Madeira News Blog

(28th May). The main news headline of the day : ‘Records Of The Crisis’. ‘Yesterday, there were 81 jobs on offer for almost 12 thousand unemployed. 10 vacancies were filled. Cooks are the workers most sought after. The economic and social rut gets deeper. The income of 1,599 rich families is worth as much as that earned by the 32,813 poor families’. (These headlines seem to get longer and longer!). Employers apparently are fairly undemanding on qualifications for the few jobs on offer, with just 81 registered vacancies listed on Thursday, and those vacancies are very quickly filled. Most of the positions are in Funchal, but some of those advertised go as far as the Azores.

"If We Had New Jobs, The Youngsters Wouldn’t Leave the Parish" – The lack of work and the low wages put the youth of Seixal on the path of emigration. Yet another one of the Diário’s feature articles on Seixal makes the headlines. The quote comes from Rosária Andrade, who says that the parish is clean, with an excellent beach, and full of beautiful landscapes. Nancy Nicola, who runs a local family owned café agrees that the low salaries are the reason why the young emigrate "It is difficult to live on 400 or 500 Euros," she says "The cost of living increases and the wages remain the same". The UK is where most people want to go, and Nancy worked there 3 years, in London, working 12 hours a day. 

The big picture on the front page shows a celebrating crowd of claret and blue shirts over a group of dejected white shirts : ‘Barcelona Make Manchester United And Ronaldo Look Ordinary – Cristiano Ronaldo only managed to overcome the stars of Barcelona during the first ten minutes. Then came the party of Iniesta, Xavi, Messi and company until the end of the victory (2 – 0) without a challenge’.

Madeira now has the best facilities for carrying out veterinary type monitoring, and food safety and water checks, with the new Regional Veterinary Laboratory in São Martinho, inaugurated yesterday by the President of the Government of Madeira. The four storey building cost €8.2 million. President Jardim stressed the quality of the laboratory, proven by "the requests for proposals to work with the outside, including the continent and the Azores", and the importance of such a facility for the future, dubbing it a "weapon of peace". 

A building that was originally intended for the laboratory (above) in Poço Barral, also in São Martinho, will now be converted into a home for the elderly. The building will consist of 36 units of accommodation with 50 beds, distributed between single and double rooms. There will be a wing of 10 homes to accommodate people with mobility difficulties or disabilities.

Thursday’s headline story : ‘Bad Treatment And Drugs Double On Madeira – In the first quarter of this year 192 cases of domestic violence were reported to the public prosecutor, double that in the same period last year. In drug trafficking, there are already 50 investigations up to March’. Funchal has the worse problem with 137 abuse cases. There were also double the number of drug investigations opened in the first quarter of 2009. It’s a long article full of statistics on drugs, domestic violence, driving crimes, and others. This link will give you a pie chart diagram for more information (in Portuguese of course) :  CRIME STATISTICS MARCH 2009

‘All-Nighter At The Door Of The Secretary – Around 40 farmers took drastic action to meet the application deadline for grants’. Accompanied by the days main photograph, showing 10 or more people, queueing outside the office of the Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources. People were sleeping outside in order to ensure they did not miss out on following the essential procedure to ensure they were entitled to agricultural subsidies. There were around 40 farmers waiting when the doors opened yesterday, and some will have to return today when the deadline expires, as the administration service will not be able to process all of them. What’s to blame for the problem you may wonder … it’s as simple as people leaving things to the last moment, having had since February to do what was needed. Since this program is dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture, which in turn must comply with EU regulations and deadlines, there is no possibility to extend the deadline.

Yesterday’s good news about the new health service website (SESARAM) is set to develop further, with administrators of the health service saying that next year it will be possible to actually make appointments on-line. At the new website launch, a spokesman said “the intention is to provide online services with strong added value for clients and employees”. The new website offers various services and useful information to users, such as visiting hours, support lines, and information about many pharmacies, health centres and hospitals. 

‘The Crisis Spreads : TRIAM suspends activity and the work of 26 employees, salaries are unpaid in five hotels, and the workers at the closed Savoy Hotel set-off for the fight’. The ‘handling’ contractor employed at Madeira Airport has confirmed it’s indefinite suspension, and is now waiting for instructions from it’s owners. It had already sacked 22 workers in 2008, and now fears are that the remaining 26 will go the same way. The Savoy story has already been covered this week, but the 99 workers have been advised not to negotiate exit deals with the company after the hotel closed it’s doors to customers.

In order to strengthen the ties established between the city of Funchal and Gibraltar, during the Second World War, which brought to Madeira a large community of Gibraltarians, the president of CMF (Funchal council), Miguel Albuquerque, and the Mayor of Gibraltar, signed a twinning agreement on Wednesday. With this initiative, various activities will gain momentum, involving municipal, civil, and public entities. The areas  included will be in economic cooperation and business, tourism, environmental and heritage matters, education, and promotion of cultural and sports events. Nice to see the Diário catching up with old news from madeira4u.