The return of Carvalhal ; Table Tennis in focus ; Russian Ballet in town next week
Today’s photo thanks to Tom … "Funchal downtown hidden between two apartment buildings, a nice family of three, parents and baby. Testament of the love for children in Madeira and strong family value here".
Tom also said : Russian Ballet is going to happen in Funchal on April 01 at the Congressional Centre. Tickets are for sale in the tourist info office @ 50 Euros each.
Thanks a lot to Elaine (East) for this web snippet :
Voyages of Christopher Columbus. A detailed account including the discovery of Madeira (excerpt from The Exploration of the World by Jules Verne online at ONLINE).
Many thanks to Paul for the table tennis contributions below :
Table tennis in Madeira. “Table tennis in Madeira, with its headquarters in Funchal, has made notable progress; nowadays there is an annual international tournament, an ITTF Junior Circuit event and Marcos Freitas is the islands leading light.”
Photo : Marcos Freitas, ranked 8th in the world as an under 21 player. Link to Marcos Freitas’ website: HERE
Tribute to Abilio Carvalho da Cruz in Funchal. “Recently, in Madeira Abilio Carvalho da Cruz was recognised for having contributed to no less than 50 years of unstinting work to the sport of table tennis. He has coached throughout the world, especially in Spanish speaking countries; wherever he has visited, his efforts have been appreciated.
He is a former winner of the Boys Singles event at the European Youth Championships; now a formidable force on the ITTF Pro Tour. Table tennis for Abilio da Cruz started at the age of nine as a player in Lisbon, he became the national champion, later the Technical Director and organised a series of programmes for schools and coaches. Later, he became a global traveller; his coaching exploits are a geography lesson.Furthermore, he has no intention of resting on his laurels.”
Planning for a new training centre in Madeira. He is involved with the planning for a new training centre in Madeira and especially is desirous of continuing to help countries in particular in Africa and Latin America. Link to ITTF News article
This weekends football : The big match of the weekend is here tonight, as Marítimo take on Sporting, both teams looking for points to secure a place in Europe next season. One talking point will be the return of Sporting manager, Carlos Carvalhal, who was sacked by Marítimo at the beginning of the current football season. SportTV1 8.15 pm. Nacional play away at Setúbal on Sunday at 4 pm, but it’s not televised. The big game is tomorrow, and that could decide the champions this season as Benfica host Braga.
Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :
DIÁRIO 25/03/2010
FRONT PAGE NEWS
Homeless and neglected. There are still people homeless in the high area of Lugar da Serra in the parish of Campanário. In the locality of Terreiros de Baixo, one house has disappeared, another is partially destroyed and the roof of the third has been damaged by a landslide. Two houses are situated below the road that leads to this isolated settlement in the hills. The seven occupants of one of these old houses have lived for more than a month in an annexe to their badly damaged property which is unfit for habitation. There is no water and the electricity supply is precarious as a street lamp has fallen onto the house. The owners of the uninhabited destroyed house live abroad and regularly come to Madeira. The woman living in the house with a damaged roof is frightened to return as she lives alone. They say they are forgotten about and without any support. The council has photographed the damage but has not returned or communicated. The farms have also disappeared. As time passes their hopes fades.
PS present alternative to Jardim’s PEC. The Madeiran socialists want an immediate debate on the PEC (Stability and Growth Programme) of José Sócrates, that Alberto Jardim has approved. They state that Jardim’s government has imposed higher taxes for businesses and households and a lower minimum wage than in other regions of the country. Other measures of the Regional Government are: transport costs are higher therefore penalise the economy and consumption of essential goods; unfair competition in the public / private sector; delays in payments to suppliers; absurd investments at high outlays with inadequate returns and a total absence of measures to promote the diversification of regional economy. They state that the negative measures of PEC need not be applied to Madeira as it is an autonomous region. The Socialist Party agree with some parts of PEC: tax on stock market speculation; tightening public investment; raising taxes on the banking sector and increasing taxes on income above 150,000 Euros.
The PSD will make available votes if the PS request them. The election of the Vice President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira failed yesterday. The leader of the Socialist Party, Jacinto Serrão needed 24 votes out of 47. The PSD guaranteed 10 votes in favour as it is committed to a vice president from the opposition to avoid plurality. The opposition parties, mainly socialist, had to return 14 ‘yes’ votes in the election but the outcome was one vote short. This result means there is no-one elected at present, down to the internal politics of the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party must request more votes from the PSD but Jacinto Serrão said they will not do so, he will not be subject to a second vote and has appealed to Cavaco Silva to intervene. Monteiro Diniz, the Representative of the Republic said the Socialist Party must submit another candidate.
