"During last year’s Trans-Atlantic cruise on board the Celebrity Summit, we enjoyed a fantastic day on the friendly beautiful island of Madeira. When we visited last year we really did not expect to ever have a chance to return to this remote and exotic island, but our upcoming cruise will bring us there again for a second chance to take in the unique scenery and culture of the island". NICE STORY

Madeira for £198 -Seven nights at Dom Pedro Garajau, from London Gatwick, are available for £198 with breakfast included. The same holiday is available from Bristol airport for £217. BEAT THAT

Road stretch linked to ER101 closed starting from 19th October – First stage of the road variant of Madalena do Mar forces the diversion of traffic to alternative routes. The first stage of construction starts this month, and will see the closure of the road between Madalena do Mar and Arco da Calheta. The alternative routes will be through Caminho do Torreão, and the Regional Roads 222 and 225. The first phase works will continue until 30th November. The company ‘Estradas Via Expresso da Madeira’ has appealed to road users for understanding.

Another case of Gripe A was confirmed in the last week on Madeira, taking the total since day one to 41. 8 further cases tested proved negative.

Study in Ponta do Sol – Elderly have show obesity and do little physical exercise. The research was developed by two nurses, as part of a master’s degree with a specialization in Community Nursing. The elderly of Ponta do Sol have high body mass indexes and low patterns of exercise. These are the main conclusions of a study conducted by two nurses, as part of a master’s degree with a specialization in Community Nursing. Kids certainly, old people too, and also those in-between. The Der observation study over 6 years supports these nurses, and extends the obesity theory to all age groups on Madeira. Madeira is getting fat, and doing my politically correct bit, not everyone of course. Jeez, I go to the gym nearly every day of the week, and often in the hour and a half I am there I don’t see another soul. The poor gym instructor is practically champing at the dumbbells out of boredom.

MADS brings ‘Sound of Music’ to the Theatre Baltazar Dias – Musical premiered last night. The adventure of Maria and the Von Trapp family took to the stage last night at 9 pm, courtesy of the Madeira Amateur Dramatic Society. The musical will run every day until 23rd October, with sessions at 9 pm on weekdays, 4 pm on Saturdays, and 6 pm on Sundays. Tickets cost between €15 and €25. I wish them well, but at that price that’s killed off the chance of most of the population here making a family visit then. Lets hope the tourists have a bit of dosh these days.

The big big big game tonight is on TVI channel 4 at 7.45 pm. Portugal take on Malta in the final group game in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Win, and Portugal go to the play-off games. Don’t win, and god only knows. If you don’t watch it, you should be able to work out the result if you stick your head out of your window at around 9.40 pm.

A couple of headline news stories from today’s front page :

PSP Officer leaving because of Jardim – The police officer from the continent working on Madeira felt offended with the presidential ´bocas’ and has already requested a transfer. Referring to Jardim’s unpleasant attacks on the police for not taking his side in various election campaign protests.

Sé closed for lunch hour annoys the faithful – It is impossible to contemplate the image / icon of Fátima between the hours of midday and 3 pm. Sé cathedral, hosting the touring statue of Fátima for a few days before it moves on, takes a 3 hour lunch break depriving the faithful of a visit. So Madeira’s clergy get 3 hours for lunch eh? Mind you I don’t blame them for locking the cathedral whilst they lunch. The statue is very beautiful, but in a dream I had last night, a French tourist said to her husband, inside Sé, "take a picture of me with that nice statue, lurve". She then put her arm around the Fátima in a pose, when a bit of holy dust was passing her nose … I can’t continue the story, it just hurts too much, but the final word from the French tourist after her massive sneeze was ooooops! and then a very large dustpan and brush was needed.

Some of the top stories from yesterday’s Diário provided by Elaine :

Câmara de Lobos school not performing very well. Carmo Basic and Secondary School  in Câmara de Lobos was the worst average public school and both public schools in Ponta do Sol also fared badly. Jamie Moniz High School did well, fifth at mathematics and always has good sciences teaching. The best ten schools are privately run, five in Lisbon.

Sanitation pipe on the old bridge over the river in Ribeira Brava spoils the landscape. Although not classified as a historically important monument, the old bridge is a focal spot in the village. A sanitation pipe has been affixed to the outside and to make matters worse, painted dark red. The archaeologist Elvio Sousa says it is ‘insensitive’ to the cultural heritage and wants DRAC to intervene. But Joao Silva from DRAC (Cultural Heritage Department) says it is a local decision and mainly an aesthetic problem as the bridge has not been historically classified. —-Der, does it look as bad as it sounds?

I can’t believe that this story had a whole page in yesterday’s printed edition Elaine, and why the fuss now as it has been there for ages? It’s not attractive, I agree, but it certainly doesn’t enter into my list of the ‘Top Ten Eyesores of Ribeira Brava’. Number one on that list remains and always will be those two dreadful mounds of concrete dumped in the sea in the name of coastal protection.

Reminder that next Sunday is the XXXVI Regional Meeting of Regional Bands of Madeira in Ribeira Brava. Starting at 16.00 with more than 24 bands. Closes at 20.00 with the Wind Orchestra and Xarabanda.

Crisis redirects help to self-construction of houses rather than building of social housing. Plots of land owned by public authorities are to be used in the regime of ‘surface rights’ for families to construct their own homes. This is a more flexible option for families with some financial capability, especially in rural areas. It was used for self-build houses in Feiteirinhas in Caniçal. This method is not usually used as single houses take up a lot of space and there is little council land available to be disposed of in this way. It is also an option as construction companies cannot obtain bank loans to build affordable social housing, and as such was used in Porto Santo. Plots will be available in Figueirinhas and Feiteirinhas.

Logs fall from a truck onto the road in Calheta. This happened on Monday afternoon on the roundabout to the expressway towards Ponta do Sol. It probably occurred as the logs were not safely fastened and some rolled a few yards down a slight slope. They had to be recovered by a specialist tractor.

‘Yards’ Elaine? What would they be?

‘Treacherous’ grid on the Rua 5 de Outobro left for a month.

Post-Election News:

No change in the PSD team in Funchal. Miguel Albuquerque says he will not change the winning team. Speculations after Jardim’s ‘reflection’ speech yesterday as to whether he will continue after 2011.

Difficult times in Santa Cruz. Jose Gonçalves has a difficult time ahead as although the PSD won with 41.88% of the vote, the JPP won 32% and both parties have three members on the board. The leader of the JPP, Filipe Sousa says there can be no partnership as the two parties had different election programs. PS have one councillor so have a casting-vote when there is a tie between the two main parties.

In the Diário printed edition yesterday they published a table showing the position of the PSD, JPP, and PS on 5 major issues in Santa Cruz, and the only one they all agreed on was the construction of a Biomass plant. However, between the JPP and PS, there were no issues they disagreed on, although a couple were ‘to be discussed’. I see a pattern forming … Der

On the same point, a story on the Diário front page today says that the PSD at are already looking at mid-term elections in Santa Cruz to try and resolve it’s power problems there. Not had time to read it yet, but no doubt some dirty tricks involved here.

Race for leader of the Socialist Party in Madeira. Victor Freitas has entered the race. His candidacy is supported by former Secretary General Jaime Leandro. He says they need to woo back deserted voters, gain both internal and external credibility and show they can lead rather than just be an opposition party. He has previously had a dispute with the former president of the PS, Jacinto Serrâo, who resigned and took office in Lisbon. Jacinto Serrâo is also thought to run for the leadership.

The importance of gardens as niche tourism. The Madeiran Raimundo Quintal will be speaking at the II International Seminar on Tourism and Territory Planning at Lisbon University. Mike Robinson, Director of the Centre for Tourism and Culture, University of Leeds, will also be speaking.

‘Mercado de Oportunidades’. 48 stalls, mainly clothing, footwear and household items. 23 – 29 October, Avenida Arriaga, Funchal.

French travel agents and journalists very keen on Madeira. Hope to bring over more French than originally expected, and a second weekly flight might be announced by the end of the year. The initiative cost over 300,000 Euros, and the French market is the fourth most important. The contract with the airline Aigle Azur is for three years. —-So did the ‘charm offensive’ pay-off? We will find out over the next 3 years. They are hoping to bring in an extra French tourists 9000 a year.

Climate is warmer. In July, August and September, the average air temperatures in Madeira were above the average between 1971 and 2000, and there was less rain. Porto Santo weather was nearer the normal averages.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. 

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

‘Cavaco Silva Adds More Fuel To The Fire’. ‘President of the Republic Accuses Prominent Socialist Leaders Of Manipulation – Cavaco Silva believes that they tried to stick it on the PSD’. Silva made a 10 minute broadcast to the nation last night over the shocking affair of his office being ‘bugged’. He accused "prominent personalities of the party in government" of manipulation, and trying to stick it [the blame] on the national president of the PSD, in order to divert attention during the elections. 

‘ERC Accuses Lack Of Balanced Reporting’. The Regulatory Authority for Social Communication (ERC) issued yesterday a statement outlining the main points of a decision on a complaint made by the PS-M socialists against the newspaper Jornal da Madeira. At issue was the supplement ‘autárquicas2009′ and the fact that in publishing this material, it just referred to the position of the PSD social democrat câmaras, omitting the views of opposition parties. The ERC decided that there was, in that supplement of  J da M, "a blatant violation of the duties of pluralism". The complaint of PS-M alerted to the fact that during the pre-campaign for the elections, the behaviour of the newspaper was detrimental to candidates of the opposition parties. The ERC concluded that "the lack of pluralism in the information provided leads to a serious breach of the principle of equality and impartiality, contributing for the benefit of certain political forces over others". The recommendation of the ERC, which summarizes the deliberations, should be published by the J da M. This ERC sounds like a toothless watchdog to me, if there is no further action taken other the publication of it’s findings. Still, on the positive side, had it given the Jornal a massive fine, who would end up paying it … us taxpayers of course.

‘Câmara ‘obliges’ some to give up school by not paying for student transport – In Câmara de Lobos parents have to pay between 15 and 90 Euros for each child to study’. It is an accusation from the CDU communist party that parents are having to take their children out of school because they don’t have the money to pay for school transport. A CDU spokesman says that the council is one that has "turned its back on education, on the crisis, and on parents that have children studying".

