Madeira News Blog

(28th August). Today’s main news story and photo, with about two thirds of the front page : ‘In The Elite Of Europe – With a deceive draw yesterday in St. Petersburg (1-1), Nacional eliminated the millionaires of Zenit and move on now to the must sought after group phase. A historic deed that launches the Madeiran club into another galaxy of European football. The draw of the league is today’. ‘Here are the new ‘Czars’ of Madeira’. In football, Nacional went to play the second leg of the Europa League qualifying match in Moscow yesterday evening, and thanks to a very very late equaliser by Ruben Micael (the only Madeiran in the game), go forward to the next group stage at the expense of Zenit St. Petersburg, who were huge favourites for the win. I thought I was enthusiastic at the fantastic result, but I didn’t even consider using words ‘elite’ and ‘galaxy’. Once again it was and still is impossible to see even the slightest snippet of the game due to TV rights, but we had nearly full coverage on the radio. The draw for the group phase is at 12.30 am today I think, and Nacional are in there with Benfica and Sporting. Not much room left on the front page for anything else.

UPDATE : You won’t see it on TV, but after extensive research the last minute Nacional goal (and the OTT celebrations) is available to blog readers HERE along with a match report in English. In the draw for the group phase made this afternoon, Nacional will play in Group L with Werder Bremen (Germany), Austria de Vienna, and Atletico de Bilbau (Spain). The first games will be on 17th September.

‘CMF ‘Occupies’ Old Buildings’. Funchal Municipal Council is to take administrative possession of 4 old run-down buildings, to use for social housing. The buildings are in an advanced state of degradation in the old city. CMF will take possession of the buildings, which are protected in legal terms, for turning them into housing. There are at least four of these buildings, whose expropriation process determines a substantial investment, not only to pay the owners, but also to pay for the restoration work. One house in Rua de Santa Maria will cost €53,000 to buy, and another €102,000 to restore. There are many such houses in the area, and the process of expropriation (compulsory purchase) is there to allow CMF to take on the restoration, to keep Funchal looking in good shape, when the owners fail to do so with their property. The process has four stages, and is usually made more difficult because owners cannot be identified or traced, often as a result of complex inheritance issues, as often happens here.

‘(Social) Security Investigates Fraud – The scheme involves false claims for unemployment benefit. Bernadette Vieira alerts citizens to the serious consequences of illegal claims’. An allegedly fraudulent scheme involving false unemployment claims, may be undermining the social security system, and costing many thousands of Euros. The case is now being investigated by the inspection branch of Social Security Madeira (CSSM), following a whistle blower complaint, and as required by law, they immediately suspended unemployment benefits awarded to people under suspicion. In practice, they suspect the existence of companies that, in return for a monetary consideration, have sent false statements to the CSSM in support of claims for unemployment benefits, for workers who in fact never worked there. Research by the Diário revealed that this scheme is suspected of taking place in the north of Madeira, involving an unspecified number of people. In the parish of Boaventura, the number of individuals suspected of improperly receiving the unemployment benefit is around 10. If the bogus claims are confirmed the matter will be turned over to the Justice Police. Bernadette Vieira, president of CSSM, alerts citizens to the seriousness of a situation like this, as well as for the obvious consequences for those involved. The first of which, is the immediate suspension of unemployment benefit. In addition, offenders are obliged to refund the entire amount obtained unlawfully. This, warns the president of CSSM, in the absence of an immediate repayment, will lead to the suspension of all subsidies and other social benefits, that will continue until the amount owed is paid off in full. To further aggravate the situation, the culprits are also subject to a fine of up to one thousand Euros. For companies involved in fraudulent situations like this, the amount of fines can go up to €2,500. In addition to all this, there are criminal consequences for some. In addition, she appeals to the public who are aware of schemes like these, to report the matter. Sounds almost like it is a new phenomenon, but surely it can’t be. A certain small percentage of human beings will always try to rip-off the system, that’s an unfortunate fact of life, but here it’s almost a national sport as far as the financial authorities go, with so many people working and claiming benefits, and working and not paying tax, or businesses earning and siphoning. Normally it doesn’t it seem to bother anyone, let alone the IRS and Social Security, and it almost seems to be socially acceptable. The fines hardly seem much of a deterrent either. I wonder if there is anything we could learn from our politicians about how to behave in this sense?

