Madeira News Blog

(27th May). ‘Victim Of Air Crash On Madeira Dies From His Injuries’. The 24 year old man who was a passenger in the private Zlin aerobatics plane, that crashed on Sunday evening, has died from his injuries. He received third degree burns over 80% of his body after the plane crashed and burst into flames. He was taken to a specialist unit in Porto, but was unable to survive his injuries. Funchal Central Hospital mistakenly reported the man as being 49 years old. He is a natural from the Algarve in Portugal.

The Portuguese frigate that has just returned from the Ilhas Selvagens will be in Funchal today for it’s maiden visit, and will be open to the public between 4pm and 6pm. The ‘Bartolomeu Dias’ is the most recent acquisition for the Portuguese Navy, and replaces the class ‘João Belo’, sold to Uruguay. The ship was previously in service with the Dutch Navy, and was purchased along with ‘D. Francisco de Almeida’, which is due to be delivered early next year.

‘Explosion Of Impatience In The Curral’. Six years on, with crimes to be judged, and compensation still to be decided. The families of the four victims in the tunnel of Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns) are still waiting in desperation. It was 7th March 2003 at 12.30pm, when an early detonation of 12 kilos of explosive in the new tunnel under construction, took the lives of 4 workers and injured others. Criminal liability has still not been decided, after AFA and it’s insurer appealed to the court of appeal in Lisbon, after the court in Funchal made judgement in July 2007. AFA (Avelino Farinha & Agrela), the civil construction giant, was cited as jointly criminally responsible for the accident, along with 4 others. The trial against the defendants was supposed to start last month in Funchal, but that was postponed. Also on trial are the explosives handling expert, who had gone off to do something else when the explosion occurred, and a team leader in the construction who was not authorised to handle explosives. It is thought that drilling work may have set off the charges. The article is really more about the suffering families than those responsible, and how the losses have affected the families, and their finances.

‘Ronaldo And Messi Today In Fight For The Champions – Rome hosts the duel between the best in the world and the principal pretender to his throne’. Manchester United V Barcelona in the champions league final of course. I will say no more, other than to add that if there are any football fans out there, you can watch the game on channel one, RTP-1, at 7.45pm tonight. Good luck Ronnie! (only because you are from Madeira of course).

‘Change Of Schedule Throws Flor Do Mar – The TV series filmed on Madeira falls in the audience ratings’.  The TV channel TVI  has split its nightly showing of the most popular programme in the ratings into two time slots, and changed the times, and audience ratings have fallen. Couple that with a new nightly series (soap) that was first shown on 11th May, and Flor do Mar has now fallen 600,000 nightly viewers behind.

Business must be slow for MEO and other divisions in the telephone, internet and TV businesses of Portugal Telecom. MEO are offering 3 months service with no payment, but of course there are bound to be catches. SAPO are offering 3 services for the price of one at €19.99 per month. That includes ADSL with unlimited downloads, telephone with free calls, and wide band mobile.

‘Cemetery Of The Jews Hinders Toco – Judaic law prohibits the relocation of cemeteries, as is the case at Lazareto, that is hindering the start of building work. The Israeli Ambassador, visiting Madeira today, wants to resolve the situation’. The Israeli Ambassador from Lisbon, supports the construction of a supporting wall at the Jewish cemetery in Lazareto, Santa Maria Maior. This would involve the movement of bodies to the cemetery at São Martinho, and the subject is expected to be one of the highlights of a meeting with President Jardim today. The 19th century cemetery is completely abandoned, and the ambassador agrees that the degradation of the infrastructure needs to be addressed quickly, because some of the graves are perched on a cliff edge. It is not entirely clear how the cemetery impacts the building project, costing €390 million, but it seems that it is more of a safety issue, than someone trying to acquire the cemetery land. 

On Monday it was reported that a man involved in a motorcycle accident had a leg amputated, and was in danger of losing his arm also. It isn’t in the newspaper yet, but I was told in town this morning by someone who knew him, that he has also died. He was a policeman (GNR) at Madeira Airport. A pretty bleak few days on the roads, and what with the death from the plane crash as well.

