Madeira News Blog

(18th September). ‘Management Of Waste And Water Leaves 200 Outside – The operation in its current format involves 400 employees in Madeira’s 10 participating regions. The new company, that excludes Funchal, is only going to need less than half of those. The local authorities are already complaining’. Water employees in the 10 local authorities are to be absorbed by the new company, but there are 379 in total at present, excluding administrative staff, and the new company, that will also manage rubbish collection services, sewerage, and water treatment, will only need 150 of them. The government will delay the entrance of ‘Águas e Resíduos da Madeira’, of which it is 1% shareholder, until 2010. The councils also jointly hold a 48% stake in the company. The new timetable will enter in two phases, to allow resolution of the manpower issues, and also with the legal framework. Initially Câmara de Lobos, Machico, Santa Cruz and Ribeira Brava, and maybe Porto Santo, will receive services in rubbish collection, sewerage treatment, and water distribution and billing, with the other councils to follow in phase two. The council workers have no obligation to move to the new company, but clearly the councils will not want to retain the staff when there is no work for them. As well as the 379 workers employed by the councils, there are also 109 vehicles in use. Santa Cruz is the most ‘top heavy’ of the councils, with 115 staff employed in waste and water (excluding administration), nearly twice the number as anywhere else. São Vicente has just 9 employees. Really! The article makes it sound like the reduced manpower needs have come as a shock. Somewhere along the line someone must had crunched the numbers to make the project viable.

‘Private Education Takes Cut – The support for the construction of new crèches and private schools is suspended’. With the new rules, the government is tight on finance and, in some cases is demanding the return of funding. The funding situation underwent a review, and a decision was taken yesterday to suspend support and funding, including a demand for the return of money given to pay staff. The measure is justified as ‘imposing the same measures for the reduction of costs in the private sector as are necessary in the public sector’. It is a temporary measure, but the Diário has information that indicates that this could be for three years. In crèches, or kindergartens, the state pays for a teacher and two assistants in each class, and sometimes other employees, but this funding will stop and any advance payments for salaries will have to be returned to the Department of Education. Some schools with financial assistance for swimming pools and sports pavilions will also be affected, as support is withdrawn. The Department of Education is still of the view that families should still have a choice between public and private schools, and will continue with the principle that private schools still form part of the regional education system. Full details were published in the official government journal JORAM yesterday HERE but I don’t know the document reference, and obviously the information is in Portuguese. I would imagine this will be a big worry for some parents.

‘Teachers Without Training For Teaching Through The “Magalhães”. The Magalhães are the mini laptop computer that nearly every 1st cycle school child now has, as provided by the government a couple of months ago. Parents and guardians have already been informed that the laptop will be an essential tool in school, but in truth not all teachers are prepared to teach using the programmes used by the little computers, despite having been offered training in Information Technology and Communication. A spokesman from Madeira’s union for teachers said that the training offered was not specific to the computer programmes used by the Magalhães, and many teachers are having to learn by themselves. “There should have been training for all before the delivery of the computers to students” he says, “We think that this was a failure”. Another issue is the continued issue of the computers to children, as there has been no announcement as to whether central government will offer the Magalhães to the next batch of eligible students. You can see people, not just children, with these computers all over the place. At night, when the kids are asleep, parents ‘borrow’ them, and you can see them at the free internet access wi-fi zones peering at the little screens. A brilliant scheme (in theory), with many kids getting them free, others having to pay €50 or something like that. They even (in theory) mean the kids can follow lessons at home, if sick, and you can imagine the value of that, if it works, in a Gripe A swine flu epidemic causing a school closure. The Diário cartoon today suggests that if teachers have trouble working the new computers and software, they can always ask for kids for help.

‘Government Warns Sick With Gripe A – The citizens are going to sign a ‘Declaration of Commitment’ to avoid spreading the virus’. The Institute of Administration of Health and Social Affairs (IASAÚDE) wants to enforce the issue of personal responsibility in the case of Gripe A infection, and has devised a ‘Declaração de Compromisso’ (Declaration of Commitment) that will be issued by health professionals to confirmed cases of swine flu, explaining the responsibility of individuals in preventing the spread of the virus, including staying at home for a prescribed period. There is also a leaflet available explaining the situation and responsibilities. Both documents (in Portuguese) can be seen HERE. Knowingly spreading and infection disease (even negligently) is a criminal offence here, punishable by a long prison sentence. Great idea, but of course it does sort of depend on the sick person actually going to the doctor or hospital, as I am sure many will just try and ‘sleep it off’.

