Madeira News Blog

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … one of those ugly looking digital information displays that are popping up in Funchal. I wasn’t that keen to publish it, but one of today’s articles about political propaganda made it seem more appropriate.

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 24/3/2009

Main headline : ‘Unemployment Beats All The Records’ : Officially the number now is 10,789 after 857 new cases were added in February, 22.8% up on the same month last year. It is the highest number since records began 39 years ago. 27% of the unemployed have come from the construction industry, 23% from service industries, 21% from hotels and tourism, and 17% from trade and commerce. According to official figures, released yesterday by the Office of Employment and Vocational Training, Madeira registered the largest monthly increase in all the regions of Portugal, with over 8.6% compared to January. At present there are only 146 job vacancies available. Experts say we are only at the beginning of the crisis, and that we can expect worse for another year or two.

The official reason for the situation here is “financial strangulation” by the Government of the Republic. It doesn’t say who said that, but I am not struggling to imagine who might have said it.

A serious car accident left 6 people injured in São Roque on Monday night. A child of 9 years remains in intensive care, along with two adults under observation, who may need surgery. More than ten fireman from Funchal attended the scene to free the passengers, after the car lost control and hit a wall, and then hit a pedestrian, before hitting a parked car. 

A company from Caniçal continues to persist with the illegal exploration / extraction of stone, even though the local council (câmara) confirmed that they have no licence to do so. The activity is taking place in sítio de Entre Águas. At the scene of the illegal activity, one journalist was threatened with an attack, and then prevented from leaving the site by having his car blocked in. Police were involved and two individuals are being investigated.

The health centre in Estreito do Câmara de Lobos is having big problems, with a medical staff of just three, when it actually needs another 20. Local users, especially the elderly, get up during the early hours just to have to wait hours to get a prescription. The main photo from the front page shows 7 people waiting for the centre to open, seemingly just after daybreak, another had more like 20 in the outdoor ‘queue’. A lady of 68 said she had been waiting there since 5am, another patient said they had waited 4 hours before being told they couldn’t be seen, and then had to come back. The region of Câmara de Lobos has a population of around 40 thousand, but it is estimated that more than half of these do not have a family doctor. I think this is recycled news from a few months ago, but a now worsened situation after the recent death of a doctor. I wonder what it is like when the doors open in the morning, as queueing systems rarely exist here, so is it the fittest and fastest who actually get seen first?

The battle of the political placards and posters is well underway in downtown Funchal, in defiance of the regulations of CMF (Funchal Council). The first organisation to breach the rules was actually CMF itself, but they have now removed their material. The PCP have now put theirs up, despite having signed up to the cross-party agreement to control political propaganda in the historic city centre of Funchal. CMF have also allegedly been using the ugly electronic screens (today’s photo) to broadcast PSD pre-election messages, even though it seems that the regulations prohibit anything more than 45 days before an election (the European elections are in June). Does anyone actually think if there was no posters, no election campaign, just absolute silence for the whole of 2009, that there would be any difference to the absolute outcomes or even the size of the parties majorities?  I feel sorry for those of you in Funchal who have to put up with this nonsense much longer and intensely than we get out in the sticks!

The under 21 football squad of Portugal arrived here on Monday, for the 13th ‘International Tournament of Madeira’, which involves games and training in both Barreiros (Marítimo stadium) and Choupana (Nacional stadium). Orlando Sá, a player from Sporting Braga, is the spokesman for the team, and guarantees “The expectations of the team for this tournament are the highest”. “Last year we won and this year we want to repeat the feat, doing, if possible, even better. We want to win – that is the spirit of the entire group.” The Tournament of Madeira serves to prepare for other challenges of greater importance, namely the International Tournament in Toulon and the qualification phase for the European Under 21 Championship in Denmark in 2011. They will play 3 games against Cabo Verde (last night), a Madeira team, and Finland. In last nights games the scores were Portugal 2 Cabo Verde 0, and Madeira 0 Finland 1 (but I am not 100% sure of the latter result, as I can’t yet find confirmation).

Other News :

Last year saw 31 new cases of Tuberculosis on Madeira, well up from just two in 2006, but still one of the lowest incident rates in Portugal, and half the national average. Doctors are looking at new ways to deal with cases of a multi-resistant strain. Successful treatment is given in over 92% of cases.

A military exercise started on Monday on Porto Santo, with around 130 army personnel involved. Operation ‘Dolphin’, despite circulating rumours, was not undertaken to recover lost golf balls from the Madeira Open Golf Tournament.

