ĐẮK LẮK – Sùng Dao Cán and his wife have cut down trees in a forest and on a hill to plant cassava and build a bare shack as they struggle to eke out a living. “I know it (deforestation) is wrong, but it is not just me. Many others have also done this to grow corn and cassava just to survive,” Cán told the Nhân dân (People) newspaper. Cán and his wife moved half-way across the country from their home in northern border province of Cao Bang two years ago. His family is just one of many who reside in Zone 265, a makeshift residential area at the edge of the Cư M’lan Commune in Đắk Lắk Province. The zone is about 30km away from the commune centre, but it takes more than two hours on bike on trails to reach it. Roughly 100 makeshift shacks with straw and wooden poles stand next to a vast area, once a thick forest, now dotted with dry tree stumps. Most of the residents here belong to ethnic … [Read more...] about Central Highlands struggle to settle immigrants
Central highlands
Fine art exhibition features Central Highlands land, people
On display were 55 art works made from various materials such as lacquer, oil-on-canvas, silk, and acrylic.A painting by artist Nguyen Van Trung born in 1982 reflects the water shortage in Central Highlands provinces in the serious dry season in 2016.Other pieces such as “Duong ve” (The way back), “Me” (Mother) and “Hoa huong duong” (Sunflower) demonstrate the artistic spirit and talent of painters.The exhibition will run until December 14.The Central Highlands region comprises Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong provinces, with total population of about 5.64 million people and 47 ethnic groups. … [Read more...] about Fine art exhibition features Central Highlands land, people
Central Highlands forest faces continued illegal logging
Illegal logging is still rampant in the Central Highlands despite Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s order to close the forests in the Central Highlands more than a year ago. Timber found at a forest managed by Chu Pha Forestry Company According to the locals in Ea H'leo Commune in Dak Lak Province, the deforestation in the forest lands managed by Chu Pha Forestry Company is rampant and the loggers openly work during the day.Reporters of the Labourer Newspapers disguised as orchid collectors and tried to go to destroyed forest area 5km away from a forest protection post. However, they were blocked by three men. Head of Ea H'leo Forest Ranger Unit Truong Van Hong refused to send out rangers to lead them to the scene.They went around and saw a huge timber cutting site with various equipment. Ea H'leo forest rangers and the security guards of Chu Pha Company said they discovered the site last week but had been unable to clean up and transfer the timber out so they sent guards … [Read more...] about Central Highlands forest faces continued illegal logging
Police search for armed bank robber in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
Police are searching for the male suspect in a failed bank heist at an Agribank branch in the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot on Wednesday. The man fled after firing a homemade gun at a security guard, lodging the bullet in a mirror attached to a concrete column. “The robbery occurred at noon on Wednesday. A man broke into the bank, fired his gun and fled. We have pinpointed his location to a local coffee farm and are working to have him arrested,” said Major General Tran Ky Roi, police chief of Dak Lak Province. According to Nguyen Van Du, director of the Agribank branch where the attempted robbery occurred, the man had arrived at the bank at around 10:55 am on a motorbike, dressed in all black, wearing a mask over his face, and talking on a mobile phone. The bank’s executives were holding a meeting on the second floor of the building at the time. When a security guard approached the man and asked him to remove his mask before entering bank, the man … [Read more...] about Police search for armed bank robber in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
Official defends central highlands bauxite mines
Despite pubic concerns, Tan Rai and Nhan Co. bauxite projects in the central highlands region are necessary for the development of Vietnam’s aluminium industry, one official said. Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang The projects had been carefully considered before assigning them to the state-owned company Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinashin), said Vu Huy Hoang, Minister of Industry and Trade. According to Hoang, Vietnam is estimated to have bauxite reserves of between 10 and 11 billion tonnes, mainly located in the central highlands region. Annual demand for aluminium has increased considerably in recent years, and is expected to be 750,000 to one million tonnes by 2020 and between 1.6 and 2 million tonnes by 2030. “Currently, Vietnam has to import all aluminium for local production, so these two bauxite projects are of great importance,” Hoang emphasised. He attributed the stagnation of the … [Read more...] about Official defends central highlands bauxite mines