‘Madeira will submit the proposed amendment to the Law of Regional Finance – Jardim counts on the new composition of the parliament and coherence of the parties for the adoption of the revision’. President Jardim announced yesterday that the amendments, proposed by the PSD-M social democrats will be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic. Jardim says that the current law has choked Madeira’s state funding. He was of course hoping that his own PSD party would be be in government, as he had already reached agreement on what would happen, but he will now have to bank on a reduced majority government being out-voted.

The local election campaigns officially restarted today. The PSD-M noise car has already passed my house at least 4 times today.

‘Albuquerque Beats Jardim – Albuquerque has an advantage of nearly 4,000 votes compared to the leader of the PSD-M’. Within 15 days the social democrats will get to know who is worth more in Funchal, the PSD-M president of the câmara or the PSD-M president of Madeira. The two will not be competing head to head, but the comparison of results between legislative (national) and local elections is compulsory, and the same has happened in previous regional elections. Miguel Albuquerque’s support for re-election to Funchal council will have more meaning than ever before, as he is the pretender to the throne of Alberto João Jardim, who is rumoured to be bowing out in 2011. In Sunday’s election Jardim achieved 25,511 votes in Funchal, as top-of-the-list for a seat in the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, or 43.7% of the vote, a fairly low achievement, whereas four years ago, Albuquerque managed 29,395, or 50.3% of the Funchal vote. What a useless comparison, with people not only voting for different people, but for different things. What would be more useful and entertaining is to give them both a pistol, and have a crack of dawn winner-takes-all duel, on top of a grassy knoll (a contingency plan, just in case they both miss). Not wishing to be politically incorrect (before the blog snipers come along), it would of course all be in fun using paint ball pistols.

The high level of abstention in Funchal is a bit of a concern in Funchal. One of the reasons is explained in today’s Diário : "As reported, Portugal has a huge number of voters who are unable to vote. Because they are dead, or because they live in a foreign country". The latter case gives us some cause for forgiveness, as ballot papers get lost and delayed when sent abroad, as happened in Venezuela at the weekend, but as for the dead voters, do they really have excuses, if so I would like to hear them. And there was me thinking, that in this terminal stage of life, one automatically qualified for an important position in the PSD-M, so does that in fact mean that our current rulers do still have some blood movement in their veins, or is that just afterlife twitching we see?

‘In the series ‘Through Madeira’ : ‘Porto Moniz : ‘People’s tribunals’ still decide’. Residents discuss life in the towns two cafes. They analyse and pass ‘sentences’. The Portuguese Justice System doesn’t know, but in the region of Porto Moniz, two courts exist (‘Relação’ & ‘Supremo’), curiously both quite near the town hall. It is in these two places that the common life and politics of the town are discussed, and ‘sentences’ given out. They article says that if the president of the câmara kept his office window open he would be able to hear what was being said from his desk. The  power of the ‘Supremo’ is sufficient to change the political scene in the area, and the Diário hints that if the outgoing câmara president might have listened more closely, he would still be around to serve another political mandate next month (another Jardim ‘casualty’). The two courts fall into the categories of regular and supreme, and there is a protocol between the two. Rui Nelson, is one of the youngest ‘judges’ of the ‘Relação : "When we do not agree on a certain subject, we take the matter to the Supremo", he said. The Diário, having hyped up the story, then takes it back to reality, a powerless discussion forum … but is it?

(28th September). Today’s main news headline : ‘PS Win With Relative Majority – Votes determined in all 4,260 parishes of Portugal’. The socialist party won the legislative elections with a relative majority of 36.56%, managing 96 seats in the Assembly of the Republic. The PSD social democrats obtained 29.09% (78 seats), CDS-PP 10% (21), BE Left Block 9.85% (16), and PCP 7.88% (15). 60.6% of the 9,227,314 eligible voters voted.

‘PSD Obtain 48.16% Of The Votes On Madeira – PSD, PS and CDS-PP have elected representatives in the Assembly of the Republic’. The Social Democrats of Jardim won 48.16% (66,194 votes), The PS socialists had a late surge to achieve 19.51% (26,822) and the CDS-PP 11.09% (15,244). The PSD took 4 of the 6 seats in Lisbon, the other two parties took one each. In the last elections in 2005, the PSD and PS shared those seats with 3 each. Abstention on Madeira finished up at 45.48%, 1.68% of the votes were spoiled, and 1.13% blank.

"The country has gone crazy and the nation is sick" – president Jardim commented in this manner on the electoral result’. Alberto João Jardim said today that the results of the national legislative elections show that "Portugal is inside a nightmare" and that "the country has gone crazy and the nation is sick." The leader of the PSD-M, and winning head-of-list to the Lisbon Parliament, commented on the PS win at a national level with a lack of enthusiasm. He blamed the result partly on those who failed to vote. "Portugal is now in a nightmare. There is something wrong in this country. After there were four years of governance by Sócrates, and all the trouble in which the prime minister of a country was renowned for being involved, there is a result that still gives him a relative majority, although less than the number of abstentions nationally, this means that the country gone crazy", said Jardim. "The situation in Portugal is very serious, and it is the Portuguese that in part that contribute to the situation. Each country has what it deserves, but in the case of Madeira we are worried that we are involved in this picture of a nightmare", he continued. Despite the election result, Jardim said that the national leader of the PSD, Manuela Ferreira Leite, "is in a position to lead the campaign for municipal elections" that start today. El Bertie finished by offering his heartiest congratulations to the Socialist Party for a well fought victory, saying to prime minister José Sócrates that he was looking forward to yet another productive mandate in Portugal, and that Madeira was rooting for another strong period of mutual cooperation at government level … and then I woke up.

UPDATE :

If the election results from Madeira yesterday were applied in the local elections here in two weeks time, PSD-M would win in 53 out of the 54 parish elections, and would continue to rule in all 11 câmaras (councils). Only the freguesia (Parish) would have escaped the social democrat’s clutches.

The full results nationally and in detail for Madeira can be seen in the Diário special pull out supplement today HERE

‘Elevator Of Fajã Fell With 17 People On Board – A cable came loose and two people were injured after a 50 metre fall, until the the safety [brake?] mechanism was activated’. The two injured foreigners were taken to hospital, with one said to be "serious", after the accident in Fajã dos Padres. The lift was on the way up when the cable ‘came loose’. Both tourists were released from hospital later, one suffered an exposed fracture to a hand, the other with chest pains. How terrifying! That lift is the one west of Cabo Girão, and the total height of the glass lift ride according to one source I found is 250 metres, one of the highest in Europe. I contemplated going on it a few years ago, but chickened out having arrived there.

‘Line Continues In Order To Narrow The Street – Câmara de Lobo tries to avoid returning €2.1 million to the EU’. One white line that saves the council €2m, but it is not yet certain the solution found by the council will be accepted by Europe. This story has been batted around for months and months, but it may be that finally it is resolved. EU funding was granted for a agricultural road in Limoeiro, a road that should be around 4 metres wide. The council then built a road 5.5 metres wide, that did not qualify for the funding, and it had to be returned, as the council decided it was out of the question to narrow the road. Some bright spark then had the idea of making a 1.5 metre strip down one side, and reserving the lane for pedestrians, a sort of pavement. The remaining road is then 4 metres, and therefore qualifies. Well that’s the theory, but the road isn’t then really wide enough for two cars to pass, so one will end up driving on the ‘pavement’. If the European bureaucrats were stupid enough to be conned out of XXX’s of millions for other scams and white elephants by Madeira, no doubt this will be another con to add to the list. As you may have gathered, and I am taking the side of the taxpayer on this one, as clearly the original application was a con … does that look like a farm track in the photo?

‘Medicines Are More Expensive In Portugal – Electronic prescriptions will save the state €55 million a year’. More than half the medicines sold in Portugal and Madeira have a higher price than in other countries in southern Europe. It is estimated that 61% of medicines are more expensive here than in France, Spain, Italy and Greece. However, the good news is that we receive a good service in our 63 pharmacies. An ageing population means that our pharmacies are going to get busier in the future years. The new electronic prescription system mentioned cannot be introduced yet, as the law needs to be changed for data protection purposes. Can’t argue about the service in the pharmacies that I have used, it has always been excellent, despite the language difficulties I used to have. I even took a stray dog into my local chemist once, and they dealt with her very efficiently, although they didn’t offer any assistance in administering the treatment. I propose a round of applause for our excellent pharmacists at 5 pm this afternoon, anyone joining me?

For those who were miffed or inconvenienced during the TAP strike, and feel a grudge toward the airline, this might sway ones opinion. The pilots already earn an average of €8,600 a month, and are looking for a rise to take them to €9,600.

‘DECO Fail Fresh And Frozen Duck – Serious lapses in hygiene and storage result in a poor classification of the product’. 12 types of pre-packaged and frozen were tested, and found to be defective, mainly through lack of freshness in the innards. All the fresh and frozen products were failed as "unacceptable" by the consumer defence organisation.

A 59 year old man has died from his injuries in hospital. It seems that he fell 10 metres off a wall in Tendeira in Caniço.

‘Super São Roque And Sá Lead In The Low Prices – A study by DECO [consumer protection] analysed 70,000 prices for 181 products throughout Portugal’. Super São Roque and the Sá supermarkets in Santa Cruz, Ribeira Brava and São Martinho came out top on Madeira. One ‘basket’ contained 100 products for those who liked branded products, the other ‘basket’ contained 81 items for low budget customers. Santa Cruz Sá came out overall top, with São Roque in equal second place, but offers the cheapest shopping in Funchal. As for the most expensive, amongst others are the Pingo Doces in Anadia (Funchal) and Dolce Vita, and one of the Modelo stores came out badly as well. The analysis of data collected by DECO show that the savings in your shopping cart can reach €940 [a year?] without having to travel long distances and without cutting the list of products required. I am very surprised that my local Hiper Sá scored so highly. I will have to start going there again and see what the difference is after I switched last year. Anyway, that may be my last blog money saving tip, and may you save €€€’s until the next survey next year.

