Madeira News Blog

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Tobi … a visiting private yacht

"Funchal is the prime spot for overseas property buyers; the capital enjoys sunnier and drier weather than the rest of the island and has all the amenities expected in a cosmopolitan city plus the international airport close". The usual BS from a property company, and if you have up to €429k spare, by all means read it, but I wouldn’t bother. ‘Healthy’ tourists prefer holiday homes to hotels

"When the leste blows – the wind that comes from the Sahara – the thermometer may rise to about 33ºC. But that does not happen often and, on this little Portuguese island, situated far out in the wide Atlantic, you can assume the temperatures will rarely rise above a pleasantly warm 24°. You may prefer to sleep with a blanket, but you won’t roast in the mid-day sun". HELLO MAGAZINE ON QUINTAS

Carlos Carvalhal, the ex Marítimo manager, who was sacked a few weeks ago after a pretty poor start to the new football season, has been appointed as the new boss of one of the biggest Portuguese teams. Sporting gave him the job after Paulo Bento resigned last week. Just shows that poor performance doesn’t stop one going up in the world … the world of football that is.

Yesterday’s top news stories thanks to Elaine again :

More details about the emergency exercise at the airport on Wednesday. On Wednesday at 00.30 there will be a full-scale exercise to test the Emergency Plan. The scenario has been set for this year. A bus with 32 passengers for a flight to Lisbon looses control and will hit the right wing of an aircraft, while 52 passengers are disembarking by foot and another 91 remain in transit on the plane. In the mean time, 109 passengers are boarding. The flight originated in Lisbon and is going to Caracas. The bus also collides with a refuelling vehicle, causing a spill of about 3,000 litres of gasoline which catches fire. As a result of the accident, there are 328 casualties – 13 dead, 10 seriously injured priority I, 20 seriously injured priority II, 10 slightly injured and 178 uninjured. In addition, 6 passengers go missing because they panic and flee, and 80 passengers have to be evacuated from the airport. The scenario is chosen by the probability of occurrence and to test equipment which the emergency services might be unfamiliar with using, for example to deal with a fuel spillage into the sea. As such, the Administration of the Harbours and Control of the Maritime Area will be present. This operation involves dozens of regional entities and about 160 extras, in addition to observers and assessors, and will last four or five hours. I thought these emergency exercises were supposed to have an element of surprise, but it seems that if all this was published in the newspaper beforehand everyone involved can have everything planned and prepared to the last detail … I’ll be home for tea honey! Der

5 neonatal deaths in Madeira in 2008. This was one less than 2007. There are decreases in both neonatal and perinatal deaths in the region. Nationally the infant mortality rate decline to 3.3/1000 live births and the neonatal rate decline to 2.5/1000 live births.

300 people on the waiting list for smoking cessation therapy. 45% of the 900 people attending for anti-smoking therapy at the Bom Jesus Health Centre since February 2005 stopped smoking. This is above the 20% national rate and 35% international rate due to more intensive therapy but there is a waiting list of 300 people and the treatment is not subsidized by the state. There are priority cases, for example people with lung problems, heart diseases and relatives of people who have quit smoking. There is a multidisciplinary team consisting of a doctor, nurse, psychologist and nutritionist. It is more successful as there are more consultations, between 16 and 18, and a person calls the user every day to try to motivate them. The main reason for failure is the cost of the medications which are not subsidized and range from 70 to 100 Euros. It would be cheaper to subsidize them than the health service treating resulting diseases, usually occurring 28 years after starting smoking. Since the tobacco advertising law was enforced in 2008, there has been a 5% decrease in tobacco sales and a decrease in the number of men smoking but an increase in female smokers.

CMF wants to encourage renovation of buildings. Funchal Council want to revise the municipal tax again in another initiative to encourage private investment in the renovation of houses. There is already a 50% reduction for residential use and exemption if the use will be for tourism. The mayor Miguel Albuquerque said that in recent years there had been a housing boom in the city centre. Therefore the council must make an effort to ensure affordable social housing in these areas such as in Cruzes and Alegria, and not introduce discrimination in terms of residents in the historic centre. He was speaking at the inauguration of a restored building in the Rua do Bispo, which includes six apartments, seven offices and three commercial spaces, and cost 1 million Euros to renovate, keeping the original facades and main features. (Shown in photo)

64 year old man arrested for sexual abuse against a child. Arrested on Friday for an alleged sexual abuse of a female child, up to the age of 13 years but no age specified. The offence occurred in Funchal and there is no family relationship between the man and the child. The man is prohibited from approaching children and could face up to eight years in prison. In March, a 17 year old was arrested on suspicion of rape of a 50 year old man and is in custody in prison.

