‘Gold’ statue just made of copper: conclusion

A statue suspected of being made from pure gold worth US$3.7 million has been confirmed to be made entirely of copper, according to official conclusion from experts announced Monday.

The statue weighs 81.9 kg and is 1.16 meter in height and 0.85 meter in diameter at its middle part.

Some traders of antique items said the yellow color on the statuette might be the color of 14-carat gold.

But Dr. Ngo Quang Lang, head of the government-appointed team to appraise the figurine, confirmed it was manually made of copper and the yellow color comes from a layer of painting.

Examinations show that the statue was made at the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th century and could probably come from northern Vietnam.

Deputy chairman of An Giang provincial People’s Committee Le Minh Tung said although it is made of copper, the statue is still a valuable antique and will be preserved by the government.

The statue changed hands several times before it was seized in An Giang province as it was about to be sold by a woman in Vinh Hanh commune of Chau Thanh district.

The seller, Ms. Atyca, said she was waiting to sell the statue to traders in Ho Chi Minh City for US$300,000.

According to some sources, the statue was first discovered by a fisherman in the southern Kien Giang province.

Four people told relevant agencies that they bought it from a person in Kien Giang province for $200,000. They also said they had intended to re-sell the statue to antique traders in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Daughter drops out, gives mother ‘graduation certificate’

A mother has recently asked the Ho Chi Minh City-based Ton Duc Thang University to verify a ‘certificate of graduation’ her daughter gave her as a testimony to her college attendance.

The university asserted that it had not granted such ‘certificate’ to the daughter and that the female student dropped out already due to her very poor academic performance a year ago.

The mother insisted her child had told the family she was studying at the university and going to graduate soon.

She then handed her mother the ‘certificate’ when the family urged her to show the expected degree.

The female student’s quitting is inexplicable, the mother said, revealing her daughter had told her one year earlier that she made a mistake in forcing her to study finance instead of her favorite marketing major.

* Over 70 high schools, junior colleges, pre-university schools, universities, and language centers from Australia attended the ‘Study In Australia Exhibition’ held Sunday by educational organization IDP Education (Vietnam) in Ho Chi Minh City.

This is the largest event organized by IDP (Vietnam) this year, which offers high school students and parents an opportunity to get necessary information of courses, majors, career prospects, tuition fees, admission requirements, living costs, visa application procedures, and other related matters when it comes to studying in Australia.

Ten scholarships worth approximately VND2 billion were also presented to students who are studying at Australian institutions.

Two arrested for growing marijuana

Police have recently uncovered two cases of growing marijuana in Dak R’Lap district of Central Highlands Dak Nong province.

They arrested a man, Duong Dinh Gam, and a woman, Ta Thi Xuyen, who have grown the banned plants.

Ms. Xuyen, residing at hamlet 1, Quang Tin commune, was found planting 79 marijuana trees in her garden and storing 10.35 kg of leaves, flowers and seeds of marijuana in her house.

Meanwhile, 447 marijuana plants were discovered growing on a land plot of Mr. Gam, who lives in hamlet 8, Dak Ru commune.

Private tutoring in check, says City official

School students are no longer forced by their teachers to attend their private classes and it has become “voluntary,” a senior Ho Chi Minh City education official said, explaining the process is closely monitored now.

Tran Thi Kim Thanh, deputy director of the Department of Education and Training, told delegates from the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, and Children at a recent meeting that teachers who organize such classes have to report about the fees they get, number of students, and learning conditions to their schools.

The practice came under fire a few years ago after school teachers, to earn some extra income, reportedly forced their students with threats of poor scores.

Thanh said students mostly go willingly these days.

However, a member of the delegation admitted it is impossible to ban private tutoring since teachers are not paid good enough salaries.

A teacher in the southern metro earns VND3.8 million-4.5 million on average, according to the Department of Finance.

Teachers complain this is not enough to live on despite increased allowances, Hua Ngoc Thuan, deputy chairman of the HCMC people’s committee, said.

Ho Chi Minh City requires an additional 2,522 high-school teachers and 1,837 junior high teachers, according to the Department of Education and Training.

Geography, music, drawing, physical education, and informatics face the most severe shortages.

HCMC’s educational institutions need to provide enough teachers in the next 10-20 years to ensure the quality of education and training, Le Minh Hong, deputy chief of the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth, and Children, said.

