Madeira News Blog

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Eiryl … the Fountains outside Machico Civic Centre

Yesterday’s top news stories :

Fear and discontent among doctors. Doctors in the region are concerned and dissatisfied with certain situations in the Health Department. This is demonstrated by the growing number of applications for legal help to the Independent Union of Doctors throughout the year. Between 2001 and 2008, there were on average 4 requests per year and the number has soared to nearly 95 this year.  Most complaints are related to salary, working hours, working legally and young doctors enquiring about the new labour code. People are "scared and unhappy" with the current management of SESARAM which is why the number of complaints has increased in the past few months. There is also concern about recruitment of doctors and the lack of career advancement when working in the region. They are meeting with representatives of the Nursing Union to have a concerted action for fighting for better working conditions and health care, as nurses are also "unhappy, worried and discouraged". Family doctors are concerned about new rules that SESARAM want to implement for lists of patients at health centres.The numbers of patients assigned to each doctor will not exceed 1500, to include for each household only the people who most often seek health services. So there will be people of the same family, who because they are healthier, may be excluded from the lists of users of health centres.

More violence and drug abuse this year. So far this year, 780 domestic violence cases (663 last year) and 232 cases of drug crimes (177 last year) reported to the police. The police are also encountering more resistance to arrest, from 11 cases to 28 this year. Overall, reported crime has increased, from 8,641 to 9,139 cases. The crimes on the increase were crimes against property, against the person and bounced cheques. On the decrease were corruption, driving without a licence or under the influence of alcohol, and violence against the elderly or children. There are more cases than last year still waiting to be heard by the Prosecution Services, up from 5,753 to 6,082, of these 135 waiting since 2006 or earlier. Only 13.2% of the cases end in a criminal charge, most of the others are filed due to lack of evidence. In the first half of 2009, the police served 478 warrants, resulting in 260 arrests and 37 individuals escorted to prison under tight security.

More people taking up Occupational Unemployment. This year, 755 people were placed on the Occupational and Unemployed Workers Benefit Program. The unemployed undertake an occupation-related activity and it reinforces the workforce, especially in social institutions, people’s homes, local cultural and sports associations and public administration services. Preference is given to those who have been unemployed longer or belong to social groups more difficult to integrate. It is beneficial as it keeps people employed, they receive an additional allowance and they might be taken on permanently. There are three programs, including one for people over the age of 55 years, some with restrictions on the length of time on the program, and everyone receives at least the minimum wage of 459 Euros.

New church in Jardim da Serra. Cost €2.6 million, of which €1.9 million was from the Government and new land had to be acquired. It occupies an imposing site at the top of a hill in Machico municipality, visible from a distance. Although it has traditional elements, it is based on a new design and has the capacity for 425 worshippers which by the seat / aisle arrangement can be doubled to provide for up to 1,000. The architect has designed seven other churches on the island and three more are in the design stages.

SITAM wants the Church to state its position on Christmas and Sunday opening hours. The Office, Commerce and Services Union wants the Church to help in its negotiations with the Town Hall on the schedule for Christmas trade opening hours to ensure that workers get enough rest days. They are awaiting the Diocese response to a one and a half year old petition against shops opening on Sunday. The Union also proposes a 5% salary increase and this year, there have been 5 or 6 bankruptcies in this sector.

Levada worker died yesterday at work. He was 47 and died after being semi-buried by a landslide of rocks on the Levada da Serra, between Ribeiro Frio and Santa da Serra. He was an employee of a private company and a colleague warned him and could not free him, already unconscious, due to the volume of rocks. The bombeiros (fire brigade) from Santa Cruz had difficulty accessing the area quickly as it is about 4 km from the nearest road and the Emergency Medical Team declared him dead in situ. The Regional Inspectorate of Labour have opened an investigation.

A 63 year old British tourist was rescued by the bombeiros after a  fall in the Levada dos Tornos and had a suspected broken leg. A number of foreign tourists have fallen in this area.

‘Missing Face’ inquiry extends to Madeira. This corruption investigation, ‘Faca Oculta’, based in Lisbon is about Manuel Godinho and the rapid licensing of his waste treatment firms. The network of his firms in the region is being investigated for evidence of corrupt ‘illegal favours’ from Government officials.

