Madeira News Blog

(30th September). Today’s main news headline, pictured with a ‘landscape’ swamped with political posters : ‘Complaints And Threats In The Start Of The Campaign – The election campaign for the local elections started yesterday, marked by incidents from the national elections. The region of São Vicente has already made complaints to the police, about vandalising of posters, and offences by text message’. Election posters belonging to the PS-M socialists were vandalised in the parish of Boaventura, the location where the candidate lives. In addition anonymous SMS text messages have been sent by mobile phone, of an unpleasant nature, being slanderous and blackmailing, to party member(s). "This is a clear act of [bad]intention and with that of course one can not remain indifferent. When it is a moustache, some drawings, these are cases that are not serious. But this is completely different. The entire structure of the sign was destroyed", said the president of PS-M. Asked who might be behind these vindictive actions, the PS top-of-the-list to the local authority in São Vicente says it is "in the eyes of those who want to see. But I’d rather not comment further on this matter. I will let the police investigate". In the 2005 elections similar things happened to property relating to candidates, and the car of the president of PS-M was set alight.

‘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".

(28th August). Today’s main news story and photo, with about two thirds of the front page : ‘In The Elite Of Europe – With a deceive draw yesterday in St. Petersburg (1-1), Nacional eliminated the millionaires of Zenit and move on now to the must sought after group phase. A historic deed that launches the Madeiran club into another galaxy of European football. The draw of the league is today’. ‘Here are the new ‘Czars’ of Madeira’. In football, Nacional went to play the second leg of the Europa League qualifying match in Moscow yesterday evening, and thanks to a very very late equaliser by Ruben Micael (the only Madeiran in the game), go forward to the next group stage at the expense of Zenit St. Petersburg, who were huge favourites for the win. I thought I was enthusiastic at the fantastic result, but I didn’t even consider using words ‘elite’ and ‘galaxy’. Once again it was and still is impossible to see even the slightest snippet of the game due to TV rights, but we had nearly full coverage on the radio. The draw for the group phase is at 12.30 am today I think, and Nacional are in there with Benfica and Sporting. Not much room left on the front page for anything else.

UPDATE : You won’t see it on TV, but after extensive research the last minute Nacional goal (and the OTT celebrations) is available to blog readers HERE along with a match report in English. In the draw for the group phase made this afternoon, Nacional will play in Group L with Werder Bremen (Germany), Austria de Vienna, and Atletico de Bilbau (Spain). The first games will be on 17th September.

‘CMF ‘Occupies’ Old Buildings’. Funchal Municipal Council is to take administrative possession of 4 old run-down buildings, to use for social housing. The buildings are in an advanced state of degradation in the old city. CMF will take possession of the buildings, which are protected in legal terms, for turning them into housing. There are at least four of these buildings, whose expropriation process determines a substantial investment, not only to pay the owners, but also to pay for the restoration work. One house in Rua de Santa Maria will cost €53,000 to buy, and another €102,000 to restore. There are many such houses in the area, and the process of expropriation (compulsory purchase) is there to allow CMF to take on the restoration, to keep Funchal looking in good shape, when the owners fail to do so with their property. The process has four stages, and is usually made more difficult because owners cannot be identified or traced, often as a result of complex inheritance issues, as often happens here.

