Vietnam. Other delegates assumed that issues
related to human health and the environment caused by AO/Dioxin currently affect
about 3 million Vietnamese people, including 150,000 children. Earlier, experts at a seminar on
AO/Dioxin, also held on February 16 in North Carolina said many Vietnamese
children suffered serious birth deformities and even the symptoms of mental
problems. This was proved by researches conducted after the end of the US war in
Vietnam in 1975. Therefore, they deemed it necessary to help Vietnam overcome
the consequences of AO/Dioxin poisoning as a humanitarian issue. On February 19, the Daily
Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina ran an article condemning the US army’s
spray of herbicides with a strong effect over Vietnam in the 1960s. AO exterminated millions of plants
and millions of people, including US soldiers. As many as 4.5 million Vietnamese
people and hundreds of US soldiers have been exposed to AO.
Ministry urged
to excel in IT
Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications
(MIC) has been urged to launch a project to develop Vietnam into a strong nation
in the field of information and communications. Working with the MIC in Hanoi on
February 21, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan emphasised that the project
is considered as a priority task for the next decade, to help improve the
ranking of Vietnam in the field of information and communications. The Deputy PM also asked the
ministry to continue completing other projects in 2011, especially projects
started in 2010, and pay more attention to investment policies to encourage
development and cooperation among enterprises. Deputy PM Nhan praised efforts made
by all officials and staff of the ministry in 2010, with remarkable achievements
seen in the completion of a legal corridor and policies for information and
communication development, gaining the Prime Minister’s approval of plan for IT
and communications development in the 2011-2015 period and positive changes in
IT. He requested the ministry to solve
outstanding problems, including management of online games and prepaid mobile
phones, as well as newly emerging problems in media coverage, especially online
and e-newspapers.
Sand
barge sinks in Cho Gao Canal
Water
traffic became congested on Tien Giang’s Cho Gao Canal after a huge barge
loading 700 cu.m of sand from the Mekong Delta to HCM City sank at dawn
yesterday. Police
controlled traffic in the area and removed the barge to the canal’s bank.
According to Nguyen Trong Tho, head of the water traffic station, the barge sank
only 200 metres away from Cho Gao Bridge.
The
barge had been pulled by another boat operated by Do Thanh Phat from Long An’s
Can Duoc District. Traffic
resumed normally yesterday. The Cho Gao Canal, which is 28km, links Tien River
and Vam Co Tay River. The
canal is the main water route linking Mekong Delta and HCM City. Since early
this year, three traffic accidents have occurred on the canal.
HCM
City allocates $7.3m for tree planting
HCM City has earmarked VND146 billion (US$7.3) to plant trees and
create gardens and grass banks on the East – West Highway, which will be
completed this year, according to Le Quyet Thang, director of Urban Traffic
Management Unit No1. The
21.9km highway runs from Highway 1A on the west of HCM City, through several
city districts, under the Sai Gon River to District 2, and links up with the Ha
Noi Highway.
Five-hour surgery saves patient
Nguyen
Van H, 32, of northern Hai Duong province’s Nam Sach District was saved by a
five-hour operation for damage to his heart according to Viet Duc Hospital in Ha
Noi City. Doctor
Nguyen Huu Uoc, head of cardiovascular-thoracic surgery department said the
patient had been lucky to live following the damage a crane had done to his
heart. The
patient was in good condition, according to Uoc.
VTC16 broadcasts weather reports
Agriculture and Rural Channel, VTC 16, will provide shipping weather forecasts
every Saturday. The
three to five minute weather bulletin, jointly produced by VTC 16, the National
Centre for Hydrometeorology Forecast and the Seafood Research Institute, will
provide information for fishermen nation-wide. This
year, VTC 16 also plans to show a weather forecast bulletin for coastal areas.
Major forgery ring smashed
Investigative police in the southern province of Dong Thap have uncovered a
forgery ring producing fake financial capacity certifications. The value of the
seized certificates totalled VND265 billion (US$12million). Nguyen
Van Kha, director of Khoa Dang Construction and Commercial Services tendered for
the construction of the Sao Mai 2 hospital project. Kha
asked Ho Van Tin, general director of Dong Duong Corporation and Le Quy Dac, of
HCM City’s District 8 to forge a fake Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development document worth VND15 billion ($681,818). It was
revealed that Dac also provided faked Agribank’s financial capacity certificates
worth up to VND250 billion ($11.3million) to Dang Phuc Gia Bao Tran, deputy
general director of the Dong Duong investment management company. The case is
under further investigation.
VNN/SGGP/VOV/VNS
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