Health officials find no addictive substance in street food Head of the Department of Food Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong yesterday said that no addictive substances have been found in street food in Hanoi. After receiving the information of street food in Hanoi containing addictive substances, the Food Administration of Vietnam asked its sub-division, the National Institute of Food Control, to take samples for testing to update the information for consumers. Following the direction, medical workers from the National Institute of Food Control have taken 15 food samples from street eateries including 5 samples of sausages, 5 samples of steak and 5 fermented pork rolls. Test result showed that no addictive substances was found in most of food samples Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong said that next time his Department would keep an eye on the matter especially health authorities in big cities to continue supervising food safety and hygiene in … [Read more...] about Social News 23/5
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SBV tells commercial banks to restrict disbursement for BOT projects
VietNamNet Bridge - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has restricted disbursement of funds to implement BOT (build, operation, transfer) transport projects. The aim is to tighten credit for BOT projects. The move has been supported by the Ministry of Transport (MOT). A MOT representative confirmed at a recent workshop on BOT project development that a large proportion of capital for BOT projects was sourced from commercial banks. Of the BOT projects under MOT control only, banks have provided VND135 trillion in loans, or 89 percent of total investment capital. Le Tuan Anh, Deputy director of the Ministry of Finance’s Investment Department, also confirmed that transport projects implemented under the mode of BOT have been relying heavily on loans from domestic commercial loans. Economists have warned that it was risky for bankers and the economy to develop transport projects with a ‘life cycle’ of 20 years and more with short-term capital provided by … [Read more...] about SBV tells commercial banks to restrict disbursement for BOT projects
Photos of tourist crying after street robbery a wake-up call for Vietnam
The woman reportedly lost her handbag, which contained her passport and all of her money, on Luong Huu Khanh Street in District 1 on Friday afternoon. She and a friend were reading a map while walking a ong the street, only a few minutes from the heart of the famous backpackers' area. Two men approached on a motorbike, grasped her bag and run. A local woman told Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper that the victim was so scared she passed out. “She couldn't stop crying. She said her money, her passport and everything were gone.” Her friend said they stayed at a friend’s in the city and were exploring the city. They reported the case to local police right after the incident. HCMC's Party secretary Dinh La Thang at a meeting Monday ordered representatives from the city police and tourism authorities to look for the tourists and apologize to them. The order was made after photos of the helpless tourist crying on the street, clearly devastated, went viral on the Internet. … [Read more...] about Photos of tourist crying after street robbery a wake-up call for Vietnam
‘Green Sunday’ campaign launched in Ho Chi Minh City
The ceremony saw the presence of Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City municipal Party Committee Dinh La Thang, officials and over 6,000 youth union members and young people living and studying in the city. Speaking at the ceremony, Secretary Thang urged people to join hands in order to protect green spaces and improve the environment. Together with other officials, he dredged rubbish and water hyacinth plants to facilitate water flow in Dua and Ong Hoa canals in Thao Dien Ward, District 2 and planted 500 trees. The campaign aims to build safe and clean environments at 48 school gates, five living quarters, 10 bus routes and 40 alleys; improve the environment of 10 waterway canals; repair power systems and water meters for 2,000 disadvantaged households; and lay telecommunication cables underground in two streets located in District 3. After the ceremony, thousands of youth union members and young people from 24 districts started work on tasks to improve the … [Read more...] about ‘Green Sunday’ campaign launched in Ho Chi Minh City
Social News 7/3
Ministry: Truck loads to be inspected before departure Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang said weighbridges will be set up at warehouses, ports and other places where goods are loaded onto trucks in a stronger move to bar overloaded trucks from the road. Figures of the Directorate for Roads showed that law enforcement agencies inspected over 430,000 vehicles and discovered over 57,000 violations from April 1 to December 31 last year, heard the ministry’s meeting on enhancing the monitoring of truck loads on Tuesday. Around 5,900 out of over 56,000 trucks inspected in the year’s first two months were found violating load limit regulations. Competent agencies detected and fined more than 1,152 oversized trucks in the period as well. However, Tran Bao Ngoc, director of the Transport Department at the ministry, said many overloaded trucks are still seen on the road at night. Authorities in some provinces have not got tough on overloaded trucks for fear of possible impact on … [Read more...] about Social News 7/3