‘(Social) Security Investigates Fraud – The scheme involves false claims for unemployment benefit. Bernadette Vieira alerts citizens to the serious consequences of illegal claims’. An allegedly fraudulent scheme involving false unemployment claims, may be undermining the social security system, and costing many thousands of Euros. The case is now being investigated by the inspection branch of Social Security Madeira (CSSM), following a whistle blower complaint, and as required by law, they immediately suspended unemployment benefits awarded to people under suspicion. In practice, they suspect the existence of companies that, in return for a monetary consideration, have sent false statements to the CSSM in support of claims for unemployment benefits, for workers who in fact never worked there. Research by the Diário revealed that this scheme is suspected of taking place in the north of Madeira, involving an unspecified number of people. In the parish of Boaventura, the number of individuals suspected of improperly receiving the unemployment benefit is around 10. If the bogus claims are confirmed the matter will be turned over to the Justice Police. Bernadette Vieira, president of CSSM, alerts citizens to the seriousness of a situation like this, as well as for the obvious consequences for those involved. The first of which, is the immediate suspension of unemployment benefit. In addition, offenders are obliged to refund the entire amount obtained unlawfully. This, warns the president of CSSM, in the absence of an immediate repayment, will lead to the suspension of all subsidies and other social benefits, that will continue until the amount owed is paid off in full. To further aggravate the situation, the culprits are also subject to a fine of up to one thousand Euros. For companies involved in fraudulent situations like this, the amount of fines can go up to €2,500. In addition to all this, there are criminal consequences for some. In addition, she appeals to the public who are aware of schemes like these, to report the matter. Sounds almost like it is a new phenomenon, but surely it can’t be. A certain small percentage of human beings will always try to rip-off the system, that’s an unfortunate fact of life, but here it’s almost a national sport as far as the financial authorities go, with so many people working and claiming benefits, and working and not paying tax, or businesses earning and siphoning. Normally it doesn’t it seem to bother anyone, let alone the IRS and Social Security, and it almost seems to be socially acceptable. The fines hardly seem much of a deterrent either. I wonder if there is anything we could learn from our politicians about how to behave in this sense?

‘Weekend With The Famous – Dates 4th And 5th – The event ‘Faces’ Divine Experience’ ends with a VIP party at The Vine Hotel’. Fun, elegance and dozens of familiar faces from the world of television. This is what promises to end the weekend special summer that the famous celebrity magazine ‘Faces’ will present in Madeira, on the 4th and 5th of September. The actress and TV presenter, Liliana Aguiar, and Sofia Marques, are named guests, but the final list of celebrities is still being prepared and in the coming days there should be more news. The Vine will be an unforgettable party. For these two days, specifically Friday, after a ‘welcome drink’ at The Vine Hotel (in the hotel’s official event ‘Faces Divine Experience’), there follows a visit to the ‘Madeira Wine Festival 2009′ which will take place at Avenida Arriaga, then the night will finish with a dinner at’ Chega de Saudade’, one of the most popular restaurants in downtown Funchal. On Saturday, there is a boat trip planned along the coast to the Marina Quinta do Lorde, in Caniçal, followed by lunch there. At night, there will be a dinner at the restaurant at The Vine, followed by a media VIP party for about 400 invited guests. Having never heard of the magazine ‘Faces’, or the only two guests named so far, I thought I ought to do some Google research and it seems that ‘Faces’ Magazine is a free magazine about the nightlife, restaurants, fashion, stores, and people of Halifax in England.

‘Law of compulsory education until the age of 18 published yesterday – Students in the next school year to stay until the seventh grade are already covered(?)’. The law which extends compulsory education to the age of 18, and establishes pre-school education from the age of 5, was published in the Diário da República (official Journal). Law No 85/2009 states that "compulsory education implies, for the guardian of the child, the duty to make the registration of the child in public or private schools, in institutions of education, and / or training recognized by authorities, determining for the student the duty of attendance".

‘SATA repudiates the strike of Groundforce – Company accepts no responsibility for the inconvenience that passengers will suffer’. If the TAP strike today and tomorrow isn’t bad enough, the handling company at several airports, Groundforce, has also chosen the same days to strike. This will affect passengers using the airports of Madeira, Porto Santo, Lisbon and Porto. The strike will cause congestion with luggage movements, and problems in check in, embarking and disembarking. Passengers are advised to travel with cabin luggage only, and also to check in by telephone where possible. The SATA customer contact centre number is 707 22 72 82, or information can be obtained on-line.