Author claims thieves stole all drafts

Writer Hai Mien told the press her house was broken in last Saturday and the thieves stole her laptop that stores all the drafts she wrote for future books.

According to the writer who won third prize at the competition Literature for the 20s, all drafts she has written for a year are saved on her laptop.

“It includes draft for short stories, pictures, personal documents and an unfinished novel. Especially, there is a draft for the upcoming book to be sent to a publisher,” Mien told VnExpress.

Mien said the laptop is her writing friend as it stores all of her inspirations, notes, and ideas for movie scripts.

“If I cannot find it, I cannot rewrite those things because emotions have gone and I cannot catch them back.”

Mien hopes to buy back the documents or the whole laptop, which is a black HP model with 14 inch-screen.

Not paying debts, man breaks creditor’s arm, leg

Police in southern Binh Duong province’s Thuan An town are investigating a case in which a debtor last Saturday broke his creditor’s arm and leg just because the latter asked to be paid back owed money.

On the evening that day, the Di An General Hospital in Binh Duong received Nguyen Trong Ngoc, 40, from the province’s Di An town, who was in serious condition, with many wounds on his body.

His left arm and one left leg were broken.

One day later, Ngoc was still in bad health, often suffering from dizziness.

Ngoc told police that in mid October last year, he sold scrap metal worth VND14 million (US$670) to a trader named Tanh but Tanh has not paid him back since.

At 14:30 March 19, Ngoc ran across Tanh and asked Tanh to repay his debt. Tanh asked Ngoc to follow him to his establishment in Binh Thuan 2, Thuan Giao ward, to receive the money.

When they arrived in a lane near to Tanh’s establishment, Tanh asked Ngoc to stay at a cafe waiting for him. About 10 minutes later, he came back along with six other people with weapons in their hands.

They beat Ngoc cruelly.

Local police are investigating.

Man arrested for demolishing 86 tombs

The 52-year-old man Nguyen Truong Loi hailing from Duc Tho District’s Duc Yen commune in Ha Tinh northern province has been arrested for demolishing 86 tombs and is facing charges of ‘infringing on graves’, local police announced Sunday afternoon.

According to Thanh Nien, on Tet’s Eve falling on February 2, 86 tombs in Duc Yen cemetery were vandalized with some badly destroyed.

After two months of investigation, Loi was identified as the culprit.

According to his initial confession, around 3:00 am on February 2, Loi fell out with a group of young men, and their argument grew into assaults, which were prevented timely by locals.

Furious, he headed toward the Duc Yen cemetery and destroyed tombs there to vent his anger.

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Ho Chi Minh City gas stations again caught cheating

Many gas stations in Ho Chi Minh City continue to cheat customers by tampering with the pump gauge.

Among them are two stations belonging to Petrolimex Saigon, which late last year promised to eliminate frauds by its employees.

Tuoi Tre has been receiving complaints from readers about being cheated.

One such instance was captured on camera by Tuoi Tre correspondents on March 10 at a gas station at 751 Hong Bang Street, District 6. The station is under management of Saigon Petro Co., Ltd.

A woman asked for VND20,000 ($0.96) worth gas for her motorbike and an attendant was filling up. Another moved to the pump and clicked a button on it (see photo) and the meter jumped in the twinkling of an eye from VND17,577 to VND20,000.

Tuoi Tre’s readers said that this trick has apparently used at this station for the last three months.

Ten minutes later another attendant without a name tag stole VND3,000 from another woman in the same manner.

Tuoi Tre discovered that at least three employees were in on it.

Readers tell Tuoi Tre that they know they were cheated after looking at their motorbike fuel gauge but not how.

During rush hour in the evening of March 16, a Petrolimex Saigon station at 444 Tran Hung Dao Street, District 5, was packed with customers, many of whom could not see the pump gauge.

An employee whose ID card identified him as Nguyen Quang Thuan was filling up the motorbike of a customer who wanted VND30,000 worth gas.

When the indicator moved to VND24,120, Thuan stopped filling and quickly zeroed the gauge but took VND30,000 from the customer.

Your correspondents then asked to buy gas worth the same amount. Again, Thanh stopped at 24,120.

The fraud first came to light last December when Tuoi Tre wrote a story about two Petrolimex Saigon stations.