The ferry company Naveira Armas, that operates the services between Madeira and Portugal, is to put itself forward as a candidate to operate a ferry service for the Azores.

Marítimo lost 2 – 1 at home against Naval yesterday : ‘New Setback Intensifies Challenge For Carvalhal’.

‘Day To Choose Representatives – 260 thousand Madeiran voters elect today the six deputies that will represent Madeira in Lisbon. There are 12 parties and movements in total running in the legislative elections’. Another article I am going to skip, as it’s just churning over old ground. The c.250 ‘urns’ in 52 parishes opened at 8 am today. They will close at 7 pm, and the first projections are expected an hour later.

‘European experts monitor elections on Madeira – Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe come to see if the elections are ‘clean’. Two observers from the OSCE are here to make sure that there is no monkey business going on. The observers are from Armenia and Bosnia, and have already made contact with the party leaders, candidates, representatives of the state, and journalists. The politicians and parties have also been forbidden from doing any campaigning or carry out any activities relating to the local elections on 11th October, until tomorrow that is.

Something I didn’t realise until now, that if there should be a change of government after today, it should be able to begin it’s functions at the end of October. However, the Assembly of the Republic cannot be dissolved until March 2010.

I can’t believe I have managed to get through the complete Diário today before midday, less than 3 hours. All the reporters must be out on election duty. Looks like I will have a bit of free time to skulk around the local polling stations this afternoon and mingle with the crowds. I may have a look at the Jornal later on, but there again maybe not.

Anyway, I am going to have to break that rule with a true story* of an important, or rather unfortunate, political event that happened late last night here in Ribeira Brava. It was strange really, as I have already said that there have been no rallies or candidates visiting the town as far as I know, and even the number of posters could be counted on one hand. I think this town must have a reputation as a political ‘dead zone’, but last night that was all about to change.

It must have been around 11.30 pm, just 30 minutes before any political activity became illegal, when I entered a late night drinking establishment, and as is normal I did a quick scan of the joint before taking a seat at the bar. I recognised all of the faces, a dozen or so, except for one man in a grey suit sat at the far end of the bar from me. He looked like he had come straight out of a second hand car lot, with greased back black hair and a goaty beard (no no not goatee!), you know the sort. Anyway I greeted those nearest to me and ordered a soft drink (well it was certainly soft if one poked a finger in it), and quickly surveyed the joint, noticing a number of red objects on the bar and tables where people were sat. Some people had red baseball caps, note books, pens, pencils, and a few even had bright red oven mitts. Strange I thought, but the sight of my beverage arriving and the man in the grey suit getting off his stool and heading my way distracted my attention. I gave the barman a €5 note, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the grey suited man plonk himself on the stool next to me and put a large white carrier bag on the floor between us. I have no need for a second hand car, so I was already mentally practicing my "no speaking Portuguese" retort as I could see he was about to speak to me, and he did.

I will have to divert from the story at this stage, just to explain something highly relevant. My oven gloves at home have been in poor condition for some time now. It all started one time when someone else was using them, and a large black burn hole appeared on one hand (yes I know who you are, and I haven’t forgotten that you tried to hide the fact). After that things went downhill, and the stitching started working loose, and stains appeared that couldn’t be shifted however many times they went in the washing machine. For several years now I have been looking out for new oven gloves, you know the sort where both hands are joined together, but the only pair I saw cost 11.49 bl**dy Euros. I had seen plenty of ‘one handed’ oven mitts, but they just wouldn’t do the same job, and by the time I had brought two they would work out to be even more expensive. The best thing to do therefore was to minimise use of the oven, until the problem could be resolved, and as a result it hasn’t been switched on since last Christmas. Anyway back to last night …

The man spoke to me with forked political tongue, and pointed to his white carrier bag on the floor. What is it this time I thought, wet fish, lapas, overpriced undersized pyjamas, … but as a courtesy I looked down and peered into the bag to spot lots of red objects … type as previously described as littering the tables of the establishment at that precise moment. A deep stoop and a closer peer into the bag, and I could see red notepads with a white PS branded on the covers. It then suddenly dawned on me that this man was either a campaigner, or even an actual candidate for the PS socialist party, and that this was his bag of goodies to entice the wavering voters. Of course I am unable to vote in national elections, but clearly he didn’t know that yet, and I had to think quickly and slip on my best Portuguese tongue before my cover was blown, in order to acquire the maximum selection from that white bag, hopefully even a red oven mitt, or even two. Just then my change arrived from the €5 note, and I put out my left hand to receive it, and answered the man’s question with an equal measure of forked tongue, about how I was thinking of voting PS, but that I was still torn between them and the BE Left Block, who had a much catchier theme tune. A few seconds went by, and I couldn’t hold back any longer, and I spouted out "tem lá lutas". He didn’t understand, so I pointed with my right hand to my raised left hand, which was purely by chance clenched tightly as it still contained my change from the bar, and repeated "luta, luta", waving my clenched fist, not really being sure of the exact complete word for oven gloves. His expression changed, and at that point things started to go downhill. Anyway, to cut a long story short, as I wrestled him to the floor, a beer got knocked over soaking his grey suit, and as other customers heard the breaking glass, bodies came running over to pull us apart. Strangely though, it was as I had my hands around his throat that I suddenly remembered that the Portuguese word for ‘glove’ is in fact ‘luva’, and logically ‘oven glove’ would be ‘luva do forno’. ‘Luta’ means ‘fight’.

Anyway we got separated, and after a few minutes of exchanging threats and insults, when the best I could manage was "I’m going to tell Uncle Bertie where you live" (which drew blank looks all around) the matter was eventually straightened out. But after all that, he didn’t have any oven mitts left. I did however get a nice pencil with a built in eraser, a pretty cr*ppy pen, and a PS notepad.

That was the night that politics in Ribeira Brava came ‘back to life’.

* Embellished in parts for heightened enjoyment

(25th September). ‘PSD-M Makes A Complaint To The CNE Against RDP And RTP – The social democrats complain that the news coverage is unbalanced compared to the PS’. The party will complain to the Nacional Election Commission, against the Madeira director of the media stations because different criteria were used in the coverage of campaign initiatives on Porto Santo. "Those two stations, under the control of Lisbon, didn’t appear at the events of the social democrat candidates on Porto Santo", said a statement. But "to the contrary, they have collaborated with the socialist candidates", that held their campaign events last weekend on the Golden Island, it continued. The stations excused themselves from commenting on the situation.

On the TV news today, a poll carried out into voter intentions, commissioned by RTP, has shown the PSD social democrats slipping away in popularity in the race for seats in the Assembly of the Republic. PS socialists now have 38% of the vote, PSD 30%, BE Left Block 11%, CDS & CDU 7-8%, others 2%. That’s probably the last poll we will see before we find out the actual election results. A few locals were having a good ole chat about this last night, and the conclusion was that the big parties are all liars and don’t deserve anyone’s vote. I was asked who I was voting for, but when I explained that I wasn’t entitled to vote, people were quite surprised, but wanted to know anyway who I would vote for. BE I said, more through lack of a serious opinion. Why? Because it has the catchiest campaign theme tune, I explained. This went down very well as a legitimate selection criteria, and I think that the BE now has its own little corner in Rib. Bra.     

(24th September). The last of yesterday’s headlines : ‘Complaint Of CDU Against CMF Dismissed’. The Public Prosecutor’s office (MP) together with the Administrative Court of the Circle of Funchal (TACF) dismissed a complaint by the CDU communists about  development plans for Amparo. The complaint was made last December against Funchal Council, when the CDU asked for an assessment on whether or not the administrative practices of the council were legal or not, particularly in relation to Pico da Cruz, which is defined as a green zone. CMF were believed to be accepting the plans of some residents contemplating construction work in that area.

‘The PSP ‘enter’ the campaign, dragged in by Jardim – PSP guarantees that it acted in a neutral form in Curral and in Canhas and avoids commenting’. First, it was the opening of the cycle path in Funchal, on Sunday, when the President of the Government (in that capacity) that spoke out against the [lack of] action of the Police Force (PSP), which he said was only interested in handing out traffic fines. Then the New Democracy Party, out on the campaign trail in the Nun’s valley, was targeted by the police, allegedly on Jardim’s instructions. Then, the cases got more complicated. On Tuesday in Canhas, a new controversy arose when Jardim was ‘doing the rounds’, shaking hands and greeting everyone, when a socialist party candidate just happened to be next in line for Dr. [Jekyll] Jardim’s attention. The PS-M parish elections candidate, Manuel Relva, decided to keep his hands in his pockets, catching Jardim by surprise. According to Manuel, Mr. [Hyde] Jardim then called over a policeman that was part of his security team, and told him to identify the ‘impolite’ citizen that refused to shake hands with him. For the socialists, this was a clear abuse of authority. Meanwhile the PSP is accused of letting Jardim make the rules. A senior police spokesman said that the intervention was "requested by the President of the Regional Government, as this was a matter of inappropriate behaviour, including offences and insults". More tales followed, but must move on.

Whilst many are still deciding what to vote on Sunday, or even what to do instead, the first votes have already been cast by prisoners and hospital patients, and also military personnel. Madeiran emigrants will also be receiving their voting forms by post, except in Venezuela it seems, where the mail company considers them low priority, and it looks like many there will miss their voting deadline.

In the latest wheeze of the PND new democratic party, you know the ‘rabbit’ party, a video has been published and released called ‘The Black Car Kids’. What it shows is footage of government cars being used for private purpose, along with drivers where provided, contrary to the law and penal code covering the matter. The main theme is the children of government ministers being taken to and from school on a daily basis. I don’t think it will make the blockbuster list, or change anything really, but will probably form an important part of Rabbit’s defence when called to court to answer charges relating to him falsely accusing senior politicians of the PSD-M of corruption.

"Democratic liberty, freedom of movement of persons, and freedom of information have been violated". The words of Rabbit, or José Manuel Coelho, on the prevention of access to the Curral das Freiras (Nun’s Valley). He was prevented from entering the area by police, and believes the order came from president Jardim, who was undertaking an inauguration or something there.