‘Rockfall Along The Seafront Of Ribeira Brava – Boulders fell on the section prohibited for use’. The old sea road, closed to traffic for several years, that leads to the roundabout at Tabua, suffered another rock fall yesterday. No one was hurt, but the damage was evident both to the pavement and in the outer sea wall which runs alongside the road. The route is correctly identified with warning signs, and also signs prohibiting pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but many ignore them.

In yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : ‘New measure against social exclusion released – The program was published this week in the Journal of the Region’. The Government has just launched a measure to combat social exclusion. This is the Local Contract Program for Social Development, published this week in the Journal of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (JORAM) whose purpose, is to ‘bridge the current needs of society in the face of persistent poverty and social exclusion’. According to the regional secretary for social affairs, it is a set of opportunities that are created locally for the social development of people who are in situations of social downfall, to give an opportunity that these people can take part in’. He said ‘this is a project of great social importance’, as it will offer them "an opportunity for integration". It involves the the creation of units that develop, train and thus provide new job opportunities for those people in need of support. It will be targeted at critical areas, urban or rural, hard hit with problems. A bit tricky to dig out the exact details, but will this be the PSD ‘election special’, designed to attract those voters suffering the worst hardship, that until now thought the government of Madeira had done little to help them?

UPDATES

‘Study Records Weak Presence Of Mosquitoes – The study was done in July by technicians of hygiene and tropical medicine’. The preliminary study says that there is no great abundance of insects, not in adult or larvae form. That is confirmed by a reduction in people attending the health centres in Funchal and Câmara de Lobos, complaining of bites by the ‘Aedes Aegypti’ mosquito. The news has surprised the experts, with the explanation being given as partly due to the use of a new ‘cutting edge’ insecticide, instead of that recommended by the World health Organisation. A colder Winter may also have helped. Another reason given for the reduction in complaints at health centres, is that people are becoming less sensitive to the bites of this species over time. However people are urged to continue the action they have been taking, particularly avoiding leaving stagnant water around, which provides breeding conditions. The worst months are yet to come, with the heat, humidity and rain of September and October, providing the best conditions for the mosquitoes.

’200 Cases Per Year In The PSP Of Madeira’. The police are the target of complaints relating to misconduct, breaches of discipline, or practices that could be considered illegal. The trade union representing police says that there is protectionism in play for more senior officers, whilst the rank and file police are subject to a quicker and more severe sanctions. The TU officer gives the example of damage to vehicles, with some officers fined and suffering a reduction in salary, whilst more senior officers were not even subject to the same process. The Regional Command of the PSP makes it clear that the process, does not discriminate between rank or function. "The disciplinary regulations of the PSP are applicable to all police officers" he said. The majority of disciplinary proceedings, which are led by an officer of higher rank to the person charged, end up being closed due to lack of evidence.

A 24 year old man has died from his injuries after a car crash in Calheta on 16th August. He had been in a coma since the accident between Prazeres and Maloeira. A 19 year old man in the same accident is still in hospital waiting surgery, but is out of danger. The funeral is tomorrow at 4pm in the church of Raposeira.

‘TAP Guarantees Flights On Day Of Strike – Resort to the company ‘Portway’ is the solution found to not leave passengers on land’. Passengers are catching their flights as normal at Madeira Airport today, despite the strikes by staff represented by 5 different trade unions at TAP airlines. So far no cancellations or delays. A TAP spokesman said that (today?) there will be just isolated small delays. TAP has contracted the handling services of Portway to minimise problems, a move that one trade union leader has said is illegal. TAP assures that the move is within the law.

"Black Stains" Appear Like Mushrooms Leaving Funchal Disfigured – CDU criticises urban growth in the city’. The election candidate of the communists for the câmara municipal of Funchal criticised the various developments that have left the city "violated and disfigured". In a pre-campaign initiative prior to the elections on 11th October, Artur Andrade said that the city had been "marked by interest groups and by speculation in real estate", and that the municipal master plan (PDM) has proved "insufficient to deal with the speculative interests and was twisted and violated". The result of the total permissiveness over the years is for the gain of "a minority whose aim is simply to make as much profit as possible". The examples chosen to illustrate the accusations are Marina Shopping, the expansion of the Hotel CS Madeira, the embargoed building of Mina Gerais, and even the cement wall at the port of Funchal for the construction of a car park. What about the complete development in and around Ajuda? If that wasn’t done for a quick buck and with total disregard for sensible planning, I will eat someone’s hat.

