Environment and natural resources
What does Binh Thuan want: thermal power or a marine-protected area?
Five thermal power projects have been developed in Binh Thuan province, raising serious concerns about pollution, as the plants are located near marine protected area. Binh Thuan has emerged as a province which attracts many industrial projects, especially thermal power ones. The Vinh Tan Power ...
Last chance to see: paddling through time on the Mekong
Humility is a rare commodity in the era of the smartphone, selfies and carefully–coiffed digital personas. Gratitude, too, is unusual in the modern world where a sense of entitlement seems all pervasive. Despite most of us being aware enough to acknowledge that all human beings ...
President pledges to encourage investment to Myanmar
President Trần Đại Quang pledged that Việt Nam will encourage its business community to invest in Myanmar, especially in agriculture, fish farming, mining and tourism. At a meeting with visiting Myanmar Minister of Home Affairs Kyaw Swe in Hà Nội yesterday, the President said that Việt ...
VN Gov’t wants energy-efficient buildings
Việt Nam is going through a construction boom, with apartment and office buildings mushrooming, and energy efficiency is imperative, Nguyễn Công Thịnh, head of the Ministry of Construction’s science, technology and environment department, told a seminar in HCM City on December 5. “The ministry would like ...
Noise – the hidden killer in HCM City
Tens of millions of Saigonese not only suffer from the effects of waste water, hazardous waste and emissions, but also from noise. Medical experts say that noise has damaging effects – physiological, psychological and social. Physiologically, when noise exceeds acceptable levels, noise can cause ear injury ...
New funding programme to help improve ecosystems in Borikhamxay
The Wildlife Conservation Society Laos Programme will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to protect and conserve the unique and important species, habitats, and ecosystems in Borikhamxay province. An agreement on the Integrated Ecosystem and Wildlife Management Programme Phase 3 was signed ...
Hydropower in the Mekong: an alternative approach
Laos needs to rethink its aggressive hydropower plans as new markets and technologies create an opportunity to change course. A report published in September by the Stimson Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, challenges prevailing notions about the future of hydropower in the Mekong subregion, an ...
Hạ Long cement factory causing pollution
Many households in northern Quảng Ninh Province’s Hoành Bồ District have been forced to live with smoke and cement dust discharged from Hạ Long Cement Factory for years. This has seriously affected the lives of local residents and their cultivation activities. In the meantime, local ...
Carrying a stranger’s child through an uncertain time
Ly Raksmey left her home in the heart of the country’s rice bowl in January and headed to a hospital on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The 34-year-old stayed there several nights, in a facility that was better and cleaner than any hospital she had ...
The risks of diverting water
Thuong Kon Tum dam, which is built in the Dak Snghe River watershed, is one of the biggest hydropower projects in the basin of the Se San river. The effect of the dam is still questionable but it raises concerns about environmental impacts as the ...