Just two complete days left for this current political election campaign … that’s the good news. I suspect you already know the bad news, that another one starts up straight after. Pretty quiet over my way in terms of campaigning, a few cars with loudspeakers whizzing around now and again, a few political posters, some now quite defaced, and just three party manifestos through the door so far. Uncle Bertie was over here very late at night a couple of days ago apparently, he was skulking around the churches, so my source tells me.

‘Jardim Promises To Put An End To Teachers Evaluations Only For The Year’. President Alberto João Jardim, at the inauguration of a school in Achada yesterday, spoke out again against the new system of performance appraisal for teachers. The requirement, through a national decree, was circumvented here last time when the regional government gave all teachers a blanket rating of ‘good, without any actual evaluation. “Only through the imposition of a colonial Portuguese Republic is it that we have an evaluation system that applies also in a self-governing territory”, said the president of the Regional Government. He admitted that the changes for Madeira will not be this year, but said “it will be the target of the few legislative powers of the Autonomous Region to put right the blunder of the Portuguese Republic”.

Today’s final front page headline : ‘Guilherme Went To The ‘Festa do Pêro’ As ‘Vice’ Of The Regional Assembly’. In a response to yesterday’s report about political tricks by the PSD social democrats of Madeira, about taking along a party member, Guilherme Silva, to an official engagement, the party issued a statement. The appearance of Silva at the Festa do Pêro in Ponta do Pargo, who is a candidate for the PSD in Sunday’s national elections, was there on stage in his capacity as vice-president of the regional government, not as a political candidate trying to get an edge over his opponents. As was president Jardim of course. Silva said he was invited along, and nothing in law requires him to make the embarrassing decision to refuse the invitation. Oh dear, the Diário and political opponents of the PSD-M should have seen that coming, ‘cos I suspect he is absolutely right.

“Do not ask me to take him seriously”, says Louçã – Louçã ignores the provocation of Jardim, who does not want “communists” to govern’. This is in response to a topic of conversation that is being bounced around, that the PS socialists, lacking an overall majority if they win Sunday’s elections, will form some sort of coalition with the BE Left Block. The coordinator of the Left Block, Francisco Louçã, responded to the president of the Regional Government, Alberto João Jardim, who refused to accept an alliance between socialists and ‘blocks’ in the governance of Portugal, saying that “Madeira can not accept a government in Lisbon that has communists”. Thanks to Uncle Bertie for speaking on our behalf, and whether we agree or not, isn’t there a small issue we used to call DEMOCRACY to overcome. A high ranking PS person said on the matter, “I do not talk about hypothetical scenarios before the elections”. It surprises me that Uncle Bertie is so anti-communism. There is a story about a president of a totally unrelated small Atlantic island, not so far from Porto Santo, that used to be a keen supporter of the dictator Salazar of Portugal, just 40 plus years ago, and after all what is the difference between dictatorship and the type of communism that Eric Arthur Blair describes later on in his world famous novel (answers on a postcard please).

I spotted this photo in today’s political section, with the caption : “Delegation had time for the best ‘pé-de-cabra’ on Madeira, but only to taste”. This was the PP ‘peoples party’ stopping off for a wee snifter on the campaign trail yesterday, in a grocery store in São Vicente. The party leader said the bar there made the best pé-de-cabra on Madeira, and that there was time for the delegation to just taste the drink, made in a simple form, so as not to “make sick”. This drink, which in English would translate as literally as goats-foot, or in real terms CROWBAR, is not for the faint hearted, and probably most readers would not even come across it, however much time one might spend here. Madeirans like mixing drinks of all sorts, coca cola and beer is quite popular these days (DIESEL), but pé-de-cabra is the devil’s home brew. It contains dark beer (Toníca), local red wine (vinho seco), lemon rind, and is then topped up with that bottled chocolate drink that all the bars sell chilled, well stirred, or even better shaken, and then drank very quickly. If you don’t drink it quickly, it separates out in the glass. It is pretty disgusting in my opinion, definitely not recommended for drivers, but is one of those traditional beverages that just has to be experienced to be believed.

‘Yesterday, The Candidate Returned To The ‘Ride’ Of The Regional Government’. Guilherme Silva, number two on the PSD-M national candidate list, returned yesterday to the stage in the company of Alberto João Jardim, who as president of the Regional Government, was performing a public act in Ponta do Pargo (Festa do Pêro). The same happened two weeks ago in Porto da Cruz (Festa da Uva). He didn’t actually ride with Jardim in the presidential vehicle, but came in the entourage behind Jardim, and as such was admitted into the area controlled by police. He was also on the stage where Jardim made his speech. The issue is that Jardim is still seen to be turning  non-political events into political events, “Thus it violates the principles of neutrality and impartiality”, said an opposition politician adding, “It is a clear violation of election law”. It was only a few days ago that Jardim was warned by the CNE National Election Commission, that public events could not be used for one-sided party political purposes. He can however invite his own PSD-M social democrat colleagues on official engagements, as long as the invitation is also extended to the equivalents in the other political parties. 

The Jornal da Madeira is currently being well used as a political mouthpiece for the PSD social democrats, now more than ever, almost a sort of of a political manifesto. Whereas the Diário pays a cursory glance at Jardim’s inaugurations, the Jornal is covering them in some detail, especially Jardim’s speeches, however ridiculous they might be. In addition, we now have the câmaras declaring their long and short term plans for improvement and development in their regions. It was Santa Cruz on Saturday, and Calheta yesterday, with all sorts of grand promises being made. This information is not being reported by the Diário. So it’s a double whammy really. We pay for the Jornal through our taxes, and then we have to put up with totally one sided political messages, through a newspaper that because it is free probably has more readers than the competition. Talk about a great big political stitch up!

‘Donation Of Bodies To Science Doesn’t Do Well – They lack bodies for dissection. Because of that, they have resorted to using animal organs in the Anatomy classes’. Anatomy students at the University of Madeira (UMa) are having to use models and pig organs for their practical studies, through a shortage of human bodies ‘donated to science’. A law has been in place for 10 years to allow the use of donated bodies, but the Portuguese nationwide haven’t taken to the practice, leaving our future doctors with a reduced degree of experience and knowledge. What they have also is the right to use bodies that are not claimed by the families, but since the UMa course started in 2004, that has not happened, nor have there been any donations. One suggestion is that students be allowed to attend autopsy procedures, whether for legal or clinical reasons. "It would be good if people could understand the importance of donating a body to science," says Isabel Torres of UMa. "Having cadavers for dissection would be an asset to the course and a very positive experience for the future performance of doctors", she added. 

‘Madeira Spends More On Students – ‘Profs’ lead Madeira to spend more’. Each student is going to cost the regional budget €7,858 a year, compared to a national average of €4,772. Each student costs more than the national average, with an average 8.2 students per teacher, and a greater range of school activities. The European average ratio is 15 students per teacher. The average cost is even higher than the average of OECD countries when it comes to second cycle children. Education expenditure on Madeira represents 27.5% of the total budget, compared to 14.8% in Portugal, 21.8% in the Azores, and 12.9% in the other OECD countries. Madeira has a budget of €443 million to pay for education, on the face of it much more than the €386 million it theoretically needs, but there are many other non-educational expenses to be met, such as feeding the children and school transportation. Teachers salaries alone amount to €281 million, with the more experienced (15 years) earning €24,911, three times more than those just starting out.

Sport has the big front page photo today, and the the lions share of the space, with several headlines. It shows a rather impressive photo of an airborne rally car : ‘Assault’ To The Regional Of Rallies Postpones The Awarding Of The Title – Miguel Nunes won the C.D. Nacional Rally and has a one point lead over Alexandre Camacho’. The result in the Madeira Coral Rally Championship now takes the deciding of the final placings to the rally in Faial on 24th and 25th October.

‘João Rodrigues Wins The World Cup’. This is a Madeiran in a sailing competition, who won the silver medal yesterday in the ISAF World Cup, but over 7 races was the overall winner. Yesterday’s event took place at Weymouth, England, the venue for the 2012 Olympic Regattas.

‘Today Is The Derby. It is one of those "more relaxed" games, assures the president of Marítimo in an interview with the Diário’. He is either joking or mad. We will see in a few hours.

‘FC Porto Lose In Braga’ … I didn’t see that one coming! That leaves Braga clear at the top of the table after 5 straight wins after their 1 – 0 victory.

‘Francisco Lobato Wins First Stage Of The Transat 6,50 – The Portuguese sailor leads in the series craft, the French prototype of Bertrand Delesne was the first to arrive at Funchal’. Lobato finished the first leg of the ‘Transat 6.50′ race as first in its class, in ‘Roff TMN’, arriving in Funchal at 3.45 pm, almost 2 hours after the French boat ‘Entreprendre Durablement’. The other 47 boats are expected over the next few days.

Caniço is the featured ‘parish’ of the week in the Diário series, though I could swear it has already been done. ‘Much Construction And Few Green Spaces – A police station and fire station head the list of things lacking for those who live there’. When he left Caniço the landscape of the parish "was pure tababeira and fig", but after 52 years living in Venezuela Luis Soares returned to find a quite different Caniço, with more buildings, more streets, and better living conditions for the residents. The good climate, proximity to Funchal, and housing at an affordable price, caused many Madeirans to chose to move to this town near Santa Cruz. The population growth has brought "some disappointment" (it doubled in 4 years). The population count in the last census in 2001 was 11,586, but is now estimated at 25,000. The people complain of excessive construction and lack of green spaces. Thoughtless architecture and urban chaos are some of the opinions about the city of "concrete boxes".

Coincidently, this was in yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : ‘City Park In Caniço – Câmara of Santa Cruz still has a plan for the the enlargement of the pier’. The council is going to build the park in Caniço, and also in the plan is a nursing home, an auditorium, upgrading of Largo da Achada, restoration of the old church in Camacha, a school in Caniço, a civic centre in Achada de Gaula, enlargement of the harbour area, and construction of a new nursery, a building of shared services in Santa Cruz, and in Santo da Serra plans for the agricultural market and civic centre. The list goes on … and on, but I don’t recall any mention of police and fire stations in Caniço.