‘Autonomous Regions Forgotten In The Programme Of PSD – Ferreira Leite doesn’t take on any questions involving controversy’. Alberto João Jardim said during the week, that the PS electoral programme presented by prime minister José Sócrates was worth "zero", in respect of Madeira and the Azores. An evaluation (according to the Diário) that he should now extend to the programme (prospectus?) of his own PSD party, presented yesterday by party leader Manuela Ferreira Leite, who said the party did not exaggerate its promises. The autonomous regions had a quarter page and some general references, with none of the issues considered fundamental by the social democrats of Madeira addressed with a clear commitment, including the constitution revision considered as a top priority by president Jardim. It does however promise to patch up the terrible relationship between central government and the regional government of Madeira, if elected. It also promises to ensure ‘healthy market competition’, which will conflict with the government stance here in terms of the newspaper Jornal da Madeira.

(12th August). Today’s main front page story : ‘Searches Of Suitcases Destroy Luggage – Passengers coming from Venezuela complain that at the Airport of Maiquetia the suitcases searched were punctured with ‘ice picks’ that damaged the luggage. Travel Agents were yesterday in the Venezuelan consulate in Funchal to condemn the situation. The consul Félix Mendez Correa confirms the complaints and has already asked the ambassador in Lisbon to intercede’. The passengers from Venezuela, whether travelling with TAP or SB Airlines, are finding a nasty surprise when leaving Madeira Airport, with their property damaged with an ice pick. There is some half-cocked theory that this is done to detect drugs, though nobody is quite sure why it is happening. As the origin of the problem is in Venezuela I am not clear why the good people at the Diário thought this should be today’s top story, but to be fair there isn’t much else of excitement. Anyway having selected it, I think they lost an opportunity to sell more newspapers today with that limp headline. I think I would have gone with ‘Madmen run amuck in airport with ice picks’.

‘Crisis Affects The Property Sector On Porto Santo – The purchases and sales of homes and lands on Porto Santo fall to levels that many have never seen on the island’. Somehow I doubt that latter part of the headline is true for anyone out of infancy, but the only public notary on Porto Santo does reckon that everything was 20 to 30% overpriced anyway. The Jornal da Madeira covered exactly the same story on Sunday, so I decided to turn to that one instead (believe it or not!).

From the Jornal da Madeira (9th August) : ‘Property Market Is Stagnant – Pedro Leandro says that the Madeirans and continentals are still buying, but …’. Porto Santo is still feeling the effects of not just the economic crisis, but also the lack of international flights. Last year flights from London and Italy gave estate agents some hope, but since those were cancelled everything stagnated. Pedro Leandro, vice president of ACIPS and president of the board of the real estate sector, confirmed that the slowdown is general and Porto Santo is no exception to the rule. "Especially as much of the building investment that has been done in recent years – we are talking about houses – was done mainly by continental and Madeirans (builders’)". Residents are also feeling the pinch, with increased difficultly in accessing bank funds to buy, despite of interest rates falling to record low levels. They used to lend 100%, but now there are few who lend over 80% of the purchase price, and they want guarantees to protect themselves against what happened in the past. English buyers have disappeared now, thanks to the drop in the value of the Pound against the Euro, and some are now trying to disinvest. Construction of course has also slowed, with so little demand, and with the price of materials so expensive (with increased transport costs) "it really is expensive to build here" he adds. Talk about a turn around of fortunes, up to around two years ago it was the ‘in’ place to buy for foreigners, exotic and exclusive, but it’s a sad situation now with such a glut of unsold properties and nothing foreseeable that might remedy the situation, short term at least.

