Aussies give $500,000 for Delta flood relief

HCM CITY —

The Red Cross will provide assistance to 42,000 people who have been affected by the worst flooding in the delta in more than a decade.

Since the end of September, floods in the delta ravaged seven provinces — An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Can Tho, Vinh Long, Hau Giang, and Kien Giang – causing severe damage and losses.

According to the Viet Nam Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control, by mid-November the floods had affected 153,744 houses and 1,000 schools, killed 85 people, including 72 children under the age of 16, and destroyed 10,861 hectares of rice.

DA NANG — The Police Anti-Crime Department under the Ministry of Public Security opened a DNA testing centre on Thursday in central Da Nang City to facilitate testing activities in central and Central Highlands provinces.

This is the third centre of its kind in Viet Nam, with the two other located in Ha Noi and HCM City.

The centre cost over VND40 billion (US$2 billion) to develop and covers an area of about 6,000 sq.m. It has modern equipment and facilities imported from the US and the UK.

In addition to serving police investigations, the centre will also provide services to residents and organisations.

It will also collect, analyse and store genetic samples for the national criminal database.

DAK LAK — The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has closed down six forest product processing factories which operated within or near the forest in Ea Sup and Buon Don districts.

According to the local authority, the presence of these factories within or near the forest had added to the increased number of cases of illegal forest exploitation.

So far this year, there have been 1,700 cases of illegal deforestation in the province, including sales of wood and forest products.

According to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are currently more than 551 forest product processing factories in the province, but only 51 per cent have operating licences. — VNS