At that time, Nguyen Van Canh, deputy director of the company, promised to take measure to stop the fraud. Clearly, something is still rotten in HCMC.

Massive bomb dug up in Phu Yen

A large bomb buried deep underground emerged when Ma H Tac, a farmer in Phu Yen’s Song Hinh District was cultivating his land to grow cassava Sunday.

Measuring a 2.1 meter long, and 0.4 meter in diameter, the unexploded bomb could date back to the Vietnam War, said a local military officer.

It is now placed under close observation by local military officers before further actions are taken.

VND13 billion donation to Japan

Through the Vietnam Red Cross Society, individuals and organizations across the country have donated a total of VND13 billion (US$619,000) for the Japanese people affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami in North East Japan.

Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross said that in just one week they had collected over VND1 billion. Besides individuals, schools and organizations, Japanese companies and experts working in the city have also come forward to make contributions.

The association plans to organize a live television music program titled “Sharing pain” to raise further donations for the Japanese people.

Yesterday afternoon, the Fire Prevention and Combat Department in HCMC launched a four day campaign to raise funds for Japan. Within one afternoon they were able to collect about VND11 million.

On the same day, the Red Cross Association in the central province of Quang Nam began a collection drive for donations from civil servants and officials.

Leaders from the provincial People’s Committee and various departments have so far donated over VND500 million (US$24,000).

In related news, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam has sent their condolence to Akira Hiroshi Yamazaki, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Vietnam, for the enormous loss and suffering to the people of his country. Through the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, the bank advocated VND2 billion (US$95,000) to victims of this catastrophic disaster.

Vietnam prohibits travel agents from illegal bear farms

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has prohibited travel agents from taking tourists to visit illegal bear rearing centers across the country.

They stipulate that travel agents are forbidden to lead foreigners to bear farms where illicit extraction of the animal bile for trade takes place.

Such retrograde acts will destroy Vietnam’s policy and also the international community’s efforts for protection of wild life, the decision clearly states.

In addition, taking foreign tourists to illegal bear rearing farms will badly influence the image of a friendly country like Vietnam.

The agency has warned that travel agents may face revocation of their business license if they intentionally violate the regulation.

Vietnam tourist websites to include Korean language

The ASEAN-Republic of Korea Center (AKC) has said that it will build a Korean-language program for websites of tourist agencies of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in 2011 to help Korean people gain easy access to tourist information of these countries.

Vietnam is currently a popular destination for Korean tourists.

About 53,000 tourists from the Republic of Korea visited Vietnam in 2000, but the number in 2010 increased to 500,000, making the RoK the second largest tourist market for Vietnam.

While addressing a seminar last week, Cho Young Jai, the AKC General Secretary, said that his center was planning several activities to boost tourism and cultural exchanges as well as promote an understanding between the RoK and the ASEAN countries.

PM approves US$25 million for flu prevention

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved of an increase of US$25 million funding for the project “Prevention of avian flu, human flu and pandemic prevention in Vietnam” (VAHIP).

The increased fund resources will come from the International Development Association (IDA) of World Bank (WB) of US$10 million, a non-refundable Trust Fund for Avian Influenza Prevention and Human Influenza (AHIF) of US$13 million and a corresponding capital of US$2 million.

The Prime Minister requested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health must discuss with relevant agencies to use the World Bank loan efficiently, ensuring that the protection project was implemented according to schedule and achieved the set objectives.

The two ministries were also ordered to strictly control the disease in cattle, poultry and humans by timely action because of the threat of an increasing number of people being affected with flu H5N1.

The project will be extended to the period 2011 to 2013. It will be carried out in 11 cities and provinces including Hanoi, the northern provinces of Lang Son, Thai Binh and Thanh Hoa, the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Thua Thien Hue city and Binh Dinh, the southern provinces of Tay Ninh, Long An, Tien Giang and Dong Thap.

National Week of Labor, Hygiene and Safety

A ceremony to launch the 13th National Week of Labor, Hygiene, Safety and Fire Prevention 2011 was held at the Dung Quat Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Ngai on March 20.

The ceremony with the theme “Safety and Health at the workplace – the basic right of laborers” was held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the People’s Committee of Quang Ngai Province.

This year’s national week focuses on labor safety which is essential in the long term for the prosperity of every household and for the sustainable development of businesses.