The photo shows president Jardim and his sidekick, the president of Funchal Câmara, at the inauguration of the new stretch of cycle path at Estrada Monumental yesterday. Jardim livened up the event with a speech that the Diário refers to as "Down with fascism", and again Jardim claimed that Madeira was the victim of all and sundry, run by outsiders. He also has a go at the police for not doing what he thinks is their job "through fear", in dealing with a nearby political campaign by the PND, something he may come to regret me thinks.

There is an email scam going on, with many people being sent a fictitious debt purportedly coming from Portugal Telecom. If you receive something that looks like this, just delete it.

‘Bridge Of Ribeiro Seco Reopens Tomorrow’. The bridge at Engenho do Mel in Funchal will reopen early tomorrow morning, after demolition arising from the construction work on the new via expresso to Funchal Port.

UPDATES :

‘Fatal Accident In Caniço – man aged 34 died instantly’. The accident on the via rápida this morning killed one man and left a woman seriously injured.

Iberojet, part of the Carnival group, has confirmed its intention to make a total of 19 stops on Madeira next Summer with it’s cruise ship ‘Grand Voyager’. The cruise will include weekly port calls in Vigo, Portimão, Casablanca, Arrecife, Las Palmas and Funchal. Funchal will also be a port for passengers to start / finish their cruise (I think?). The first cruise stop here will be on 30th April, 2010. The ship, which is no newcomer here, was built in 2000 in the shipyard Blohm Voss, in Hamburg, Germany. Its tonnage is 24,391, measuring 180.7 meters long and 25.6 meters wide. It can accommodate 922 passengers, and is served by 360 crew members.

‘Jehovahs Witnesses Opt To Not Vote – There are around 1,200 on Madeira, but they believe in the Kingdom of God, and not of men’. "We’re not going to vote for reasons explained in the bible" said a spokesman.

The Diário has been publishing ‘quotes of the day’ from the politicians over the last few days, but nothing very notable so far. I will try a couple today:

"If you want medical assistance and a new hospital, vote for Coelho. If you want football and great stadiums then vote for Dr. João Alberto and Jaime Ramos". – José Manuel Coelho, PND.

"It’s a thrill to be here with you". – José Manuel Rodrigues, CDS, at a dinner with more than 300 women. He also said "I never saw so much beauty concentrated in so little space". Grovelling politicians, don’t you just hate them!

(19th September). This from yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : "People forgive but don’t forget" – Alberto João Jardim speaks of "rich kids of fascist families". At an inauguration on Friday Jardim talked about the times of fascism, saying that many people here remember what it was like, and now that now they have to put up with the rich kids, the children of the fascists that robbed the people of Madeira, and now they go around spending it and acting like clowns. Who on earth writes this stuff for him? Surely the writer and orator cannot be the one and the same Uncle Bertie … and yet he’s still in Charge?

‘Sentence Annulled – António Henriques, condemned for the crime of active corruption in sport, won his appeal’. A court in Porto annulled the suspended sentence of 28 months in prison for the man who was tried after a game between Marítimo and Nacional, in the 2003 – 2004 season, that secured a place for Marítimo in the UEFA Cup. The referee in the game was also convicted at the trial last November, and given a suspended prison sentence of 20 months. Unreliable evidence and unclear facts helped clear the former vice president of the Refereeing Council, for his alleged part in the ‘golden whistle’ game, which became known as the game ‘well robbed’. No doubt destined for a career in Politics now. Uncle Bertie is probably on the phone to him right now, especially as the alleged act thrusted his favourite team into Europe that year.

’50 Students In A Basement – Paralysed works in the school of Lombo de São João oblige the controversial transfer to the basic school of Ribeira Brava’. Families of around 50 pre-school students demand real classrooms in the return to school. The usual school in São João is undergoing improvement works, that were promised to be completed in January this year, but the works were suspended for 6 months due to the contact being transferred to another company, due to insolvency. Meanwhile the kids occupy two basement rooms at the Basic School of Ribeira Brava, where the temperatures are high, and there is very little natural light.

‘Officers On Waiting List – The regional command of the Public Security Police is going to receive 23 new Madeiran officers, but there are 79 transfer requests still unanswered’. The ‘green light’ has been given by the PSP nationally to transfer the 23 officers to Madeira to strengthen the regional command. But there is no shortage of further candidates, with 79 officers on the mainland asking for transfers to Madeira. Some are desperate to come here, and join the region of Portugal that has the lowest ratio of police to population, just 3 officers per thousand inhabitants. The last influx was in January 2008 when 15 officers were transferred from Portugal. The new recruits are due to start duty next month, and will take the PSP numbers up to around 750 officers. The trade union spokesman for the police said that he had not been informed of the transfers, and preferred to wait and see before commenting, but did say that 23 recruits was not enough to provide the total contingent needed.

‘PSP Seize Arms In Machico – Domestic violence triggered a search’. 7 fire arms were seized, various forms of rifles, along with around a thousand rounds of differing calibres of ammunition. Police managed to obtain a warrant for a search of domestic premises, and were seized on the basis of elevated risk in a case of domestic violence, which applies even if the firearms are legally held.

‘All The Schools Now have Contingency Plans For Gripe A – Rui Anacleto says that self-control is needed’. All schools will start the new academic year on Monday with a swine flu contingency plan. The regional director of education guaranteed yesterday that all schools are prepared and ready to deal with the H1N1 virus, but only in terms of procedures and prevention in the spread of the virus, with the reinforcement of hygiene requirements. Disinfectant products, masks, and isolation rooms form part of the plans. Anacleto said that everything was being done to minimise the situation, and asked all involved to show self-control. He said he did not want "to transform the pandemic of Gripe A into a pandemic of fear".

Monday will see the official presentation of the Monte Train Project. Funchal Council will reveal the project ‘Comboio do Monte’ on Monday afternoon, that will provide a route by rail between Largo da Fonte, in Monte, to Terreiro da Luta.

The Festa do Pêro is tomorrow in Ponta do Pargo, Calheta. President Jardim will be there around 1 pm to make a speech to the farmers. On Monday he will be performing inaugurations at two schools, one new, the other enlarged.  

Police (PJ / Judicial Police) are warning people to ignore emails that are seemingly coming from them. The emails have been sent to many on Madeira, advising them to install a Microsoft security programme, that in fact is a virus. The emails seem to be coming from South America, and the exact source is being investigated.

A young man, who has had an arrest warrant outstanding for over a year, was finally captured yesterday in Nazaré, Funchal. The arrest was made after a routine check in the area. The man is wanted in connection with of thefts and robberies in Funchal going back over several years.

‘Albuquerque promises better quality of life – Centre of São Martinho is enhanced with a garden overlooking the sea’. A new garden was opened yesterday in São Martinho, Funchal. The garden, with sea views, is located at the Centro de São Martinho. The president of Funchal Council who was at the inauguration, promised more such urban open spaces that offer the population "more quality of life". The new garden occupies a site of nearly five thousand square metres, and was transformed at a cost of €450 thousand. It has 145 trees of 60 different species, seat, litter bins, and play equipment for children.

This weekend’s football : Only one football match worth watching on Madeira this weekend … the local derby. Nacional v Marítimo Sunday 6 pm, on SportTV 1.

Petrol and diesel prices drop 1 cêntimo on Monday. Petrol will be around €1.19 a litre, and diesel €0.93.

UPDATES :

‘Registered Unemployed Rose 50% In August, Compared To 2008 – In August 2008 there were 8,209, one year on there are 12,315. But there are 74 less than in July’. The registered unemployment on Madeira and Porto Santo continues to show signs of improvement, for the second month running. However, August is normally the best month of the year for job offers.

‘Another Fine Mess – Madeira was involved in another case that shakes the country, this time the bugging of the Presidency of the Republic’. The scandal is believed to have connections or even origins on Madeira, after information about bugging the President’s office in Belém was revealed by an aide of Cavaco Silva. First it was the free ride in the car of the regional government to the national leader of the PSD, and her presence at inaugurations, then it was the "**** ****" of president Jardim, and now the listening device(s) in the office of the President of the Republic. Several controversial episodes, separated by just a few days, and in one form or another, they all have Madeira in the middle. Madeira and the PSD that is. It was on the front page of the Daily News of Lisbon yesterday, that the principle aide of Cavaco Silva had revealed there had been a possible interception of information through monitoring of the President’s team. The news is full of this story, but Cavaco Silva himself has refused to discuss the matter publically, as he thinks it is better to wait until after the elections.

In the latest poll by SIC, the PS socialists have moved ahead of their only real rivals, the PSD social democrats, in the race for seats in The Assembly of the Republic, due to be contested a week tomorrow. The poll indicates that the ruling PS have increased their vote share from 33.6% to 34.9%, whilst the PSD have fallen back to 31.6%, a difference of 3.3%. The BE Left Block has remained steady in third place with 9.6%, whist the CDU communists have fallen back 1% to 8.4%. 15% of those involved in the poll said they were still undecided on which way to vote.

‘Private Education Takes Cut – The support for the construction of new crèches and private schools is suspended’. With the new rules, the government is tight on finance and, in some cases is demanding the return of funding. The funding situation underwent a review, and a decision was taken yesterday to suspend support and funding, including a demand for the return of money given to pay staff. The measure is justified as ‘imposing the same measures for the reduction of costs in the private sector as are necessary in the public sector’. It is a temporary measure, but the Diário has information that indicates that this could be for three years. In crèches, or kindergartens, the state pays for a teacher and two assistants in each class, and sometimes other employees, but this funding will stop and any advance payments for salaries will have to be returned to the Department of Education. Some schools with financial assistance for swimming pools and sports pavilions will also be affected, as support is withdrawn. The Department of Education is still of the view that families should still have a choice between public and private schools, and will continue with the principle that private schools still form part of the regional education system. Full details were published in the official government journal JORAM yesterday HERE but I don’t know the document reference, and obviously the information is in Portuguese. I would imagine this will be a big worry for some parents.

