VEA to hold series of debates on “Golden Air Route”

The Vietnam Economics Association (VEA) said the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) did not object to a debate of the proposed Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City “Golden Air Route.”

Mr. Tuan (1st, R) presents the project at the meeting with CAAV on July 9 ( Photo: SGGP)

Previously, CAAV had said that the proposed new route required a more thorough review beyond cost effectiveness, in response to a seminar on the issue.

VEA Chairman Prof. Tran Phuong said CAAV has sent two representatives to work on the project with VEA, which is a member of the Vietnam Union of Scientific and Technological Associations (VUSTA). 

Prof. Phuong stressed that his association will play only an intermediary role and hold several discussions in which CAAV members can express their opinions.

Scientists will also be invited to take part and the results will be published in the media, he added.

The aim of the discussions is for experts to analyze the project in relation to the country’s socio-economic growth and publicize the information. CAAV is also encouraged to participate, VEA said.

Following the series of discussions, VEA aims to submit an official document to the Government detailing its findings.

Related articles:
Proposal on new Hanoi-HCM City air route needs more thorough review: CAAV
CAAV turns away from ‘golden air route’
Discussions over new Hanoi-HCM City air route
Air authority accepts new flight route plans

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Da Lat to breathe new life into pine forests

Known as the “City of Pine”, the Central Highland’s community of Da Lat is home to thousands of hectares of old-growth trees. Experts say the forests are in jeopardy, however, as few new seedlings are being planted while greater numbers of old trees are being felled.

Da Lat pine forest is older and older.

Da Lat has 26,182 hectares of natural pine forests which provide vast ecological and economic benefits. Around, 5,000 hectares of trees are used for logging while more than 20,000 hectares are protected. Around 360 hectares of the protected trees are situated within the city.

Scientists and forestry experts, however, say there has been a sharp decrease in the number of new seedlings growing in the forests, especially in city areas. In addition, many century-old pine trees pose a danger of falling down, especially in the rainy season.

During the recent Storm Ketsana, 49 large trees were knocked down in the city causing havoc for residents.

Experts forecast that a mass of century-old pine trees in Da Lat will fall naturally during the next 10-15 years, while few will be replaced.

Da Lat City authorities plan to cut down many of the old trees for safety reasons and replace them with new pine trees aimed at sustainable development.

Currently, there are around 10,000 century-old pine trees in Da Lat, of which the city plans to cut around 300 trees each year.

The Lam Dong Province Board of Forest Management has supported the idea, saying the province needs to improve its pine forests.

Tran Thanh Binh, head of Lam Dong Forest Management, said it was necessary to have a systematic plan to keep the forests healthy, including planting good seedlings.

Da Lat will implement the program in key areas of the city including historic relics Dinh 1, Dinh 2 (palaces of former French Indochina Governor Decoux and the last Vietnamese King Bao Dai), Cu Hill and other tourism areas, Binh added.

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Storm-damaged provinces receive aid, donations

Sai Gon Giai Phong and Kontum Newspapers give gifts to students in Kon Ray District.(Photo: SGGP)

Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper collaborated with Kontum Newspaper on October 19 to donate two tons of goods worth VND20 million, including food and clothes, to Kontum Province districts damaged by Storm Ketsana.

The delegation handed over 300 kilograms of rice, 5,000 packs of instant noodles, and thousands of clothes to households and hundreds of students in Kon Ray District’s Dak T’re and Tan Lap communes.

It also gave 1,000 square meters of roofing to a village in Tu M’Rong District which had to be relocated.

Honda Vietnam donated VND242 million to 119 households whose relatives were killed by the storm in Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Kontum provinces.

Techcombank’s Danang Branch gave 60 gifts worth VND20 million to 60 outstanding disadvantaged pupils in Cam Le and Hoa Vang districts.

Techcombank will continue to donate gifts to disadvantaged children in eight central provinces from October 20-28 at a total cost of VND200 million.

In related news, the Danang City People’s Committee started construction on a center for flood and storm prevention on October 20 in Hai Chau District.

Covering an area of 1,050 square meters, the center is funded with more than $US441,000 by the US Pacific Command.

The center will be responsible for alerting residents and controlling floods in the area, while helping local authorities implement prevention methods in a timely manner.