‘São Gonçalo Doesn’t Seem A Community Of The Capital – Not even in the Diário series (Through Madeira) did one find a parish without a health centre, supermarket, and public conveniences. S. Gonçalo has a pharmacy, some grocery stores … and little more‘. Santa Maria Maior it turns out was not the weekly featured location in the Diário, it is in fact São Gonçalo in Funchal. In a parish that lacks almost everything, the list of aspirations of the people is very extensive and begins with the promised health centre. "This is of course the parish of Funchal where more things are lacking", the observation of Paulina Silva who works in the pharmacy. "It is easier for people to go to Funchal to live their lives" she adds, recalling that there is no supermarket, the biggest one nearby being in Cancela. When the only multibanco (ATM), situated in a restaurant, breaks down (as it often does) then one needs to travel, and there is not even a public garden for people to pass some time. It does have a crèche, and a day centre for old people, but still lacks the health centre promised for so long, that even has a site allocated. In the meantime if one is sick, they have to travel to the health centre in Bom Jesus. As for the public toilets, they used to exist but they "Closed the wc’s in the area and made into the headquarters of the scouts" says 64 year old housewife Margarida do Rosário. There is no police presence in São Gonçalo she says, though they do make patrols which does help, though the assaults are rising along with drug problems.

Today’s football headline : ‘Criticisms At Real Before Liechtenstein – Portugal plays tonight (7.30 pm) without Cristiano Ronaldo’. The Madeiran superstar was not released by his club, Real Madrid, because he has flu. The criticisms are about the way Real handled the matter. I don’t wish to be disrespectful to Liechtenstein, or upset it’s fine platoon of bin men, but I don’t think the absence of CR737 is really going to change the result, although the Portugal manager seems to think they are similar to Denmark … let’s hope they got on the right plane then.

During July the Portuguese Navy carried out 9 search and rescue missions around Madeira, and three support missions in the Parque Natural da Madeira.

‘Jardim Inaugurated The New Terminal Of The Port Of Porto Santo – The structure provides shelter before embarking’. The president of Madeira opened yesterday the ferry terminal which has a covered waiting and boarding area, and a ticket sales and administrative area, for passengers of the Porto Santo Line Ferry, the ‘Lobo Marinho’. BTW : The Porto Santo ferry is running behind schedule today due to an earlier fuel problem. Why has the news been taken over by Porto Santo so much in the last week? Is it ‘cos Uncle Bertie is off there very very soon for his freebie holidays?

Onto politics and the economy :

(12th August). The day’s top political story ‘PS Has The PSD Ex-President Of The Parish Council Of São Vicente As A Candidate’. Humberto Freitas was elected  president of the Junta de Freguesia in São Vicente in 1997 as a social democrat, but he has now changed his colours from orange to ?????, to stand for the socialists instead.

(11th August). ‘CDU Manages To Be In All The Parishes’. For the first time the coalition PCP/Verdes (Communists / Greens) are going to have candidates in all the local authorities on Madeira (câmara and parish levels). The CDU (also communists) will also have candidates in the 11 councils and 54 parishes. The effort requires an army of 800 candidates, more than half independents and people standing for the first time. The lists were delivered Monday in the various authorities around Madeira. A PCP spokesman stressed the importance of having "complete coverage of the coalition presence in the region", as in the rest of the country. The objective being to "end the promiscuity of the regional power in local government" to help end the "Jardim power". No doubt seeing the increase in the popularity of communism from the results of the European elections has encouraged the extra effort and the appearance of new candidates. 

(11th August). The final front page article from yesterday : ‘To Close Hotels On Porto Santo Costs €1 Million – When the prospects of closing hotels during the Winter is hanging in the air, the sums force one to think’. To close the hotels of Porto Santo during the Winter would cost a million Euros, in ‘lay off’ costs. The idea is not new, but unprecedented. It was first discussed in 2000, with the closures used to give staff holidays, training staff, and to undertake maintenance work. In the Azores it is done, with a state subsidy system that helps with 30% of the costs, and social security paying 70% of staff salaries. In the Greek, Italian and even Spanish Islands, there are schemes to ensure hotel workers are paid in low season. On Porto Santo, if the hotels were closed for 4 months from December to March, social security would have to pay out €1 million to workers, whilst businesses (or the government in the case of the Azores), would pay the remaining €433,000.