An accident victim is seeking witnesses. The woman has fractures to both feet and one knee after a head-on collision last Friday in the Meia Legua tunnel in Ribeira Brava. A blue Fiat Panda was reversing inside the tunnel and she had to swerve to avoid it and collided with a van travelling in the opposite direction. There are several witnesses but no known registration number of the Fiat which left the scene, so any information should be passed on to the police.

Fine issued by GNR taken to the European Court. An emigrant from Madeira living in Luxembourg has refused to pay a 175 Euros fine issued by the GNR in Ponta do Sol in October and says he will take the case to Brussels. He was penalized for driving a car registered abroad that had exceeded the time limit of 183 days of exemption from taxation. He said he did not violate the law as the car had been in the region that same year but with another owner. "The car was mine but I sold it to my mother and thus the period of 183 returns to zero." The GNR said they might interpret the law in one way, and the Customs differently.

Airport receives 200 pieces from the private collection of Joao Carlos Abreu. The collection of  ‘Angels and Boys Choir’ will be on display at the Arrivals Area from 20 December and throughout the Christmas period. These figurines are made of clay, ceramic, cardboard and metal and many were collected in Portugal and Italy as well as other countries.

President of the RTP in lightning discreet visit. The President of the Radio and Television of Portugal, Guilherme Costa, had a lightning visit to Funchal yesterday, previously unannounced and was not available to speak to journalists. The leaders of RTP-M also declined to comment. The workers of RTP-M were stunned as they had expected a formal meeting on Thursday to discuss the replacement for the retiring director and the future plan for equipping the regional centre. It is only known that the president talked at length with the retiring director, Leonel Freitas.

The 2010 budget depends on bank loans. The Regional Government will formally ask the State to amend the debt limit so it can go to the banks for loans to finance the Regional public investment. This revenue is needed to avoid an increase in unemployment and keep the economy going through wages and spending. It is difficult to cut current expenditure without affecting the quality of life of the population, for example health and education account for 75%. The current expenditure will be maintained by tax revenues and transfers from the State. Some investment finance should be available from the EU but the regional component has to be funded and Madeira has no money for this. Without bank loans the situation will be dire, the Regional Government cannot invest, major corporations will collapse and unemployment will soar. The Regional Government will have to depend on support at Lisbon of the PSD and CDS. The review of the Regional Finance Law introduces a new concept of the debt limit and possibly allows the State to endorse loans. The Regional debt to suppliers could surpass 150 million Euros by the end of this year and the Regional Government needs a new way of settling such debts as from June next year, the EU requires Member States to pay suppliers within 30 days. The PCP have delivered a package of 39 measures to cut ‘megalomaniac projects’ to the Regional Secretary of Planning and Finance. These are in economic and social areas to be included in the Budget next year. Jardim has already put the brakes on promises the Government made in some municipalities but some projects cannot be postponed, for example the new hospital in Madeira and a new small hospital in Porto Santo.

‘Estelinha’ and the conflict over the chapel. ‘Estelinha’ – popular name for Estela Pereira Ferreira – a 73 year old resident of Campanário who holds the keys to and receives the money from the promises for the Capela de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho (Chapel of Our Lady of Good Order). She has done so for more than 40 years on behalf of the local population. Several parish priests have been in the region but none have been able to clarify the ‘jurisdiction’ over the private chapel which belonged to Conde Canavial. There have been bitter exchanges and suspicions between ‘Estelinha’ and some priests, disagreements over public/pulpit money. In 2004, the priest and the diocese refused a baptism in the chapel, other times there have been weddings, Masses and christenings. Now the Mass is limited to festive seasons and the priest has to ask ‘Estelinha’ to open the door. ‘Estelinha’ says she has the permission of the owner to manage the chapel and has a ‘commission’ to pay for the upkeep made from received money and the ‘gold’ of Our Lady given by Conde Canavial. With conflict over the ownership of this property over the past 15 years, this ‘commission’ is not enough for the people to legally claim ownership of the chapel. Also conflicts over payment for repair work and the door and the roof were restored with the ‘commission’, not by the parish. The chapel is in a magnificent setting with a beautiful view and it is worth tourists asking to see inside. It was founded in 1672 and restored in 1762. In 2007, the Regional Government classified it as a monument of public interest and with this classification, it is in an area for special protection.

