If Tien Lang case not handled strictly, nationwide impacts could be made

VietNamNet Bridge – High-ranking General Le Duc Anh, former Vietnamese President said he agreed with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s conclusion on the Tien Lang land revocation case but he still worried.

Hai Phong to follow PM’s decision on land protest 

PM concludes Tien Lang officials wrong in eviction

General Le Duc Anh.

On February 10, PM Nguyen Tan Dung made conclusion on the land withdrawal case in Tien Lang district, Hai Phong city. What do you think about the conclusion?

I’m very happy that the PM quickly instructed Hai Phong authorities to strictly penalize officials who committed serious mistakes in the scandal in Tien Lang district, Hai Phong city.

I used the words “serious mistakes” because they turned the cooperative relations to build the life between the administration and the citizens into the antagonistic relations.

I agree with the PM’s conclusion. Tien Lang district violated the law and I would like to say that they also broke the Constitution. Because the nature of our state is the democratic state, the state that serves the people and the people are the masters of the country.

I also applaud the PM for instructing all provinces and cities to review and address state management of land, especially land revocation under the law.

In your opinion, if this case was not quickly settled, what consequences would have been?

If this case was not settled quickly and strictly, the consequences would have been immeasurable. From the relations that the state serves the people, because of degraded officials, the relations became the antagonistic relations. That could erode the people’s trust in the leadership of the Party. If the case was not strictly handled, its impacts would have spread throughout the nation.

I can say that I’m happy for the PM’s conclusion but I’m still worried. I propose the PM to keep watch of Hai Phong’s implementation of his conclusion and instruction.

Hai Phong announces suspension of district leaders in controversial land case   Hai Phong authorities on February 11 evening announced the decisions to suspend the Tien Lang District People’s Committee chairman and deputy chairman. Le Van Hien, the district’s deputy Party chief and People’s Committee chairman, and People’s Committee deputy chairman Nguyen Van Khanh were suspended from position on Feb. 2 for ordering the January 5 land seizure.   Hai Phong leaders said they continued to investigate the case. The decisions say the two district leaders receive 15 days of suspension as from Feb. 10. Mr. Luong Huu Huyen, another People’s Committee deputy chairman of the district, is the caretaker.   Tien Lang residents welcomes PM’s conclusions Residents in Vinh Quang Commune, Tien Lang District of the Northern city of Hai Phong showed their approval of the Prime Minister’s conclusions on the coercive land confiscation case in their locality. Our correspondents in Hai Phong reported that after the mass media posted the PM’s conclusions on Friday afternoon, many residents in the Chua Tren Village of Vinh Quang Commune gathered at the veteran Nguyen Minh Vo’s house and gave comments on the conclusions. Mr. Vo, 60, said the conclusions are fair and reasonable.  “The Prime Minister’s conclusions on the case actually clear our concerns and set our mind at rest. They consolidate our confidence on the Party and the Government and reflect State leaders’ thorough care to people. We greatly thank the Prime Minister, agencies and branches for giving prompt instructions to deal with the case,” Vo said excitedly. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuc, 33, who just went home from farming work, said “we are so eager to receive this information. This joy is that of Mr. Vuon’s family and of us too.” Meanwhile, Mr. Le Huu Vung, 73, noted that the Prime Minister’s conclusions made clear that Mr. Vuon’s wrongdoings stemmed from illegal decisions issued by local authorities. “Therefore, competent agencies should take into account extenuating circumstances for Mr. Vuon and his relatives.” “At this movement, we would like to thank the Prime Minister for caring for citizens’ lives and making decisive instructions to avoid the recurrence of similar case else where, not just in Tien Lang”, said Nguyen Van Hoa. Mr. Vu Van Ba said that allowing Mr. Vuon’s family to continue renting the allocated land has significant effects, relieving many households in the commune and the whole district as well, and at the same time, consolidates people’s confidence in the Party and State’s policies. But “it is necessary to give strict punishment to activities of destroying Mr. Vuon’s property,” he said.

VGP

PM urges faster land clearance

PM urges faster land clearance

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday sent an urgent message asking the four northern provinces and cities of Ha Noi, Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Hai Phong to finish land clearance and residential resettlement for the Ha Noi-Hai Phong Highway project by the end of next month.

The message is the result of fears the project will not meet its target to be operational by 2014, due to the issue of land clearance.

Ha Noi was asked to hand out more than 60ha of land in Gia Lam and Long Bien districts, while Hung Yen Province was asked to remove telecommunications cable systems and finish building residential resettlement areas in An Thi District by the end of next month.

Hai Duong Province was asked to remove telecommunication cables and tension wires and draw up compensation policies for households awaiting removal, while Hai Phong City was asked to finish land clearance in An Lao and Duong Kinh Districts and speed up construction of a residential resettlement area in An Lao District.