‘Teachers Without Training For Teaching Through The “Magalhães”. The Magalhães are the mini laptop computer that nearly every 1st cycle school child now has, as provided by the government a couple of months ago. Parents and guardians have already been informed that the laptop will be an essential tool in school, but in truth not all teachers are prepared to teach using the programmes used by the little computers, despite having been offered training in Information Technology and Communication. A spokesman from Madeira’s union for teachers said that the training offered was not specific to the computer programmes used by the Magalhães, and many teachers are having to learn by themselves. “There should have been training for all before the delivery of the computers to students” he says, “We think that this was a failure”. Another issue is the continued issue of the computers to children, as there has been no announcement as to whether central government will offer the Magalhães to the next batch of eligible students. You can see people, not just children, with these computers all over the place. At night, when the kids are asleep, parents ‘borrow’ them, and you can see them at the free internet access wi-fi zones peering at the little screens. A brilliant scheme (in theory), with many kids getting them free, others having to pay €50 or something like that. They even (in theory) mean the kids can follow lessons at home, if sick, and you can imagine the value of that, if it works, in a Gripe A swine flu epidemic causing a school closure. The Diário cartoon today suggests that if teachers have trouble working the new computers and software, they can always ask for kids for help.

‘Government Warns Sick With Gripe A – The citizens are going to sign a ‘Declaration of Commitment’ to avoid spreading the virus’. The Institute of Administration of Health and Social Affairs (IASAÚDE) wants to enforce the issue of personal responsibility in the case of Gripe A infection, and has devised a ‘Declaração de Compromisso’ (Declaration of Commitment) that will be issued by health professionals to confirmed cases of swine flu, explaining the responsibility of individuals in preventing the spread of the virus, including staying at home for a prescribed period. There is also a leaflet available explaining the situation and responsibilities. Both documents (in Portuguese) can be seen HERE. Knowingly spreading and infection disease (even negligently) is a criminal offence here, punishable by a long prison sentence. Great idea, but of course it does sort of depend on the sick person actually going to the doctor or hospital, as I am sure many will just try and ‘sleep it off’.

Today’s main photo is from last nights big game : ‘Nacional Startled The Germans But Lacked Experience’. That’s not my assessment, but the Germans were certainly physically stronger, knocking our lads all over the place, and a bit quicker too.
Thanks to Paul ‘do Mar’ for sending in this UEFA link with pictures, a video, and a sort of match report. NACIONAL 2 – 3 WERDER BREMEN

‘Madeira Ballet Theatre’ In Russia – The ballet dance group is performing in St. Petersburg’. Madeira Ballet Theatre conquers Russia, with the performance of ‘Auguste Rodin’ held between 4th and 11th September, with a warm reception that motivated the dancers. The show will be repeated in Funchal in November, in the Teatro Baltazar Dias.

‘The Most Expensive Car Parks Are The Most Used – The more central car parks in Funchal have more users, despite of the prices’. Those such as Anadia and Dolce Vita are the most expensive and yet the most used (around 80% occupation). Those away from the centre, such as Rua Bela de Santiago, with much more accessible prices, have an occupation rate of around 10%. Last year car parking use and revenues took a nose dive as the crisis changed people’s behaviour, but now everything is pretty much back to normal. In the Anadia car park, one would pay €1.30 for an hour, but cheaper less central car parks are available for €0.50 an hour. Convenience is king, forget the price. Or is it car parking for the wealthier, and long walks for the poorer?

The new stretch of cycle path along the Estrada Monumental in Funchal is due to be inaugurated tomorrow.

Police say they have broken up a drug trafficking network, with 5 arrests and the seizure of enough hashish for 11,000 doses. The investigation, to obtain the evidence and make the arrests, ran for 5 months.

UPDATE :

‘Criminal complaint against José Manuel Coelho – SRARN condemns the “false and offensive content” of statements by the PND candidate’. The Government, through the Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources (SRARN), today announced it will present a criminal complaint against the candidate of the New Democracy Party (PND) in the parliamentary elections, José Manuel Coelho, following statements made yesterday during a campaign outside the premises of that regional office. José Manuel Coelho, perhaps better known as ‘The Rabbit’, denounced the alleged embezzlement of funds from the European Union. “We must expose a den of thieves that exists here in the regional office of the Environment and Natural Resources”, said Coelho at the opening of the campaign. The full story is on yesterday’s blog.

Another 26 political stories again today, but nothing much more of interest in that section.

(17th September). Today’s final headline : ‘Robbery’ Causes Depression In The PS In Água De Pena – The treasurer of the parish council, involved in the case of the money for the festivals, wants to give up on local government’. She was on the socialist’s candidate list for the forthcoming local elections, but she has now decided to withdraw. The decision will be related to the mysterious disappearance of money, donated to the church for the parish celebrations, from the interior of her car. The case of the missing money, nearly €10,000, has caused unrest in the area. Speculation about how the money was taken from her car, that shows no sign of a break-in, has generated many theories as to what actually happened. No one will speak openly about the matter, and the lady herself does not answer her telephone.

‘Jardim’s Ride Archived’. The controversial matter of president Jardim giving his party leader, Manuela Ferreira Leite, a lift to the airport in a vehicle of the presidency at the end of her recent visit, was made into a formal complaint by an opposition party. The National Elections Commission (CNE) has now investigated the matter and decided that there was no wrongdoing by Jardim. The issue was about using government property for party political purposes. However, the effort of the complaint did not fall completely on deaf ears, as the CNE decision includes a recommendation to the President of the Government [in that role] to keep a distance from the electoral battle. Jardim, on hearing the ‘warning’ eased matters considerably with the comment aimed at the CNE, “it attacks from a distance, as far as I know only with missiles” (or something along those lines).

This photo is from today’s Diário de Notícias, showing the amount of political street garbage in one street in Funchal.

‘Department of Environment is “a den of thieves”. “We must denounce a den of thieves that exists here in the regional office of the Environment and Natural Resources”. It was thus that Sr. José Manuel Coelho began his campaigning, at the door of the office of Manuel António Correia. The candidate of the PND New Democracy Party, known to blog readers as ‘The rabbit’, who used the opportunity to speak to people passing on Avenida Arriaga, accuses the Government of diverting the money coming from the European Union, and which should have been used to finance agricultural projects. “This money is diverted to fall into the pockets of Sr. Jaime Ramos and his fledgling” he accuses. “Dr. Alberto João Jardim ordered the diversion of that money to build farm roads, for himself to inaugurate, and for Jaime Ramos to put money in his pocket, through the sale of tarmac and concrete”, he explains. He adds that the farmers who invested their own savings in the proposed projects, never received the money that they were owed. So this is what is meant by a ‘Rabbit Punch’. Coelho knows no boundaries, and he is prepared to go to lengths that I wouldn’t dare, even though the stories are well known, but always stay as just rumours, discussed quietly in dark smoky corners in bars. The accused, Jaime Ramos, who is also the parliamentary leader of the ruling PSD social democrats on Madeira, is also a prominent and powerful businessman, with interests in construction and an extensive stakeholder in cement production on Madeira. Of course, I have no opinion on the matter, just reporting what was said by Sr. Coelho, according to the newspaper.

(16th September). Yesterday’s final headline : ‘President Of Santana Humiliated’. Pereira takes a U turn. A decision was taken at a council meeting at the beginning of September to reduce IMI council tax from 0.7% to 0.6%. The proposal had been made by the PS-M socialists, and voted on and accepted by the majority PSD-M social democrats. Now câmara president Carlos Pereira has come up with another proposal … that the level for council tax should remain at 0.7%, in order to maintain the level of council revenue. The socialists say the order to reverse the decision came from ‘outside’, and that Santana council is being managed ‘inside out’, a reference to the new candidate on the PSD-M list for next months elections, when Carlos Pereira will be ousted after 25 years in the job. The PS say that Carlos has already been “de-authorised”. So, the new man is already in charge without yet going through the democratic process, known as the elections. I have often said that democracy here only happens once every 4 years, for each level of election that is, and it looks like this year the PSD have already managed to bypass even that little treat for the people.

‘Not Even The Marines Will Stop The Inaugurations’. Nothing will stop president Jardim in his election time inauguration spree, not even the criticism of his socialist political opponent, Bernardo Trindade, who believes that they are being used as a political toll. Jardim said yesterday in Funchal, he will maintain the programme of inaugurations, because he has the Portuguese Constitution and the law on his side. “The only way I can stop doing inaugurations, and even then they would not manage, would be to land the Marines here and arrest me” said Jardim. In the pre-election days in September and early October 66 such inaugurations have been organised.

A couple of the political parties have decided to adopt anti-corruption themes for their political campaigns, including the CDU communists, and the PND new democrats (as mentioned above). The picture shows the latter using a hearse as a prop, and the man doing the silly walk on top is the one known as ‘The Rabbit’. ‘Coelho Announces: ‘Let’s Bury Corruption’ on Madeira’. The hearse was parked outside the Bank of Portugal (why?) as a small piece was enacted on top. On the side of the vehicle was the slogan ‘Let’s bury corruption. Inside the hearse was an orange coffin on which was written,’ Here lies Maria of the Corruption of Jardim Ramos and Sousas’, pointing out senior PSD-M politicians Jaime Ramos, and president Arlindo Gomes of Câmara de Lobos”, as guilty of corruption. Many people stopped and watched in amusement, many were children, and many tourists who had no idea what was going on, but took lots of photos anyway.

‘Increases in social discontent during elections – The Government faces eight strikes and nine protests during the election campaign’. The industrial action will involve many thousands of workers in various sectors, and include Customs, Nurses, Teachers, TAP Pilots, Transportation, and several others in the private sector.

These from yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : ‘CNE Already Received Five Complaints From Madeira – Two weeks from the national elections the National Elections Commission is analysing various complaints originating on Madeira’. One is from President Jardim about discriminatory journalism, against RTP Madeira and RDP. The second is against the ‘Jardim says he always fought against ‘robbery’ government of Madeira for violation of the principles of neutrality and impartiality. The third is by the PND new democrats against the Jornal da Madeira for discriminatory journalism, and the other two are complaints about irregularities in the meetings held to appoint monitors for voting tables in two parishes (Caniço and Ponta do Sol). The CNE says it has despatched a member to stay here, to advise and assist during both elections, with the authority to involve the police where necessary.

