Madeira News Blog

The Diário claims that the good people of Gaula are revolting, but I would prefer to use the word rebelling, … against the excessive waiting time at their local health centre. Yesterday morning the health centre users were expressing their discontent about the fact that their doctor was not in the house, two hours after the doors had opened. Like many other health centres on Madeira, the people of Gaula find it necessary to attend before opening time, to ensure they get to the front of the queue to ensure being attended to.

Yesterday’s main headline : ‘Sacked Doctor Dismisses Flattery By The Government’. In the opinion of the former head of orthopedics “things don’t get resolved with praise”. He and others were sacked by new management in the health service, after which some retired early, and some left the public health service. Yet these doctors are now being honoured through a resolution of the council of government, praising their technical and human skills, and their commitment to their work. President Alberto João Jardim acknowledged “the exemplary manner and commitment” with which he occupied the position and stressed the “expertise and technical and human qualities that were highlighted throughout their medical careers.”  We don’t allow swearing on this blog so you will have to imagine to some extent the reaction of this one sacked doctor, who said “F*** them the flatterers”, which is about as near I could get to the spirit of what the doctor meant, as said in Portuguese, whereas in reality he told them to go and ‘sandpaper themselves’ (vai-se lixar). 

The Diário main picture yesterday shows the scene in Santo António, where a serious fire in the garage trapped residents in apartments above (see yesterday). Headlined ‘Dog And owner Avoid Tragedy In S. António – The fire in the garage of a building in the early hours of Thursday didn’t have worse consequences thanks to the alert of a dog’. Tobias, a rather scruffy looking water-dog who lived in a nearby house to the block of apartments, started barking repeatedly at 3am in the morning, eventually attracting attention. “I went to the balcony to see what was happening, and it was then I saw the smoke coming out of the garage” said the owner of the dog. The alarm was raised, with neighbours coming out to help, and by about 3.15am when the fire brigade arrived, the evacuation was well underway. Nearly 30 firemen attended in 10 trucks. Four vehicles were burnt out in the garage fire, which filled the building evacuation route with thick toxic smoke. 3 ambulances also attended, but all went away empty thanks to that dog and what followed with local heroes and firemen. Well done Tobias … if you were in America, you would be a rich film star in a few months time. There is a picture here of our hero :

http://www.dnoticias.pt/diario/fotos/080509/dn0401020802.jpg

‘Judicial Police Catch Four Foreigners In Two days With Drugs’. The day before it was 6,000 doses of heroin from Africans, and now another 12,000 doses nabbed by the PJ before hitting our streets. The latest two arrests, men of 41 and 66, are now in custody having already been in front of the judge. Good work lads. I suppose it is something we will see more of as the recession bites, as these sick idiots try to cash in on peoples misery, leaving us with a long term legacy of drug addiction and the associated problems. Personally, rather than prison, I would like to see them taken up to Cabo Girão for a high speed look at the view below.

‘Rubbish Out Of The Street Bin Leads To 25 Fines Every Month’. Funchal Council is said to be “unforgiving” when it comes to garbage left out on the road. Henrique Costa Neves from CMF explained that there are two types of behaviour that the council act on frequently. In one case, residents leave the bags of rubbish outside the container when it there for their use. “It is left to the mercy of the dogs and cats” who rummage in the garbage and spill it on the road making it “a risk to public health.” The second, “more serious” offence in his view, is the abandonment of rubbish on public roads. The amount of fines paid by the offenders is high. It varies from €50 to €500 depending on the severity of the deed. How do they know who it belongs to you may ask : they go through the rubbish looking for evidence that can identify the offender, usually to detect correspondence that has been thrown out.  That gives me a thought … if I nick my nasty neighbours post and keep putting it in bags of rubbish in the street, perhaps they will eventually take him away as well.

The socialists of Madeira are due to meet with the competition authority in Lisbon on Monday, to discuss the issue of competition of the press of Madeira. At the centre of the discussion will be the Jornal da Madeira, practically owned by the social democrat government, and maintained with public money.