(8th August). ‘Banif Group Made €15.7 Million Profit In The First half Of 2008 – The result was positive but represents a fall of 64.6% compared to the same period in 2008′.

Tonight is the second of two nights for the ‘rain of meteors’, that happens this time every year. Last night was due to be cloudy so I didn’t mention it, but tonight should be better. The fireballs are actually dust particles (pea to tennis ball in size) from the comet Swift-Tutle burning up in the atmosphere. The event starts well before dark, and the moonlight may also interfere, but they should appear at an average of around one per minute. The article doesn’t mention where to look, so I asked the blog astronomy research team (thanks Alberto) to look into it and the answer is to look north, with the naked eye.

’32% Of Children Born Are To Singles – The number of children born outside of marriage increases year after year’. That includes unmarried couples and single parents. Figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) show an increasing trend in recent years and throughout the country. On Madeira in 2000, the total number of live births outside marriage, were no more than 20%, when the birth rate was quite high. In eight years, the total number of children born has decreased, but grown 12% to single and unmarried parents. Also in Portugal and the Azores there has been an increase of children born outside marriage. In 2000 there were only 22.5% in Portugal and 13.1% on the Azores, in that same situation, but by last year that had increased to 36.6% and 26.4% respectively. This is one of those stories that does the rounds every few months, usually accompanied by a statement from a church spokesman saying that family values are disintegrating, but not this time.

I was just talking last week about the ex-president of the Câmara of Ponta do Sol, António Lobo, wondering where he was, and today there is an article saying he is being transferred to a prison in Sintra in Portugal. The reason is unknown. The former president was sentenced on 7 March 2007, in Ponta do Sol, to serve six years in prison for corruption and related crimes. He has another case still outstanding, again for corruption and fraud. Did I mention that he was/is a PSD-M politician?

Yet another Madeiran has been kidnapped in Venezuela. The 55 year old man from Serra d’Água was taken on Sunday.

‘Balloon Registers Record Of 3.88′. A 41 year old driver arrested in Santa Cruz on Sunday, registered a 3.88 blood-alcohol count when stopped by police, beating the previous record this year. I repeated this because I was chatting about this in town last night, and we reckoned the guy was dead and the police haven’t yet noticed. I have tried several blood alcohol simulators on the internet, including the one at www.rupissed.com, and have been unable to create the same level of alcohol in the blood.

In a national politics story : ‘PSD gives citizenship to grandchildren of emigrants – The leader of the ‘orange’ accused the government of having mistreated the PS Portuguese emigrants’. (If the PSD gets into power) It wants to widen the net of nationality to the grandchildren of emigrants, i.e. to the second generation. Manuela Ferreira Leite, PSD leader, says her party "has always given great importance throughout it’s history to emigrants, with a fundamental concern of keeping together all those who are Portuguese". Smacks of something strange, but not sure what … world domination perhaps?

The minister for health in the republic was talking to journalists about cases of people deliberately trying to spread the swine flu, Gripe A. She specifically referred to adults who, at the emergency services, refused to wear a protective mask, and mothers who said they would take their children to hospitals in the emergency departments to infect other people, since their children were already infected. She refused to name those responsible, saying it was not her role to do so, and the police could not arrest such people. Even without an official complaint, the Attorney General is considering the possibility of investigating the cases mentioned by the Health Minister, of persons who refuse to comply with the control measures for Gripe A, or express the intention to spread the disease. Spreading a disease is a crime in Portugal, and can be punished with a prison term from 1 to 8 years if it is deliberate, and by up to five years in the case of negligence.