Madeira News Blog

(7th August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Lisbon Already Gave €64 Million In Incentives To Tourism – At the time of assessment, Tourism Of Portugal, the remit of Bernardo Trindade, realised that Madeira has received €10 million more than the Azores’. The imbalance in support has occurred since 2005, the same period of the mandate of the Secretary of State for Tourism, who also happens to be Madeiran. Quite why the Diário would want to stir up problems between Madeira and the Azores beats me, but I would guess the needs and circumstances of both locations are quite different regardless.

‘Suspicion Of Gripe A Isolates Scouts’. Two teenagers from Las Palmas, Canary Islands, are under observation for suspected Gripe A. They are both being kept isolated in the School of Louros to avoid the risk of spreading H1N1 swine flu, whilst analysis is being undertaken to confirm the virus. The rest of the Spanish scout group continue to enjoy their Summer holidays here.

‘Only One Doctor Per Centre In The North’. Not just in Porto Moniz, Santana, and São Vicente, but also on Porto Santo, there is just one family doctor, and other services are having to be provided using retired doctors. The health centres are open up to 24 hours a day, but the clinical director of Madeira’s health service says that the number of daily visits are low enough that the situation is justified. There are 10 vacancies for family doctors on Madeira, so as a temporary arrangement retired doctors are used to help. I am not entirely clear, but it seems there are still emergency doctors in the health centres that are not part of this story.

Half of today’s front page is taken up with a photo of the Brazilian striker named Wanderley Santos Júnior : ‘Nacional ‘Steal’ Wanderley From The Rivals – After being offered as a Marítimo reinforcement, the forward of Cruzeiro is now a Nacional player for 4 seasons. Rui Alves paid €750,000 and responds to the contract given to Alonso by its rival team’. An attempt by the Diário to invent a tit-for-tat story, but it doesn’t really stack up, and the player hasn’t yet agreed terms anyway.

Apart from a political story to follow later, that’s the front page today, so it looks like it’s been a struggle to fill the newspaper again.

Just announced in football, in the new Europa League, Nacional will be playing Zenit St Petersburg. The first leg is away on 20th August, with the home leg the following Thursday (27th), both fixtures are scheduled for 8 pm kick-offs. Zenit were the holders of the 2008 UEFA Cup, and of the 2008 UEFA Super Cup, after beating Manchester United 2-1 in Monaco. Tough one!

‘Church Robbers Are Repeat Offenders – Detained in Tabua they are answering for robberies committed in March and April’. At least two of the three men arrested by police early Wednesday morning in Tabua are identified by police and judicial authorities as responsible for a string of church robberies, including in Santa Cruz, Funchal, Câmara de Lobos, Ribeira Brava and São Vicente. Police enquiries have revealed a ‘modus operandi’ which denotes "a considerable degree of organization and hierarchy", equipped with various construction tools to break in through bars, doors, and windows, also using stolen cars with false number plates to travel between regions and transport their loot, most of which was the proceeds of collection boxes. Two of the robbers didn’t even have driving licences. The Regional Command of the PSP (public security police) will soon issue a press release revealing more details about this wave of church robberies.

‘Firework Positions Already Defined – A government resolution is aimed at overcoming objections about the posts’. Although the year end is still nearly 5 months away, the plan for the firework posts has already been prepared. The plan of the positions was approved by the Council of Government and published in the Official Journal of Madeira on the 28th of July. Resolution No. 860/2009 states that "in recent years there have been some objections raised on the part of private entities, and in particular the use of land, structures and spaces for the placement of posts for the launch of fireworks that were traditionally used for this purpose". 39 positions have been approved to launch fireworks above Funchal and the bay. One new post has been accepted in the anfiteatro in São Martinho, and another has been slightly moved. Meanwhile the Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport has already published the tender contest for the supply, installation and setting-off of the fireworks for the end-of-year celebrations 2009/2010. The successful tender will be known at the end of September or early October. The last few times it has been Macedo’s Pirotecnia providing the show. Some of the locations shown on the map will have several firework launching posts. Wasn’t it at one time one the purpose of the Atlantic Festival firework competition to find the best entrant and then give that company the year end contract?

