Hon Cau in May, the sea water is clear and blue, each wave is gently lapping against the sand. The southern monsoon season, which lasts from May to October, is also the breeding season for turtles. Hon Cau Marine Reserve is located on a corner of the island, standing here, you can hear the whispers of the waves, the wind and the sea caressing the white sand slopes. Ms. Luu Yen Phi is the only female employee of the Nature Reserve. Hon Cau Sea For many years, she and her brothers and sisters in the group participated in the work of the patrol team to prevent boats from fishing in the reserve. She shared: “In the breeding season, turtles will come up to lay eggs. There are 4-5 turtles on the island or up, so the brothers will divide to watch turtles to avoid people coming to catch them. Turtle eggs will be brought to the beaches. Incubate and observe. From 45 to 60 days, the baby turtles will hatch and be released into the sea.” Being a “midwife” for turtles is a job that needs a lot of love and enthusiasm. The first time from the mainland to the island, Ms. Phi was also “stunned” by the waves crashing on the side of the boat, or her skin was also darkened by the sun and wind of Hon Cau. But for a long time without going to the sea, she felt very “uncomfortable”. Because the smell of the sun, the wind, the passionate smell of Hon Cau sea has created an inseparable taste of life in her. Being a girl, participating in conservation work is somewhat more difficult. There are days when she is on duty on the island, she is alone and walking on the way from the station to the turtle spawning ground at 1 or 2 am. Where there is so much love yêu There are evenings, the whole team like “holding their breath” when following the turtle’s footsteps. The brothers waited for the turtles to lay their eggs and then brought the eggs back to the incubator. During the day, everyone will come together to clean up the trash and clean the sea. Yen Phi confided: “ Every time I go to the island, I feel happy and familiar. Those who buy rough seas, I don’t go to the island, I miss them very much. Unlike the mainland, the “house” on the island is just enough for basic living, eating and resting, not too comfortable. But it is the place to pack so many memories of my years here. The brothers also split up to cook and support each other.” The members of Hon Cau Marine Protected Area all have a lot of love for the sea and for the gentle turtles. “Here, people can live in harmony with nature. The process of caring for and taking care of turtles is also an emotional journey. Around 45 -60 days, when the turtle eggs are about to hatch, cracks will appear on the ground. . I have to gently use medical gloves to put the turtle in the basket. When it reaches adulthood, it will return to the place it was born to continue to reproduce.” Phi said more. Rescue journeys The reason why the group has to maintain the garbage collection at the beach is because there have been many cases of turtles swallowing plastic bags. When in the sea, plastic bags are shaped like strength, so turtles will choke if they eat them. Phi once witnessed turtles eat the wrong straw when pulling out a lot of blood. Or there are days when turtles get caught in fisherman’s nets and are transported to pubs, the group has to rush to “rescue”. She said: “ When I received news that turtles were being sold to pubs, I had to get there as quickly as possible to lobby them to release them. After receiving the turtle, the group will bring it back to the sea to release. For many years, people have been trying to do propaganda to people about the conservation of sea turtles.” Occasionally, the center receives cases of turtles being kept in freshwater for a long time by people. When the issue of conservation of sea turtles became known to many people, they automatically handed over the turtles. Phi shared: “I couldn’t release them into the sea, because they had lost their wild instincts and couldn’t hunt. The group had to release them into a big lake, bring salt water back to the turtles to get used to the salinity every day, and at the same time train them instincts. Depending on the case, from 3 to 6 months or 1 year, we can release them back to the sea.” Volunteers come to Hon Cau island every year There are more heartbreaking cases than when I saw a turtle eating the wrong straw, when I pulled the straw out, I lost a lot of blood. Turtles hitting explosives washed up on the beach, which were not intact or were butchered by people on boats and washed ashore. Experiencing difficulties, hardships and “suffocating” rescue journeys, but Phi and her teammates still maintain this work with enthusiasm. “In order for my children and grandchildren to know what turtles are like in the future. I don’t want them to only know “sea turtles” through books. “, she confided. Before accepting the interview with SAOStar, Phi was also embarrassed many times because “what I do is too small compared to the brothers”. However, we still believe that Phi and her silent dedication have also sketched a beautiful picture of Hon Cau sea, where a team to rescue and protect sea turtles is working day and night with all their heart. .

