Assembly hears more public concerns The general public has raised many concerns, mostly in Vientiane, through the National Assembly's hotline in the past week, while others said that previous problems reported to their constituency representatives had not yet been resolved. One of the issues raised was that some officials from the Vientiane Urban Development and Administration Authority had demolished advertising signs installed by business operators without informing them. The residents of Pavai village in Hadxaifong district requested the relevant sector to consider renovating the road leading from the Lao-ThaiFriendshipBridge to the southern part of the district. The road has already been levelled, but without proper surfacing it is easily damaged by trucks and local people complained that they had to endure clouds of dust. Vientiane residents proposed a live broadcast by Lao National Television throughout the period of the 4 th Session of the Sixth Legislature of the National Assembly, saying the current special programme was too short. Some callers asked to be allowed to attend the session as observers because they were very interested in the issues raised by assembly members and the process involved. Others commented that the implementation of the law was ineffective while some officials feel they can violate the laws with impunity, and requested more boxes to accommodate letters and grievances from the public. Some people raised the issue of the inappropriate use of official power, which was not in line with Party policy and the law, such as court judgments bei ng influenced by bribery. According to some, the Ministry of Education should review the inappropriate wearing of clothes and hair styles by university students and suggested that students should follow the style of dress adopted by PakpassakTechnicalSchool. Other people complain ed that vehicle owners are increasingly fitting large protective bullbars, which sometimes obscure their number plates. They urged the authorities to consider this issue rather than fining so many people for not wearing motorcycle helmets. They also complained about the time it took to issue new number plates. Potholes on Phonetong Road, Vientiane, near the radio station were causing headaches for people in the area trying to negotiate them. Nalao villagers in Vientiane's Sikhottabong district said children were playing too many video games and feared it would affect their education. The poor standard of Feuang district hospital in Vientiane province was put on record as lacking toilets, sufficient medical equipment and proper road access. Callers also proposed the government minimise tariffs or give an exemption on the import taxes charged on tractors, similar to the waiving of taxes for vehicles imported for project use. They commented that this would help to cut agricultural costs and make farm products cheaper. Residents of Xieng Khuang province asked for more money to be paid to the relatives of those who died in PiewCave when it was bombed by Americans during the Indochina War. The relatives of the dead did not know how to go about proposing the issue, as they never saw NA members coming to their communities. By Vientiane times (Latest Update December 13, 2007)
NA debates solutions to logging issues National Assembly members have been discussing misunderstandings between elements concerning amendments to the forestry law, which divide the scope of work and responsibility between two government bodies. Laos currently has no law that clarifies the differences in logging responsibilities allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, despite confusion being identified by a Prime Ministerial Decree. The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr Nam Vinhaket, highlighted this issue before members of the 6 th legislature of the National Assembly, who are debating amendments to be made to forestry law during the assembly's fourth ordinary session, opened on December 5. He said the implementation of forestry work over the past year had seen a number of conflicts as a result of these discrepancies. In previous years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was responsible for activities in wood-processing factories. Since some activities were handed over to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, however, logging inspections have been problematic, creating confusion and loopholes in the existing law. Dr Nam said that when forestry officials come to inspect logs already in transit, some workers say that business operators claim the logs are now the responsibility of the Industry and Commerce officials. But, in fact, they should have been stamped by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry before reaching this phase. On the other hand, when Industry and Commerce officials have checked logs at processing factories, they have on occasion found none of the stamps, that are necessary for forestry officials to certify that logs are not illegal, correctly marked on the wood. “In these cases, while we were processing the fines for illegal logs found in the factories, businesspeople turned around and obtained the necessary certification from forestry officials just in time,” Dr Nam said. “Instead of effective coordination between the departments, and working together to inspect logs, we suffer from poor communication and confused processes. This causes misunderstanding among our officials.” Helping each other, he claimed, would mean better results, but this would only be possible through effective coordination between sectors. According to an Assembly member for Savannakhet province and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Ty Phommasak, a Prime Ministerial Decree had identified some activities in logging management needing the control of the two bodies, while some should be the responsibility of only one. During the first day of the debate, some members argued that all activities in which the wood is labelled as a raw material – namely those that occur in the forest up until the logs' arrival in factories - should be the responsibility of forestry officials, said Dr Ty. On the other hand, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce argues that once the logs are stamped by forestry officials after being felled, they should become the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, as they are now considered a product, claims the ministry's Deputy Director General of the Import and Export Department, Mr Philavong Soulinhon. The amended law will be approved by the end of the session on December 26. BySouksakhone Vaenkeo (Latest Update December 11, 2007)
