Madeira News Blog

(10th September). Today’s main news headline : ‘Money Of The Festivals Disappeared -  Restlessness lives in the parish of Água de Pena. Everything because of the ‘theft’ of donations, to the value of €10 thousand, left in a car of a member of the Commission of Festas’. The money was in envelopes inside the car of one of the festa organisers, and was taken early in August. The matter has been kept secret since. The money had been collected from various sites around the parish before the theft, but no one really knows what happened. The Diário managed to speak with the person who had the stolen money in his charge, who was very upset about the matter, but takes the blame and said he intends to ‘regularize’ the situation. The locals are worried. Very recently a grocery store next to the church was robbed, when thieves broke in through the roof and stole €500 and other items. There is a feeling of impunity, and there are those who say that it is not worth complaining to the police.

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.

(21st August). The last of today’s front page stories : ‘Coelho Says That The Judicial System Is Fascist – The Diário starts a series of interviews with the heads-of-lists. The PND wants a place in São Bento’. So the Diário is going to interview the main election candidate for each party, that should see a few noses growing. Today’s interview is with José Manuel Coelho (aka The Rabbit) of the New Democratic Party, total no-hopers for a seat in the Assembly of the Republic (São Bento), and unlikely to get anything of note in the local elections either (2.08% in the 2007 Regionals). But he is an interesting man, a communist at heart, outspoken, and sometime outrageous. He is probably most famous for producing a Nazi flag and a large clock in the Madeira assembly last year, protesting about the cut in time for opposition speakers, and the ‘methodologies’ of the Madeira government. For that I read his interview, and here is a selection, but I doubt if I will do this with the other 11 parties.

Q : What is the main reason for your candidature ? A : Because I think I will be elected, because the Madeirans people are tired of grey men that pop up every four years just to ask for your vote. After that nothing more is heard from them. The Assembly of the Republic produces laws that are going to worsen the life of the Portuguese. Madeira has a quota of six members in the assembly and the ‘friends’ go off there and leave the Madeirans ‘behind the door’.

Q : Do you believe that you can be elected? A : I believe. It needs around 12 thousand votes and there is much apathy and abstention, especially in greater Funchal. There are many young people disillusioned with politics and that don’t even vote. I know these people and I will address myself to them, door to door. It is possible to get 12 thousand votes.

Q : Will you take a Nazi flag and a clock to the Assembly of the Republic? A : Naturally, the Assembly of the Republic does not pose the same problem of the undemocratic assembly of Madeira, and it would be improper to take out a Nazi flag there. The ALM functions in a fascist manner and only gives two minutes for a member to talk. In the Assembly of the Republic it is different.

Q : Will you continue to defend the communist ideals? A : Yes, I believe the state should intervene in the economy and there must be a scientific organization of society. The market can not be delivered to oneself (?).

Actually, the political section of the Diário today is noticeably very thin, with quality political news stories even thinner.

‘Authorities with more resources for prevention – New security system was presented by Minister Rui Pereira’. The Minister of the Interior contemplated yesterday that the Integrated System for Surveillance, Command, and Control of the Portuguese coast will give security forces more means to prevent and control crime in maritime ports. "The GNR (National Guard) and the Institute of Port and Maritime Transportation (IPTM) have developed over the last few years, close cooperation, which allows the optimisation of state resources and improves efficiencies in marine traffic control and security of the Portuguese coast," said Rui Pereira. The Minister referred to the partnership that now allows the sharing of resources and information between these two institutions. "It is a matter of security of the utmost importance because the sea, that presents opportunities at various levels, is also an opportunity for crime, including organized crime for the trafficking phenomenon, such as piracy, which is widely thought to have been thrown into the garbage bin of history". The two systems involved / shared are the Vessel Traffic System (VTS), a system that ensures the safety of maritime traffic, that detects boats of greater than 30 metres, and also Integrated Surveillance, Command and Control (SIVICC) is intended to ensure internal security and customs along the Portuguese coast. The SIVICC system is able to detect boats of 8 metres at up to 20 kilometres, and provide video images of any boat within 8 kilometres of range. How will this affect Madeira you may ask … I have no idea, but the Diário thought it was worth covering the story.