MADEIRA
New houses will be built in at least two estates in Serra de Água. The Housing Association of Madeira (IHM) has ruled out the idea of building a single neighbourhood of 25 houses to relocate the families displaced by the storm of February 20th. A team of architects, an engineer and the Director of Heritage Services went to the area to assess two or three locations they have in mind. To place 25 houses in one location would have a high impact on the area and there are not many areas in Serra de Água that could support so many houses. Since this neighbourhood was badly battered by the storm, they have to be cautious. The families come from different locations so if they build at least two estates, they may be able to get near to the original areas. In the county of Ribeira Brava, the council hopes to rehouse the 17 homeless families by the end of the week. It is difficult to find accommodation to rent in Serra de Água, especially small units for the elderly.
Casa de Saúde de São João de Deus launches fundraising campaign. The Fundação São João de Deus which manages this hospital in Trapiche, is raising funds for those displaced by the storm who are still residing there. The campaign slogan is ‘Help us to help’ (‘Ajude-nos a ajudar’). Donations can be sent by cheque of postal order or through the Multibanco (Entidade 20952 e Referência 777 777 77) or bank transfer to NIB 0033 0000 4536 7133674 05. The hospital needs the following items delivered, either new or used: games and educational books for adolescents (10 years), blankets, pillows, sheets and towels, clothing and footwear (ladies sizes 36 to 40 and mens sizes 40 to 43). The 20 families temporarily housed in this institution are being helped by the army, Casa do Voluntário da RAM and Caritas. Their situation is managed by Social Security and Funchal Council.
Dog rescued had no chance of survival. The president of SPAD said the dog rescued on the 17th March in the vicinity of Palheiro Golf after about a month buried in debris, has been subject to euthanasia. The dog had lethal serious injuries, fractures to the limbs and lumbar spine, and a humane and dignified death was the only option. Several people were interested in adopting the dog but he would not survive. As a result of this case, there have been serious threats made over the phone to vets working at SPAD. One vet has had to stop working with the association. On the issue of overcrowding, the president said they house 200 animals but being confined in a small cage for a long period of time harms the quality of life. The adoption rate is 40%.
ECONOMY
Aggregates pass through tourist area. Last week, for the third time this month, a boat carrying aggregates docked at Porto Moniz and unloaded thousands of cubic metres of sand. Half a dozen lorries were waiting and after loading drove off in the direction of São Vicente. The noise and pollution from unloading and transporting the inerts is affecting tourism. The Administration of the Regional Ports say it is an exceptional situation and the inerts are for the access road between Meia Légua and the tunnel da Encumeada. The town already has a paucity of tourists who are unhappy about this new ‘attraction’. Businessmen complain it is affecting trade and a councillor proposed compensation. The Mayor of Porto Moniz said he had been informed by the Ports Administration that this transport would occur and it is not illegal for lorries to use the roads in the centre of the village. He said it is favourable to the construction companies who are building houses in the northern region, as it is cheaper to transport by sea.
POLITICS
Taiwan gives 10,000 Euros. Taiwan gave a cheque for 10,000 Euros for Madeira to the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon. It will be forwarded to Madeiran deputies (PSD, PS, CDS) who will then distribute the funds to institutions helping the victims of the storm. This ends a diplomatic embarrassment since Taiwan has no representation in Portugal. Lisbon did not want to upset China, that considers Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory, and did not want to offend the generosity of Taiwan. This solution took several weeks to formulate by the centrist deputy who is the President of the Committee of Foreign Affairs.
Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :
Dispute closes the petrol station on Porto Santo during Easter – If the retailer and supplier don’t settle in the meantime, the island will lose the main filling station. The current contract between the company that operates the petrol station, and the fuel supplier Galp, expires on 1st April, with neither party in a position to renew the contract. The dispute involves debt, obsolete and damaged equipment, and irregular opening times amongst other issues.
Today’s main news headline : Reported crime increased 5.4% on Madeira – The ratio for reported crimes in the Region is 30 to 40 crimes per 1000 inhabitants. The annual report of the Internal Administration puts Madeira in ninth position for the districts with the most increased levels of crime in 2009. Last year nationally there was a decline of 1.2% in reported crime compared to 2008, but Madeira bucked the trend.
Waiting times for consultations wear out patients – On the Nacional Day, users blame the scarcity of family doctors but they praise the physicians and nursing staff.
Grievances : Storm used [as an excuse] to sack. The organisation that represents the trade unions of Madeira has received "many complaints", none yet been formalized, from workers who have lost their jobs since the storm of 20th February. Most cases come from the hotel and commerce sectors.