Prints of Paula Rego to be exhibited in Prazeres. The prints from galleries in Lisbon and Porto will be at the Galaria dos Prazeres from the 27th November (10 – 13 and 14 – 19 hours). There will be 17 lithographs from this famous Portuguese artist shown in two rooms. Six prints are in the ‘Series of Wine’ and confirm the importance of literature to Paula Rego’s artistry.

Regulatory body ruling on political fairness in broadcasting. The Regulatory Body approved a resolution calling on the insistence of the whole RTP television network to comply with regulations concerning the equal representation of all political parties. The regulations were begun to be broken in 2007.

Atlantic Holidays (Pestana) returns to Porto Santo from May 31 2010. Resumption of direct flights from Gatwick to Porto Santo on Mondays until November 1 2010. The flights will be with Viking Airlines which uses a Boeing 737-300 with a capacity of 148 passengers. This replaces the bankrupt XL Airways. Between 26 July and 31 August, the flights will alter and be from Norwich to Madeira due to the busy domestic tourism period to Porto Santo.

Portugal is the top EU country with a rapidly ageing population. From 1980 to 2008, the percentage of people aged over 65 increased from 11.2% to 17.4%. Following Portugal are Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece and Sweden. Ireland has the youngest population with an average age of 35.1 years. In Portugal, the average is 40.5. It is also below the European average for assistance to families. The birth rate is at a ‘critical level’ of 1.34. —– The EU wants Portugal to reduce the high deficit and debt levels by 2013, so the future does not look good for either Portugal or Madeira.

Used car market. Opens today at Tecnopolo until Sunday 15th. Free entrance. Opening hours are 18.00 to 22.00 and at the weekend from 11.00 to 20.00. There are 200 cars and motorcycles and 15 companies (3 dealers and 12 multi-brand stands) are participating. Some companies also have promotional campaigns to attract customers.

Tivoli Hotel 10th anniversary. The Atlántico Restaurant has been refurbished and is to reopen with capacity for between 550 and 700 diners, one of the largest restaurants on the island. The opening event on the 18th at 19.00 will be attended by Alberto Jardim and there will be different celebratory activities in the following 10 weeks. The hotel has 317 rooms, of which 43 are suites and last year had a 62% occupancy rate which has increased this year.

Many thanks to Elaine, who did all the work today!

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If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. 

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

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A couple more old bus photos taken from the photographic exhibition in Ribeira Brava. The photos don’t have any commentary, so I have no idea when they were taken, or when these fine vehicles were last in service.

I mentioned last week that I had received in the post the AKI Xmas catalogue, full of Christmas decorations, and not much else. The IZI equivalent arrived this week, again packed with Xmas decorations, but also a lot of ideas for gifts also. Lots of DIY stuff and power tools for men, and gardening tools and equipment too, so I have my preferences picked out. However when I paged through again to look for Xmas presents for the ladies, I couldn’t find any kitchen items at all, nor cleaning equipment, or ironing boards or suchlike. In fact there was nothing household at all, so is the IZI store really like this? Is this part of a worldwide conspiracy against men, as I had hoped that maybe I had left this attitude behind years ago?

Following an article a couple of days ago, it seems that RTP Azores has employed a journalist of mixed origin and language skills to provide news stories in English. TAKE A LOOK

One for the MADEIRA WINE buffs.

Tough games for our local football teams this weekend. Both games are on Sunday. Firstly Nacional visit Leixões at 4 pm, but the hosts are not as good as they were last season, so a bit of a chance of a result. At 6 pm, Marítimo host the big name of Porto (SportTV1), who aren’t playing that well this season, having changed their style of game somewhat.

Have a good weekend! 

Another whacking great contribution from Elaine from yesterday, many thanks … is no one else going to help?

TAP cheaper than Easyjet. D.Cidade looked at the websites of both carriers for prices of flights leaving Funchal on the 28 December and returning from Lisbon on the 2nd January (end-of-year celebrations). Easyjet, advertised as a budget airline, lowest inclusive price was 450.98 Euros. If the return flight was on the 1st January, the total was 362.98 Euros, i.e. 88 Euros less. TAP for 28 December to 2 January was 399.91 Euros which is 51.07 Euros cheaper than Easyjet. If returning on the 1st January, TAP website price was 334.91 Euros which is 28.07 Euros cheaper than Easyjet.

