Unchecked emissions will continue to grow, study says

HA NOI — Total emissions from four-stroke engines will continue to grow because of poor maintenance and the spike in numbers of people behind the wheel, a study released last Thursday said.
Motorcycle Check made the announcement based on their 2006 vehicle study that discovered only 41 per cent of inspected motorbikes met requirements of emission standards.
But inspected motorbikes make up a small portion of those on the road, the study found, making air pollution a more difficult problem to solve, since around half of the capital’s residents own a motorbike.
The six-day programme, which was conducted from November 25-30, 2006, was a co-operative effort between Ha Noi’s Natural Resource and Environment Department, the World Bank and the Swiss-Vietnamese Clean Air Programme which aimed to further pollution prevention efforts in the capital and outlying districts.
It’s estimated that for Ha Noi’s 3 million plus people, there are about 1.5 million motorcycles currently on the roads, turning the capital into a breeding ground of noise and smog pollution.
During the study, technicians from the Ha Noi University of Technology measured the pollutant emission of 1,675 motorbikes in three locations. The technicians offered drivers advice on how to keep their emissions down, like maintaining the proper speed, which also conserves petrol and prolongs engine life.
The results collected from the study will be further used to create a database which aims to control the city’s transportation.
Organisers also hope the programme will help inspire drivers to take an active part in improving air quality in Ha Noi. — VNS

Sacom to issue 17 million shares

HA NOI — The Cable and Telecommunications Materials Co (Sacom) will issue an additional 17 million shares in a move to finance the company’s business diversification strategy.
Sacom said it would pour capital into a joint venture to produce cable and into construction of a five-star resort and high-rise office buildings, as well as contribute capital to the Cambodia-based PCP Telecom Co and Taihan-Sacom Co.
Shares at a face value of VND10,000 each would be offered to existing shareholders at VND20,000 while it expected the shares to fetch at least VND150,000 when sold to strategic investors.
Sacom has attained a growth rate of more than 84 per cent in the past two years. With profits of nearly VND204 billion (US$12.75 million) last year, the company has paid an average dividend of 16 per cent during this period.
With charter capital of VND374 billion ($23.4 million), Sacom holds stakes in such companies as the Sai Gon Cable Joint Stock Co, the Sam Thinh Packing Co, the Sam Cuong Telecom and Electronic Materials Co, and the Sam Phu Plastics Co.
According to Sacom statistics, 75 per cent of the company’s products are bought up by the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT). The company was expanding its market, however, by providing products to five other telecommunications enterprises in both domestic and regional markets.
Sacom shares traded last Friday at VND183,000, down a per cent from the previous session, at the HCM City Securities Trading Centre. — VNS

3 given prison sentences after pleaing guilty to slander, libel

HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Court yesterday handed down imprisonment sentences to three defendants for disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, in accordance with Article 88 of the Criminal Code.
Le Nguyen Sang, 48; Nguyen Bac Truyen, 39; and Huynh Nguyen Dao, 39, are sentenced to five, four and three years in prison, respectively, and then will be put under probation for two years after completing their jail terms.
The court said the defendants, on circulating distorted information on Party and Government policies, had sparked political instability.
The defendants pleaded guilty and showed their repentance, rescinding their statements, which resulted from incitement by hostile forces to violate the law.
According to the prosecutors’ statement, the three defendants became acquainted with Vietnamese-American Do Thanh Cong (aka Do Cong Thanh) in 2004-2005 through an internet club that Thanh had set up. They later joined the so-called "People’s Democratic Party". Under Thanh’s instruction, the trio printed and spread thousands of leaflets with distorted information about the Vietnamese Party and State.