The dates for the new school year have been fixed, and the new term will start on 21st September, with the school year finishing in June 2010, either on the 8th, 18th, or 25th, giving a school year of between 160 and 172 days. The first term will run from 21st September to 18th December, with some schools being closed at election times. The second term starts on 4th January and continues until 26th March, less the normal 3 days off at carnival time (15th – 17th February). The final term starts on 12th April.

‘Festival of cocktails in Machico – Twenty-five bartenders demonstrate the ‘art’ of creating cocktails’. The Association of Bartenders of Madeira are promoting a festival of cocktails within Machico Gastronomy Week. The ‘first works’ will emerge around 2.30 pm on Sunday, with the prize giving at 6 pm.

This from the Jornal da Madeira : For only the second time in service on the Porto Santo route, the ferry Lobo Marinho transported over 50,000 passengers in a month. The achievement last month show a recovery in the market, but is also thanks to price reductions forced on the Porto Santo Line, due to poor passenger occupation during the earlier part of this year. the maximum capacity per trip is 1,150, and during the first 7 months of this year the ferry has transported 196,000 passengers.

This photo was taken at the Banana Exhibition / Festival in Madalena do Mar, which runs through until the end of today, with much gastronomy and musical entertainment for those attending. The prize giving for the best banana clusters is today … and I can hardly wait for the result.

(19th July). The main photo in today’s photo shows a car a distance away on a road : ‘Businessman Was Murdered – The case of the kidnapping of the Porto Santo businessman ended in the worst way. Guilherme Bernardino was found dead in a well in Camacha. The PJ Police detained a Brazilian citizen yesterday afternoon and are now searching for a Madeiran who is still at large. The detainee was heard in the court in São Vicente and taken to the prison in the car in the photo’. The 78 year old man was murdered on the day of his abduction, and dumped in a well used to provide agricultural water. His body was retrieved by firemen last night. The story lacks detail because it was breaking as the Diário print deadline was passing, but one other detail is that the kidnapped man rang his family himself after being kidnapped during a phoney meeting, and had said that he needed a large amount of money. The 3 calls thereafter came from the Brazilian kidnapper.

‘Pigeons Appear Dead – Funchal Council says that it will not investigate because of a lack of resources’. Yesterday afternoon around 20 dead pigeons were found dead in various parts of the city. Some were found still alive and suffering, much to the disgust of locals and tourists. The finger has been pointed at restaurants, who are thought to be responsible for previous occurrences, in an effort to stop the birds annoying customers.

‘To Try And Understand The AEDES – Specialists are on Madeira until 31st July to study the mosquito’. Starting tomorrow a team of experts will take a new approach on the problem with the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, that will look at how the insect has managed to adapt itself to the conditions here, and also study the effectiveness of the insecticides being used in an attempt to control the pest. A further study will be conducted in October, involving entomologists and specialists, to look at new ways to tackle the problem, and consider using a method that genetically modifies the male mosquito to halt effective reproduction.

‘Agreement Between Doctors And HCF’. Doctors and administrators at Funchal Central Hospital have  eventually reached an agreement over the maximum number of working hours in the accident and emergency department. The administration has now accepted a limit of 12 hours per day, split into two blocks of six hours, but the doctors have accepted some flexibility as to when to work these blocks, depending on the workload and level of emergencies. Any hours needed over and above this limit will be at the discretion of the doctor, and will be paid as overtime. The doctors say the fight was not over money, but giving a better service to the population.

‘More Drugs Than Work In Curral Das Freiras’. Its the biggest parish of Câmara de Lobos, but the only means of access is from Funchal, and as such is isolated, despite the new tunnel. It lacks police, has no secondary school, and there is little work. A second headline calls it ‘a lawless territory’, and the population has to live with growing crime problems, and complains that it needs a police station based there. As well as the problems with petty crime and drugs, one resident says that the bars stay open all night without licenses to do so, and they have to put up with night time car racing. Even when police do go to the area, some sort of early warning system by mobile phone, alerts the law-breakers before the squad car even enters the access tunnel. Another resident says "We need another (access) road, but not from Câmara de Lobos, that would only bring thieves". It seems that a new road connection to Boaventura is the preferred option. The area, better known to many as ‘Valley of the Nuns’, covers 25 square kilometres, and has an ageing population estimated at over 1,600. It has a chemist, a social security office, a health centre, and a small crew of equipped firefighters.