Drugs killed 19 in four years. Between 2005 and 2008, 19 people died in Madeira due to illicit drug use. The actual number is probably higher as the official figures only account for those who died after hospitalization, i.e. not those who died outside the hospital setting.  The European Monitoring Centre report indicated a 45% increase between 2006 – 2007 in drug overdose deaths in Portugal due to an increase in cocaine use. Of the 314 who died, 91% were male. In Madeira, according to the Director of Drug Prevention, "The average age of first drug use is lower than the national average, as is the percentage of consumers per number of residents." In 2001 in Madeira, 8.6% of the population consumed drugs at least once, and in 2006 this had fallen to 5.2% compared to the national average of 12%. Prevention is focused on the individual rather than the drug consumed.

A 25 and 34 year old couple detained today for trafficking 24,300 doses of heroin. The wife is Portuguese and the husband a foreigner. They already have criminal records.

Madeiran computer usage above the national average. In Madeira, 58.3% of households have a computer at home and 49.7% have Internet connection, mainly through broadband. The only place in Portugal to exceed this number is Lisbon where 60% of households have a computer. Nationally, 9% of items bought are over the Internet but only 7% in Madeira, despite the fact it is an island. The majority of orders were for travel, accommodation, holiday-related services, computer software and electronic equipment. Most users are between 16 and 54 years, especially under 34 years of age and 51% are male. —- Could be low sales due to unavailability as many Portuguese sites will not deliver here and costly in postage, or people shop when they fly to Lisbon.

Stolen condoms machine! A condoms vending machine was stolen from outside a pharmacy in Santana early one morning, without witnesses.

Parliament using a law that no longer exists. The Socialist Party MP Jacinto Serrão accused Parliament of "negligence" in relation to a matter  of "utmost importance for the region". The Regional Government sent a report to Parliament on participation in the European Region. The application of EU funding and participation in EU programs presented to Parliament was under a legislative decree, which is based on a national law which does not exist. The law was repealed three years ago and replaced by another one which is more favourable to the Autonomous Regions. Under this new amendment, Parliament could comment on anything that came from Brussels, so this later law needs adopting.

Hybrid and electric cars will have cheaper parking. From January 1st, car parking in Funchal will be half price for such cars. 150 places will be created for these cars, which is 10% of all parking where parking meters are used. These spaces will be in Aljube, Hospital Velho, Avenida do Mar and the zone of Ajuda, and other areas. The owners of such cars will have to obtain a green sticker from Funchal Council to put on their windscreens. Such areas are reserved only for ecological cars or there will be a none-parking fine applicable. The meters will have two buttons, one for the normal tariff and a green one.

There will also be more parking spaces for motorcycles as there are more bikes up to 125 cc after the change in the law which allowed Category B licence holders to use vehicles up to 125 cc and 11 kw of power, This is to abolish the abusive parking which is occurring, for example when walking by Edificio 2000.

Maintenance of ‘Lobo Marinho’ will be in Madeira instead of Spain or Portugal. Annual maintenance work will be at Caniçal and prevent the ferry from sailing 16 trips between  12 – 30 January 2010. The decision needed a special permit and will employ 20 local workers from 6 companies. Cargo (fresh produce) will go twice a week via SATA flights, and the Porto Santo Line ferry will refund the difference in the air fare for residents on either island who have to fly.

French tourism promotional campaigns have worked. In October, there was a promotional campaign in Madeira for 150 French travel agents and journalists. SATA have also promoted the island. Madeira now features in some holiday brochures and between them, ‘Top of Travel’ and ‘Voyages Internacionaux’ have brought 800 French tourists here and they hope to double that number next year. The sale of Aigle Azur flights from Paris have exceeded expectations and if this continues, they will increase the frequency next summer.

