Environment and land
Bokeo province expects to reduce banana plantation sites
Authorities of Bokeo province confirmed they will not allow investors to expand areas for banana plantation projects, aiming to protect the environment and peoples’ health. According to a report from the ad hoc committee for banana farm inspection, the authorities will not allow the expansion of ...
Law on Minerals under revision
The government is revising the Law on Mining in the hope that its amendment will support sustainable development of valuable natural resources and bring the highest benefits to the nation.A workshop to learn and consult the proposed changes took place in Vientiane on Monday, which ...
Vietnam’s social media shaping new environmentalism
“I am frequently on several environmental online forums and campaigns led by Vietnamese, who have addressed Hanoi’s logging of 6,700 trees, the Thai Binh deforestation for economic development, and the construction in Cat Ba,” says Tran Thi Thuy Binh, a member of the Vietnam Forum ...
Wildlife bust nets over 600kgs
A 44-year-old driver was arrested in Prey Veng on Tuesday during a failed attempt to smuggle more than 600 kilograms of live wild animals across the border to Vietnam, but was released after promising to pay a fine at the provincial court the following day.The ...
PV Power wants strategic investors to buy shares
PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power), a subsidiary of state-owned energy giant PetroVietnam, will sell 49 per cent of its stake later this year, with priority given to strategic investors.The corporation is going ahead with the equitisation process, and its initial public offering (IPO) is planned ...
Order calls halt to hunting listed rare aquatic birds, wildlife
Authorities have warned local poachers to stop hunting aquatic animals and wildlife listed as conservation after learning a number of endangered animals are being hunted despite a poaching ban. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr Lien Thikeo issued a Ministerial Order recently to reinforce the ...
Land compensation issue remains unresolved
Although a verbal promise had been made for compensation to be paid for lands which were seized from a subsidiary of a Chinese firm Wanbao Mining, Myanmar Yang Tse is still operating the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung mines beside Letpadaung.The lands have been seized twice, between ...
New plan to boost community involvement in mining concessions
The government intends to draw up a new master plan on the mining industry in which regulations on ore processing and community participation will be tightened, according to a national policy committee.However, it remains uncertain if Akara Resources, formerly the largest gold mine operator in ...
The most neglected threat to public health in China is toxic soil
Tang Donghua, a wiry 47-year-old farmer wearing a Greenpeace T-shirt, smokes a cigarette and gesticulates towards his paddy fields in the hills of southern Hunan province. The leaves of his rice plants poke about a foot above water. Mr Tang says he expects to harvest ...
Feasibility study begins on Borikhamxay irrigation project
The Department of Irrigation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has agreed with China’s Hunan Construction Engineering Group No. 2 Company on a feasibility study of the Nam Khu irrigation project in Pakkading district, Borikhamxay province.A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Vientiane on ...
