Madeira News Blog

(13th September). ‘With Fish Market, Without Pier – Lack of services is the main shortcoming of Madalena do Mar. Residents of the Neighbourhood of Fishermen say they are forgotten, and ask for beach facilities to be provided and complain about the the lack of a pier´. The Diário’s featured parish this week. The tranquillity, coupled with the good weather, are the major attractions of Madalena do Mar. The village is very popular in summer for its beach, but loses movement in the Winter. Who lives there complains about the lack of services. Public transport, post office, ATM cashpoint, pharmacy, and a supermarket are some of the shortcomings identified by the population. Fishermen say they have a fish market, but complain that there is no pier, that had been promised, or beach support facilities.

‘Plagiarism On The Loose In The University Of Madeira – Copying text from the internet and presenting it as ones own is common practice’. It happens in all the courses. Teachers admit that the phenomenon has grown in recent years because of the internet, and welcome the decision of the UMa Dean to install anti-plagiarism software. That enthusiasm is not shared by the students representative, Luis Eduardo Nicolau, who says this is "a very delicate matter". The fight against plagiarism, as is happening in UMa, is just one of the functions of the Office of Student Aid, a new body that will mediate in the relationships between students and teachers. This Office will receive from now on all academic work, ensuring that deadlines are met. The work must be submitted in electronic format, so it can then be checked for authenticity, using the new anti-plagiarism software. If the work ‘passes’ the originality test then it goes to the teacher or lecturer who set the assignment for marking, but if it fails the test it’s another story.

The football headline is back today : ‘Four Games Without Winning – Nacional lost yesterday in Vila do Conde. The team attacked a lot, but couldn’t score. Today, after the sermon, the big game in Barreiros’. Nacional lost 2 – 0 at Rio Ave, leaving them with just two point out of a possible 12. Marítimo play Braga today. Yesterday’s game was also today’s main front page photo.

Hot off the press : Marítimo 1 Braga 2, leaving Braga top of the league with a 100% record. 

‘PSP called to restore order in Nogueira – A fight between neighbours, joined by dozens of people, yesterday forced the intervention of the police in the neighbourhood of Nogueira’. One neighbour complained to another about the noise from a party that went late into the night, but the complaint was not well received, and resulted in a slanging match. The lady complainant returned home, but the noisy neighbours followed and kicked her front door in, only to see her husband there armed with a baseball bat. At least one person was taken to hospital during the dispute, which probably woke up much of the neighbourhood. Some interesting readers comments with this article, including "It seems like one of those parts of Iraq, always in an uproar!"

On our roads last week, 49 accidents were reported, resulting in 20 injuries, 5 of which were serious. 28 drivers were detained for driving with excess alcohol. A case of a 19 year old man caught twice driving stolen cars, and without a driving licence, was mentioned on the blog a couple of weeks ago. He has since been caught twice more driving stolen cars. He went to court yesterday morning, and was released again, perplexing the 7 drink drivers forced to appear that same morning, and who were judged and convicted for their misdemeanours.

‘Aedes Aegypti Mosquito May Be Developing – The Institute of Health Administration returns to the land to see if the larvae have proliferated’. IASAÚDE is to undertake a new field study of the insect at the end of this month based on suspicions that the mosquito is again actively breeding. A spokesman for IASAÚDE said he is concerned that the high humidity levels have been helping provide good conditions for the mosquito.

Car Inspections went up in price yesterday as a result of an annual review. An extra 27 cêntimos for light vehicles (cars), and 41c. for heavier vehicles. Getting your car inspected will now cost €22.91 plus 14% VAT / IVA.

UPDATES (Politics) :

Today’s main news headline : ‘Let’s get the Job Done! – On the return of Jardim from his holiday, the Madeira government approved 43 resolutions in two hours’. The workload included 17 special contracts and eight land expropriations. It may not be a record, but it must be coming close. The governing council, led by president Jardim, sat on the 4th of this month and renamed Funchal Central Hospital and the Botanical Gardens, decided an award for a politician in Tabua, made a number of agreements with different sporting organisations, and approved a number of payments to banks. They even reviewed an updated report about how much tourists spend on Madeira. When the documents arrive for the consideration of the government, all the analysis work is already done. All that remains then is the political decision, which is done by resolution. The government refuses access to the minutes of meetings to journalists. No wonder we get so many white elephants on Madeira, if they are taking an average of less than 3 minutes to consider each resolution.