Government not honouring its debts to contractors. The liquidity problems of the Region, justified by the Government reducing state transfers  and the prohibition of use of new bank loans, is causing havoc in dozens of the companies that provide services to the Region. The Government has 25 year contracts under part-private partnerships with Vialitoral and ViaExpresso for construction and operation of new roads. This year, the Region owes Vialitoral 58 million and ViaExpresso 25 million. Over the past three years, there has been failure in paying some of the money to the companies so they cannot pay back the bank loans, which accumulate interest, and this should be met by the Government. The Regional Government is awaiting permission to pay this debt under a program created by the Portuguese Government. The Government of Madeira initially received 574.2 million Euros for the projects and they pay ‘virtual tolls’ ranging between 0.1 and 0.2 cents for each vehicle on the roads. Over the contractual 25 years, they will pay 1,825 million Euros, varying between €38 million in 2002 and €100 million in 2015.

As Der mentioned, other complaints of non-payments. The SIRAM group of companies who installed the Christmas illuminations are irregular in payments to workers, especially for holiday bonuses from June / July and overtime.

Warning for travellers to Cabo Verde. The Portuguese Government has issued a warning about dengue fever carried by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Since October, due to the outbreak of dengue fever in Cabo Verde, there have been 6,700 cases and 4 deaths. People travelling there have been advised to take special care. IASAÚDE is aware of the problem and last year when there was a similar problem in Brazil, special precautions were taken in Madeira. Travellers are advised to be vaccinated against yellow fever and use insect repellents. If a person shows symptoms, they are sent to the Service of Communicable Diseases for diagnosis. Since the mosquito has been identified on Madeira, care has been intensified.

Surveillance will tighten on Market Night. The street vendors will have to comply with hygiene standards and the space allocated to them. They have to pay a deposit before the event which is not refunded if the area is not kept clean. Extra litter bins and containers are provided but not always used. Last year, 18 stallholders were fined an average of 50 Euros, totalling 900 Euros. From the 10th December, there will be an increase in waste collection and they hope homeowners will make use of these to counteract the days over Christmas and the New Year when normal collections are missed.

‘Play the buzios’ competition in São Roque do Faial. Next Tuesday at 19.30 in the Casa do Povo, a competition to provide entertainment and teach children the art of making sounds out of this ‘instrument’ (conch shell). Awarded on merits of loudness, length of time and artistic ability. There will also be the Feast of São Martinho to revive the local tradition on the eve of São Martinho.

Individuals in a car assaulted an elderly woman.  An elderly woman was alone at a bus stop in Quinta Grande on Wednesday morning when a passenger of a passing car got out, threw her violently to the ground and stole a wallet containing about 100 Euros, personal documents and glasses. The woman went to the nearest residence for help, but unfortunately no individuals could be identified. A local resident claimed this type of crime has happened before and that criminals watch for people on their own.

Madeirans postpone buying a car. Up until September this year, there was a 26.28% reduction in the sale of new vehicles, to 2,130 cars and 296 commercial vehicles. At least 855 new cars were left at the dealers compared to last year. This means that both commercial and private buyers are buying fewer vehicles. There are faint signs of recovery and a lot of cars were previously bought using more readily-available credit. The tax incentives to buy hybrid or electric cars has had little impact as these vehicles are still very expensive. The picture is the same for used cars, and more diesel cars are selling than petrol cars. From the 11 – 15 November, there will be a used-car market at the Tecnopolo.

Madeira Wines & Spirits Festival. Update on yesterday. It was promoted yesterday on one of the catamarans and they were lucky enough to see dolphins. Access is 5 Euros a day, 7 Euros for 2 days and 9 Euros for all 3 days. This entitles you to a wine tasting cup and free entry to other activities.

—— If anyone goes, can they tell us what it is like. (The newspapers are heavily promoting it).

New Savoy Hotel. They hope to start the demolition before the end of the year, which should take 10 months, and redevelopment will take between 3 and 4 years. There will be 828 beds in 4 blocks, both in the hotel and apartments. 371 housing units split between standard rooms and apartments, ranging from T0 to T4 duplex. There will be more green areas in the 18,794 square metre site than before.

‘Atlantis’ special program. 10th anniversary of the RTP-M program. A special 2 hr recording today at the Casino which will be broadcasted on RTP-M, RTP-Azores and RTP-International. The program includes traditional folklore groups from Camacha and the Choir of the Portuguese in Caracas who are presently visiting the region and performing around the island.