‘Weekend With The Famous – Dates 4th And 5th – The event ‘Faces’ Divine Experience’ ends with a VIP party at The Vine Hotel’. Fun, elegance and dozens of familiar faces from the world of television. This is what promises to end the weekend special summer that the famous celebrity magazine ‘Faces’ will present in Madeira, on the 4th and 5th of September. The actress and TV presenter, Liliana Aguiar, and Sofia Marques, are named guests, but the final list of celebrities is still being prepared and in the coming days there should be more news. The Vine will be an unforgettable party. For these two days, specifically Friday, after a ‘welcome drink’ at The Vine Hotel (in the hotel’s official event ‘Faces Divine Experience’), there follows a visit to the ‘Madeira Wine Festival 2009′ which will take place at Avenida Arriaga, then the night will finish with a dinner at’ Chega de Saudade’, one of the most popular restaurants in downtown Funchal. On Saturday, there is a boat trip planned along the coast to the Marina Quinta do Lorde, in Caniçal, followed by lunch there. At night, there will be a dinner at the restaurant at The Vine, followed by a media VIP party for about 400 invited guests. Having never heard of the magazine ‘Faces’, or the only two guests named so far, I thought I ought to do some Google research and it seems that ‘Faces’ Magazine is a free magazine about the nightlife, restaurants, fashion, stores, and people of Halifax in England.

‘Law of compulsory education until the age of 18 published yesterday – Students in the next school year to stay until the seventh grade are already covered(?)’. The law which extends compulsory education to the age of 18, and establishes pre-school education from the age of 5, was published in the Diário da República (official Journal). Law No 85/2009 states that "compulsory education implies, for the guardian of the child, the duty to make the registration of the child in public or private schools, in institutions of education, and / or training recognized by authorities, determining for the student the duty of attendance".

‘SATA repudiates the strike of Groundforce – Company accepts no responsibility for the inconvenience that passengers will suffer’. If the TAP strike today and tomorrow isn’t bad enough, the handling company at several airports, Groundforce, has also chosen the same days to strike. This will affect passengers using the airports of Madeira, Porto Santo, Lisbon and Porto. The strike will cause congestion with luggage movements, and problems in check in, embarking and disembarking. Passengers are advised to travel with cabin luggage only, and also to check in by telephone where possible. The SATA customer contact centre number is 707 22 72 82, or information can be obtained on-line.

‘Rockfall Along The Seafront Of Ribeira Brava – Boulders fell on the section prohibited for use’. The old sea road, closed to traffic for several years, that leads to the roundabout at Tabua, suffered another rock fall yesterday. No one was hurt, but the damage was evident both to the pavement and in the outer sea wall which runs alongside the road. The route is correctly identified with warning signs, and also signs prohibiting pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but many ignore them.

In yesterday’s Jornal da Madeira : ‘New measure against social exclusion released – The program was published this week in the Journal of the Region’. The Government has just launched a measure to combat social exclusion. This is the Local Contract Program for Social Development, published this week in the Journal of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (JORAM) whose purpose, is to ‘bridge the current needs of society in the face of persistent poverty and social exclusion’. According to the regional secretary for social affairs, it is a set of opportunities that are created locally for the social development of people who are in situations of social downfall, to give an opportunity that these people can take part in’. He said ‘this is a project of great social importance’, as it will offer them "an opportunity for integration". It involves the the creation of units that develop, train and thus provide new job opportunities for those people in need of support. It will be targeted at critical areas, urban or rural, hard hit with problems. A bit tricky to dig out the exact details, but will this be the PSD ‘election special’, designed to attract those voters suffering the worst hardship, that until now thought the government of Madeira had done little to help them?

UPDATES

‘Study Records Weak Presence Of Mosquitoes – The study was done in July by technicians of hygiene and tropical medicine’. The preliminary study says that there is no great abundance of insects, not in adult or larvae form. That is confirmed by a reduction in people attending the health centres in Funchal and Câmara de Lobos, complaining of bites by the ‘Aedes Aegypti’ mosquito. The news has surprised the experts, with the explanation being given as partly due to the use of a new ‘cutting edge’ insecticide, instead of that recommended by the World health Organisation. A colder Winter may also have helped. Another reason given for the reduction in complaints at health centres, is that people are becoming less sensitive to the bites of this species over time. However people are urged to continue the action they have been taking, particularly avoiding leaving stagnant water around, which provides breeding conditions. The worst months are yet to come, with the heat, humidity and rain of September and October, providing the best conditions for the mosquitoes.

’200 Cases Per Year In The PSP Of Madeira’. The police are the target of complaints relating to misconduct, breaches of discipline, or practices that could be considered illegal. The trade union representing police says that there is protectionism in play for more senior officers, whilst the rank and file police are subject to a quicker and more severe sanctions. The TU officer gives the example of damage to vehicles, with some officers fined and suffering a reduction in salary, whilst more senior officers were not even subject to the same process. The Regional Command of the PSP makes it clear that the process, does not discriminate between rank or function. "The disciplinary regulations of the PSP are applicable to all police officers" he said. The majority of disciplinary proceedings, which are led by an officer of higher rank to the person charged, end up being closed due to lack of evidence.

