600 workplace deaths in one year
The Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour yesterday said there had been 541 workplace accidents and 600 workplace death in the country from early 2009 to January 15.
HCM City tops the list of localities with the most fatalities, including 124 cases, followed by Ha Noi with 32 and Dong Nai with 31. Most accidents were in coal and mineral resources exploitation, and in transportation and construction sectors.
Poor working conditions and the failure of private companies to follow safety rules were the main causes of the accidents.
LAO DONG (Labour)
Authorities rapped for land misuse
The Party Central Committee’s Secretariat has issued a warning to Truong Ngoc Han and Vo Trong Nghia, chairman and deputy chairman of Dong Thap Province People’s Committee, for violations relating to land management. Inspection results by the Inspection Commission concluded that Dong Thap authorities had rented to An Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company and civil servants a total of 48.86ha of land for tra fish breeding without following a bidding process.
TUOI TRE (Youth)
Airport customs seize undeclared dollars
Customs officers at HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport on Wednesday seized US$46,000 from Canadian national Pham Vinh Ngoc and Vietnamese citizen Pham Thi Thu Trang. Viet Nam allows a visitor to bring foreign currency worth a maximum of $7,000 in cash. Any amount in excess of this limit must be declared to customs officers.
Ngoc and Trang, each carrying $30,000, did not declare the money when they went through airport customs on the flight from HCM City to Macau, and did not submit any legal documents or present permits from the State Bank of Viet Nam.
NGUOI LAO DONG (The Labourer)
Binh Duong production value increases
The industrial production value of Binh Duong Province last year reached VND87.7 trillion ($4.78 billion), an increase of 15 per cent over 2008, said the provincial Department of Industry and Trade. Revenue in the retail sector in the province last year rose 26 per cent over 2008 to VND33.9 trillion. Earnings from exports topped $6.9 billion last year, or 52.5 higher than previous year. For this year, the province expects to gain growth of 10-15 per cent for all sectors.
THOI BAO KINH TE VIET NAM (Vietnam Economic Times)
Nearly 5,000 claim unemployment benefits
Nearly 5,000 laid-off workers nationwide have applied for unemployment benefits in the first three weeks of this month, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Job Department. HCM City has received 2,500 unemployment benefit claims, accounting for 50 per cent of the total unemployment claims. Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces have received 1,000 and 200 claims. Thirty-nine applications in HCM City, 368 in Binh Duong Province and 10 in Dong Nai Province have been approved.
SAI GON GIAI PHONG (Liberated Sai Gon )