Fire brigades better prepared for forest fires. From next Summer, there will be nine new vehicles spread around the region. The fire brigade will take part in an exercise at Madeira Airport on November 18th. There will be further exercises on the 19th and 20th at Rabacal to test the response at two scenarios of serious accidents with multiple victims. One will be a disappearance of a group of tourists in adverse weather conditions and another will be an accident involving a passenger bus.

Postponement of increase in the fees of private doctors. Consultation fees remain at 55 Euros until 2011 due to the present economic climate which is causing a drop in the number of consultations.

Fuel increases on Monday. Unleaded 95 octane up by 1 cent to 1.21 Euros and diesel will be 0.97 cents.

Businessman António Lopes acquires abandoned village in Portugal. António Lopes was for many years involved in the construction industry in Madeira. He has brought the abandoned village of Vieiro in Portugal which has been uninhabited for over 30 years and consists of about 24 houses which are now in ruins. It has taken 26 years to locate all the owners. He wants to rehabilitate the homes, primarily for tourism.

Mercarte in the Largo da Restauração on Saturday 7th. November. 09.00 to 18.00. Mercarte Madeira – Fair of Art and Craftwork. Both traditional and contemporary articles for sale.

A quick look at the front page news of today’s Diário :

Company of group involved in ‘Hidden Face’ received licence on Madeira before it was even created. It’s a long story of bigger consequences, but this particular part relates to a company set up on Madeira this year called Resatlântico, licensed in waste management, which apparently received its licence before the company was even formed.  The Department for the Environment says it followed the same legal regime that applies to all applications, and the company had not enjoyed any preferential treatment.  The  facts may say otherwise,  with ‘Resatlântico – Waste Management Ltd.’ not legally registered in the commercial registry office until May 11th, 2009, but the first license request in that name was received by the Department for the Environment two months before (March 3rd, 2009), via the Regional Secretary for Planning and Finances / Office of the Free Zone (Zona Franca), and an amended licence was thereafter issued, dated 19th May 2009. Hard to believe there would be any wrongdoing methinks. Busy people with so many brown and white envelopes passing through their hands often get dates mixed up.

Today’s top news story : Health and electricity owe €985 million – The Madeira health service has a passive debt of €484.6 million at the close of the 2008 economic year. The negative trend is worrying. Also the Electricity Company (EEM), despite of good economic indicators, registered in the same period a passive debt of €500,500,000. I can’t believe that last figure is correct … that must represent carrying a debt of around €5,000 for every customer EEM has on Madeira.

Contest for the Botanic Garden takes out director – Biologists surprised with opening for candidates just for agricultural engineers, leaving out the current post-holder. The regional secretary responsible has launched a recruitment process for a new  services manager of the ‘Jardim Botânico da Madeira – Eng. Rui Vieira’ (as it is now officially called). Roberto Jardim, who took the office left vacant by Susana Fontinha eight years ago, has a degree in biology, as did his predecessor.

Services through the loudspeakers causes controversy – The early morning masses in Lombada da Ponta do Sol are the origin of a police complaint. The câmara tried to make the priest more sensitive, that agrees to desist. All it needs is a letter to justify the matter before the faithful. The church ‘broadcasts’ the service to the community at 7.30 am on Sunday mornings, much to the annoyance of some locals. A complaint to the police under ‘noise laws’ was passed to the council to deal with, and the priest was approached. He will stop the broadcasts once he has some documents he needs to justify the move to the people. Unbelievable how the church thinks it has a free licence to impose itself in peoples lives whether they want it or not. I can live with the church bells, and even the occasional broadcasted services, and I even quite like the local events that now and again that close the town streets to traffic, and after all I did see the nearby church when I brought my house. But what I really detest is what is coming in just a few weeks, and that’s the 5 am mega-bangers day after day in the lead up to Christmas, but local traditions override national laws it seems.

In football : Madeiran Leonel Pontes in charge of Sporting. Following the shock resignation of Sporting boss Paulo Bento, his deputy will replace him for now. Leonel was born in Porto da Cruz, and was a tutor of Cristiano Ronaldo. Manuel Machado of Nacional was favourite to replace Bento in Lisbon, but it is believed he is not interested in leaving the Madeira club.

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If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. 

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

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