A 24 year old man has died from his injuries after a car crash in Calheta on 16th August. He had been in a coma since the accident between Prazeres and Maloeira. A 19 year old man in the same accident is still in hospital waiting surgery, but is out of danger. The funeral is tomorrow at 4pm in the church of Raposeira.

‘TAP Guarantees Flights On Day Of Strike – Resort to the company ‘Portway’ is the solution found to not leave passengers on land’. Passengers are catching their flights as normal at Madeira Airport today, despite the strikes by staff represented by 5 different trade unions at TAP airlines. So far no cancellations or delays. A TAP spokesman said that (today?) there will be just isolated small delays. TAP has contracted the handling services of Portway to minimise problems, a move that one trade union leader has said is illegal. TAP assures that the move is within the law.

"Black Stains" Appear Like Mushrooms Leaving Funchal Disfigured – CDU criticises urban growth in the city’. The election candidate of the communists for the câmara municipal of Funchal criticised the various developments that have left the city "violated and disfigured". In a pre-campaign initiative prior to the elections on 11th October, Artur Andrade said that the city had been "marked by interest groups and by speculation in real estate", and that the municipal master plan (PDM) has proved "insufficient to deal with the speculative interests and was twisted and violated". The result of the total permissiveness over the years is for the gain of "a minority whose aim is simply to make as much profit as possible". The examples chosen to illustrate the accusations are Marina Shopping, the expansion of the Hotel CS Madeira, the embargoed building of Mina Gerais, and even the cement wall at the port of Funchal for the construction of a car park. What about the complete development in and around Ajuda? If that wasn’t done for a quick buck and with total disregard for sensible planning, I will eat someone’s hat.

‘Autonomous Regions Forgotten In The Programme Of PSD – Ferreira Leite doesn’t take on any questions involving controversy’. Alberto João Jardim said during the week, that the PS electoral programme presented by prime minister José Sócrates was worth "zero", in respect of Madeira and the Azores. An evaluation (according to the Diário) that he should now extend to the programme (prospectus?) of his own PSD party, presented yesterday by party leader Manuela Ferreira Leite, who said the party did not exaggerate its promises. The autonomous regions had a quarter page and some general references, with none of the issues considered fundamental by the social democrats of Madeira addressed with a clear commitment, including the constitution revision considered as a top priority by president Jardim. It does however promise to patch up the terrible relationship between central government and the regional government of Madeira, if elected. It also promises to ensure ‘healthy market competition’, which will conflict with the government stance here in terms of the newspaper Jornal da Madeira.

(8th July). Today’s main news headline ‘Plague Opens Extra Rabbit Hunt – In P. Cruz those who rely on food agriculture despair: The rabbit is eating everything, vineyards included. The Directorate of Forestry says that starting today hunters can help to ‘correct the density of the species’. The explosion in the rabbit population is devastating crops in Porto da Cruz, where since January farmers are unable to grow food to eat. Dozens of farmers just watch as the rabbits systematically attack their crops, most of which are grown for their own consumption, with even potatoes suffering. Then once the ‘more tasty’ crops have been eaten, they then move on to the vineyards. Normally the hunting season isn’t until October, but the authorities promised to act quickly, and issued a 15 day special window for hunting from today until 22nd July. This allows the farmers to cull rabbits in and around their land, subject to meeting certain conditions.  

‘Port Strike In Lisbon Hits Madeira – Container ships shift from Lisbon and Setubal, that will delay the arrival of merchandise to Madeira’. The docker’s strike in the mainland ports of Lisbon, Setubal and Figueira da Foz, that started yesterday and lasts until Friday, will have an impact on the regular services to Madeira, mainly because it will reduce the number of regular container deliveries, and what does come will be delayed. The ships ‘Apolo’ and ‘Port Douro’ have gone to Leixões to be loaded, and that means things have to be reorganised, resulting in delays. ‘Ilha da Madeira’ and ‘Insular’ will be unable to operate on their normal days, and will have to wait until Saturday when the strike is finished, and as a result will arrive at Caniçal port next Tuesday. The strike does not affect ports here or in the Azores.

‘Regional Government Completes Contingency Plan For Gripe A – The regional health secretary announced yesterday that the measures are defined and ready to implement’. Whilst the swine flue H1N1 is escalating in confirmed cases on the mainland, we are assured that our plan is ready to be activated when necessary, and is going to work in a ‘pyramid form’. 57 confirmed cases in Portugal it said on last nights news, but not a confirmed case yet on Madeira … surprising being so touristy that we have got away with it so far. Schools have been closed in Lisbon and the Azores, and our Madeira plan also covers that eventuality.