‘Government approves support of five thousand Euros for the purchase of electric cars’. The government yesterday approved a package of measures to implement the ‘Program for Electric Mobility’, by providing an allowance of five thousand Euros for the purchase of electric cars by individuals. "These are measures to start the program running with electric mobility, the introduction in Portugal of electric cars", said the Deputy Secretary of State for Industry and Innovation, Castro Guerra at the end of the meeting of the Council of Ministers, which approved the law. He stressed that the Program for Electric Mobility will as a matter of principle "focus on the user of the vehicle", ensuring fairness and universal access to charging. Castro Guerra said that electric car owners can be assured that there will be compatibility between different makes and models of cars, and batteries, and charging systems. That’s a relief then, you can imagine the problems caused otherwise, with worrying whether your favourite supermarket has a two pin or 3 pin socket, etc etc., and then the marital arguments about who will push the car home.

‘Assistência Náutica 33º 16º Wins The Tender For The Boatyard At Água de Pena’. The company was prepared to pay more for the right to operate the boatyard and repair and maintenance site beneath the airport runway, and was awarded the contract for 10 years by the Regional Secretary for Social Equipment. The facility is principally for recreational and leisure craft. 9 tenders were submitted, and the other tenderers have 5 working days to contest the decision that selected the company that submitted the proposal considered "most economically advantageous". The company awarded the contract will have to pay a monthly rent of €8,080 for the site of around 14,500 m2, and it was pretty much that value that wiped out the competition. The contract can be renewed up to two times for equal periods.

(8th July). ‘ANACOM Undertakes Study About The Quality Of Internet Access – The study will run through five months and will cost around €600,000′. ANACOM, the telecoms regulator for Portugal, will look at access, availability, and quality, through the fixed (ADSL & Cable) and mobile service providers throughout Portugal, making comparisons of what is on offer. Perhaps I can help, they all pretty much vastly exaggerate about the actual speed of service they offer, compared to what they actually deliver.

’20,000 Have Telephone Of Zon Madeira – the use of landline telephones is growing, thanks to the new operators’. The company Zon has hit it’s target set two years ago for penetration of the home telephone market on Madeira. In fact it had aimed for this over four years, and given the average numbers of users per household, in fact has an impressive total of 60 to 70 thousand users. It doesn’t state what it’s original revenue targets were, but they were probably extensively underachieved, for as well as giving free calls to fixed lines in Portugal, the telephone deal has also been used as a promotion and retention tool for new and existing customers, with no fixed monthly standing charge for those tied into Zon’s TV and internet packages.

(7th July). ‘House Exchange Encouraged’. The Madeira property market has gone through tough times during the last two or three years, worsening as the financial crisis started to bite. Until there is a recovery in consumer confidence, companies in the real estate sector are looking to all sorts of new strategies to move the market along. House exchanges is one of the new initiatives of ‘Remax’, in a true inventive spirit of the property company. The Portuguese company has achieved 600 exchanges in Portugal since March. The director of Remax in Funchal says that so far it has not really taken off on Madeira, because it is a new concept, but he believes the future will bring much more success, though not sufficient to solve the crisis.

’132 Apartments Inaugurated’. The parish of Água de Pena had the inauguration on Monday afternoon of a €12 million investment. Most of the apartments are for sale, but some are also available as a type of fixed cost social housing. The president of the council said this would lead to a large increase in population, as happened in Caniço.

(8th July). ‘The Country Would Have Saved €4 Million If Both Elections Had Been Held On The Same Day’. "A country in the mire, a country in crisis, a country in bankruptcy, cannot afford the luxury of having separate elections in 13 or 14 days". That was a comment from Rui Coelho of the social democrat party of Madeira (PSD-M). Quite right Rui! No we don’t like to see taxpayers money wasted do we, how’s the marina at Lugar do Baixo coming along by the way, and when’s jolly Uncle Bertie off on his next jolly holiday abroad, and how are the finances in the government owned newspaper ‘Jornal da Madeira’ these days?

‘Inquiry Into Quinta Do Lorde Reduced To The Minimum’. The socialists of PS-M and other opposition parties working together managed to force a public inquiry into the controversial development at Quinta do Lorde, with some 20 proposals for the scope of the enquiry, all this despite the objections of the ruling majority of social democrats. However the PSD-M has now more or less got it’s way, by using it’s vast majority to reduce the scope of the inquiry down to just one of the c.20 proposals put forward. The enquiry committee, which met on Tuesday for the first time, decided to accept just one proposal, and that was one made by the president of Machico Council, a PSD-M politician. The PS-M and other parties claim that documents made available for the licensing of the project, and on environmental impacts, were ignored. In fact only two people will be called to give evidence in the inquiry, both social democrat politicians. It warms my heart to see democracy at work once again, with Madeira’s government setting a shining example of how to get things done quickly at the minimum of expense.