(26th May). ‘Investigations To Find Out The Cause Of The Aircraft Crash Have Already Begun’. According to an airport spokesman, a team from the Nacional Institute of Civil Aviation, and another from the Office of Prevention & Investigation of Accidents, were on the scene at 9am yesterday morning. The 49 year old pilot in Funchal Hospital is out of danger, but will be staying in the hospital for a while. The passenger, in Porto Hospital, with third degree burns affecting 60% of his body, "drew a rather reserved prognosis". Another long article into the causes of the accident, state that the pilot was very experienced, and had the necessary authorisations to do the flight on Sunday afternoon, but also confirms that the Zlin airplane was doing acrobatics prior to the accident. The Diário says "Witnesses at the site at the time of the accident said that the plane was doing acrobatics on the airport runway when it crashed". Rather oddly in my opinion, the newspaper then choose to do a year by year summary account of all of Madeira’s past air accidents.

The day’s main news headline : ‘Colombo Resort Goes From Bad To Worse – The Regional Government says it will provide €5 million for the solution of the ‘stopped’ hotel on Porto Santo if Lisbon comes up with €150 million to ‘pay the time and hours’. The timescales are tight, and there are €9 million from PITER at risk’. The Government continues without a clear position on how to tackle the problem with the stoppage of the work at the Colombo’s Resort on Porto Santo. Although initially Alberto João Jardim said publicly, that government had nothing to do with the problems of private investment, later the government was represented at the negotiating table with the state and the main creditors of the Society of Real Estate and Tourism Campo de Baixo, to look at rescuing the project. Yesterday, Alberto João Jardim publicly accused the Government of the Republic of having a compromised solution for the rescue of the Colombo’s Resort. It’s a confusing story, so when I have a clearer understanding of what is going on I will let you know.

Then also on the same day, version 2 of the story is also published :

The rescue plan for the Colombo Resort on Porto Santo, where construction work stopped some time ago due to lack of financing, has some limited intervention from the government of Madeira. President Jardim has guaranteed an input of up to €1 million, but not beyond. According to the Diário, the matter was also discussed with Prime Minister José Sócrates, who intended to stump up €5 million, an offer that it seems was refused by President Jardim. I don’t think Porto Santo needs the accommodation or facilities of the Colombo Resort now or in the near future, so maybe a more imaginative and drastic solution is needed. Knocking it down surely wouldn’t be out of the question, and might be the cheapest option.

The police have issued a statement saying that between last Thursday and Sunday, 43 road accidents were reported, resulting in one death and fifteen injured. That brings the road deaths up to four so far this year. In 2008 25 people died in road accidents on Madeira, including 3 that died later in hospital, but don’t officially count in road death statistics.

Today is ‘European Day Of The Neighbour’, and several places on Madeira are holding events to mark the day. The event started in 1999 to combat isolation and indifference between neighbours. The biggest causes for complaints here are from noise and animals, and sharing of common areas, although other types of aggravation through delinquency, alcoholism or drug addiction are making matters worse. 

Seixal Review – ‘The Tranquillity And The Image Of The Mark Of Seixal’. It was the tranquillity and feeling of security that made João Pestana trade Rio de Janeiro for Seixal. The son of a Madeiran, born in Brazil, he has lived in Seixal now for 9 years and he says "I don’t want anything else". He continues "In the beginning it wasn’t easy, but after 6 months I was feeling at home. Without permanent work, you do anything you can", highlighting the lack of jobs as one of the main problems of the parish. The (big) works finished, and so did the work in civil construction. That finished also the popularity of bars and restaurants in the area. A cafe owner, Inocência Rodrigues, said "there is a lack of movement, but at the weekends, and at the festival of the ‘Panelo’ (you can search on this blog to find out more), the parish has visitors". She adds with conviction that "who likes to come to Seixal always returns". Without safety concerns, and with new facilities, the population now requires a pharmacy. The nearest at the moment is in São Vicente or Porto Moniz.