Today’s main photo is from last nights big game : ‘Nacional Startled The Germans But Lacked Experience’. That’s not my assessment, but the Germans were certainly physically stronger, knocking our lads all over the place, and a bit quicker too.
Thanks to Paul ‘do Mar’ for sending in this UEFA link with pictures, a video, and a sort of match report. NACIONAL 2 – 3 WERDER BREMEN

‘Madeira Ballet Theatre’ In Russia – The ballet dance group is performing in St. Petersburg’. Madeira Ballet Theatre conquers Russia, with the performance of ‘Auguste Rodin’ held between 4th and 11th September, with a warm reception that motivated the dancers. The show will be repeated in Funchal in November, in the Teatro Baltazar Dias.

‘The Most Expensive Car Parks Are The Most Used – The more central car parks in Funchal have more users, despite of the prices’. Those such as Anadia and Dolce Vita are the most expensive and yet the most used (around 80% occupation). Those away from the centre, such as Rua Bela de Santiago, with much more accessible prices, have an occupation rate of around 10%. Last year car parking use and revenues took a nose dive as the crisis changed people’s behaviour, but now everything is pretty much back to normal. In the Anadia car park, one would pay €1.30 for an hour, but cheaper less central car parks are available for €0.50 an hour. Convenience is king, forget the price. Or is it car parking for the wealthier, and long walks for the poorer?

The new stretch of cycle path along the Estrada Monumental in Funchal is due to be inaugurated tomorrow.

Police say they have broken up a drug trafficking network, with 5 arrests and the seizure of enough hashish for 11,000 doses. The investigation, to obtain the evidence and make the arrests, ran for 5 months.

UPDATE :

‘Criminal complaint against José Manuel Coelho – SRARN condemns the “false and offensive content” of statements by the PND candidate’. The Government, through the Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources (SRARN), today announced it will present a criminal complaint against the candidate of the New Democracy Party (PND) in the parliamentary elections, José Manuel Coelho, following statements made yesterday during a campaign outside the premises of that regional office. José Manuel Coelho, perhaps better known as ‘The Rabbit’, denounced the alleged embezzlement of funds from the European Union. “We must expose a den of thieves that exists here in the regional office of the Environment and Natural Resources”, said Coelho at the opening of the campaign. The full story is on yesterday’s blog.

Another 26 political stories again today, but nothing much more of interest in that section.

Oh dear! Anyone who doesn’t like football isn’t going to enjoy today’s news blog much. It nearly all revolves around an interview with the president of Nacional, Rui Alves, and with about 70% of the Diário front page, I guess it has a high profile because of tomorrow’s huge game here with Werder Bremen in the Europa League.

(16th September). Today’s main news headline : ‘Ambitious Nacional – The alvinegro sporting city will have a central photovoltaic system, road connection direct to the Caminho dos Pretos, a rugby pitch and athletics track’. Alvinegro is the club nickname for CD Nacional da Madeira. Alves says he is optimistic about tomorrows game. The club is approaching an average of 3 thousand supporters for its games, and has a growing membership list. The club is looking at some changes in the stadium complex, including solar power, access changes, and also acquiring nearby land to host an rugby pitch and athletics track.

That headline then has 3 more sub headlines:
- ‘In An Interview With The Diário, Rui Alves Believes That A Victory Over Werder Bremen Is Going To Confuse European Opponents’.
- ‘Race For The Presidency Of The League Of Clubs Continues In The Plans Of Rui Alves’.
- ‘Players Of Nacional Make The Set In The ‘Powerade’ Awards’. The players won plenty of awards for their achievements last season.
But as I suspect this is of little interest to most, I will move on.

‘Ronaldo, Happy For His Father, Sent Message And Scored Two Goals In Zurich’. His father was posthumously awarded for his contribution to sport, at the ‘Powerade’ Awards’ yesterday. CR737 then went on to score two of the five goals for his new team, Real Madrid, in the champions league victory last night.

‘Car Parks In The Centre ‘Summon’ Drivers – In the opinion of the environmental agency, Quercus, and drivers, the existence of accessible and diverse parking in Funchal feeds and fattens the traffic indulgence’. A vice president of Funchal Council says that they are developing a project, with the bus company Horários do Funchal, for a ‘park and ride’ scheme, where one drives to the outskirts of the city, parks ones car, and then catches a very frequent bus service from the car park to the city centre. The Funchal central traffic problem is getting steadily worse, just because parking facilities exist, and it also it still being possible to park without paying. "Paying to park is very cheap, and it shouldn’t be", says the president of the Madeira branch of Quercus. He believes that the comfort and speed of a car journey should be challenged by better public transport, and that there should be bus lanes on the main routes to improve public transport travel times. Around 47 thousand vehicles are believed to enter Funchal daily.

