Residents leave flood-prone areas

Nearly 8,000 households have been moved from flood-prone areas in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta since 2008, under a national programme to build flood-proof residential clusters, representatives said at a project review meeting on Wednesday.

The programme till 2013 in its second phase intends to build 178 flood-proof residential clusters to rehouse 57,257 families moved from lowlying areas in Can Tho City, Dong Thap, An Giang, Kien Giang, Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Hau Giang provinces.

So far, Can Tho City and the six provinces have constructed foundations for 138 of the new residential estates and built dykes.

The groundwork for the remainder of the estates should be completed by the end of this year with infrastructure completed at all of them in 2012.

An Giang, Dong Thap and Hau Giang provinces have completed land clearance and compensation, according to the programme’s Regulation Board.

Hau Giang Province has nearly completed five housing clusters and the remaining five in the province have been underway.

Nguyen Thanh Nhon, deputy chairman of the Hau Giang Province People’s Committee, said his province had moved 841 households from flood-prone areas to the clusters.

Nguyen Hong Quan, minister of Construction, ordered the localities to speed up the construction work, so all the families could relocate by the end of next year.

The second phase, which was approved by the Prime Minister in 2008, has total investment estimated at US$144 million; of which the government would provide half with the rest coming from local provincial budgets and other sources.

The first phrase from 2001 to 2007 built 1,043 flood-proof residential clusters to accommodate 200,000 households.

Disabled struggle with limited access despite gov’t help

Despite a project to make it easier for disabled people to access public transport and public buildings being in place for five years, the problem is still widespread.

The scheme, devised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, was intended to ensure that by 2010, all new public buildings and 20 to 30 per cent of those already existing be made user-friendly for the handicapped.

Now, a ministry group reviewing the project has found that ease of access only exists in 22.6 per cent of medical institutions, 20.8 per cent of educational buildings and 13.2 per cent of exhibitions.

Chairman of the Thai Nguyen Disabled People Association Pham Gia Loc, who is himself physically impaired, said: “It’s difficult for us whenever we have business with agencies because they don’t have a specific path for people using wheel chairs like us.”

Tran Huu Ha, deputy director of the Ministry of Construction’s Department of Science, Technology and Environment, confirmed this reality.

He said some ramps for the disabled were too steep and did not have handrails, barriers, signals or instruction signs.

In other buildings, toilet doors were too narrow and the floors were covered with slippery tiles that could topple people using crutches, walking sticks or artificial legs.

“In some big cities, buildings were provided with facilities for the disabled, but not all followed the guidelines,” said Ha.

Easy access has also been ignored at most bus stops, letter-boxes, automated teller machines and ticket selling posts.

Chu Manh Hung, director of the ministry’s Department of Environment, said it was difficult to set up specific access for the disabled at train and coach terminals.

And, he said, even when it was, some access areas were encroached upon by small traders. Buses often had high floor areas and narrow doors, he added.

Nearly 40 pilot buses for the disabled were run in the three big cities, Da Nang, HCM City and Ha Noi. The cities budget provided VND400 million (US$20,000) to produce each access bus but bus makers spent VND720 million ($36,000) for every 45-seat bus with special stairs.

“These buses cost more so we should have preferential policies for enterprises investing in them,” Hung said.

Ha attributed the sluggishness of the project to poor funding.

A total VND69 billion ($3.4 million) from the State budget was dedicated to carry out the project, but the funds must also be used to help create jobs for the disabled and offer them education and training.

Of the amount, more than VND6 billion ($285,000) was spent on providing access in public buildings.

“That ($285,000) only meets 20 per cent of the demand,” Ha said.

At present, there are 6.7 million disabled people in Viet Nam, accounting for 7.8 per cent of the total population, according to statistics of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in 2009.

Joint online buying reveals downside

Joint purchasing, the group purchase of discounted goods on internet sites, has become the latest online shopping trend in Viet Nam.

Joint purchase involves a select number of people registering to buy with their credit cards. Sales do not take place until there are enough buyers.

However, as Tong Quang Giang, an IT specialist with FPT Telecom in Ha Noi, said, the practice only applied to selected goods and services.

“For example, if you are sick, it is pointless waiting for enough people to register for a treatment discount card,” he said.

Joint purchase is said to create a win-win-win situation for providers, consumers and merchants. The trend started in America and was then picked up in China.

Hoang Thi Bich Ha, production director of deal.zing.vn, said that discounts for specified numbers of people within a certain time frame could save buyers up to 90 per cent.

Ha said that entertainment services, cards to play games on-line, medical treatment, music, perfume and make-up were popular sale items.

The lack of overheads enabled sellers to expand their markets with drastic discounts.

Giang said many businesses found that joint purchasing was a good way to advertise their names and products.

Nguyen Thuy Nga, manager of on-line shopping web site Cucre.vn, said the new custom created opportunities for small businesses to introduce products and for large businesses to reach thousands of people.

