11 foreign sailors rescued off southern coast

Rescuers in the southern coastal town of Vung Tau on Tuesday said they have saved 11 foreign crew members whose tugboat had an accident the day before.

The crew, who are Croatian, Myanmarese, Indian and Korean, were on tugboat Star Java when big waves separated it from its barge off the Con Dao Island at about 4 p.m. on Monday, the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Co-Ordination Center No.3 said.

Ten of the crew members were so frightened that they jumped off the boat. They were all rescued by 11 p.m. on the same day, the center said.

The rescuers then saved the captain who stayed on the boat at around 7 a.m. Tuesday, the center said, adding that the tugboat was contracted by Singapore and was heading for the island city-state when the accident happened.

In another boat accident, authorities of Hoai Nhon District in the central province of Binh Dinh said six local fishermen were missing after two boats sank off the northern province of Hai Phong last Friday.

Repeat offender gets death for drug trafficking

A man from the south central Nghe An Province on Wednesday had his life sentence raised to capital punishment on the prosecution’s appeal after he was caught running his second drug trafficking ring.

In April 1997, police had issued a warrant for Tran Van An, 59, after a member of his first drug trafficking ring was caught.

From late 1996 onwards, An had earned nearly VND3.5 billion (current US$198,000) from smuggling around 26 kilograms of heroin through the Laos border in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces and selling them in Ho Chi Minh City, he told the People’s Court in Ha Tinh Province which handed down the death sentence.

After the warrant was issued, An fled to HCMC, using a new ID named Dinh Quang Thuan and resumed his illegal drug trade across the border.

He was caught early this year and received a life sentence at the Nghe An People’s Court.

During the time, investigators in Ha Tinh investigated his rings further and filed an appeal, describing the crime as “dangerous” and “having lasted for a long time”.

In 1996 and 1997, An was part of a larger ring led by the Lao trafficker Thao Xieng My that included Bua Phan and Phou Vieng also of Laos. This ring brought around 49 kilograms of heroin into Vietnam, of which An bought more than half.

Brother, spare a dime?   
 
A man known only as C. drives elderly citizens around Ho Chi Minh City. 

But it’s not exactly free and the trips aren’t really charity.

C., originally from the northern-central province of Thanh Hoa, has a group of septuagenarians he shuttles to and from bridges along Nguyen Van Linh Street in District 7.

He puts them in wheelchairs or sits them on the pavement and they beg for money, sell lottery tickets or hawk small wares.

At the end of the day or night, C. collects his share of the money and drops off his employees at a house he rents in Binh Chanh District.

“I am old and can’t find work in my hometown. C. took me here to sell lottery tickets,” a man said. “I give him the remaining tickets and money after the day is over and I’m paid about VND1 million (less than US$60) a month.”

Tuoi Tre has found at least three such rings operating in Ho Chi Minh City.

Another group is led by an unidentified man from the central province of Phu Yen. He brought a group of elderly people from his hometown to HCMC to sell lottery tickets. He rents a few houses on District 3’s Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street to put them up after work.

Disabled children to get career-skills at new HCMC center

The Loreto Vietnam-Australia Program (LVAP) has opened a vocational training center in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu District to equip disabled children with working skills.

The Binh Minh Special School 2 (Sunrise School 2) has been set up to extend the work done by the Sunrise Special School 1 in the same district, which has many of its children nearing the age of leaving school.

Students aged from 14 to 20 will be taught occupational skills which will improve their chances of finding employment and living independently. The school was built at a cost of US$192,000 and with $50,000 worth of equipment installed.

The Sunrise School 1., which was constructed and equipped by LVAP in 2001 for children aged from 5 to 16, will now be able to enroll more children there as students aged 14 and older would be transferred to the Sunrise School 2.

LVAP has been registered as an international non-government organization in Vietnam since 1997.

Seminar seeks ways to conserve elephants
 
The Dong Nai provincial Forest Ranger Department in coordination with national parks in the southern region is seeking ways to raise public awareness of elephant conservation and expand the living environment for the animal.

At a seminar on November 26, local and foreign scientists agreed that it is necessary to quickly implement the project on elephant preservation, approved by the Prime Minister in 2006.

They suggested setting up rapid response groups to carry out urgent measures to prevent the increase of conflicts between people and elephants, a reason behind the reduction of elephant herds in the country.

Conflicts between people and elephants have become more and more complicated over recent years and the number of elephants in the country has been halved to 80 from 2004.

31 percent of Vietnamese children classed as poor
 
On November 26, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a report on new approach to poor Vietnamese children. 

This new methodology is also part of a cooperation programme between the Vietnamese Government and UNICEF for the 2006-2009 period.

A child is considered to be poor if he/she fails to meet at least two of eight basic requirements, including education, health care, housing, clean water, hygiene, labour safety, entertainment and social welfare.

This means that, if based on the new criteria, Vietnam has around 7 million poor children, or 31 percent of children in the country.

Seminar talks global warming and forestry in Vietnam
 
Scientists and environmental managers discussed measures to deploy the UN-REDD programme in Vietnam at a seminar in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong on November 26.

They explained why Lam Dong was selected for the implementation of the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) and improving the technical capability and management and coordinating mechanisms from central to local levels.

The issue of how to combine the UN-REDD programme with the provincial land use programme to prevent forest degradation was also tabled for discussion.

Many delegates mentioned that the lessons learned by many countries can be applied to the province.
 
They also suggested the expansion of information exchange and international cooperation and the implementation of a policy of sharing benefits with households, the local community and organisations involved in carrying out the UN-REDD programme.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hua Duc Nhi confirmed that measures put forward at the seminar will be carried out in the UN-REDD programme in Lam Dong.

Vietnam is one of nine countries in the world chosen by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to implement the UN-REDD programme and Lam Dong province was selected for the programme because it has the largest forest coverage in the country and much experience in implementing major forestry programmes.

Sponsored by the Norwegian Government, the US$4.3 million programme will be carried out over 20 months. The results gained from Lam Dong province will serve as an important foundation for the UN to devise a master programme on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing global climate change under its framework convention on climate change.

Transport fares to increase during Lunar New Year
 
Transport fares will rise by 15-20 percent during the Tet (Lunar New Year) to cover the rising cost of fuel, say transport companies.

An increase in fuel prices have has driven transport fares up by 30 percent or even higher for long hauls, especially on the North-South routes, says Vu Van Tuyen, Director of the Hoang Long Transport Company.

If businesses fail to adjust their transport fares, there will be a shortage of vehicles to serve passengers during the coming festival.

PV