Two Vietnamese jailed for anti-State smear campaign

HA NOI — Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan were sentenced to five years and four years in prison, respectively, for "disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam," violating Article 88 of the 1999 Criminal Code.
Dai, 38, will also serve four years of probation, and Nhan, three years, following their release, the Ha Noi People’s Court ruled.
According to the indictment handed down by the Ha Noi People’s Procuracy, Dai and Nhan had, from 2006 to the day they were arrested, used the Thien An Lawyers office run by Dai to draft, archive, and circulate documents biased against the Vietnamese State.
Dai was also found to have held courses through which he spread libellous and distorted news against the State and through which he recruited members for illegal organisations established by anti-Government elements, including groups so-called 21st Century Democracy Party, Viet Nam Progress Party and Block 8406.
The court also found that Dai and Nhan had done a great deal of harm to national security and to the accomplishments the entire nation has attained through hardship and war. Their behaviour degraded the prestige of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the socialist regime, the court concluded.
Attorneys Tran Lam from the Hai Phong Bar Association and Dam Van Hieu of the Ha Noi Bar Association who defended Dai and Nhan failed to present the court with any convincing new evidence.

People’s Court gives slander offender 5 years in prison

HCM CITY — HCM City’s People’s Court doled out a five-year prison sentence to a 42-year-old resident for disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the State of Viet Nam, on May 15.
The court also ordered that Tran Quoc Hien, a HCM City resident, would also be placed under probation for two years following his release from prison.
Hien pleaded guilty, showing remorse and pledging to split from reactionary groups such as Bloc 8406, of which he was a member from July, 2006.
The court heard that Hien was also a member of the so-called "Viet Nam Workers-Farmers Alliance," which was founded by overseas extremists and issued a joint statement announcing the opening of the organisation’s representative office in HCM City.
The announcement contained fabricated and distorted information against Viet Nam and called on the public to hold general strikes and riots against the state. — VNS

Police get 1,200 convictions in major narcotics crackdown

HA NOI — Authorities discovered over 800 drug-related crimes and punished nearly 1,200 people between April 15 and May 18.
In total the anti-drug force, police, border guards and air security seized 20kg of heroin, 2,100 heroin doses, 4.5kg of opium and 3,500 amphetamine tablets from drug smugglers and dealers during the period.
The Security Ministry’s anti-drug force, in co-operation with the police and border guards of Nghe An and Ha Tinh central provinces, arrested Lao citizens smuggling 19 heroin batches weighing 6.65kg in Son Kim Commune, Ha Tinh Province’s Huong Son District. Furthermore police and border guards of Quang Ninh southern province caught another two people and seized 7.15kg heroin in 21 batches, .
In another development, the HCM City Police Department arrested Nguyen Tuan Khanh, 48, and another seven people in District 2 with 3,016 stimulant tablets and 63.61gr of Ice.
As part of the operation, the Hai Ba Trung District’s police of Ha Noi caught eight people red-handed with 200 stimulant tablets and the Noi Bai Airport security force arrested one person attempting to smuggle 200 amphetamine tablets.— VNS

HCM City court sentences four drug dealers to death

HCM CITY — The mighty hand of the law came crashing down on Monday as the HCM City People’s Court handed down four death penalties and one life imprisonment sentence to convicted drug dealers.
A total of 21 defendants were tried for producing and trafficking drugs.
The death penalties were slapped on Le Van Tien, 48, a resident of An Giang and head of the trafficking ring; Nguyen Thi Kim Tuyet, a 31-year-old resident of HCM City’s District 1; Tran Van Quynh, 47, a resident of HCM City’s Binh Tan District; and Nguyen Van Tien, 42, a resident of Binh Tan District.
The four condemned to die are charged with trafficking from 3.4 kg to 5.2 kg of ecstasy each.
Truong Hoang Bao Son, a 31-year-old resident of HCM City’s District 8, was sentenced to life in jail.
Another 17 defendants were sentenced to between five years to 18 years imprisonment.
Between July and December 2003, the ring led by Tien produced and sold more than 11,000 pills of ecstasy, 700 grams of Methamphetamines, 600 grams of Ketamin and 600 grams of other drugs.
In HCM City, these drugs were sold at restaurants, bars, hotels, discos, and cafes.