20:13' 15/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - Work on the four-star Sai Gon Givral Hotel has been suspended after a collapse led to the death of one worker last Saturday.
It’s reported that three walls of the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy’s Herbal Medicine Faculty collapsed while workers were digging to build the external wall of the hotel. Phan Viet Hung, one of six workers, was seriously injured and later died in the hospital.
The 13-storey hotel, financed by the Sai Gon Givral Joint Stock Company, received a construction licence last December from the city’s Construction Department. Early this month, the company signed a contract with the Licogi 20 Company to build the foundation and walls of the hotel.
Deputy Chairman of Ward 8’s People’s Committee Pham Ngoc Trang said the Herbal Medicine Faculty has asked relevant authorities to examine the state of its building to ensure the safety of its properties and 500 teachers and students.
The investor and contractor have temporarily reinforced the faculty’s collapsed area. The incident is under investigation by the police, construction inspectors and local authorities.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Buddhist priest to return home for UN day of Vesak
President Nguyen Minh Triet meets Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh during Hanh's visit to Vietnam in May 2007
Buddhist priest Thich Nhat Hanh and a delegation of monks and nuns from Plum Village in France will be in Vietnam from April 22 until June 21 for the United Nation’s 2008 celebration of Buddha’s birthday.
The priest was invited by the Central Department of International Buddhist Affairs, the Vietnam Buddhist Association and the United Nations Day of Vesak International Organization Committee.
The delegation from France will work with their hosts to provide two courses while in Vietnam.
According to the itinerary, some 500 foreigners living and working in Vietnam will be able to attend a six-day retreat in Hanoi to study meditation and Buddhist thought.
Buddhist priest Thich Nhat Hanh and a delegation of monks and nuns from Plum Village in France will be in Vietnam from April 22 until June 21 for the United Nation’s 2008 celebration of Buddha’s birthday.
The priest was invited by the Central Department of International Buddhist Affairs, the Vietnam Buddhist Association and the United Nations Day of Vesak International Organization Committee.
The delegation from France will work with their hosts to provide two courses while in Vietnam.
According to the itinerary, some 500 foreigners living and working in Vietnam will be able to attend a six-day retreat in Hanoi to study meditation and Buddhist thought.
Energy-hungry Vietnam awaits first refinery
Vietnam, desperate to meet energy needs expanding at about twice the rate of its booming economy, is putting the final touches on its first oil refinery, with a second soon to follow.
The facility in central Dung Quat has been on the cards for more than a decade, but political spats, construction delays and even the make-up of the soil at the site have left the project in limbo.
Now, with authorities keen to cut imports of petroleum products as energy consumption soars, officials at state-run PetroVietnam and French oil services group Technip say the refinery should be operational by next year.
"We are very confident," said Dinh Van Ngoc, the deputy manager of the Dung Quat project for PetroVietnam, adding that production would begin in the first quarter of 2009.
The facility is expected to churn out 6.5 million tonnes a year from 2009 -- or a third of the communist country's needs.
With the economy growing at 8.5 percent in 2007, and energy demand on the rise, authorities are keen to cut down on costly imports. Last year, Vietnam spent eight billion dollars to import 12.55 million tonnes of refined oil.
Bruno Le Roy, the Technip engineer managing the construction site, says the refinery is "60 percent finished" -- but that progress has been a long time coming.
Launched 10 years ago at an initial price of 1.5 billion dollars, Dung Quat finally became a reality in 2005 after several foreign partners including French giant Total pulled out -- costing PetroVietnam another billion dollars.
The project first stalled over the proposed location of the refinery: Dung Quat in central Quang Ngai province -- far from both Vietnam's off-shore oil reserves and its commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
Authorities are hoping that the refinery and the industrial zone built around it will create job opportunities for more than 20,000 people in the middle of the agriculture-heavy region.