‘Armed Masked Robbers Raid Cash Desk’. They struck twice yesterday, firstly at the Hotel Funchal Design (Rua da Alegria), where they surprised the receptionist at 4.30 am. The two robbers had a knife, and forced the receptionist to hand over €57 from the cash till. Then sometime after 11 am, masked men appeared at Elos cash and carry in Viveiros, and forced checkout staff to hand over "a significant sum". They then fled on foot, chased by shop staff, but managed to lose their pursuers in the street labyrinths of Viveiros.

‘Elderly With Keys Around The neck – The robberies in the top of Ribeira Brava give rise to appeal : "The police must have compassion for the people". The call comes from ‘up top’, from the people in São João. "We asked the police to have compassion for the people". Celina Gonçalves, 75, lives alone in Lombo da Levada, and this Summer has been robbed three times. She is not the only one. The ‘nightmare’ started late in July when her house was freshly painted and wide open, and two individuals tried separately to steal the €400 she had set aside to pay the decorator, the second attempt was successful. She had been duped, so she she didn’t report the matter to the police or tell her family. Not long after, €300 she had set aside for another job that needed doing in her house, and after that another €200, were all stolen. She now has lock on every door, and wears the keys on a cord around her neck. Another story along the same lines follows, and the victim aged 67, reported to the Ribeira Brava police an attempt to rob her home, and was concerned that the response was not compassionate towards her. Even the church of São João has been a victim, with the donations from a mass and a box of candles stolen. They say "they only don’t take [steal] more because the people don’t have".

‘Eleven In The Final Of ‘Funchal A Cantar – Vânia Fernandes will be the patron on Saturday in the final, that will include fireworks’. The final of the singing competition will be held in the Praça do Município (town hall square) at 8 pm, and promises to be an unforgettable event, with a total of 65 artists involved. The 11 individual finalists were whittled down from the 30 in the preliminary round, held on Monday night.

‘Four New Cases Of H1N1 On Madeira – 21 suspected cases were investigated by the laboratory in the last week’. The Institute for Health Administration IASAÚDE confirmed 4 new case of Gripe A swine flu, taking the total to 39 since 12th July. One case came from Canada, the other three were secondary infections. On a related theme, vaccines for seasonal flu were starting to be delivered to pharmacies yesterday afternoon. Medical prescriptions for these vaccines are valid until 31st December.

‘Man Aged 29 Caught Selling Drugs In Night Spot (club or bar?) – 120 doses of cocaine and 600 Euros seized’. He was caught in the act by police with the drugs, and money presumed to be the takings from the drugs sold. In Funchal a police operation resulted in the seizure of hashish sufficient for 2,400 fixes.

‘Linha Saúde 24 Strengthened – 400 nurses with the capacity to answer 15 thousand calls a day’. Currently the health service hotline is taking 4,500 calls a day, 1,000 of those being specific to Gripe A concerns, but if necessary can deal with up to 15,000 enquiries daily. The centre is run by a private company, and should they fail to deal with 15% or more of the enquiries, they will be penalised, as they have already been 3 times for failing to meet half-yearly performance targets, since it was set up in 2007. The short term objective is to recruit 200 more nurses, to raise the call answering capacity to 20,000 per day, and then longer term, to cope with new cases of Gripe A swine flu, 800 to 900 nurses will be required.

(12th September). Today’s main news headline, and also the main photo (unusually striking for the Diário, but not the one shown here) is of a very high support pillar for a new road bridge : ‘Expropriations Catch Bispo – The works of the Cota 500 take away land and generate anxiety. D. Teodoro is one of the compulsory purchase targets, and has already received €13,000 for a plot of 135 square meters’. He is also selling 3 more plots of 31, 591, and 308 m2, in one of the largest public investment projects to date focused on the people of the high zones of Funchal. Crossing the parishes of Santo António and São Roque, the ‘Cota 500′ involves seven tunnels and 9 bridges. Phase one, already underway goes between Vasco Gil and Ribeira Grande, is costing €40 million. Phase two, a total of 4,200 metres, takes the road to Fundoa, and will cost around €60 million, and is in the government work programme that finishes in 2011. The compulsory purchase of land alone will cost €4 million, with 125 plots needed for the complete route. Phase two of the project is causing more concern, because it is not physically on the ground, and the road layout is causing some confusion for landowners because of their plot boundaries. Other people will be affected in different ways, some even uprooted as their properties are demolished. The process of expropriation is not always peaceful. Nothing will ever be like it used to be. The authorities say the project was put to public consultation and officially approved, without any complaints, observations, suggestions, or requests for clarification from the public. Nobody bothers to challenge these projects, because history shows that power is everything and that public interest always takes second place. Problems and complaints from residents are coming now though, mainly about the lack of information, and the use of explosives for the tunnel construction.