For the first time in the history of Portuguese football, the ‘Ball of Silver’ comes to Madeira. Nenê, the Brazilian playing for Nacional, as well as being the top scorer for the season, also has the distinction of being the top goal scorer for a Madeiran team in the premier league competition. A nice long interview with the player, but I reckon most will skip it so I will too.

(25th May). ‘Program To Help People With Alzheimer’. Carriers of Alzheimer Disease on Madeira will be able to register into a national program, that will enable quick notification to families when a sufferer finds themself disorientated away from home. The scheme works though an identification tag that the person has on a necklace or bracelet, that will allow easy identification. The program ‘Rumo Seguro’ can be joined through pharmacies, and fire stations, and costs €60 for a three year subscription, and lasts 3 years. Nationally there are estimated to be 70,000 sufferers, and 60% of these at times wander off and have difficulties getting home. A good idea, but it sounds like a right rip-off to me, charging so much, and I am surprised that ‘Alzheimer Portugal’ has put it’s name to it. It should be free, and anyway such a tag could easily be made by a family member with the necessary home contact number(s).

(25th May). ‘Private Plane Crashes At The Airport’. A small acrobatics aircraft (type Zlin 142) crashed at Madeira Airport yesterday evening at around 7pm, when it was performing a landing manoeuvre. It hit the grassy area between the runway and the aircraft parking zone, where the craft caught fire and was partially burnt out after the impact. The cause of the crash is so far unknown, although one witness wrote in to the Diário saying that it had been doing acrobatics before the accident. Two people were taken to hospital in a serious condition, after being rescued by fireman. One 39 year old man was later flown to São João Hospital in Porto for treatment, suffering 60% third degree burns, whilst the other, a 49 year old man, is reported as being out of danger. The airport was closed for 3 hours after the incident.

‘On The Estrada do Poiso, A Car Fell 300 Metres Into A Chasm, Causing The Death Of The Driver And Injuries To The Three Other Occupants’. The accident happened at Montado do Pereiro in Funchal, early on Sunday evening, leaving one of the survivors seriously injured with the woman’s life hanging in the balance. The back seat passengers, a 41 year old woman and a 3 year old girl were also taken into the emergencies department in Funchal Hospital. 14 firemen used mountain rescue equipment to reach the car and free the victims, having to use cutting equipment to retrieve the body of the driver. The accident happened at a time of thick fog in the area. With what was already reported yesterday, that was definitely a ‘black weekend’ for serious accidents of all types.

‘Champions’. For the second consecutive time, Telma & Pedro of Machico school, conquer as the best in mathematics in the country. The national competition ‘PmatE 2009′, which was in it’s fourth year, was held in Aveiro in Portugal at the end of last month, and involved teams. The two champs are both 9 years old.

‘Plan To Help The Aged – The project of the Madeira government consists of 14 objectives to be achieved through 43 measures. There will be a director and assisted residences’. The plan is aimed at helping over 32,000 elderly people living mainly out in the parishes of Madeira, and was adopted on the 7th May in the regional plan for 2009 – 2013 (having originally been planned for 2007 – 2011, but what’s two years late for a struggling pensioner!).  The Diário was denied access to the plan, as it had not yet been finalised, but it focuses on aid for ageing people through physical, mental, and social help, and has a separate strategy to  support elderly people in a state of dependency. The scheme has been mottoed ‘Live Better, Live Longer’, and uses Madeira’s demographic trends and forecasts to target resources. Promoting good health and preventing disease will be one angle of focus, with younger generations being steered towards family care for the elderly, as well as an expansion and improvement in facilities for those no longer able to help themselves. With over 13% of the population of Madeira covered by the plan, there will be for sure sceptics who feel that this measure is timed for election purposes, being two years late in delivery. I am expecting a visit from the word police after one word used above probably doesn’t exist, so if there is no blog tomorrow you know they have called.