Vietnam’s national university complex needs more security

Vietnam’s national university complex needs more security

Students walk to school at the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City’s campus in Thu Duc District. Stakeholders suggest ways to meet the challenge of policing the massive area of Ho Chi Minh City’s major campus.

The Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) campus needs better security because of rising crime levels in the area. Nguyen Duc Nghia, deputy director of VNU-HCM told a recent seminar that during the last six months, the university management and local police had cooperated without much success to prevent crimes such as violence and theft that regularly occurred in the complex. The seminar titled “Security and Social Safety for Students in the VNUHCM University Complex” was organized late last month by VNUHCM management, police of HCMC’s Thu Duc District and adjacent Binh Duong Province’s Di An District where the campus is situated. Nghia said VNU-HCM did not have adequate security forces to control the vast 644 hectare campus lying between HCMC and Binh Duong. The major part of the complex - 544 hectares - is in Binh Duong Province. Lieutenant-colonel Tran Nhut Hieu, deputy head of Di An District’s police department in Binh Duong Province, said bag snatching incidents had increased there recently in crowded areas. Hieu added that motorbike thieves had also started operating in the area. “In only five seconds, thieves could unlock a motorbike and get away,” he said. According to Trinh Tan Hoai, an official from the VNU-HCM National Defense Education Center, the complex was a favorite venue for criminals when they were released from prison. Residents won’t move The management board of the VNU-HCM complex construction project said security was also needed to stop the encroachment of residents and businesses on campus land. The university complex hosts about 20,000 students from almost all localities nationwide. Nearly 8,500 live in the complex in dormitories and rented rooms, while the rest live in the city, roughly 20 kilometers away, and commute daily. Many families currently living in the area have refused to move, claiming that the resettlement compensation is too low. But according to the project management board, most families living in the areas near the universities earn around VND10 million (US$604) a month by providing services to students, and they do not want to lose that income. In many parts of the complex, residents have illegally built makeshift stores and houses for rent. For example, in a 5.4-hectare land lot belonging to the International University which is now under construction, about 24 households had illegally built houses to rent. In another land lot owned by the Coffee Vocational School in Tan Lap Hamlet, families have built stores and houses for rent in a 0.7 hectare area. In front of the University of Natural Sciences, an unregistered foreign language center was built and started operation while people dumped trash on land belonging to Germany-Vietnam University. Nguyen Khac Canh, head of VNUHCM department of political and students’ affairs, said that VNU-HCM had known about the security problems for years but there weren’t enough guards to patrol the areas outside the actual schools. VNU-HCM deputy head Nghia said local police had done little to help because they were cautious about encroaching on the campus’ jurisdiction. Tran Nam, head of the Students’ Association under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said the police and local authorities were too far away from the campus to be able to respond quickly. Stakeholders discuss solutions At the seminar, member schools proposed that VNU-HCMC set up security stations manned with students and local police. Canh said VNU-HCM would allot some VND2 billion (around $120,000) in support of security maintenance. Lieutenant-colonel Pham Van Sum, deputy head of Thu Duc District’s police department, said his department would consider forming a new taskforce with the support of policemen and construction inspectors to improve security and prevent people from encroaching on land. A range of measures to make the campus safer were suggested, including: crime awareness classes, a security hotline, a blacklist of dangerous places on campus and name cards for students, teachers and staff to wear. In addition, the VNU-HCM management was responding to student complaints by cooperating with local urban management agencies and police to install signs banning container trucks over five tons from the complex. VNU-HCM includes six school affiliates – the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the University of Natural Sciences, the University of Technology, the University of Information Technology, the International University and the Faculty of Economics, among other research institutes and facilities. Besides VNU-HCM member schools, the complex also hosts other universities including the universities of security, and agriculture and forestry. In 2003, the government approved a VND6.8 trillion (now $411 million) mega construction project to build the university campus by 2013. To date, only 80 percent of the designated land has been cleared, delaying the construction. Source: TT, Agencies