I mentioned a few weeks ago about a big party organised by a famous international magazine called ‘Faces’, that is due to take place next weekend, with lots of celebrities expected to come to Madeira. ‘More Beauties – Liliana Campos Is Another Of The Famous That Comes To The ‘Faces’ Party’. All in all around 50 VIP passes are being issued to national celebrities for the event, where the main focus is a party in The Vine Hotel. As usual, I have no idea who she is, as my celebrity knowledge is very thin on the ground in these modern times.

Today’s sport headline : ‘Unprecedented Feat – The tennis player Martim Trueva, still a junior, conquered the national championship completely in the pairs’. He could go still further today in the singles. he is the first Madeiran ever to win an absolute(?) victory in a national championship. I would like to offer my congratulations to Martim, not for the comparatively mundane achievement of winning a national doubles title, but for the much harder achievement of keeping football off the front page of the Diário on a Saturday during the football season. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was an editorial oversight.

‘SATA Plane Departs For Porto Santo Four Hours Late – One of the crew was showing Gripe A swine flu symptoms and had to be substituted’. The 8 am SATA ATP flight from Madeira to Porto Santo didn’t leave until midday. Four hours to find a crew member (or three hours according to another article) … I doubt if the delayed passengers would have found that very acceptable for an airline with a base on Madeira, and it wasn’t even the pilot with the with symptoms.

The crowds gathered in Machico yesterday in sítio do Paraíso, where president Jardim inaugurated a new road, which leads to the mouth of the tunnel that goes to Caniçal. The new road is 1,300 metres long, and cost €1.85 million to build. I am not sure whether these inauguration articles belong in the political section, or in Madeira news, these days. I think it all depends on whether Uncle Bertie is wearing his PSD lapel badge.

‘Minor assaults elderly man to steal €10 – After the theft, the thief assaulted the victim, hitting him with a shoe on his head’. The 15 year old minor was identified by police after assaulting a 63 year old man in Nazaré, in Funchal. After knocking the man to the ground, the thief took the money from the man’s pocket, and then took his victims shoe so he could whack him around the head before fleeing the scene. It all took place in front of witnesses. The police managed to identify the boy, and quickly arrested him, only to find that he had already spent the €10, and so they took him back to his grandmothers house. The matter will be reported to the Court for families and minors. It all sounds a little surreal, and with crime this sophisticated, I think the police have little problem in catching the criminals. No doubt granny will give him a good spanking, send him to bed without any supper, and withhold his pocket money to repay the €10. 

‘Colombo Disembarks On Porto Santo’. As is traditional in the Colombo festival, Christopher Columbus sails to shore along with Mrs. Columbus (or soon to be) to recreate the arrival and passing of our famous hero (which hopefully is not a tale as fictional or improvable as the claim that Columbus is Portuguese). The event finishes today. In a later article, the secretary for tourism for Madeira said that the 10th festival had been such a success that she wants to promote it nationally and in Spain next year. "It caused a true filling of the streets of Vila Baleira" she said. €108,000 was the cost of the event, and a 53% hotel occupancy rate was achieved.

‘Two Suspects Detained For Drug Trafficking – 2,100 doses of cannabis seized’. Funchal police arrested a man and woman with the drugs, destined to be sold on the streets of Madeira. In another article, police from Câmara de Lobos seized 590 doses of heroin and arrested two individuals on Thursday.

The hit and run driver who seriously injured a man in Lugar de Baixo, before fleeing the scene in a silver grey VW last Sunday, has now been identified. The driver committed the crime of "Omissão de auxílio" (Failure to help), as set out in article 200 of the Penal Code, and now faces up to 2 years in prison, or a hefty fine and / or loss of his driving licence. The victim is still in hospital awaiting surgery. 

Petrol and diesel prices drop another cêntimo on Monday.

In this weekends football, Nacional travel to play Rio Ave, currently 5th in the league. The match is at 6 pm, but is not televised. Marítimo play at home against top of the table Sporting Braga on Sunday morning, on SportTV 1 at 11.15 am.

From yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : ‘Digital Terrestrial Television now covers  65% of the Autonomous Region – Funchal, Porto Santo and the areas west and east already have the signal’. Free DTT, the technology that allows one to receive television of better image and sound quality, is now available to 65 percent of the population of Madeira, according to a government spokesman. DTT will replace the current analogue terrestrial broadcasting, which provides the four general national channels (RTP, RTP 2, SIC and TVI), and also RTP-Açores and RTP-Madeira. Anyone delved into this yet? I am thinking of packing in with Zon, so I am interested to know if anyone has the ‘free’ option and what they think of it.