‘Jardim da Serra goes forward with a revolution in the cultivation of cherries’. In 2008, it was announced to all of Madeira the intention to revolutionize the method of cherry cultivation, and right now and as a result, there is a ‘cherry blossom spectacle’, that should last at least until the end of this week. Numerous farmers and workers have attended training courses to learn new techniques for pruning and grafting, a small step towards the modernisation of production. It is now a matter of ‘wait and see’ if the usual 200 tonnes of cherries crop will be improved on with the new techniques. Anyone going don’t forget to send me a photo (pretty please).

It turns out that our visitor, Jaime Gama, president of the assembly of the republic, who was meeting with the politicians of Madeira over the last few days, was playing coy and softly softly for a very good reason. He wants to be the next President of the Republic. The PS (socialist) politician does not want any hostile regions under his administration, and so has been nice to everyone, including President Jardim. That is the opinion given in the Diário anyway, but there doesn’t appear to be anything official about it.

Following on from yesterday’s blog about the lack of space in Funchal docks, the Diário says that Funchal lost thousands in revenue because it has a small port, and cannot accommodate four or five cruise ships simultaneously. Full capacity (4) is already predicted for 18 days this year, but there is no strategy to deal with the extra-sized and extra 52% in cruise ship traffic that has grown since 2000. 14th April will see 6 cruise ships arrive, and 5 are expected on 4 dates, with 8 so far at new year. As well as the €4,000 revenue lost from the ‘Thomson Celebration’ (which can be as high as €10,000, depending on size factors), 1,100 tourists did not get to spend any money here, and 330 joining or leaving passengers had to be boarded or taken-off by lifeboat. No mention of the disappointment for 1,100 passengers, which I would think was quite importa
nt too!

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Just adding to yesterday’s debate about the blog future and funding, if it does continue it will be a brand new much improved blog format, hosted by someone much reliable than I have had in the past. It will potentially have lots of new features, be much better structured, and be able to carry multiple photos (great for carnival, flower festival etc.), will be easily searchable if you are looking for an old news article, and will look much more attractive than the one at present. Hopefully I will have a definitive decision after a meeting with several interested parties tomorrow.

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This is the direct link for the blog about this blog’s future. I will keep this direct link on for a while, so you can click here and read, or respond if you can help or have any good ideas. I will be checking it for new responses daily : www.madeira4u.com/blog.html/3508

This will be the last time I post this direct link.

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, topical photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Tobi … The old fort in Funchal (it is actually in this one you can see Cristo Rei in Garajau, between the turrets).

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 23/3/2009

Main Headline : ’23 Beds for 15 thousand alcoholics’ – A study has revealed that 7.6% of the Madeiran population is dependent on alcohol, but there are insufficient places available in the treatment centre for the 28 day detoxification treatment. If you think 7.6% is terrible, then it won’t make you any happier to know that those figures are disputed with talk of the true figure being much higher, with up to 35,000 alcoholics living here (c.14% of the population). In what was traditionally male territory in years gone by, more women are being sucked in, with the number going through the treatment centre rising from 7% in 2001 to 26% of all patients in the current day. The article focuses on the domestic problems caused by alcoholics in the home, with case studies, and the impacts on families often because of the reluctance of the drinkers to recognise that they actually have a problem.

‘Only the most needy should be able to claim unemployment benefit’. One ex-minister has said that he would prefer to see more help for the unemployed, rather than a reduction in the rate of IVA (VAT). The link on the article on the Diário website went to something completely different, so I can tell you no more about this story other than the headline.

A South African businessman, born on Madeira, was shot whilst preparing to open his shop in Johannesburg yesterday morning. He was undergoing surgery at the time of the report, with the prognosis for recovery ‘reserved’. 

The socialist party of Madeira (PS-M) has called for a parliamentary commission to undertake an enquiry on the illegal extraction of sand and gravel in Faial, and has prepared 12 questions to be asked in the assembly. The list of questions have been published in full by the Diário, but they include ‘has there been negligence shown by the authorities’, and several about the exact roles of the organisations who do supposedly have powers to intervene in Faial.