It is the duty of businesses and society as a whole to implement and ensure safety, hygiene and fire prevention for workers as well as actively contributing to the realization of the National Target on Labor Safety, Hygiene and Fire Prevention for the 2011-2015 periods.

According to Bui Hong Linh, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, there were 5,125 workplace accidents resulting in 601 deaths last year.

He added that the number of accidents fell by 18 percent compared to 2009 but the death toll rose by 9.27 percent.

Workplace accidents were most common in industrial zones in the mining, construction, power, metal and chemical production areas. Accidents at work in 2010 caused a total loss of VND137.5 billion (US$6.8 million).

In 2010, there were 2,260 cases of fire, an increase of 14 percent compared to last year. Of these, 1,883 cases occurred in private residences and 388 were forest fires, causing 74 deaths and 246 injury cases. Fire cases result in an average loss of VND618 billion ($31 million).

To prevent accidents in the future, all ministries and businesses need to strengthen supervision of State regulations on labor safety and hygiene and introduce accident insurance policies.

Businesses should regularly inspect machinery and equipment and improve the working conditions for workers to ensure that they work in a safe environment.

Free range poultry a threat of avian flu

Free range poultry is a threat to the transmission of avian influenza in the Mekong delta provinces where farmers are harvesting their winter-spring crop.

Millions of waterfowl are allowed to roam freely in the fields because they can feed on rice grains spilled after the harvest and other cooking particles on the ground in Dong Thap and An Giang provinces. Experts have identified them as a high risk since wild waterfowl can be asymptomatic carriers of low pathogenic avian influenza and their long migration can spread the disease.

Only surveillance of free-range ducks by the authorities will help contain bird flu. However, residents have a low awareness of the disease which is a hindrance for health authorities, since they usually avoided meeting vets who are responsible for checking vaccination of poultry or only present expired vaccination receipts when asked to show rearing registration documents.

Thousand-strong free-ranging duck flocks are permitted to roam freely, but when vets need to meet the owners, they only meet hired workers.

They are unable to estimate the losses if an outbreak of bird flu really re-occurs in the region as the chickens are given continuous access to an outdoor range during the daytime which helps the spread of the fatal virus.

The Mekong delta province of Hau Giang has seen scattered outbreaks of avian flu but the local administrators said that it is still under control. Truong Ngoc Trung, the chief of the province’s Department of Animal Health admitted that the pandemic could occur at any time.

Vo Be Hien, head of Dong Thap’s Department of Animal Health, said he fretted about free range unvaccinated duck from other provinces to be moved to his region, spreading the disease to the local flocks.

Massive vaccinations were not carried out any more because the vaccine has not been distributed since last December as provinces have spent their limited budget for vaccine. Dong Thap, for instance, has around four million ducks excluding over three million freely roaming ducks from other districts but the province has shot only more than two million.

It is hard to control free-range water fowl in the Mekong delta so far and provincial leaders merely rely on vaccination to control the spread of the flu virus.

Farmers sue highway builder for rice damage

More than 20 farmers in Long An Province’s Ben Luc District have sued a highway builder for the failure of their crop, saying it was caused by the high-voltage street lights, an allegation that has been backed by two different agronomists.

The My Thuan Project Management Unit built the Ho Chi Minh City – Trung Luong Highway, which runs through Long An.

The farmers, whose lands lie along the road, have suffered crop damage since last December, with nearly 100 hectares of Nang Thom Cho Dao, an expensive rice variety, failing to blossom.

Based on the price of rice at that time and an average yield of five tons per hectare, the damage is estimated at VND3.7 billion (US$177,300).

They have received some high-profile support.

Dr Le Huu Hai, a rice expert at Tien Giang University, said it is fair to blame the high-voltage street lamps for the crops’ failure to blossom.

The particular variety of rice blossoms in November and December when days are shorter than nights, he said. Therefore, exposure to the lights overnight had tricked the plants into believing it was daytime and so they did not blossom, he explained.

Ho Van Chien, director of the Southern Plant Protection Center, agreed with Hai, pointing out that in the same fields, rice plants not exposed to the street lights had blossomed.

Le Minh Duc, director of the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said it was the first time farmers there had suffered from such a problem.

