Da Nang gets ready for the big bang

      Da Nang City has put in place a strict enforcement regimen to ensure visitors to the international fireworks competition that begins this Friday receive the best hospitality it can offer.
Authorities will beef up the crackdown on petty thefts and similar unseemly acts targeting visitors, the city mayor has said.
Hotels, restaurants, and parking lots could be shut down for good if found overcharging visitors to the Da Nang International Fireworks (DIFC) 2009 competition.
At a meeting on Friday, the city’s People’s Committee Chairman Tran Van Minh said the entire city government must be mobilized to foil any attempts to cheat.
Many authorities proposed at the meeting that any individual or organization overcharging customers be fined up to VND50 million or have their business closed.
The Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism also said it had worked with around 30 major hotels and restaurants to instruct them keep prices fixed during the two-day competition.
Teams from Australia, Spain, the Philippines, China, and Vietnam will participate in the event which is in its second year.
A department representative said several major hotels have committed not to increase their prices. But other smaller hotels have started to raise prices by up to 30 percent to meet soaring demand.
The department said 97 percent of hotels in Da Nang with around 4,300 rooms have already been booked.
The Da Nang government has also asked owners of parking lots to charge customers the regulated prices of VND1,000 for bicycles and VND2,000 for motorbikes.
The city police department said it had chalked out elaborate plans to ensure security for DIFC 2009. Preventing pickpockets would be a key task, the department said.
The entire police force would be in close touch with their colleagues from the Ministry of Public Security to keep a close watch on the competition, it added.
Sprucing up
Meanwhile, the Urban Environment Company has been working flat-out to clean up major streets in the city.
The company’s deputy director, Le Do, said it will have more garbage trucks on duty and wash major streets ahead of the competition.
The city government has also banned shoeshine boys and other hawkers from the main streets. Certain kinds of vehicles will also be barred from several streets on Friday and Saturday, city officials said.
Spectators excited
National carrier Vietnam Airlines said Saturday it would add more round-trip flights from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to Da Nang to meet soaring demand, particularly on the days the event takes place.
Hanoi tourism companies also said hundreds of passengers have registered to fly to Da Nang, adding they were expecting the number of passengers would continue to increase in coming days.
A 6,000-seat stand would also be built, city authorities said. Eight large screens would also be put across the Han River so that spectators could enjoy the light and sound of the event, they added.
“We have done our best. Everything is ready and we are just starting the countdown to the competition,” said Vo Duy Khuong, the city vice mayor.