Dung also asked localities to find appropriate methods to properly deal with complaints about compensation policies in order to hasten land clearance.

He urged relevant localities to adopt preventative measures against infringement cases of land clearance and asked the Ministry of Transport to work in co-operation with localities to finalise land clearance for the project. 

VNA

GOVERNMENT IN BRIEF 15/2

Vietnam joins NAM for the advancement of women

Vietnam is accelerating the implementation of legal policies on gender equality in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other international commitments.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh.

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh made this statement at the third Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the Advancement of Women which opened on February 14 in Doha, Qatar.

Delegates discussed the challenges to promoting the advancement of women, shared experiences and initiatives of dealing with difficulties, and approved the Doha Declaration and Program of Action.

The meeting affirmed NAM countries are enhancing women’s roles in every field and aimed to boost cooperation among member countries to achieve the common NAM goals.

In his speech at the meeting, Vietnamese Deputy FM Minh praised NAM members’ efforts in implementing the 2009 Guatemala Declaration and Program of Action on the Advancement of Women and welcomed the establishment of a UN Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, describing this as an impetus for promoting global gender equality.

In the context of the global economic downturn, violence and conflicts in some regions of the world, Mr Minh raised his concern about the challenges facing developing countries in boosting socio-economic development, promoting gender equality and improving the lives of women and children.

He called on NAM members to bring women’s roles in society into full play, turn the commitments adopted at this Doha meeting into specific actions, maintain a peaceful, stable and favourable environment for sustainable development and help women  contribute more to society.

Vietnamese women are now more involved in political life, and social and family affairs. Seventy eight percent of women are engaged in economic activities and nearly 25 percent of the National Assembly (NA) deputies are women

Regarding the importance of boosting regional and international cooperation for the advancement of women in the world, Deputy FM Minh said Vietnam has actively cooperated in the advancement of women and children within ASEAN including the adoption of the 2010 Hanoi Statement on Social Welfare and Development for Women and Children and the establishment of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).

Mr Minh added that, as an active NAM member, Vietnam will continue its efforts and share experience with other members to effectively implement the Doha Declaration and Program of Action.

S Africa president meets with VN union chief

The President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Dang Ngoc Tung, met with South African President Jacob Zuma on Feb. 12 in Pretoria. 

Tung was amongst other guest trade unionists attending the congress of the Presidential Council of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). 

At the meeting President Zuma said he appreciates the support the WFTU has given to South African Trade Union, particularly during the fight against Aparthied. 

On South Africa ’s relationship with Vietnam , he said he hopes both countries will consolidate and develop their friendship and step up cooperation with each other. 

The President then forwarded his regards to Vietnam ’s Party and State leaders and said he hopes to visit the country soon.

President tours rural programme pilot site

President Truong Tan Sang yesterday, Feb 14, visited historical Kim Binh Commune, chosen to pilot the new national rural programme, in the northern mountain province of Tuyen Quang's Chiem Hoa District.

Sang paid homage to war martyrs at the Kim Binh Historical Monument where late President Ho Chi Minh and other State and Party leaders used to work during the second national Party Congress in February 1951.

The congress issued the decision to rename the Labour Party of Viet Nam from the Indochinese Communist Party.

Sang visited the location to mark the 61st anniversary of the congress, also as a way to look back on services rendered by his predecessors.

He also worked with communal authorities and residents on their socio-economic development and outcomes related to the implementation of the new rural area programme.

The leader commented that despite unfavourable natural conditions, the commune had focused on high-yield mainstay plants.

He noted the locality's remarkable achievements in giving the area a new face via the construction of schools, from primary to higher levels, connecting all households to power network and building car-accessible roads.

Sang urged the commune to take more heeds on sustainable growth, commodity production and privileges for those having contributed to the resistance.

HCM City hosts Party building conference

On February 14, the HCM City Party Committee held a conference on Party-building work in 2012 with the attendance of Politburo member and Secretary of the HCM municipal Party Committee, Le Thanh Hai.

In 2011, HCM City admitted nearly 9,600 new Party members, up 15 percent over the previous year and accounting for 50 percent of young Party members aged between 18 and 30.

Nearly 775 Party organizations with around 13,000 Party members were established in non-State enterprises, while 12 out of 13 export processing zones and industrial parks also established Party cells, 69 percent of which were recognized as strong and transparent.

Party organizations in the city have improved the quality of their activities which has helped reduce the number of Party members who violate the Party regulations that stipulate they attend required regular meetings.

In 2012, HCM City will go ahead with implementing Party Central Committee resolutions and the municipal Party Committee instructions on Party-building work, training cadres and improving the quality and operational efficiency of Party organizations.