However, there are downsides. One Hanoian recently tapped into muachung.vn and bought airtight containers using joint purchase.

When he received the containers, they were cracked and the carrying straps were broken. He said it took him ages to receive replacements.

“Quality management is often absent,” he said, while admitting the problem could have occurred during forwarding.

Nguyen Van Tuan, e-commerce director of muachung.vn, said his website supported on-line payment through visa cards, internet-banking and phone cards.

While many young people preferred using e-banking and hailed the service as convenient and worthwhile, older people hesitated because they doubted the security of e-banking, Tuan said. They preferred to pay cash on delivery, even though it often bumped up costs.

Hoa Thanh Hai, spokesman for the Ha Noi Department of Information and Communications, said that on-line shops must register their web site licence issued by the ministry.

UNICEF commits to help NA enforce children laws

The National Assembly (NA) highly appreciated the positive contributions made by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said NA vice chairman Uong Chu Luu when receiving UNICEF’s Viet Nam representative Lotta Sylwander yesterday.

He also thanked UNICEF for its help in the process of building the Anti-Human Trafficking Law, including valuable recommendations through its survey research on social factors that affect children.

The draft law will be discussed at the coming NA meeting later this month.

Sylwander said the fact that Viet Nam was one of the first countries to join the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its effort in building a human trafficking law reflected the nation’s strong commitment and interest in children’s issues.

She also said this was a good start but the more important step lied in proper enforcement of the law. UNICEF was committed to helping the NA strengthen law enforcement, she stressed.

Ha Noi to get new 1,000-bed hospital

A 1,000-bed general hospital is planned for Me Linh District in Ha Noi to reduce pressure on the city’s central hospitals.

Ha Noi was short of up to 6,000 hospital beds, Deputy Chairman of the Me Linh People’s Committee Ha Huy Quang said on Thursday.

The hospital was to be built on 12ha of land, 20km from the centre of Ha Noi, he said.

“It will take patients from Dong Anh, Soc Son, Dan Phuong and Phuc Tho districts and neighbouring provinces of in Vinh Phuc and Phu Tho.”

The Department of Construction was to build the hospital at an estimated cost of VND3.5 trillion (US$159 million).

Pham Quang Nghi, secretary of the Ha Noi Party Committee, said construction would be divided into two phases, with 500 beds in the first phase ready for use in three years. The second phase would be ready by 2015.

Nghi also asked municipal departments to review their health care systems to ensure quality and create favourable conditions for private enterprises to invest in medical equipment supply projects.

Red Cross calls for earthquake donations

Ha Noi Red Cross yesterday launched a one-month campaign to call for donations to support Japan’s earthquake and tsunami victims, and received VND615 million (US$30,750) on the first day.

Donations can be sent to the organisation’s offices at No 19/52 To Ngoc Van Street and 82 Nguyen Du Street.

MobiFone has also announced international calling and texting support for Vietnamese residential mobile users to connect with loved ones in Japan from March 18-31. All SMS texting and the first two minutes of all calls made from Viet Nam to Japan will be free of charge during that time.

North – South train ticket price to go up

Viet Nam Railways decided to increase the price of North – South train tickets yesterday in a plan that will go into effect on April 8.

The price of non – air conditioned seats will increase by 5 per cent while seats in climate controlled cars will increase by 10 per cent to 18 per cent.

The price increase was a response to the rise in input costs, especially fuel prices, said general director of Viet Nam Railways Nguyen Huu Bang.

Lorry carrying Illegal chickens seized

A 1.5-tonne lorry carrying chickens of unclear origin was seized by police on Pham Van Dong Street as it was headed towards the city from the northern province of Lang Son on Thursday.

The lorry’s driver could not prove the legal origin of the chickens, many of which were found to be dead or ill.

The chickens were transferred to Cau Giay Market Watch Team No 6 for handling to prevent the spread of diseases.

Vietnamese student takes part in Pacific Mathematical Olympiad

Around 581 secondary students from Ha Noi, HCM City, Binh Duong, Hue city and Da Nang will take part in the 2011 Asia Pacific Mathematical Olympiad for Primary Schools (APMOPS).

The annual competition is organised for math students in the Asia Pacific region by Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore. This is the third time the competition will be held in Viet Nam with Viet Nam Kinder World Group as the co-host.

The first round of the two round competition will be held on April 9 in Ha Noi to select 10 qualifiers for the final round to be held on May 28 in Singapore.

Damage caused by heavy rain

About 50 per cent of salt production area in the southern province of Bac Lieu was immersed in water after two hours of heavy rain on Thursday, causing damages of more than VND11 billion (US$0.5 million), said vice director of Bac Lieu Department of Rural Development, Nguyen Hoang Khai.

Salf fields cover 3,147 ha in Bac Lieu Province. The third salt harvest was about to be collected when the rain began to fall, causing 13,000 tonnes in losses, equal to 50 per cent of the total output.

Drainage solutions will be implemented to recover salt production, said Khai.

.