"The only reason to build it in Dung Quat was to develop the centre," says Tony Foster, an attorney specialising in energy issues at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Last year, residents of Quang Ngai province had a per capita income of 500 dollars -- well below the 800-dollar national average.
Then, several more months were lost when the composition of the soil at Dung Quat did not match the specifications provided by PetroVietnam, forcing Technip to rethink the plans for the refinery's foundation, according to Le Roy.
The state-run Vietnamese group -- under pressure from Hanoi, which wants to see the refinery onstream as soon as possible -- placed the blame on Technip, saying it had not paid close enough attention to the details.
"We think our project is small for them," Ngoc said.
But Le Roy counters that the problem stems from the booming construction industry in Vietnam, saying there are simply not enough workers to complete the project. He has 8,000 workers at present, but needs 2,000 more.
"Quang Ngai is a region with no industrial tradition," Le Roy says. "The building materials arrive in either Ho Chi Minh City or ports near Hanoi. They then must be transferred here. Workers also must be brought in."
The Dung Quat project is "important both politically and from an energy security point of view," Foster notes.
"But most economists would say it was not the right way to do it."
PetroVietnam will have another chance to get things right with the Nghi Son refinery, to be built with companies from Japan and Kuwait for a total of six billion dollars.
The plant, to be operational by 2013, will have a targeted capacity of 10 million tonnes a year, and is to be located about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Hanoi in Thanh Hoa province.
Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, has said the refinery would create about 10,000 jobs and would mostly supply the north, noting the facility was "crucial for energy security."
PetroVietnam -- its sights obviously set on export markets -- is mulling plans for a third refinery in the south of the country.
Source: AFP
The facility in central Dung Quat has been on the cards for more than a decade, but political spats, construction delays and even the make-up of the soil at the site have left the project in limbo.
Now, with authorities keen to cut imports of petroleum products as energy consumption soars, officials at state-run PetroVietnam and French oil services group Technip say the refinery should be operational by next year.
"We are very confident," said Dinh Van Ngoc, the deputy manager of the Dung Quat project for PetroVietnam, adding that production would begin in the first quarter of 2009.
The facility is expected to churn out 6.5 million tonnes a year from 2009 -- or a third of the communist country's needs.
With the economy growing at 8.5 percent in 2007, and energy demand on the rise, authorities are keen to cut down on costly imports. Last year, Vietnam spent eight billion dollars to import 12.55 million tonnes of refined oil.
Bruno Le Roy, the Technip engineer managing the construction site, says the refinery is "60 percent finished" -- but that progress has been a long time coming.
Launched 10 years ago at an initial price of 1.5 billion dollars, Dung Quat finally became a reality in 2005 after several foreign partners including French giant Total pulled out -- costing PetroVietnam another billion dollars.
The project first stalled over the proposed location of the refinery: Dung Quat in central Quang Ngai province -- far from both Vietnam's off-shore oil reserves and its commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City in the south.
Authorities are hoping that the refinery and the industrial zone built around it will create job opportunities for more than 20,000 people in the middle of the agriculture-heavy region.
"The only reason to build it in Dung Quat was to develop the centre," says Tony Foster, an attorney specialising in energy issues at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Last year, residents of Quang Ngai province had a per capita income of 500 dollars -- well below the 800-dollar national average.
Then, several more months were lost when the composition of the soil at Dung Quat did not match the specifications provided by PetroVietnam, forcing Technip to rethink the plans for the refinery's foundation, according to Le Roy.
The state-run Vietnamese group -- under pressure from Hanoi, which wants to see the refinery onstream as soon as possible -- placed the blame on Technip, saying it had not paid close enough attention to the details.
"We think our project is small for them," Ngoc said.
But Le Roy counters that the problem stems from the booming construction industry in Vietnam, saying there are simply not enough workers to complete the project. He has 8,000 workers at present, but needs 2,000 more.