Visitors to Tuan Chau international cruise ship port, Ha Long city enjoy many incentives. The family does not have to buy tickets to visit locations on Ha Long Bay, but only costs train tickets for 150,000 VND / person (grouping). According to the Yen Tu National Forest and Monuments Management Board, admission tickets are free of charge. The number of visitors in recent days has gradually recovered. Some tour companies bring tourists to spiritual tourism, to worship Buddha. Talking with VietNamNet, Director of Quang Ninh Tourism Department Pham Ngoc Thuy said that although the number of visitors showed signs of prosperity, it was not as expected. “Most tourists flock to the hot and sunny southern regions to bathe in the sea like Nha Trang and Da Nang. Quang Ninh has not been able to swim because the weather is still cold, it rains a lot”, Mr. Thuy said. Recently, Quang Ninh province has decided to reduce 100% of the entrance fee for tourists in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh Museum and Yen Tu scenic spot. This promotion applies on major holidays from now to early May, including: Hung Vuong’s death anniversary (April 21), the liberation day of the mines April 25, and especially the holidays April 30 – 1 / 5. In addition to a 100% discount on toll tickets at 3 popular tourist destinations on major holidays, Quang Ninh will reduce the above fare by 50% for the rest of the year. Some photos of tourists in Quang Ninh today: A group of young tourists visit Quang Ninh Museum From early morning, many people came to Tuan Chau island campus to have fun Tuan Chau port terminal Tourists go with the family Some bring food to keep costs down Visitors are free to visit Ha Long Bay, only have to buy train tickets The number of passengers is not large, so only a few ships leave Most visitors go in the group type Kayaking still attracts visitors

The scene of the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) in 2020. Photo: Hien Chi

2 content indexes change positively

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam said: “The study of PAPI 2020 report is the performance of the local government in two terms (2011-2016 and 2016-2021), properly published. at a time when the Government begins a new term. This helps to provide in-depth data on people’s experiences in interacting with the government apparatus at all levels in 63 provinces and cities. Not only that, PAPI is also an important measure for provinces and cities to review and further improve their performance in eight areas of governance and public administration ”.

According to the published results, 2 content indexes changed positively, including: “Control of corruption in the public sector”, “public administrative procedures”. Specifically, in the content index of “controlling corruption in the public sector”, 18 provinces and cities have made significant progress compared to the results in 2019 (6 provinces and cities significantly decreased compared to 2019). .

Out of 16 provinces and cities with the highest score, there are 7 provinces in the South, 5 provinces in the Central and 4 provinces in the North. The remarkable point is that the people’s perceptions of some manifestations of corruption tend to be good when many people think that it is not “paved the way” to apply to work in state agencies. “The content sector index score for” controlling corruption in the public sector “in 2020 reached its highest level in 10 years. This result partly reflects the impact of the anti-corruption campaign in Vietnam from 2016 to present ”, said Dr. Dang Hoang Giang (PAPI Research Group).

As for the content index “public administrative procedures”, among the 16 leading provinces and cities, there are 9 localities in the North. Most localities improve communal administrative services compared to previous years. In addition, the scores of the 3 content indicators: “People’s participation at the grassroots level”, “public service provision”, and “environmental governance” decreased slightly compared to the results in 2019. Meanwhile , 2 content indicators tended to slow down, including: “Openness, transparency”, “accountability to the people”.

In 2020, PAPI was surveyed from 14,732 Vietnamese citizens randomly selected across all 63 provinces and cities. PAPI 2020 continues to include 8 content indicators: People’s participation at grassroots level; transparency; accountability to people; control of corruption in the public sector; public administrative procedures; providing public services; environmental governance; electronic management.

Hanoi achieves the target of 5-step increase

The total number of PAPI scores in 2020 of Hanoi City is 41,629 / 80 points. In which, the index “participation of people at the grassroots level” reached 5.059 / 10 points; “Openness and transparency in decision making” reached 5,244 / 10 points; “Accountability to the people” reached 4,812 / 10 points; “Control of corruption in the public sector” reached 6,598 / 10 points. In addition, the indexes: “Public administrative procedures” reached 7,169 / 10 points; “Public service provision” reaches 6.87 / 10 points; “Environmental governance” reached 2,959 / 10 points; “Electronic management” reached 2,918 / 10 points.

Among the 7 out of 8 content indexes that the PAPI study compared with 2019, Hanoi has 4 content indexes that have improved, 3 content indexes “stalled” and no content indexes decreased. reducing and improving 5 levels compared to 2019 – achieving the target of increasing at least 5 steps set out in the Plan No. 122 / KH-UBND dated 11-6-2020 of the Hanoi People’s Committee on “ , improving the Hanoi City’s Public Administration and Public Administration Performance Index by 2020 ”.

It is the result of the city’s determination and concrete work to improve the PAPI Index. Typically, in 2020, the city organized a seminar “Solutions to improve PAPI Index of Hanoi” to share information on PAPI Index to communes, wards and towns. Although the total score of Hanoi increased compared to 2019, but still in the group of provinces and cities with the lowest PAPI composite score, ranked 48/63 provinces and cities.

From an expert perspective, UNDP Viet Nam public policy expert Do Thanh Huyen highly appreciated the interest and practice of Hanoi city in recent times. Analyzing more closely, Ms. Do Thanh Huyen said that Hanoi also has its own “burdens” (large population; many immigrants; many central agencies located in the area …), so there will be many higher demands. on public administrative services. Therefore, the city governments at all levels need to look at the weaknesses, evaluate each specific criterion where to improve, not necessarily how much to rank.