Unemployment decreases in the third quarter. Unemployment fell 0.2% over the second quarter of 2009. It stood at 7.9% in the third quarter of 2009. The national unemployment rate grew 0.7% to 9.8%.

Christmas shopping hours proposal. The union SITAM handed a proposal to the CMF that commercial areas close on Sundays and public holidays and at 20.00 in the week before Christmas. This is defended by a lack of consumers.

Consultations in the hospital increased 5.9% in the first halves of the years 2008 and 2009. Consultations at Health Centres also increased by 8.4%. Almada Cardosa of SESARAM stresses that the increased efficiency proves that the staff are not dissatisfied with the new management. "There is a great motivation and increased production with the same conditions." —- No strikes then?

PSD support new fisheries policy. The PSD Parliamentary Group wants Madeira, as an outermost region, to be treated differently by the European Parliament and they need a new fisheries policy for Madeira. The fishing vessels need upgrading to compete with the major industrialized countries and the large industrial vessels. They need to discuss with the MEP their concerns about levels of stocks of many species, not just the black scabbard fish. Also need to be able to manage stocks when there are future imbalances. The new fishing port at Câmara de Lobos will become a reality in 2011. It will be the largest fishing port in the region and the infrastructure will include the Regional Directorate of Fisheries, the auction and all the infrastructure related to the port.

Link to Canhas will be realized, Calheta Health Centre earlier. The link to Canhas in Ponta do Sol will be completed but the forecast is not until 2012. Jardim said that as the work is so complex and deadlines changed, he might not be able to inaugurate it. The Centre for Health and Social Security at Calheta will be completed earlier than expected as the project will begin immediately and not in 2010.

Headlines from the front page of today’s newspaper … feel free to add more ‘meat’ to the stories :

Offences of Jardim reduce PSP Madeira – Political accusations and mainland issued during the [election] campaign result in ‘lows’. The repercussions of President Jardim’s behaviour and accusations of a police force controlled from Lisbon. Some officers have requested transfers, cheesed off with Jardim’s behaviour and attitude toward the police.

Today’s top news headline : Expenditure in the port divides opinions – The project is to provide facilities to embark and disembark in the comfort of covered passageways. But the investment of €3 million is not peaceful between the shipping agents, because the equipment will not be 100% functional.  This is about the installation of walkway equipment that will be used to embark and disembark some passengers arriving by ship (ferry or cruise), similar to the facilities used for planes, where a moveable corridor is moved into place to allow passengers to enter or leave the ship through a moveable corridor mechanism, as shown.

European Popular Party [PPE] brings 500 to Madeira – The assistant secretary general of the PPE is in the region preparing a meeting for October 2010. The PPE is the major ‘family’ of Euro MPs in the European Parliament, with nearly 300 inside the group. The event, scheduled for 13th – 15th of October 2010 will see a congress held here under the theme of ‘study days’. The event is likely to be one of the major events of the year, with around 500 people expected to attend, representing the 27 member states of Europe.

Festival of ‘Tunas’ livens up Funchal in December. With no specifics about this as I haven’t read the article yet, if you get the chance you should get along to witness this, as it is worthwhile. The ‘Tunas’ are bands from the universities of Madeira and Portugal, and the ones I have seen have always been all girls or all boys, normally up to around 20 in a group, but regardless have been really entertaining. Whilst other students may spend their spare time ‘down the pub’, these students put their effort into music and entertainment. What is different is the ‘extra’ entertainment they provide, often quite challenging and athletic, and I would imagine also very tiring.

War today on the road to South Africa – The atmosphere in Bosnia continues to be hostile to Portugal on the decisive day for entry to the World Cup. In South Africa, where Ronaldo already shines, the Portuguese community sees it’s pride in check. The second leg of the playoff between Bosnia and Portugal is tonight, on TVI (channel 4) at 7.45 pm. It’s do or die time, and the 1 – 0 home game lead has to be protected, or it’s no visit to South Africa for the World Cup Finals next year, and a big disappointment for the three Madeiran players likely to be in the squad.

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