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Homebuyers to receive land-use titles faster, easier

Homeowners can now expect to receive their land-use titles and house-possession rights within 50 days of applying for them, instead of the previous 85. The announcement was made by Phung Van Nghe, acting head of the General Department of Land Management on October 22.

The cover of the new land-use and house possession rights certificate, which will come into effect December 10 (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

At a press conference on a circular granting land-use and house-possession certificates, which the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen signed on October 21, Mr. Nghe said that new procedures will allow for faster processing time.

Applying for the certificates will also be easier now that people can submit and pick up their documents from the same place. Moreover, procedures have been streamlined to combine processes which were once separate.

The new regulations will come into effect December 10.

In addition, it will take just 30 days instead of the previous 40 to change the certificates if homeowners want to build additional structures on their property.

Regulations also clearly stipulate responsibilities of relevant organizations and civil servants charged with issuing the certificates.

Anyone caught taking bribes or slowing the certificate-issuing process will be strictly punished. said Mr. Phung Van Nghe. 

The Government has instructed localities to establish offices specifically for land use-rights registration. However, many districts have yet to set up their offices. Thus, some homeowners will initially have to register at their districts’ departments of natural resources and environment.

For localities which already have real estate exchange procedures in place, home businesses will have to present a document which proves transactions are being carried out legally through the exchange system.

Individuals selling their houses will not have to follow this regulation, however.

The ministry is currently printing new land-use certificates and will begin distributing them next week. It will also train officials on issuing the certificates beginning next week.

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Housing for workers meets just 7.8 percent of demand

Accommodation for workers of TG Co. in Long An Province. (Photo: TN)

According to industrial park and export processing zone authorities in southern provinces, the need for worker housing far outweighs the available accommodation. Just 3 to 7.8 percent of the demand is currently being met, they report.

Only 13 out of 26 industrial parks in Binh Duong Province have built houses for workers on a total area of 117,702 square meters.

It is estimated that 1.9 million square meters of housing needs to be built by 2020.

In Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province, only 3 percent of workers are provided with accommodation.

In other provinces such as Long An, Tien Giang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh, and Lam Dong, just a few firms have built accommodation for their employees.

However, it has been reported that these residential quarters lack many essential facilities and services. The price of water and electricity at some of the lodgings also remains more than many workers can afford while other quarters have no drainage systems.

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SGGP provides medical help to ethnic minority, disadvantaged

Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper organized a medical camp for S’tieng ethnic minority residents and disadvantaged people in the southern province of Binh Phuoc on October 17 and gave them free medicines and gifts.

Former Vice State President Truong My Hoa (R) and a Prudential executive hand over gifts to disadvantaged people in Binh Phuoc Province’s Chon Thanh District ( Photo: N. Yen )

Seven hundred people received free health checks and medicines and several elderly people got spectacles while 350 S’tieng and poor residents got gifts worth VND250,000 each in Chon Thanh District.

The visiting doctors found a large number of people there with hypertension, heart diseases, stomach ulcers, and cataracts.

The camp cost more than VND100 million (US$5,600) to organize.

SGGP’s charity mission received support from the British insurer Prudential Vietnam, Taiwanese MSG maker Vedan, AceCook, Thao Loan, Hong Hanh Fish Sausage Company, and a group of doctors from Giac Ngo newspaper for the trip.

It was accompanied by former vice president of the country, Truong My Hoa, and head of Ho Chi Minh City’s Committee for Emulation and Reward, Nguyen Thi Nhu Thuy.

Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper plans to raise more donations for a similar mission soon and for building housing for teachers and needy people living in run-down houses.

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Conference to turn spotlight on overseas Vietnamese

The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese will organize the first ever global conference on ethnic Vietnamese in Hanoi from November 20 to 24.

Officials from the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese announce the first global conference for overseas Vietnamese at a media briefing in Hanoi on July 10, 2008 (Photo: VNN)

The committee, which is under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expects the conference to strengthen the ties between Vietnamese living abroad and their home country.

Around 1,000 delegates living in Vietnam and abroad are expected to attend to discuss the status of the Vietnamese community and development of the country.
 
On the sidelines, seminars themed “Building a community of overseas Vietnamese who show strong solidarity, be successful, and turn to the country,” “Preserve and bring into play the national culture and tradition,” “Overseas Vietnamese experts’ and intellectuals’ contribution to their home country’s development,” and “Overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs’ contribution to building the country” will be held.
 