"Quang Ngai is a region with no industrial tradition," Le Roy says. "The building materials arrive in either Ho Chi Minh City or ports near Hanoi. They then must be transferred here. Workers also must be brought in."
The Dung Quat project is "important both politically and from an energy security point of view," Foster notes.
"But most economists would say it was not the right way to do it."
PetroVietnam will have another chance to get things right with the Nghi Son refinery, to be built with companies from Japan and Kuwait for a total of six billion dollars.
The plant, to be operational by 2013, will have a targeted capacity of 10 million tonnes a year, and is to be located about 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Hanoi in Thanh Hoa province.
Vietnam's Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, has said the refinery would create about 10,000 jobs and would mostly supply the north, noting the facility was "crucial for energy security."
PetroVietnam -- its sights obviously set on export markets -- is mulling plans for a third refinery in the south of the country.
Source: AFP
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Rail ticket discount for AO/dioxin victims
12:13' 09/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – AO/dioxin victims are now eligible for a 20 percent discount on train tickets, the first ever promotion geared for this group.
This discount, which started this weekend, would run until the end of May in commemoration of May Day and the Liberation Day on April 30, said a Vietnam Railway Corporation representative.
Veterans imprisoned during the resistance wars are eligible for a 30 percent discount.
The discount for war invalids, the disabled and the old has been raised from 10 to 20 percent.
VietNamNet Bridge – AO/dioxin victims are now eligible for a 20 percent discount on train tickets, the first ever promotion geared for this group.
This discount, which started this weekend, would run until the end of May in commemoration of May Day and the Liberation Day on April 30, said a Vietnam Railway Corporation representative.
Veterans imprisoned during the resistance wars are eligible for a 30 percent discount.
The discount for war invalids, the disabled and the old has been raised from 10 to 20 percent.
Vice President warns against untreated wastes
12:45' 09/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan on April 8 rang the bell on the rampant discharge of untreated solid and water wastes, alerting would-be serious consequences of the act on both present and future generations.
The Vice President raised the situation at a meeting to honour outstanding environment protectors and clean water suppliers in Hanoi on April 8.
Though there are individuals and units that have worked hard to protect the environment, many businesses have still put more efforts in doing business than in limiting environmental pollution, the State leader said.
“In the meantime, Vietnam is encountering climate changes imposed by industries,” Vice President Doan said, noting those challenges cause a threat to the nation’s energy and food security.
The Vice President called on industries and sectors to pour heavy and concentrated investment into the protection of environment.
The State leader also called for concerted efforts to raise public awareness on environmental protection and make the people change their behaviour to the environment.
The meeting, the first of its kind so far in Vietnam, brought together 600 representatives to share experiences on the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection and discuss measures to protect the country from climate changes.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment honoured 20 units and six individuals for contributions to the protection of environment.
Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen launched a drive to get people involved in protecting the environment in the 2008-2010 period.
VietNamNet Bridge – Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan on April 8 rang the bell on the rampant discharge of untreated solid and water wastes, alerting would-be serious consequences of the act on both present and future generations.
The Vice President raised the situation at a meeting to honour outstanding environment protectors and clean water suppliers in Hanoi on April 8.
Though there are individuals and units that have worked hard to protect the environment, many businesses have still put more efforts in doing business than in limiting environmental pollution, the State leader said.
“In the meantime, Vietnam is encountering climate changes imposed by industries,” Vice President Doan said, noting those challenges cause a threat to the nation’s energy and food security.
The Vice President called on industries and sectors to pour heavy and concentrated investment into the protection of environment.
The State leader also called for concerted efforts to raise public awareness on environmental protection and make the people change their behaviour to the environment.
The meeting, the first of its kind so far in Vietnam, brought together 600 representatives to share experiences on the implementation of the Law on Environmental Protection and discuss measures to protect the country from climate changes.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment honoured 20 units and six individuals for contributions to the protection of environment.
Minister Pham Khoi Nguyen launched a drive to get people involved in protecting the environment in the 2008-2010 period.