The big debate was on TV last night, between the two main party leaders for this month’s election for the assembly of the Republic. I sat through the whole 70 minutes, and I have to say that José Sócrates, leader of the socialist party, and Manuela Ferreira Leite, leader of the social democrats, were remarkably well composed and polite throughout. The debate started off with Madeira and president Jardim mentioned several times, on the issue of ‘stifling democracy’, Jardim’s false candidature for the Assembly of the Republic (he gets elected, but never attends), and also about the ‘offshore’ financial benefits of our island.  She is a decent very clever lady, but no match for golden boy Sócrates when it comes to stage presence, and he was so much better prepared, with a small stack of essential documents to hand, to prove his points. I have no real preference about who wins the elections this month, aside from continuity issues, but I wouldn’t be surprised as a result of last nights debate if the vote swings to the left a little, but there again how many sad people stay in on a Saturday night a Saturday night to watch a political debate.

‘Election Campaign Begins Officially Today And Finishes On The 25th’. The campaign for the Assembly of the Republic is now officially underway, even though political parties and candidates have been in pre-campaign several weeks already. Madeira has six places available, and at present they are shared equally between the PSD-M socialists and the PS socialists.

(14th June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Suspicious Promotions – Gabriel Farinha goes back to rewarding workers. At the end of his term, the councillor of Porto Moniz nominates an assistant in his office and two secretaries to be councillors’. The president of Porto Moniz for 8 years has an assistant, and the two full time councillors both have secretaries, paid for by the locals.

The main picture on the front page shows a forlorn looking lonely soul stood outside a closed church : ‘Lacking People In Fajã – The youngsters flee from farming. Fajã de Ovelha is an aged parish’. This is the Diário’s featured village of the week. Despite being a sought after place by tourists and locals, the youngsters can’t wait to get away from a life in agriculture, or just to find work elsewhere. One resident there for 40 years says "It is a quiet calm and safe place, but it only comes alive during the week with visits from many tourists, and on Saturdays and Sundays, with visitors normally from outside, that come from Funchal to the houses that they built for days of rest. Most houses are empty or belong to immigrants, or are weekend homes". Many people have emigrated, and those who live there with businesses are generally poor people. There is a lot of abandoned agricultural land there, because there is nobody is left to tend it. People feel that the area lacks a supermarket, and the local church seems doomed to be abandoned, but they enjoy the feeling of security in the area with very few crimes to complain about.

‘Register The Gold – Police Advice : Articles of value kept at home should be photographed. If they are stolen, they act as proof’. The Public Security Police are also recommending that valuables are given identifying marks, such as the initials of a family member, or a date of birth. The police say it will help them return objects to their owners when stolen property is recovered, with jewellery and gold on top of the priority list. It also gives the police undeniable proof that items recovered were stolen, and that can be used in evidence against the person responsible. TVs, DVD players, and computers should also be marked. Criminals may also be deterred if they know homeowners are marking their property, and also people who buy stolen goods (breaking the law in the process) may think twice about doing so. All makes sense of course, but it’s a bit of a sad thing to hear it officially announced on this island that was once renowned for the lack of crimes of this nature.

Yesterday saw the opening of the ‘Feira das Sopas do Campo’ (Country Soup Fair) in Boaventura. In all around 30 soups are available, made and served by various institutions and bars in the area, for the approval of visitors. It continues today with other delicacies and great musical entertainment.

In the space of just a week, 14 drivers involved in car accidents fled the scene before the arrival of the police, hence avoiding showing their documentation and committing an offence punishable by law. Normally it happens just a couple of times a week. The police commissioner, when asked why last week had so many cases, replied that the possible cause was drink driving or having no driving licence. He said all the cases were being following up.

The big forest fire mentioned yesterday that started Friday afternoon in Santo da Serra, was actually extinguished at around 8am the following morning. However, not long after mid-day it reignited, and Santa Cruz firemen had to return for another 8 hour endurance test. I saw another 3 reports of fires in similar situations mentioned in today’s newspaper.