“Madeira is not a rich land, Madeira has a population density three times higher than the Azores and the mainland, two thirds of Madeira is rock, and we have no chance of settling ourselves there, we do not have oil, we don’t have gold … I’ve always said, we can never be rich but we’re going to have quality of life”, referring to the theme that he took on when becoming president of the Regional Government in March 1978. – Alberto João Jardim, Paul do Mar, September 2009.

- In the nineteenth Cider Show in Santo da Serra’. The President of the Regional Government said Sunday that he has always fought to finish the “robbery of the Madeirans”. Taking the example of the football match on Sunday between Marítimo and Braga, in which “Marítimo was robbed!”, Alberto João Jardim said to the thousands of people who heard him in Santo da Serra, that it is “always the same thing. Robbed by outsiders. And you know what I’ve been doing these years? Trying to end the robbery of the Madeirans”, said the president. Without generalising of course, I must remember that quote the next time I get screwed €1.50 for a coffee, or a taxi driver charges me €60 from the airport to home. The European authorities might also raise an eyebrow or three at the remarks, as the big stitch, up without a doubt, has gone in the opposite direction.

A huge political section again today, much more than the rest of the Diário ‘serious news’ all put together.

‘Plagiarism On The Loose In The University Of Madeira – Copying text from the internet and presenting it as ones own is common practice’. It happens in all the courses. Teachers admit that the phenomenon has grown in recent years because of the internet, and welcome the decision of the UMa Dean to install anti-plagiarism software. That enthusiasm is not shared by the students representative, Luis Eduardo Nicolau, who says this is "a very delicate matter". The fight against plagiarism, as is happening in UMa, is just one of the functions of the Office of Student Aid, a new body that will mediate in the relationships between students and teachers. This Office will receive from now on all academic work, ensuring that deadlines are met. The work must be submitted in electronic format, so it can then be checked for authenticity, using the new anti-plagiarism software. If the work ‘passes’ the originality test then it goes to the teacher or lecturer who set the assignment for marking, but if it fails the test it’s another story.

The football headline is back today : ‘Four Games Without Winning – Nacional lost yesterday in Vila do Conde. The team attacked a lot, but couldn’t score. Today, after the sermon, the big game in Barreiros’. Nacional lost 2 – 0 at Rio Ave, leaving them with just two point out of a possible 12. Marítimo play Braga today. Yesterday’s game was also today’s main front page photo.

Hot off the press : Marítimo 1 Braga 2, leaving Braga top of the league with a 100% record. 

‘PSP called to restore order in Nogueira – A fight between neighbours, joined by dozens of people, yesterday forced the intervention of the police in the neighbourhood of Nogueira’. One neighbour complained to another about the noise from a party that went late into the night, but the complaint was not well received, and resulted in a slanging match. The lady complainant returned home, but the noisy neighbours followed and kicked her front door in, only to see her husband there armed with a baseball bat. At least one person was taken to hospital during the dispute, which probably woke up much of the neighbourhood. Some interesting readers comments with this article, including "It seems like one of those parts of Iraq, always in an uproar!"

On our roads last week, 49 accidents were reported, resulting in 20 injuries, 5 of which were serious. 28 drivers were detained for driving with excess alcohol. A case of a 19 year old man caught twice driving stolen cars, and without a driving licence, was mentioned on the blog a couple of weeks ago. He has since been caught twice more driving stolen cars. He went to court yesterday morning, and was released again, perplexing the 7 drink drivers forced to appear that same morning, and who were judged and convicted for their misdemeanours.

‘Aedes Aegypti Mosquito May Be Developing – The Institute of Health Administration returns to the land to see if the larvae have proliferated’. IASAÚDE is to undertake a new field study of the insect at the end of this month based on suspicions that the mosquito is again actively breeding. A spokesman for IASAÚDE said he is concerned that the high humidity levels have been helping provide good conditions for the mosquito.

Car Inspections went up in price yesterday as a result of an annual review. An extra 27 cêntimos for light vehicles (cars), and 41c. for heavier vehicles. Getting your car inspected will now cost €22.91 plus 14% VAT / IVA.

UPDATES (Politics) :

Today’s main news headline : ‘Let’s get the Job Done! – On the return of Jardim from his holiday, the Madeira government approved 43 resolutions in two hours’. The workload included 17 special contracts and eight land expropriations. It may not be a record, but it must be coming close. The governing council, led by president Jardim, sat on the 4th of this month and renamed Funchal Central Hospital and the Botanical Gardens, decided an award for a politician in Tabua, made a number of agreements with different sporting organisations, and approved a number of payments to banks. They even reviewed an updated report about how much tourists spend on Madeira. When the documents arrive for the consideration of the government, all the analysis work is already done. All that remains then is the political decision, which is done by resolution. The government refuses access to the minutes of meetings to journalists. No wonder we get so many white elephants on Madeira, if they are taking an average of less than 3 minutes to consider each resolution.

The big debate was on TV last night, between the two main party leaders for this month’s election for the assembly of the Republic. I sat through the whole 70 minutes, and I have to say that José Sócrates, leader of the socialist party, and Manuela Ferreira Leite, leader of the social democrats, were remarkably well composed and polite throughout. The debate started off with Madeira and president Jardim mentioned several times, on the issue of ‘stifling democracy’, Jardim’s false candidature for the Assembly of the Republic (he gets elected, but never attends), and also about the ‘offshore’ financial benefits of our island.  She is a decent very clever lady, but no match for golden boy Sócrates when it comes to stage presence, and he was so much better prepared, with a small stack of essential documents to hand, to prove his points. I have no real preference about who wins the elections this month, aside from continuity issues, but I wouldn’t be surprised as a result of last nights debate if the vote swings to the left a little, but there again how many sad people stay in on a Saturday night a Saturday night to watch a political debate.

‘Election Campaign Begins Officially Today And Finishes On The 25th’. The campaign for the Assembly of the Republic is now officially underway, even though political parties and candidates have been in pre-campaign several weeks already. Madeira has six places available, and at present they are shared equally between the PSD-M socialists and the PS socialists.

‘PND Is Going To Make A Complaint Against Funchal Council – The party accuses the council of removing posters’. The New Democratic Party of Madeira will make a complaint to the National Election Commission about the council taking down their political posters in the streets of Funchal, after they were posted on Thursday night. They say the council left their own PSD social democrat posters in place, and those of other parties. The party is also considering a protest at at the council offices, if their posters disappear again, and planned to do a stake out with pickets last night to watch over their propaganda. Funchal council later said that it was a "lapse in council services" and a mistake, and that the posters were being replaced. Recognise the character in the photo? I had a feeling Sr. Coelho was a blog reader.

‘PP Is Going Around On Foot Throughout Funchal For 12 Days’. The first five candidates for the Peoples party, standing for Funchal council, will start on Monday after the national elections, using a 23 seater bus. The strategy of the People’s Party is direct contact with the people. 

In national news, a poll carried out through the TV broadcaster SIC predicts that the PSD social democrats of Madeira will win four of the six places in the Assembly of the Republic in the elections this month. The other two places will go to the PS socialists. Currently the situation is 3 places each between the two parties, but most expected the PSD to romp in with 5 of the 6 places later this month. Nationally the poll indicates a ‘technical draw’ between the PS and PSD, with 33.6% and 32.5% of the vote respectively.

The fallout from last weeks visit of the leader of the PSD social democrats to Madeira continues. Manuela Ferreira Leite, who accompanied president Jardim on official government duties, is still suffering the aftermath back in Portugal, where news of the ‘mishaps’ of the visit reached leaders of other parties, and the recent televised debates between party leaders have been used to exploit these matters. Aside from her classifying Madeira as an example of liberty and democracy, her association with Jardim has left her tarnished, especially after he insulted journalists asking why the official presidency car was being used for party political purposes in taking the PSD leader to the airport. In fact what Jardim said, in English, is repeated again, in English, in today’s newspaper, but again not translated into Portuguese through ‘decorum’. It’s a two word insult that the Diário now describes as famous. Likewise, I wouldn’t repeat it here in English, but in Portuguese it goes something like this ‘vão-se lixar’. We have decorum here as well you know.

The biggest TV ‘face to face’ political debate is tonight, channel SIC at 9.15 pm, between prime minister Sócrates and Manuela Ferreira Leite.

From yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira  : "In politics you must have a humane view" – Alberto João Jardim said that still the important thing is to know how to serve the people’. Jardim says that in politics you have to have a humane view of things, or know to govern for the people, serving all people regardless of their economic or social conditions. The president of Madeira said these things in a speech he made at an inauguration in Madalena do Mar.

In another article in the same newspaper : ‘Investments Should Be Well Considered – Alberto João Jardim says it is necessary to calculate the size and market potential it needs to reach’. Has anyone seen that book I mentioned last month : 100 public works – An A to Z of Doubtful Usefulness. The book gives examples of Madeira’s public works that are total failures, some that were built but were never used, and some that never got off the drawing board, even though significant expenditure was incurred.

Now you know why I don’t go to the Jornal when I want relevant and sensible political reporting. I am not saying it’s not accurate reporting of course, but the Jornal management decide to give such rubbish printed space rather than upset their bosses.

The main sport headline, in football : ‘Hugo Almeida Warns Nacional : "We Are Strong" – The Portuguese International that plays for Werder Bremen praises the first opponent in the Europa League’. The player praises our local team, but has no doubts about Werder Bremen, saying "we are favourites".

‘Bandolins Seek Big Venues – The orchestra wants to perform in the Centro Cultural de Belém and in the Casa da Música (Porto)’. The new season 2009 – 2010, that starts today, brings new ambitions including the conquest of new audiences, and the chance to play in renowned venues in Portugal and abroad. The first concert is tonight at 9 pm in the English Church in Rua do Quebra Costas, in Funchal, which I believe will be a regular event on Friday’s. Another tour is planned in the UK next year, and the artistic director of the orchestra says that they must focus their work on venues abroad to promote Madeira and win new audiences. Special performances are also scheduled at the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias. I didn’t know that mandolins or music have seasons, but anyway, this is one of the few sources of local entertainment that anyone who reads this blog has ever shown any enthusiasm for*. Not had the privilege of seeing a performance myself yet, but maybe a trip out to Ribeira Brava is a bit beneath them now they are established internationally. (*aside from me and Vânia of course, who happened to be performing in Gaula this weekend).