More than 23,000 workers sent aboard
11:42' 09/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam sent more than 23,000 people to work abroad in the first quarter of 2008, reported the Bureau of Administration on Overseas Workers under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).
The figure represents an increase of more than 17 percent over the same period last year.
The largest markets for labour export remained Malaysia, Qatar, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
The number of Vietnamese workers in markets such as the USA and Australia was limited because of their poor professional and foreign languages skills.
The MOLISA said it would assist labour export enterprises in holding vocational training courses. The focus would be on training in jobs that are in high demand in the international market so as to reach the target of sending abroad 85,000 workers this year.
The ministry also plans to establish some labour export training centres under the system of vocational schools.
At present, Vietnam has sent 500,000 people to work aboard.
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam sent more than 23,000 people to work abroad in the first quarter of 2008, reported the Bureau of Administration on Overseas Workers under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).
The figure represents an increase of more than 17 percent over the same period last year.
The largest markets for labour export remained Malaysia, Qatar, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
The number of Vietnamese workers in markets such as the USA and Australia was limited because of their poor professional and foreign languages skills.
The MOLISA said it would assist labour export enterprises in holding vocational training courses. The focus would be on training in jobs that are in high demand in the international market so as to reach the target of sending abroad 85,000 workers this year.
The ministry also plans to establish some labour export training centres under the system of vocational schools.
At present, Vietnam has sent 500,000 people to work aboard.
Hanoi to disinfect lakes to fight cholera
17:14' 09/04/2008 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi will start disinfecting around 30 lakes and ponds this Wednesday in a drive to keep cholera from spreading after health experts last week found the bacterium Vibrio cholerae in one of these bodies of water.
Linh Quang lake. (Photo: VNN)
At an emergency meeting in Hanoi on Monday, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, vice chairwoman of Hanoi, told the Departments of Transport and Public Works, and Health to immediately disinfect and clean up the contaminated lakes and ponds in the city.
The water has been contaminated due to untreated wastewater discharged directly into the lakes, she said, adding this was the reason for cholera to spread.
The city asked district authorities to keep the environment clean, monitor the quality of water treatment plants and tighten control of food hygiene and safety.
Relevant State agencies should increase the monitoring of waste-water discharge and drainage systems while the Department of Health should monitor hospital waste, she said.
Last week, the city used 1.3 tons of chloramine B to disinfect Linh Quang lake where the cholera bacterium was detected last week. Health workers are also testing water samples from every lake and pond in the city. Around 68 people living around the lake have contracted cholera.
Hanoi closed Van Chuong market by Linh Quang lake to prevent the spread of the disease on Monday.
The city's Department of Health reported on Monday that over 200 people in the capital city had been hospitalized for diarrhea and that 44 of them had tested positive for cholera.
Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Health Department of the Health Ministry, told the Daily on the phone that polluted water was the first cause of the escalating spread of the disease.
"To stamp out the epidemic, authorities and residents should tighten the monitoring of water quality by carrying out regular water tests," he said. "The public should be more aware of environment and food hygiene."
Nga warned the epidemic could boom in rural areas because 80% of the toilets there failed to meet hygiene standards and said it would be difficult to control the epidemic if waste continued being discharged into the lakes, ponds and other water sources.
Nga noted the demand for water would run high in the summer and there was a possibility of water shortages, which will in turn lead to haphazard water use in the population.
The provinces that are being hit by cholera are Ta Tay, Phu Tho, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc, with nearly 100 patients testing positive for cholera.
HCMC on Monday began taking bold measures to monitor cholera in the city though the disease had yet to spread to the city.
Phan Van Nghiem, head of the Physicians Office under the HCMC Department of Health, said the department had ordered the hospitals to monitor all diarrhea cases and prepare sufficient drugs and facilities to deal with emergency cases.
No cholera cases have been detected in the city, but the city should be on high alert for the disease, so residents should make sure to use clean water, he said.