Party activists choose the 18th leader of the Social democrat Party – Regardless of the winner, President Jardim believes that everything will remain the same. Nearly 90 thousand PSD activists will be able to vote today for the new party leader to replace Manuela Ferreira Leite. There are only really, according to polls, two of the 4 candidates in the running, led by Passos Coelho and followed by Paulo Rangel. "What will happen, whoever wins, is that the party will continue in the same disorganised state of mind that it currently goes around in," considers Jardim.
The main sport headline today : Marítimo and Sporting tonight in atypical match – Carvalhal returns to Funchal in silence and with Izmailov in the entourage.
If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.
For anyone who has the Zon Box HD + DVR : Tobi has ‘had the man around from Zon’ (CaboTV) because his newish Zon box crashed and won’t record. I have had similar problems with mine, but not nearly as bad it seems. Zon are trying to fix the problem through automatic software updates, but the last attempt failed again, so no timescale yet for resolving. The man from Zon showed Tobi a workaround, and Tobi has kindly typed out the instructions for me, but it’s a bit lengthy to put on the blog if no one else has the problem. If anyone wants the ‘temporary fix’ instructions just email me and I will respond. If there are a lot of people with the problem then I will post the solution on the blog.
Don kindly sent in this link: SPAD FACEBOOK however it is mostly in Portuguese … you can follow the discussions about SPAD and the latest issues. Perhaps someone would like to post details about the ongoing story and ask for advice before doing anything too rash?
Top tip for UK folks … thanks to Paul : Top 10 late holiday deal of the week – March 28: Madeira! Head for Madeira and stay at the luxury five-star Madeira Regency Palace in Funchal for 414 pounds pp including seven nights’ b&b and flights from Gatwick leaving April 30.
Photo : A view of Funchal towards east from Pico da Cruz (261 m)
Full article in ‘the Mirror’ UK newspaper
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£70,000 to date from Jersey Appeal for Madeira disaster. “CUSTOMERS and staff at one of the Channel Islands’ biggest retailers have dug deep and raised nearly £19,000 for the Jersey Side by Side appeal for Madeira.
RTP, Sonae and Mota Engil rehabilitate the Serra d’Água. Those responsible for the RTP and Grupo Sonae solidarity campaign will meet tomorrow with the Governing Board of the Investimentos Habitacionais da Madeira (IHM), in order to determine which applicants should receive the donations. The campaign Together for Madeira (‘Juntos pela Madeira’) has raised 800,000 Euros already and the promoters have donated 1.5 million Euros, enough to build a small housing complex. Over one million phone calls were made in response to the RTP campaign, and the Sonae Group challenged thousands of Portuguese to round up their till receipts in Modelo, Worten and other stores in the group, a campaign that will continue until the 18th April. RTP is preparing a mega-program to be broadcasted on Sunday between 15.45 and 19.00 hours, also helping to promote the 7 Wonders of Portugal competition, in which the beach at Porto Santo and the Laurisilva forest are 2 of the 21 candidates. RTP is preparing a fundraising concert with one of the top Portuguese musicians. It will be transmitting the Flower Festival Parade and the program is to be dedicated to Madeira in solidarity with the reconstruction effort. It will include images of the cleaned baixa (lower) area of Funchal, without forgetting of course the strickened area of Serra d’Água. In the latter area, 25/26 houses need to be rebuilt, for which Mota Engil guarantees 1.2 million Euros on top of the donated 1.5 million Euros by the Sonae Group and RTP. A Portuguese company is offering 25 Teka kitchens, Tintas Dyrup is giving 25,000 litres of paint and Indutora will install the electrical wiring in the new houses. The company Paços de Ferreira is donating furniture. Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Lusíada and the architect José Paradela are offering their services for free. Donations are deposited in a fund specially created by the Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa.
Beach walls are provisional. Santos Costa, the Regional Director for Social Infrastructure, replies to yesterday’s report about walls built in the middle of the beach of Porto Santo. He explained that the walls are only provisional, built to prevent damage by the abnormally violent storms that occurred from last November to February 20th. The photo shows the threat that the government is attempting to alleviate and the technicians will be able to decide on a technically and environmentally desirable solution when the sea is calmer.
Court of Auditors stop work by the council. The Court of Auditors has stopped a road being built in Camacha by Santa Cruz Council. The road was to link the Caminho Municipal da Portela, by the old church of Camacha, to Mato Grosso. The work was financed by both the Regional Government and Santa Cruz Council but the contract did not stipulate details of the co-payments. In 2005, the Tribunal could not obtain assurances that the council could honour their financial commitment and the work was prohibited. The municipality wanted to build a bridge linking this road to Mato Grosso, where the population is of a significant size. They began to build the bridge then were ordered to stop by the Court of Auditors. During the last storm, retaining walls were washed away and earth deposited inside the bridge, threatening the flow of the ribeiro Pedro Lourenço and houses downstream. A date for the completion of the bridge depends on an agreement being made.
Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias : 
Saved from the rubble after almost 30 days. A dog was rescued alive yesterday in São Gonçalo during cleaning of the site. A unique situation for those who witnessed it. Yesterday morning, a group of employees of a company that specializes in building found a dog trapped beneath the debris resulting from the tragedy of the 20th of February during a cleanup operation in the area of São Gonçalo,. Nearly a month after the storm, to everyone’s surprise, the animal was healthy, but with its hind legs, preventing it escaping and fleeing the scene. The black cocker spaniel was helped by another dog, which faithfully kept him company. According to the DIÁRIO, the animal was freed by firefighters and taken to the Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals (SPAD), while the dog which had protected its friend ran behind the car. "It was a shame not to bring those two together, because they seemed to be great friends," said one worker on site. As the animal appeared to have been well looked after, there is every reason to believe that it has an owner and that he was caught by the flood. The dog was found yesterday morning around 10 o’clock, when a group of workers took over the clean-up operation by Palheiro Golf in São Gonçalo. After the initial cleaning, the workers returned yesterday to the site to continue the work. The DIÁRIO also tried to establish with SPAD the state of the animal, but was refused any access to information by the management. 
Jacinto Rodrigues and Miguel Angelo exposed in Funchal Two artists from Madeira, Jacinto Rodrigues Abreu and Miguel Angelo Freitas, will present an exhibition entitled, ‘Black and White’ on the central section of Avenida Arriaga, between the Golden Gate cafe and the Municipal Theatre. There will be nine sculptures, two by Miguel Angelo. The exhibition runs from 15 January to February 14. These are stone structures (marble, basalt and limestone). Miguel Angelo’s sculptures are more figurative whereas the other sculptor prefers a more abstract approach. Jacinto Rodrigues has had solo exhibitions, for example in Lisbon and several of his sculptures are in public spaces in Madeira. Miguel Angelo has sculptures on the Continent, Madeira and Porto Santo. (Photo is one of the exhibits by Miguel Angelo)
Rocheira clean up dangerous slopes Two days ago, the Rocheira team along with human and technical resources from the firm Estradas da Madeira, cleaned up the slopes above the ER 103 in between Cobouco and Fajã do Cedro Gordo in São Roque do Faial. There have recently been two landslides in this area, the last one on Sunday. On Wednesday, the Rocheira cut trees which had lost surrounding anchoring stones and rocks, and threatened to fall onto the road. Yesterday, the work focused on rocks which also threatened the road. The road and footpath were closed during this operation and this will also be the case today. The workers will return next Monday and Tuesday to finish the clean up operation. The Rocheira team work by two men suspended by ropes with three anchor men. The falling rocks and logs which they displace can also cause damage, for example a fibre optic cable had to be replaced yesterday.
Nine candidates for the ‘Seven Wonders of Portugal’ competition Of the 323 chosen applicants, nine are from Madeira and Porto Santo. This is the first round of the contest and originally, the region had entered 55 candidates. The next selection will be revealed on the 7 February when the list will be down to 77 winners and the final 31 announced on March 7. The nine candidates are: Ilhas Desertas and Selvagens, Cabo Girão, Fajã das Padres, laurissilva forest in São Vicente, Pico de Ana Ferreira in Porto Santo (photo), Porto Santo beach, Cabeco das Laranjas (Ilheu da Cima) and the coral fossils and galleries of the Ilheu da Cal.
Vítor in front in the first votes of the PS Socialists – Serrão won Funchal in the closely disputed elections. The battle for the new leadership of the only serious opposition party to the PSD social democrats is underway, and it is up to the Madeiran socialists to choose. Jacinto Serrão and Vítor Freitas are the choices, and yesterday and today more than three thousand of them will get their say on who takes over from 
The main front page photo today shows something that looks like earthquake damage to a beach facility : Weather demolishes new works of Madeira – The storms have highlighted the fragility of the more recent constructions compared to the old works. Engineers point out the rush-jobs and remind that "the cheap comes out expensive". Engineers are saying that quality of materials, and orders to complete public works in record times, are showing the new monoliths of Madeira to be inferior than the older constructions using traditional materials, when it comes to standing up to weather such as that in December. The science is the same, whether the work has to withstand the sea or the air. These works all have to go through the political machinery to get approval and funding of course, and obviously the quality of materials, the required life of the construction, and the timescales of construction, are all issues that our politicians consider of course. Issues like when are the next elections coming up, and who in politics has stakes in the cement and construction companies wouldn’t be a factor in the equation of course.