‘Stonings are in fashion’ – It was a violent weekend in the district of Nazaré (Funchal), with damage caused and arrests made. Rocks are making a comeback as weapons, but also there were gunshots.’ The first case happened around 7.30pm on Saturday during a street brawl between the residents on Rua da Venezuela, followed by stone throwing session which damaged parked cars. Another incident took place outside a ‘Surf Shop’ at the ‘Arcadas do Pelourinho’. After the stoning of two journalists in Faial last week, President Jardim made the comment “God doesn’t punish with sticks nor with rocks”, which I am not really sure has anything to do with anything, but seems to be quoted alongside any story now where rocks are mentioned. Three gunshots were fired in the area of the Marina Shopping Mall (Funchal) just after midnight on Saturday night. Police have arrested an individual, and no one was hurt.

The Madeira Open Golf Tournament is to stay on Porto Santo until at least 2011, rather than return to Madeira. That is the intention of the two main sponsors, the regional government of Madeira, and the Institute of Tourism for Portugal. The president of the Câmara Municipal (council) of Porto Santo describes this years event as an enormous success. He was hardly likely to describe it as a load of !!”"**!! was he, but in terms of Open Golf Tournaments generally, I would think from a golfing perspective the numbers of spectators would be a big disappointment.  

Other News :

Preparations for the flower festival are underway (25th & 26th April) with the smell of blooms already in the air, and the dust from the carnival still settling. This year the theme is ‘The Little Prince’, and the organisers have prepared a draft programme that was left with the Regional Secretary of Tourism last week. ‘The Little Prince’ is the main character from the book by Antoine Saint-Exupéry, who lived on the Asteroid B612 and wanted very much to get a best friend. Other characters of distinction from the story are the fox, the king, and the inseparable companion of the Prince, the Rose, all of whom will no doubt have additional influences on the festival. The book has been translated into more than 180 languages and sold more than 80 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books ever. It has also been adapted into a movie musical, two different operas, and an animated series.

The event will open, as usual, on Saturday morning, with the children’s procession, in which thousands of children parade to the Praça do Município, where there is a wall constructed of flowers, known as the ‘Wall of Hope’. In the afternoon of Sunday, the parade is held in the main streets of downtown Funchal. Special guest singers will be Vânia Fernandes and Luís Sousa. The Flower Festival programme also includes a range of leisure and recreational events, such as the construction of floral carpets, music concerts, performances by regional folk groups, and competitions for shop window displays, and a Flower Exhibition in the Largo da Restauração.

The appeal to find a bone marrow donor for baby Rodrigo continues, two months after the appeal was first launched. Around four thousand people have come forward to have compatibility tests to help the 8 month old boy with a type of leukemia, but as yet no match has been found.

Another full house of cruise ships (4) in Funchal harbour yesterday, with one unable to moor, making it clear that the capacity just isn’t big enough any more, as cruise ships continue to get bigger and bigger and the facility is shared by the two ferry ships. The 870 metres of docking length really needs another 400 metres added.

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It is hard to believe that there is so much interest here on the death of British cancer victim, Jade Goody. The controversial character who became famous after insulting an Indian actress on the UK TV show ‘Big Brother’, received front page coverage and bulletin headlines in Portugal when she got married a few weeks ago, and again after her death at the weekend.

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This is the direct link for the blog about this blog’s future. I will keep this direct link on for a while, so you can click here and read, or respond if you can help or have any good ideas. I will be checking it for new responses daily : www.madeira4u.com/blog.html/3508

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, topical photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Sarah … Botanical Gardens

Front Page News : source : Diário de Notícias 22/3/2009

Main Headline : ‘Madeira & France Launch Satellite – The region invests €5 million in a project of a telecommunications group that will have a control station on Madeira’. When you get to read the article, you then find out that it is actually France launching the satellite, on 30th March, that will be monitored from Madeira. The French will spent €80 million to construct a monitoring station in the Zona Franca (Caniçal) on Madeira, because it is an ideal location for the purpose, though also influenced by the lure of tax advantages. The European Union is also co-financing the project. You may find out a bit more if you do a web search with the keywords ‘Eutelsat Madeira’. I thought Uncle Bertie would be off to inaugurate the satellite, and maybe even light the touchpaper on the rocket that transports it from the launchpad in Kazakhstan, but according to the article he has delegated that responsibility to the regional secretary for Education and Culture (yes really!).

For the third year running, Santa Cruz council has organised a environmental clean up using local volunteers and organisations. This time 150 people turned up to clean up the seafront, the sea bed, the rivers, and the mountain areas. The good news was that there was less rubbish to be collected than in previous years, but that the rubbish collected included several notices telling people to look after their environment.