Another 61 allotment plots for vegetable gardens will be provided in Bairro de João Gomes by the river. The plots which will be ready in November will take the total for Funchal to 170.

‘CMF Gives 3 Months To Update Meter Records’. Funchal council is owed €320,000 in unpaid water bills. They estimate that 11 thousand out of 50 thousand water meters are not registered to the correct user. During the period, water users can update their water meter details free, apart from a small stamp duty charge. If the deadline is missed, there will be a charge of €14.60 to change the details, and the council will move to collect outstanding water charges, regardless of the name on the account.

‘Madeira Government To Reinforce Cliff Face In Calheta Village – The work continues on what was already completed in 2003, and will cost around €7 million’. The plan is now to reinforce the complete escarpment, around 370 meters long, to prevent falling rocks and debris. Up until now just the central part has been dealt with, using barriers and wire mesh. The project, which is in the programme of works for 2007 – 2011, was agreed by the Governing Council yesterday and will now go out to tender. A spokesman for the government said that the "natural evolution" and "erosion" of the escarpment overlooking the sea front of Calheta, has over the years, resulted in "several detachments of blocks and fragments of rock and earth".  

At the same meeting yesterday, amongst a number of projects and grants approved, €700,000 was allocated for the construction of a central (town) square in Caniçal, and €3 million for a new connecting street for Sta. Quitéria-Três Paus and Viana, in Funchal.

‘Conceição Estudante Criticises The Secretary of State for Tourism For "lack of ethics and opportunism" – Madeira’s Tourism Secretary accuses Bernardo Trindade of "assuming leadership" in announcing a new air route to Madeira’. She is upset because he  anticipated the announcement of a new air route for this region, and took the credit. "I dislike having to make this comment at a time when the Secretary of State, Bernardo Trindade, is campaigning (head-of-list for the PS-M to the Assembly of the Republic), but the Secretary of State is taking a leadership role that he doesn’t have in this case", she said. She was speaking about the new route of the British company Jet2, that will carry passengers between Manchester and Madeira, from February(?) 2010, which was announced Wednesday by the Secretary of State for Tourism. She says he was not ‘in the chair’ during the negotiations, and that Trindade’s announcement "was an unpleasant exploitation, opportunism, and it was not ethical by the secretary of state to pre-empt the announcement". She then got a little more upbeat by saying "But what’s really important is that Madeira will have one more link in a market that is very important to this region, the United Kingdom".

Today’s main photo shows a picture of the president of Funchal Council in a bookshop : ‘Court Fines CMF For Bad Faith And President’s Threat – The "shocking" illegalities in the ‘VIP residences’ and the disrespect for judicial decisions lead to criticism from TACF. Miguel Albuquerque incurs a ‘crime of disobedience’ if he doesn’t repeal the licence and cut off the water’. The Administrative Court of the Circle of Funchal (TACF) fined the council and an ‘advisor’ €2,500, in connection with the VIP residences ‘Villas Jardins D’Água’. The judge ruled on 25th August that there was bad-faith from the council and developer of the properties, disrespecting judicial decisions, as if they had not been declared illegal. Work continued illegally after the judicial decision was ignored, and then the council illegally issued the authorisations for habitation, and now the properties are illegally occupied, said the judge, "It’s truly shocking in a state of European Union law". The council also has to take remedial measure in respect of the properties, including cutting-off the illegal water supplies. Councils and developers defying court judgements, what could have been the motivation? Must nip out later, as I am almost out of brown envelopes and other essential stationary items.

The sports headline & main photo today : ‘Victory In Bad Game Feeds The Dream – Portugal won in Hungary 1 – 0. Pepe scored the goal that keeps hope alive of qualification for the World Cup. Ronaldo squandered opportunities’. The mood in town last night, despite the result, was sombre. "A weak performance" I heard said several times. Who cares, with all the toughest games out of the way now, and 6 more points for the taking. The problem is we still needs someone else to slip up.

‘Lack Of Agricultural Water Causes Protest – A 20 year old promise yet to be kept takes the population of Penha D’Águia to deliver a signed petition in Santana’. The residents of ‘Eagle Rock’ in Faial are tired of waiting for the 20 year old promise to be fulfilled. A 65 signature petition was raised and delivered to the council in Santana. Signed by residents, family, friends, and land owners in the area, fed up with irrigation problems and being unable to produce crops as they should. "Many times we were waiting for a little rain, but could not grow anything", said one resident. The problem in the area often also affects drinking water. "Sometimes there is no water to drink there", he said, adding that many are the days when only around midnight they get "a drop of water" to quench their thirsts. The councillor responsible was unable to comment as he was on holiday, but the council said that he had no knowledge of the petition, and that as the promise was made so long ago by another ‘team’, the promise it is not the responsibility of the current council in this current mandate.

‘Businessmen’ Blame Government For 7 Year Old bad Debt’. In an episode referred to as "Brides of September", the government is blamed for a €10 thousand debt, or more specifically those responsible for tourism 7 years ago. The event, which only ran three times, involved the making of 7 wedding dresses by 5 guest designers, and the funding for the 7 dresses was a verbal agreement with the person responsible for tourism and culture at that time. One of the wedding dress designers says she spend €1,100 on materials out of her own pocket. The organisers of the event, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Madeira, are now facing insolvency, and a decision is expected next week.

‘Nurses In Protest On The 18th – Madeira’s professionals will have a presence in the protest in Lisbon’. The protest next week, at the Ministry of health, is over changes to career paths.

Customs staff are also threatening to strike (in a national action), probably in the week prior to the national elections, over government proposals involving career regulations for staff.

‘Study For Parking Meters In Lugar de Baixo – The council wants more rotation in car parking in the area of bars and restaurants’. No decision has yet been taken, but the intentions already point in this direction. The parking, at least within the range of the restaurants in Lugar de Baixo, Ponta do Sol, is expected to be regulated through the placement of parking meters. The expected action would be taken during the next mandate of the council, with the primary objective of preventing the parking abuse that proliferates in this area, located near the end of the east tunnel, aiming to serve short term parking and facilitate more rotation of clients for nearby businesses. Currently many drivers park there for long periods. A council spokesman said he wants to hear from local business owners before making a decision.

Police are trying to track down a car and driver that ran down a 33 year old man on Sunday near Lugar de Baixo, and fled the scene. The car was a VW Golf, the colour is silver-grey, and it now lacks part of the front grille and the wing mirror on the passenger side. The victim is still in hospital with 4 fractures and other injuries.

UPDATES / POLITICS :

The last of today’s front page headlines : ‘Zaragata’ Takes Police To A Party Gathering’. Police were called to a meeting in Ponta do Sol, arranged to discuss the manning of voting tables in forthcoming elections. The meeting that started at 7 pm yesterday evening, was still going on at 10.30 pm, with two police officers waiting outside. The Diário said "Due to the lateness of the hour, we were unable to ascertain the reasons that motivated the likely ‘disagreement’ between the delegates, and the consequent call to the police". Hardly front page news then is it.

‘Equality Doesn’t Come At The Top Of The Lists – Teachers make up a third of the head-of-list for local elections’. The political parties have little trust in women to preside in the municipal authorities. The local elections scheduled for 11th October will have just 9 women, from around 60 candidates, at the top of the candidate lists submitted by seven parties. The law of parity is there with the aim of ensuring at least a third of candidates are women, by saying that there cannot be more than 2 consecutive same sex candidates on the lists. With 7 parties jostling for the presidency in Madeira’s 11 councils, just 9 women appear as the number one candidate. The PSD social democrats don’t have any, and have not had any in the top spot for the last 33 years. 

After a few tough days on the receiving end of criticism from all directions, president Jardim made an appeal yesterday for separatism from the central state, saying that if we bother you "you may see yourself free of us", because "we also don’t care". I care, and I am sure many tens of thousands more also care. If Uncle Bertie is implying we can survive as a small island without state support, then he is so so wrong.

‘PND makes a criminal complaint against Jardim for breach of "impartiality and neutrality" in the campaign – Baltasar Gonçalves accuses the leader of the PSD of using public resources for actions of the Social Democrats’. He is accused by the member of the New Democratic Party of Madeira of arranging inaugurations to supplement the election campaign for PSD-M, and using public funds / resources to further the cause of his party, as happened Monday when a presidential vehicle was used to transport the PSD party leader. The complaint also mentions that Jardim wears the emblem of the PSD on his jacket when performing official engagements. The complaint, which was submitted to a court in Funchal yesterday, also accuses Madeira’s president of acting as party leader and his official capacity simultaneously, particularly in appealing for people to vote for his candidates in local elections, when he attacks other movements, and damages the prospects of political adversaries. Is he not guilty as charged? I understood he has mended his ways a little on the latter point. It remains to see whose side the judge is on, choosing my words rather carefully, but if it is an injunction needed, how long will it take to get through the legal quagmire?

‘Cavaco should intervene in the "state of fear" created by the PSD on Madeira – The
PP leader criticizes the government for "using taxpayers’ money in the inaugurations for propaganda purposes to promote the candidates of the PSD". The head-of-the-list of the CDS / PP communists for Madeira in the national elections, José Manuel Rodrigues, yesterday defended a call for the intervention of the President of the Republic "in the situation of fear created in the region". Poor old Uncle Bertie, they all seem to be picking on him this week.

The matter on Monday evening, about opposition (to the PSD) delegates not being allowed to attend the meetings to select the citizens to ‘man’ the voting tables for the national elections on 27th September, is being referred to the authorities for action. Opposition delegates reported being locked out, or meetings being already over when they arrived, contrary to their legal entitlement to attend. The National Commission for Elections is waiting for the complaints, before taking a stance. It seems that the PSD had a well thought out and well kept secret master plan, that involved having everything totally prepared, and starting the meetings bang on time, knowing that everyone normally turns up late for everything on Madeira, including opposition delegates arriving when it was all over. It seemed to work splendidly, and well done to the PSD, because now they have control of the voting tables as well as the majority of voters. I think I would have saved that trick for something more important, because it will only work once.

It’s a huge politics section in the Diário today, and I just can’t take any more, as it’s nearly all the same stuff from different angles.