Duong Ngoc Thanh, chief judge of the Ben Luc District People’s Court, said the court has yet to admit the farmers’ complaint since My Thuan or the district authorities had yet to reply to the charges.

Vo Tuan Vinh Thuy, a lawyer at the Tien Giang Province Bar, who is appearing for free for the affected farmers, said it is unreasonable for the court not to admit the petition since the plaintiffs have enough evidence for the damage and backing from relevant agencies.

Since it is a civil and not administrative case, it is not necessary for a plaintiff to obtain a reply from the agency they have filed against.

He promised to help the farmers take their case to the provincial People’s Court and pursue it to the finish.

Following Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung’s intervention, the province people’s committee has requested the My Thuan Project Management Unit to consider paying compensation to the farmers.

Nguyen Thanh Nguyen, deputy chairman of the people’s committee, said it has yet to reply.

“We will continue to invite [My Thuan] to discuss paying 199 affected households more than VND1.4 billion ($67,000),” he promised.

Nguyen Dinh Hung, another lawyer, said under Articles 604 and 605 of the Civil Code, which stipulate compensation for rights violation, the affected farmers have to be recompensed.

Over 100 cops raid Hanoi nightclub, detain 64

During a raid on Dem Tay Ho night club in Hanoi Sunday, local police found 31 club guests using drugs and then detained four people for illegal trade, storage and use of drugs.

The arrested include Nguyen Van Quan, 30, manager of the club; Tran Huu Thang, 32, Nguyen Quoc Xuan, 40; and Dao Duy Loc, 38.

At 2:15 a.m., hundreds of policemen and other officers conducted a raid on the club at 614 Lac Long Quan Street, Tay Ho District, seizing 26 synthetic drug tablets, 2 bags of Ketamine, 2 bags of marijuana, and some tools for drug use.

All 64 young people present at the club were taken to the police office for urine testing for drug and the test results indicated that 31 of them had used drug and marijuana.

The police have decided to indict the four men and are expanding their investigation to crack down on others involved in the case.

Baby bottles contain toxic chemicals: ministry

Ministry of Health said Monday it discouraged the use of baby bottles made from the thermoplastic polymers Polycarbonate (or PC) in Vietnam.

The main concern stems from the fact that Polycarbonate plastic containers contain hydrolysis which can release the harmful organic compound bisphenol A (BPA) when they are washed, heated or stressed, allowing the chemical to leach into food and water.

Children and infants, especially those fed with formula milk are highly vulnerable and exposed to bisphenol A (BPA), which is believed to increase the risk of cancer and genetic disorder by many health experts.

In the worst case when these baby bottles have to be used, parents should not use water warmer than 60 degrees Celsius to prepare formula milk and avoid warming the bottles up in the microwave oven, the Ministry advised.

One official said the European Union would ban the marketing and importing of polycarbonate baby bottles containing Bisphenol A (BPA) by June 1.

The Ministry reported it has inspected Vietnam’s baby product market but not yet found any that contained higher level of BPA than permitted.

Bank to sell foreign currencies for overseas trips

From March 23, the East Asia Commercial JS Bank (DongA Bank) will sell various foreign currencies to customers who want to bring them overseas.

This happens in the context of the State Bank of Vietnam tightening trade in foreign currencies both on the official and unofficial markets.

The foreign currencies to be sold include USD, AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, JPY, SGD, THB and CNY.

The maximum amount of foreign currency to be sold to a customer will be subject to the duration of the customer’s overseas stay. If the duration is less than 7 days, each customer can buy a maximum amount of foreign currency equivalent to US$300; and if the duration is more than 7 days, that amount is equal to $600.

In case of buying foreign currency for overseas medical treatment purposes, each customer can buy a maximum foreign currency amount equivalent to $600 for a stay of less than 7 days and $1,000 for a stay of over 7 days.

As for Vietnamese students who want to take overseas study, each student can buy a foreign currency amount equivalent to $100-7,000 in maximum per year.

Should the bank not have the currency customers need, it will sell euros to them.

If customers want to buy an amount of foreign currency that is higher than the above-mentioned limits, the bank will consider meeting their demand on a case to case basis, said Tran Phuong Binh, general director of the bank.

However, the bank encourages its customers to use short-term credit cards with deposit paid in dongs, instead of bringing abroad a large amount of foreign currency, Mr. Binh said.