In his speech, Secretary of the HCM municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai said, those who are involved in Party building and organization must be professionally qualified and fully understand what their Party organizations have assigned them to do.

Qualified cadres should be available to fulfill all the political tasks set by Party organizations and localities.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA

PM greets Cambodian King

VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni expressed their delight to the good terms between the two neighbouring countries, as the two met in Ha Noi yesterday, Feb 14.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung welcomes Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in Ha Noi. (Photo: VNS)

The Cambodian monarch stopped in the city on his way home from an overseas tour.

Dung sent regards from himself and other top leaders of Viet Nam to the King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath.

He also expressed Viet Nam's gratitude to the Cambodian royal family and people for supporting Viet Nam in its fight for national independence in the past and in its current process of national construction.

He also congratulated Cambodia for its own huge achievements and hoped better outcomes would be reached. Both sides noted 2012 was a year of friendship during which Viet Nam and Cambodia would celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations, and vowed to do their utmost to consolidate the positive relationship.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

SOM-8 on human trafficking opens in Hanoi

VietNamNet Bridge – The eighth Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM-8) on fighting human trafficking in the Mekong sub-regional countries opened in Hanoi on February 14, drawing the participation of 150 delegates from China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Photo: VNA

United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pratibha Mehta and representatives from diplomatic agencies and international also attended the meeting along with international observers.

The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT) was adopted by the six countries in 2003 with a focus on building a regional agreement to combat human trafficking.

The two-day meeting focused on reviewing the Mekong sub-region action plan on preventing human trafficking in 2008- 2010 and discussing the plan for 2012- 2013.

Delegates discussed issues related to dialogues with other forums and the stability of COMMIT after 2013. They also proposed that the six Mekong sub-region governments sign a join statement to reaffirm their cooperation in fighting human trafficking.

In his speech, Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieutenant-General Pham Quy Ngo said that after seven years of implementation, COMMIT has helped all member countries build, issue and implement their national programmes and enforce their laws to fight human trafficking.

The countries signed a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding on bilateral cooperation related to the issue and launched preventive measures and joint communication campaigns that will provide practical benefits for each country as well as the entire region, Mr Ngo said.

Ngo, who is also Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on Fighting Human Trafficking, said Vietnam has carried out a number of actions, particularly the National Assembly’s adoption of the law to fight human trafficking and the Government’s national programmes on combating human trafficking in 2004-2010 and 2011-2015.

Vietnam has also closely worked with Cambodia, China, Laos, and Thailand as well as non-COMMIT countries in a variety of related activities in order to curb the increase of the crime, he added.

The third Inter-Ministerial Meeting (IMM-3) of the Mekong sub-regional countries on fighting human trafficking is due to take place in Hanoi on February 16 following SOM8.

VietNamNet/VOV

Salary reform plan to be submitted in April

VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Home Affairs has been coordinating with other related governmental agencies to accomplish the Proposal on Salary Reform to submit at the fifth Meeting of the Communist Party of the Central Committee of Vietnam by April. 

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Tran Anh Tuan revealed that the mechanism for increased income for public administrative agencies, would be renewed to boost the working effectiveness and living standard for employees. This is a new point in the proposal. 

The press conference on the proposal was held on February 9th. 

“The mechanism on finance and service cost for public administrative system would boost the development of the employees in the system. However, the system has been dealing with numerous issues such as hospital charges and school fees related directly to the nation wide people. If the attitude of the society about the finance mechanism is unchanged, it is difficult to raise the salary in the public administrative system,” said Cuong – Director General of Department of Salary of the Ministry.  

Currently, employees in the public administrative system are still receiving the salary from state budget. In the future, the State will contract with such agencies about the salary sources and stop providing the salary budge, said Cuong. 

The Ministry of Finance will draft a separate plan on this finance mechanism. Other related ministries such as education, health, and culture will join in with the Ministry of Finance in drawing a roadmap for their own public administrative agencies. 

Many conferences and workshops on this proposal have been organized and received a lot of recommendations from specialists. Many opinions agreed that the salary level of civil servants remained too low. 

At the workshop on salary reform for the period of 2013 – 2020 held on December 20th in Ho Chi Minh City, three plans on salary were discussed: equal to the minimum salary of urban business sector (2 million dong per month), as of the average level of the minimum salary of business sector (1.680 million dong per month), or based on fundamental requirements of administrative employees (3.150 million dong per month). 

The monitoring board of the proposal will continue to study and learn from all recommendations and comments of leaders, managers, scientists, and other specialists to draw a specific and detailed proposal in order to help the administrative employees to be able to live by their salary by 2020. 

Chung Hoang