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Posts Tagged ‘Relevant’

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Relevant authorities found indifferent to toxic stimulants used on vegetables

In Uncategorized on January 8, 2011 at 4:03 am

Authorized organizations have showed a lack of investigation into some farmers that use pesticides and other stimulants to increase the amount and size of their farm produce.

This is the kind of artificial growth stimuli that farmers have used in spraying their vegetable crops (photo: SGGP)

Bui Si Doanh, head of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that all stimulants contain a toxic Giberellic acid, which might be poisonous for humans.


When the stimulants have penetrated deep into the plant cells, washing the vegetables, will not remove the stimulant, he said.


A recent research has revealed that the childless rate in Vietnam is 8 percent of the country’s population. One possibly reason for this, is the application of toxic chemicals, used in food production.


According to the department, there are two types of stimulants used in vegetables and fruits. One stimulant is within an acceptable level, permitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.


The other is an illegal import from China. This stimulant is brought through Tan Thanh border gate, in the northern province of Lang Son.


The contraband stimulants are packed with Chinese labels that Vietnamese farmers cannot read. The information the farmers are receiving is that this stimulants, help grow their vegetables much faster.


Each time the public raises concerns about the stimulants contained in the vegetables, the Plant Protection Department and the Ministry of Health, just collect test samples and instruct farmers not to use the chemicals.  They have not sent investigators to directly examine the sales and usage of toxic stimulants.


Mr. Bui Si Doanh said that the Plant Protection Department has been asked to investigate this issue. However, the department said that the investigation has been delayed; as new laws that regulated departments are being put into practice.


Related article:
Toxic pesticides used by vegetable farmers

Source: SGGP

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Education relevant agencies concern studying, teaching quality

In Uncategorized on October 13, 2010 at 8:05 am

The government ordered the rate of private pre-schools account for over 70 percent by 2010. Although the Ho Chi Minh City has reached half of the required number, relevant agencies face pressure in controlling studying and teaching quality.

students of Tran Khai Nguyen High School in district 5 are playing sport. It has converted from self-financing institute into state school (Photo: Ngoc Anh)

In response to the government’s appeal for social contribution to education sector, investors have opened many private facilities in the city. There are some kinds of educational institutes with different tuition fees including public schools, semi-public schools or self-financing facilities, private facilities and high quality schools.


Moreover, it takes time to check quality of these private and high quality schools. Tran Thi Ngoc Anh, head of the delegation of People’s Council, said the city should not try to increase private schools or else it would place pressure on management of studying and teaching quality.


In addition, although private facilities have contributed to reduce pressure for public ones, they didn’t enjoy tax exemption as an encouragement while tuition fee in private schools are high. High tuition fee hindered children of poor income families to continue their further schooling, said an education official.


The flip side in pre-school system in the city is that children of high income families study in public educational facilities while kids from meager income families have to learn in private institutes with high fee, said Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, head of Pre-school Department, part of the city’s Education and Training Department.


Educationists concerned training quality in senior schools since qualifying scores of students in private schools are always lower than their counterparts in state facilities. Most of students in high school come from rich families in southern provinces.


According to some educational experts, it seemed that the rich have had more choices with the plan to call for social contribution to education sector in recent years rather than the poor. Despite the sector’s special treatment towards kids of poor families like exemption of tuition fee, their kids’ studying pursuit is still a burden for them.


Tran Thien Tu, chairman of the Association of Businesses in IZ and EPZ (HBA), said it should clearly distinguish between state and private schools as the government produced self-financing schools as private facilities.


In addition, another form of schools has been produced – that is high quality institutes. Satisfactory standard facilities and teaching staff are requisites for a high quality schools as well as meet the demands of parents, according to Ta Tan, chief of district Tan Phu’s Department of Education and Training while his counterpart in district Go Vap, Dang Thanh Tuan, said each district should select a few schools to become high quality schools.


Many districts have not changed any schools into high quality facilities because it needs a roadmap to convert public schools into high quality institutes and relevant agencies have to check for a time.

The city has just assigned project to call for social contribution for education sector to a group of educational experts including some foreigners. The group has worked out three methodologies. The first will maintain the same as the current; the second is that schools will be given the decision on tuition fee which relies on its quality; the third is that only a few state facilities will not collect tuition fee while others will be converted into private institutes.

Source: SGGP

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Relevant agencies tardy in saving Dong Nai River: city mayor

In Uncategorized on July 30, 2010 at 11:18 am

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee chairman Le Hoang Quan complained at a meeting relevant agencies have been tardy to implement measures to save the Sai Gon River, stressing the river is the main water supply for 140 industrial and processing parks in the city and nearly 16 million residents.

A section of Dong Nai River in the southern province of DOng Nai’s district Vinh Cuu (Photo: Bao Uyen)

The conference, held by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on July 29, met to discuss measures to protect Sai Gon River. Pollution in the Dong Nai River, the main water source for millions of people in the southern region, was a hot topic again at a recent working session of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on the day.


Vo Quang Chau, Deputy General Director of the Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO), warned that the quality of the river’s water was deteriorating. The warning was based on statistics from regular Sai Gon and Dong Nai water tests conducted in July. Test results confirmed that water quality failed to meet the national standards and low salinity levels further complicates matters.

A representative from the center’s Drainage System Management Office told the meeting that half of city canals discharge waste into the river, worsening the situation. The dumping of industrial and household refuse and wastewater into the river has overrun it with harmful elements, including bacteria and ammonia, at levels ten times higher than regulations permit.

Moreover, recent illegal methodologies, such as to discharge untreated waste have become more difficult to detect, Environment Police complained. Most factories have secretly discharged waste underground.

In addition, the overlapped management of rivers and canals and the granting of licenses between ministries and departments made have rendered management efforts ineffective.


Mr. Quan ordered the city Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE) to set up a steering committee on water protection to manage river and canal water quality, as well as grant discharge licenses to enterprises. The committee must also closely cooperate with provincial local governments to oversee the wastewater discharges.

Nguyen Van Phuoc, deputy head of DoNRE, said they would release a list of factories that are releasing pollution into the river, threatening to impose severe penalties on violating firms. In addition, the city will build more automatic water monitoring systems along the river, as well as raise residents’ awareness of environment protection.


The city major asked the Environmental Police to work out regulations to shut down factories that have repeatedly committed violations for one to three three months or in severe cases, forever. All departments must begin implementing measures to save the dying river by September.

The 437-kilometer Dong Nai River, which supplies water to around 15 million people, originates in Lam Dong Province’s Lang Biang highlands and flows toward the East Sea through 12 provinces in the country. In 2005, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, HCMC, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Long An and Tay Ninh provinces pledged to impose harsh penalties on companies causing pollution, to force 70 percent of industrial parks to construct waste treatment systems in 2007. However, as yet, this pledge has not been fulfilled.

Source: SGGP