Cold spell forecast to hit north, central Vietnam

A strengthening cold snap from mainland China is forecast to hit the northern and central Vietnam (Hai Van Mountain Pass) starting Tuesday, which could cause temperatures there to decease dramatically.

After that, the cold wave will head towards the central and then spread to the South.

However, in the first half of this week, the northern temperature will see cloudless skies and sun with humidity down to 50-60 pct.

Some southern provinces and Ho Chi Minh City will see hot temperature ranging from 33 to 37 degrees Celsius.

The cold snap is expected to exist for 2-3 days.

Due to the cold wave, the country may have rough seas and strong winds of up to 74 kph.

It may bring back rains to some localities in the southern and Mekong Delta provinces.

Also in the first half of the week, a high tide with the highest water level of 1.42-1.45m is forecast to occur to Sai Gon River from March 19-23.

According to the Southern Hydro-Meteorological Station, the highest tide at the Phu An pumping station on Sai Gon River was at 1.45m at 5:30am and 1.38m at 7:00pm on March 21 and at 1.43m at 6:00am and 1.34m at 8:00pm on March 22.

The high tide may cause the saltiness at southern rivers to rise alarmingly, which could impact agricultural production and local life, especially amid the power hike price.

50% discount airfare for Vietnamese in Japan

Vietnam Airlines has just announced discounts of up to 50% for Vietnamese passengers returning home from Japan.

The carrier earlier allowed people in Vietnam to buy tickets with discount prices for their relatives (Vietnamese) living in Japan since it was hard to buy tickets in Japan.

The discount program is now expanded for Vietnamese in Japan. They can buy tickets directly at the carrier’s agencies in 4 cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, or the Embassy of Vietnam in Tokyo.

For the best services, passengers are advised to buy tickets at the carrier’s official agencies in Vietnam and Japan.

To get more information, passengers can contact:

84-4-38320 320 (Hanoi), +84-8-38320 320 (TP.HCM), +84-511 3 832 320 (Da Nang).

+81-335081481 (Tokyo), +81-647080900 (Osaka), +81-924730500 (Fukuoka), +81-525835171 (Nagoya).

First forest product festival for Binh Dinh

The first Vietnam Forest Product Festival will be officially opened in Quy Nhon, the central province of Binh Dinh on March 26.

According to the organising board, 141 domestic businesses and nine foreign businesses have registered to display their products in around 600 pavilions.

The three-day festival will include an expo of Vietnamese wood and forest products, a workshop on forest product processing in combination with sustainable forest management. Several cooperative agreements on processing wood for export are expected to be signed during the festival.

Artistic and cultural activities, including culinary and musical events and a badminton tournament for entrepreneurs in the sector, will be also held.

Vietnam Dung Quat refinery to shut 2-3 weeks

Dung Quat oil refinery, Vietnam’s first facility of its type, will shut down from Wednesday for equipment checks, prompting domestic distributors to seek imports of an additional 400,000 tonnes of oil products, an executive said on Monday.

The 130,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery, will cease all operations for between two and three weeks as part of a maintenance plan, Nguyen Hoai Giang, chief executive of Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co, which runs Dung Quat, told Reuters.

During the shutdown, engineers will check for equipment to be replaced or repaired when the facility is shut again for two months of summer maintenance, Giang said. Distributors will have to import mostly gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas, he added.

The $3-billion facility on the coast 880 kilometres (550 miles) south of Hanoi, will shut down from mid-July to mid-September for its first scheduled maintenance after more than a year of official operation.

Top distributor Petrolimex has plans and is in negotiations with partners for the necessary imports, said Vuong Thai Dung, Petrolimex’s deputy chief executive officer. He declined to give details.

Dung Quat has received three 80,000-tonne cargoes of sweet crude from BP so far this year and will select a contractor for the maintenance next week, said Giang, the refinery executive.

The facility’s expansion plan to raise the capacity to 200,000 bpd will be completed in April instead of this month as planned, he added.

Food hygiene,
chemical checks to be enhanced

To minimise food
poisoning, the Viet Nam Food Administration (VFA) plans to set up a
system to
quickly check food for harmful bacteria and too much preservatives and
other
chemicals.

Under the system,
samples of food in danger of being contaminated would be regularly
tested at
wholesale markets, said VFA Director Nguyen Cong Khan.