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Thanh Son, chairman of the committee, said the conference would provide a forum to exchange views and collect opinions to thoroughly assess the status of the overseas Vietnamese community and build a community that preserves the national character and has a strong attachment to the country.
 
The conference is among the main activities under a Government action program on expatriate Vietnamese affairs and the Prime Minister’s Instruction 19 on overseas Vietnamese affairs, he explained.

Instruction 19 calls on provinces and ministries to take responsibility for overseas Vietnamese affairs and requires them to protect the interests of overseas Vietnamese enshrined in Vietnamese laws, international conventions, and precedents, he said.

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Prime Minister orders crackdown on illegal sand dredging

An inspector points to sand dredging boats seized in HCMC’s District 9. (Photo: SGGP)

Following orders from the Prime Minister, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has instructed agencies to begin monitoring the city’s rivers for illegal sand dredging.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Construction, and other agencies have been directed to hand down heavy penalties to those caught removing and shipping sand.

Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper has reported on illicit sand dredging activities in the past which have lead to serious land erosion across the country. In recent years the practice has increased, endangering those who live along rivers.

Around 100 hectares of land are destroyed every year by landslides in HCM City caused by sand dredging. Many more residential areas, rice fields and roads disappear yearly because of the practice.

In the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, seven barges and vessels were found October 15 unlawfully transporting sand from the Hau River.

To date, inspectors have penalized 33 ships found transporting sand illegally on the Hau River while the Maritime Police of Can Tho have seized 10 boats and punished offenders a total of VND200 million.

Related articles:
Resettlement projects remain on paper
Lack of funds slow landslide protection
Officials struggle to halt illegal sand dredging

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Proposal on new Hanoi-HCM City air route needs more thorough review: CAAV

A discussion of the proposed Hanoi-HCM City “ golden air route ” would be one-sided if the economic effectiveness  is the only issue considered, the  Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) has  said. The CAAV issued the statement in response to a proposal on opening a new seminar to debate the issue.

The Vietnam Economic Association recently proposed holding the seminar entitled “ Effectiveness of the Hanoi-HCM City air route along the 106th meridian.”

CAAV, however, said factors other than economic effectiveness must be taken into account when opening a new flight route including national security and the safe management of flights.

CAAV also said the government, the Ministry of Transport and CAAV appreciated the “golden air route” project and its architect Mai Trong Tuan.

According to CAAV, it had discussed the idea before Mr. Tuan went public with his proposal.

The CAAV has repeatedly argued against the route saying the flights would not be economically efficient. Each trip, says CAAV, would cost the airline money to use neighboring countries’ airspace to fly directly over Laos and Cambodia instead of veering east over the East Sea.

Related articles:
CAAV turns away from ‘golden air route’
Discussions over new Hanoi-HCM City air route
Air authority accepts new flight route plans

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Netherlands, VN work on climate change

The Dutch deputy Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Tineke Huizinga, is paying official visits to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from October 5 to 9 as part of the growing cooperation between the two countries in the fields of water management and combating climate change.

Tineke Huizinga, Dutch Deputy Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (Photo courtesy of Consulate General of the Netherlands)

The deputy minister was accompanied by a delegation of over 30 leading Dutch businesspeople and academics from the water management sector.

On the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding on Mekong Delta cooperation was signed between Ms. Huizinga and the Vietnamese ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Natural Resources and Environment in Hanoi on October 5.

The agreement aims at strengthening cooperation between the Dutch and the Mekong Delta in the management of river basins and coastal zones.

There was also a signing of a policy for a flood control program between Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee and the Netherlands Embassy in HCMC on October 6.

The goal of the program focuses on alleviating flooding in HCMC and its surrounding areas, as well as strengthening the technical and management capabilities of the Ho Chi Minh City Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control and Prevention, and other relevant Vietnamese agencies.

A seminar, “Climate Change and Water Management in the Mekong Delta and HCMC,” will be held on October 8 in HCMC to discuss a strategic vision of water management and combating climate change in the Mekong Delta and HCMC.

On this occasion, an initiative to build an Institute for Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management will be launched with the participation of both governments and relevant universities from the two countries.

Source: SGGP