Today’s main sports news ‘Nacional Win Trophy In Croatia – "Alvinegros" enjoy a party after beating Hadjuk Split and drawing with Blackburn’. Our lads won the triangular trophy, presented in front of around 6 thousand fans in the stadium of Hadjuk Split yesterday. Nacional beat the home side 1 – 0, and drew 0 – 0 with Blackburn Rovers from England, to finish top with 4 points.

Today’s main news headline : ‘Orange Strengthened – A survey by the Diário / TSF reveals the voting intentions for the national elections that increases the dominance of PSD-Madeira’. The headline also includes, like a football score ‘PSD 5 – 1 PS’, being the predicted allocation of the six deputies that Madeira has (3 – 3 in the last elections in 2005). The survey of 712 participants gives the PSD a 40% lead over the PS, and was carried out last week. It asked quite simply, if the elections were today, who would you vote for? : PSD 45.1%, PS 12.9%, BE 6%, CDU 5.6%, CDS/PP 5.5%, PND 1.1%, MPT 1%. I am not sure where the 40% comes in, but lets get into the detailed analysis … just kidding!

(25th June). Not much doing on today’s front page, so just a brief summary, but some better stuff inside I think, so some here and some later.

Today’s main news headline, in three parts : (1) ‘Fairs Agitate East – Machico Council ordered the closure of the fair of the Commercial & Industrial Association. In the opinion of the câmara president it lacked quality. The association and the trades are in commotion, but the counsellor insists the "We have this in Santo da Serra"’. The matter has divided politicians, businessmen, and the social democrats in the area. The fair was supposed to continue until September, but the council president disconnected the electricity supply and took all the stands off the promenade, saying that the event lacked quality and dynamics, and likened the event to the Sunday market in Santo da Serra.

(2) ‘In neighbouring Santa Cruz, the traders are also upset because the council refuses to give space for the traders stands or caravans in the festivals of the region’. Ten traders were asked to leave by the council, that ruled there is insufficient space. The traders claim they have been discriminated against in times of crisis, and complain they were not notified that their trading permits had been refused. As a result their income is going to be badly effected.

(3) ‘A different situation in Funchal, where vandalism with fire makes life hell for the firemen on the night of the festival of São João’. Fires on wasteland, smouldering wood and other materials, kept the firemen busy at night in Funchal. The first call was an overbuilt barbeque fire in Nazaré, the second a wasteland fire where around 60 square metres were consumed, then a pile of wood from pallets on a public highway. The fifth and final fire was in a waste container in Santo António.

‘Almada Leaves The Meeting And Leaves The Doctors Without An Answer- The trade union asks doctors not to work overtime beyond the weekly limit’. The council of administration of the regional health service (SESARAM) met with doctors yesterday to clarify working hours and matters of overtime. It seems the discontent of the doctors heated the meeting, resulting in the administrator Almada Cardoso leaving the meeting without dealing with the issues at cause, with the doctors booing his attitude, rekindling the hostility between the two sides. He said he left because he had other commitments. Anyway, the dispute caused by changes in working schedules, working hours, and the underlying issue of budget cuts, has now resulted in doctors being asked to ‘work-to-rule’.

‘Works Of Rigo In France, the United States, and China’. Starting on 15th July in the museum of New York’. The Madeira born artist Rigo is to display his art in the places mentioned. He has lived in San Francisco for decades, and his art medium is plastic.

The front page also covers the confederations football cup, expressing surprise that the USA beat Spain to get to the final on Sunday, and will meet either Brazil or South Africa (both teams being of interest here on Madeira).

‘Police Detain 29 Individuals In An Extraordinary Operation – The regional command initiates 22 operations in the space of 24 hours’. The Public Security Police (PSP) also identified 32 other people, in a series of operations involving arrest warrants for drug trafficking, drink driving, and other offences, and in the process found a small amount of heroin. The ‘swoop’ took place on 19th June as part of a national strategy. The operation included vehicle checks, and of 388 drivers tested for alcohol, 45 were found with excess of 0.5g per litre of blood. 12 vehicles were also seized. 147 police offers were involved in the operation that focused on sensitive zones, around schools, public transport interfaces, and night time hot spots.