* The agriculture ministry's Department for Animal Health on Monday reported that blue ear disease remained to be out of control as new outbreaks were detected in Thanh Hoa Province.
The disease has hit 165 communes of 11 districts in the province and at least 37,557 pigs have been killed by the disease. To prevent the epidemic from spreading further, local animal health workers have culled 27,671 pigs.
The pig disease is still active in four provinces - Quang Nam, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh.
Initial estimates by the agriculture ministry show Ha Tinh has 7,000 infected pigs, Nghe An 10,000 and Quang Nam 500.
The ministry forecast the disease would continue spreading, so health animal experts and market monitors should enhance coordination to prevent the illegal transport and trading of pigs in the affected areas.
VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi will start disinfecting around 30 lakes and ponds this Wednesday in a drive to keep cholera from spreading after health experts last week found the bacterium Vibrio cholerae in one of these bodies of water.
Linh Quang lake. (Photo: VNN)
At an emergency meeting in Hanoi on Monday, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, vice chairwoman of Hanoi, told the Departments of Transport and Public Works, and Health to immediately disinfect and clean up the contaminated lakes and ponds in the city.
The water has been contaminated due to untreated wastewater discharged directly into the lakes, she said, adding this was the reason for cholera to spread.
The city asked district authorities to keep the environment clean, monitor the quality of water treatment plants and tighten control of food hygiene and safety.
Relevant State agencies should increase the monitoring of waste-water discharge and drainage systems while the Department of Health should monitor hospital waste, she said.
Last week, the city used 1.3 tons of chloramine B to disinfect Linh Quang lake where the cholera bacterium was detected last week. Health workers are also testing water samples from every lake and pond in the city. Around 68 people living around the lake have contracted cholera.
Hanoi closed Van Chuong market by Linh Quang lake to prevent the spread of the disease on Monday.
The city's Department of Health reported on Monday that over 200 people in the capital city had been hospitalized for diarrhea and that 44 of them had tested positive for cholera.
Nguyen Huy Nga, head of the Preventive Health Department of the Health Ministry, told the Daily on the phone that polluted water was the first cause of the escalating spread of the disease.
"To stamp out the epidemic, authorities and residents should tighten the monitoring of water quality by carrying out regular water tests," he said. "The public should be more aware of environment and food hygiene."
Nga warned the epidemic could boom in rural areas because 80% of the toilets there failed to meet hygiene standards and said it would be difficult to control the epidemic if waste continued being discharged into the lakes, ponds and other water sources.
Nga noted the demand for water would run high in the summer and there was a possibility of water shortages, which will in turn lead to haphazard water use in the population.
The provinces that are being hit by cholera are Ta Tay, Phu Tho, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc, with nearly 100 patients testing positive for cholera.
HCMC on Monday began taking bold measures to monitor cholera in the city though the disease had yet to spread to the city.
Phan Van Nghiem, head of the Physicians Office under the HCMC Department of Health, said the department had ordered the hospitals to monitor all diarrhea cases and prepare sufficient drugs and facilities to deal with emergency cases.
No cholera cases have been detected in the city, but the city should be on high alert for the disease, so residents should make sure to use clean water, he said.
* The agriculture ministry's Department for Animal Health on Monday reported that blue ear disease remained to be out of control as new outbreaks were detected in Thanh Hoa Province.
The disease has hit 165 communes of 11 districts in the province and at least 37,557 pigs have been killed by the disease. To prevent the epidemic from spreading further, local animal health workers have culled 27,671 pigs.
The pig disease is still active in four provinces - Quang Nam, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh.
Initial estimates by the agriculture ministry show Ha Tinh has 7,000 infected pigs, Nghe An 10,000 and Quang Nam 500.
The ministry forecast the disease would continue spreading, so health animal experts and market monitors should enhance coordination to prevent the illegal transport and trading of pigs in the affected areas.
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