For example, food
of unknown origin would be checked for chemical preservatives, he
said.

Khan said the
system would be established by the Ministry of Health and with support
of the
Korean International Development Agency.

The VFA plans to
publish warnings related to food on its web site () and through the
mass
media.

One Ha Noi
housewife, Le Thi Mai, praised the scheme and hoped it would reach
mothers and
housewives in all corners of the country.

VFA statistics
show that Viet Nam now has nearly nine million food producers and
traders,
making control difficult. From 2004 to 2009, more than 1,000 outbreaks
of food
poisoning were responsible for the deaths of 298 people out of the
26,500 people
affected. Last year, 42 people died from 175 food poisoning incidents
involving
5,664 people.

Vietnamese people
raise funds to support Japan

The Vietnam
Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) launched a
programme on March 21 to help Japanese people who suffered from the
recent
earthquake and tsunami.

Vinashin’s 40,000 workers plan to
raise
VND1 billion by March 30.

The Vietnam Ministry of Education
and
Training has also encouraged its staff to aid Japanese people.

The Ministry expressed its
gratitude for
the great support that Japan has given to Vietnamese education and its
deep
sympathy to the Japanese people for their great losses.

The education sector raised VND230
million
for the Japanese people.

Meanwhile, the border soldiers in
the
southern province of Quang Nam also donated more than VND80 million to
support
the Japanese people.

Micro-organisms
help treat diarrhoea

Probiotics,
live
micro-organisms thought to be beneficial to humans, will help prevent
and treat
acute diarrhoea in children aged six months and above, experts have
said.

Speaking
at a workshop held by
the Viet Nam Paediatric Association in HCM City on Saturday on the role
of
probiotics in infectious and allergic diseases, Professor Dr Nguyen Cong
Khanh,
the Association’s deputy head, said acute diarrhoea, especially caused
by
rotavirus, is a common affliction among children below five in Viet
Nam.

Dr
Nguyen Anh Tuan, a lecturer
at the City-based University of Medicine and Pharmacy’s paediatric
faculty, said
probiotics helped reduce the number of stools and the duration of
diarrhoea by a
day.

If
used right at the
beginning, their effectiveness was very high.

Probiotics
also helped reduce
the risk of getting antibiotics-associated diarrhoea in children from
28.5 per
cent to 11.9 per cent.

However,
many food
manufacturers abused probiotics by using wrong kinds and incorrect
quantity,
while they were only beneficial when used in the right quantity.

Thus,
users should be careful
while choosing products with probiotics. A large number of such products
like
milk, yoghurt, dietary supplements, over-the counter and prescription
drugs were
sold in the market.

Manufacturers
should strictly
follow regulations while adding probiotics to their products to ensure
consumers’ safety.

Children
in high-risk groups,
including premature ones and ones using IV catheters and other internal
devices
should not drink milk with probiotics.

Besides,
these products should
not be given to children aged less than six months because their
benefits and
safety were yet to be evaluated.

The
Scientific Committee on
Food regulates that products with probiotics meant for children below
six months
should only be introduced in the market after their benefits and safety
are
evaluated.

Prof
Dr Hoang Trong Kim,
Khanh’s colleague, said that no product could replace breast milk.

“Breast-feeding
is very
necessary for kids under six months.”

Medical workers discuss
nutrition

More
than 500 medical workers
from northern provinces have gathered in Ha Noi at a seminar to discuss
beta
glucan, a nutrition that helps enhance the immune system and aids
respiratory
health among children.

The
seminar was held by the
Viet Nam Pediatric Association in co-operation with Mead Johnson
Nutrition Viet
Nam.

Dr
Nguyen Cong Khanh, Vice
President of the Viet Nam Pediatric said helping prevent respiratory
problems in
children through enhancing natural resistance is a key solution.

World’s largest
woolen blanket completed

The biggest woolen
blanket in the world was completed in Da Lat city,
Lam Dong province, on March 21.

It is made from 20,000 small
knitted
woolen patches and has a total area of 200sq.m.

Nearly one thousand people in Da
Lat,
Vietnam and Montpellier, France have been knitting the pieces for the
blanket by
hand since June 2009.

Now that it is finished, the record
breaking blanket will be sold at auction in Hanoi later this year.

Proceeds from the auction will go
to
assist Agent Orange/dioxin victims in Vietnam.