‘Museum Of The Crosses Reopens With New Valuable Pieces’. The museum ‘Quinta das Cruzes’ reopens of the 13th July, renovated and with new exhibits. President Jardim will perform the inauguration on the 13th at 9.30pm. The museum has been closed for a year, while improvements were made, including much improved lighting, wheelchair access, and improvements to the garden, all at a cost of €904,000. The article does cover the new exhibits contained, but I will leave that as a surprise for those who fancy going.

The relevant authorities in South Africa and Madeira are discussing the twinning of Port Edward and Machico. That should provide a good excuse for a few political overseas jollies.

"They Seemed Easy" – results of the national exams were issued yesterday, some students were disappointed with the results obtained. 12th grade students who took first phase exams last month at Jaime Moniz High School in a number of the 27 exams held, expressed that they were frustrated with their results, and had been expecting better. In 13 of the subjects averages were down, and in 12 they improved, with two staying at the same as last year. The second phase of exams this month are there to give a second opportunity to students, who flunked in the first phase.

‘ERC In The Heavyweights In The Rally Madeira Wine – Lucca Betti is confirmed on a list of heavyweights’. The Italian driver Betti, who competes in the European Rally Championship, has confirmed that this year he will compete here in the Madeira Wine rally. 

(18th June). ‘Few Adults Participate In Education – Only 2.6% of adults on Madeira opt for further training and education’. Madeira, along with the Azores, has the lowest participation rate for further education in Portugal. The Institute of National Statistics says that in 2007, only 2.6% of adults aged between 25 and 64 on Madeira and Porto Santo, opted to better themselves for employment opportunities. The national rate is 4.4%, still well below the figure for Europe of 9.7%. Even worse is the fact that little over a third of those aged between 20 and 24 went through the complete school education programme, the worst record in Portugal apart from the Azores. Very poor really, and of those 2.6% in adult education, many are forced to go to learn basic skills, such as reading and writing, as a condition of their continuing social security benefits.

Following yesterday’s news about the rift between doctors and the health service of Madeira (SESARAM), the employers say that the report about poor relations made by the doctor’s trade union leader is not true, and that the only point of disagreement is working schedules. SESARAM says it wants to negotiate with the trade union, and reaffirm the good relations that exist in the region between doctors and health service management.

‘Madeira Produces More Rubbish And Spent Over €1.8 million More Per Year – Madeirans are producing more garbage per year. Within 5 years there were 12 thousand tons more’. In policy and strategic terms the government and councils have failed, because it is more important to correctly treat garbage than reduce it, because the costs of incineration and landfill are too high and have harmful environmental consequences (???). The solid waste treatment plant at Meia Serra was built at a cost of €153 million, and since 2004 has handled 846 thousand tons, spending around €80 million. In 2008 Madeira produced 175,000 tons of rubbish, 12,000 tons more than in 2004, demonstrating that the campaign of environmental education has not been so successful. Câmara de Lobos and Porto Moniz were the only two of the 11 regions of Madeira that achieved a reduction. The increase in tourism is one other reason given for the increase. Maybe I had a bit of trouble with this translation, it could be the Diário report, it could be me, but surely the overall reduction in waste is more important. No mention of the increasing amounts of packaging used in shops and supermarkets, and the reduction in reliance on home grown produce, which I would have thought were important factors.

(17th June). ‘Cliff Bay Is The Best In The World For Those From Denmark’. A major tour operator has awarded the Cliff Bay for being the best in the world, according to a survey that compared 600 worldwide hotels using the opinion of 90,000 Danes. It also awarded the Porto Bay Group for having the best chain of hotels on the market, with The Residence achieving 6th place, and Porto Mare 7th place. I doubt it will increase business from Denmark however, as apparently under 15% of Danes take holidays abroad.

The Porto Santo Line company have denied that on Monday night the ferry trip from Porto Santo to Madeira was overbooked. Many passengers have complained, some through the official complaint book system, after having to sit on the floor through the whole journey, including a woman who was breastfeeding. A spokesman for the company assures that it was not overbooked, and said that there is in fact excess seating for the number of passengers at all times. He gave as one reason for the problem : "If a table has five chairs and three are occupied by a family, people do not want to occupy the other two because they do not feel at ease". Absolutely true of course!

TAP, the Portuguese airline, has moved it’s operations at Heathrow in England to terminal 1, as part of a reorganisation of the ‘Star Alliance’ member airlines.