HCMC Party chief pushes for e-toll collection Le Anh HCMC – Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee Dinh La Thang has proposed the Ministry of Transport quickly apply electronic toll collection (ETC) technology at build-operate-transfer (BOT) road projects to better control toll collections and ensure transparency. Thang made the proposal at a conference last week in HCMC on improvement of transport connectivity for the southeastern region to fuel economic growth. At the conference, representatives of HCMC’s neighboring provinces including Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An and Tay Ninh said traffic bottlenecks between the city and these provinces have put a dampener on transport and the region’s development. Tran Thanh Liem, vice chairman of Binh Duong, said roads linking HCMC and Binh Duong are often congested, especially at the Ong Dau bridge section of National Highway 13 and a 1.2-kilometer section near the Go Dua intersection. Waterway transport is chocked at Binh … [Read more...]
Social News 31/5
Transport minister clarifies misplaced-tollgate issue Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang has admitted a number of tollgates built under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) are not allocated in line with the existing regulations but stressed that this is allowed. Thang was replying to questions at the Government’s monthly media conference in Hanoi on Wednesday after the finance ministry warned that a number of BOT tollgates have been mislocated. The finance ministry’s Circular 159 sets a distance of at least 70 kilometers between two BOT tollgates but Thang said that two tollgates will be allowed in a shorter distance if they are approved by the finance ministry and the local government. An example is the tollgate near Co Chien Bridge, which was opened to traffic on May 16 to help shorten the traveling distance between the Mekong Delta provinces of Tra Vinh and Ben Tre. Thang said the tollgate is just more than 50 kilometers from the tollgate at Rach Mieu Bridge but this … [Read more...]
Social News 23/5
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...]
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...]
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...]
‘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...]
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...]
Ministry orders the replacement of managers of railway projects
The Ministry of Transport has made several adjustments to key positions in the railway sector in order to improve services. Railway sector has major personnel changes The move comes after many complaints. One anonymous source from the Ministry of Transport said that the leaders of Railway Project Management Unit (RPMU) had been passing on their responsibilities between each other because nobody wanted to made decisions. Doan Tang Ong, head of the unit, even said that he did not want this position but accepted it because he had been promoted. As a result, the Ministry of Transport asked the Vietnam Railway Authority to replace all of the unit's leaders with more capable officials. Doan Tang Ong was promoted to director of RPMU in early May. Ong was expected to replace former director Tran Van Luc, who was suspended in … [Read more...]
Fake monks still trawl southern streets
People have donned monk robes and roamed the streets of HCM City to fraudulently earn money as people continue to flock to temples and pagodas following the start of the new lunar year. Fake monks roam the streets During the Tet Holiday and First Full-moon Festival, a number of 'roaming monks' have appeared in HCM City, mostly trailing the streets of Chau Van Liem, Hai Thuong Lan Ong and around the temples on Nguyen Trai Street. Even though many people know these are not real monks, they still give them money, thinking that they are doing good deeds at the start of a new year. More beggars also appear during this time of the year to earn more money. "I know I was being tricked but I still feel sorry for them, especially when I was visiting pagodas," said Cao Thi Thuy Trinh, a local in HCM City. As thousands of people flock to Thien Hau Temple in Binh Duong Province for the First Full-moon Festival, there is also the appearance of these fake … [Read more...]
Seaport system set for major upgrade
Transport Minister Dinh La Thang has asked concerned agencies to expedite work on a major project to improve operational efficiency of the No 5 Seaport System to make it a regional entrepot in the near future. Containers about to be unloaded at the Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh The No 5 seaport system covers all the ports in HCM City and the neighbouring provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai. The project, which has already been approved by the Government, includes upgrading of the Cai Mep – Thi Vai Port in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau The aim of the project is to reduce and eventually stop the dependence on regional entrepot ports like Singapore and Hong Kong to ship Vietnamese commodities to overseas markets, Thang … [Read more...]