A bit of recycled news about the water consumption of the good citizens of Funchal, who consume on average 230 litres of water each day. That works out, on average, that every one of the 100,000 residents and the 30,000 tourists, would be using the equivalent amount of water as a ‘normal’ shower taken every 12 minutes throughout the day. Broken down between the two groups, hotel guests use an average of 350 litres of water per day, and Funchal residents around 200. Yesterday, as we all know, was World water day, and Funchal Council proudly announced that through various initiatives it has saved 4.5 million cubic metres of water over the last 3 years. Some areas of Funchal will lose their water supply at 10.30pm tonight, through to 4am tomorrow morning, as further improvements are made to the supply network. They are : Caminho de São Martinho, Caminho das Virtudes, Caminho da Avista Navios, Rua Dr. Pita, Engenho Velho, Bairro da Ajuda, Rua da Amoreira, Rua da Levada dos Barreiros, Rua Fundação Zino, Rua da Casa Branca, Azinhaga da Nazaré, Caminho da Fé, Urbanização Kassab and Urbanização Rampa da Ajuda.

Despite a financial incentive for parents of €500 for the birth of a child, the village of Ribeira da Janela (Porto Moniz) hasn’t seen a child born for three years. The population of 200 is made up mainly of elderly residents, but very few children. The local council even increased its incentive, from €100 to €500, in order to encourage potential parents to do the deed, to combat the declining population which falls by 5 or 6 deaths every year. Youngsters grow up and leave, as they have no interest in agriculture, and the elderly who are left are unable to maintain the land, and end up leaving it abandoned. One man and his wife (86 and 82 years old) who live in Funchal travel to Ribeira da Janela every weekend on the bus (only one per day) to tend to their land, despite it giving very little in terms of crops. The local school is now used for activities of the elderly, whilst the 18 children of school age have to go to Porto Moniz for their education.

Aside from a story about Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, there is more about the breakdown of the Porto Santo ferry on Saturday, and of course massive coverage of the Sporting v Benfica Cup Final, but as I covered those yesterday I will move on from the front page.

However, in an unusual move, the referee from that controversial game has admitted to making a mistake in awarding a penalty to Benfica, that kept them in the game that they then went on to win in a penalty shoot-out. In an interview shown on RTP this morning the referee said “nobody is infallible,” but then argued that there is no need to apologize to Sporting, as it was enough to “admit the error, even with the influence over the outcome, before the fans”. The referee, Lucílio Baptista, who lives in Setubal, probably won’t be living there much longer!

Other News :

Anyone living in Santana? You won’t be pleased to know that that there has been no water quality control analysis reports submitted for two years. That’s in defiance of European regulations. Some of the other câmaras are not too good in the same area either.

The successor ship of the historic ‘Queen Elizabeth II’, the ‘MS Queen Elizabeth’ will be delivered to Cunard Line in the Autumn of next year. At a cost of approximately 390 million euros, the ship commissioned in October 2007 will be registered in the United Kingdom. In the inaugural year of the new vessel, the Cunard Line has included the port of Funchal in three cruises in 2010. The new ‘MS Queen Elizabeth’ makes its first stop in Madeira on 10 October 2010 as part of a cruise imaginatively called ‘Maiden Voyage’. That 13 night cruise will begin in Southampton, England, and will make stops in the ports of Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz in Tenerife, Santa Cruz in Las Palmas, and finally Funchal.

Places for the maiden voyage goes on sale on 2nd April, with a suite priced at a mere €16,000 euros.

Weekly pollen information bulletins are to be published from now on, and then can be accessed through the website www.rpaerobiologia.com . I had a look, and the information is only given for Funchal, which makes it about as useful as the Madeira’s weather forecasts, but I suppose even that will still be welcome for many hay-fever suffers.

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It looks like TAP are still up to their old tricks with flight prices, and still trying to stitch up the Madeirans. In their latest promotion you can fly from Lisbon to London for €59 until the end of May, yet to go from Madeira to London will cost at least €220 (both one way trips). If forced to use TAP for any reason, it would be around half the price to go to London via Lisbon, booking two separate flights.

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This is the direct link for the blog about this blog’s future. I will keep this direct link on for a while, so you can click here and read, or respond if you can help or have any good ideas. I will be checking it for new responses daily : www.madeira4u.com/blog.html/3508

www.madeira4u.com

Aside from your valued blog responses (you can reply direct using the form at the bottom of each blog comments page), please send any unreported Madeira news, topical photos, events information, or snippets for the madeira4u blog to blog@madeira4u.com – anyone can join in! Thank you!