Anyone fancy a cruise starting from Madeira? : The Island Escape sails from Funchal, Madeira on January 18th, heading for Agadir, Morocco; Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, and Palma, before returning to Funchal. Fares for the seven-night cruise start at £489, including flights. Go to CRUISE  INFORMATION or call 0800 280 2614.

Elaine (East) managed to catch up on the Christmas traditions series that was running in the Jornal da Madeira in the run up to Xmas, so here is another. Many thanks

Councils in Festa. All municipalities in the region have prepared for this festive season. In Funchal, as just about everywhere, the Council marks this time of celebration. From Câmara de Lobos to Santa Cruz, passing through the other municipalities on the south and the north coast, there are plenty of illuminations and presépios to announce the birth of Jesus. In Câmara de Lobos, on the Avenida Nova Cidade, a presépio, almost full scale, represents the birth, surrounded by a very characteristic flower at this time, precisely, the manhas de Pascoa. The city centre also has some illuminations, as well as in other small housing areas. In Ribeira Brava, in the gardens of the town hall, a presépio has been a special attraction. Again, the illuminations which are characteristic of this season dominate, in particular in the centre of this locality, and also in the area by the sea. Later in Ponta do Sol, we found that several bright ornaments were placed in the county seat, with themes related to Christmas. The presépio was also being prepared, next to the municipal building. The county further west of the region is also alluding to this season. A presépio, and a pine tree topped with a star, are some of the outstanding features. Beginning on the north coast, at Porto Moniz, various illuminations and a presépio next to the natural pool announce this festive period. This is also the case in São Vicente, where the streets have a new colour, with various arrangements of illuminations depicting Christmas and a small presépio next to the church, marking the festival. In Santana, in front of the town hall, was being prepared a presépio, and in the centre of town, the lamps announce a special period. Back on the south coast, the illuminations and the usual Christmas presépio by the municipality are some of the outstanding features. The same happened in Santa Cruz, where the birth of the Boy Jesus was also represented next to the church.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Rain and strong wind until Wednesday. Rain and strong wind forecasted until the early morning of Wednesday. The Regional Civil Protection recommend caution, especially with the risk of flooding, landslides and mudslides. Delays and cancellations at the airport this morning but conditions improved later on in the day. The Porto Santo ferry did not sail this morning. Good weather expected for the end of the year fireworks display. The worst region affected in Portugal has been Torres Vedras, in the West region, with an estimated 53 million Euros of damage. This is an agricultural region with major damage to horticultural greenhouses, forestry, agricultural land, municipal facilities and infrastructure, hotels, businesses and homes.

Three hospitalized with malaria. The three who were on Christmas vacation in Madeira, after working in Equatorial Guinea, have been admitted to the hospitals in Funchal, two in Marmeleiros Hospital and the other one is in Intensive Care in Dr. Nelio Mendonca Hospital. There might be another case, a Brazilian, whose health is worsening but the screening test is expensive. They were initially diagnosed as having influenza, when they presented with symptoms to a Health Centre at the beginning of the month. Before departing to Guinea, they were advised by the staff at the Bom Jesus Health Centre to stay in Africa if they developed symptoms – fever, headaches and nausea. The Clinical Director at the Dr. Nelio Mendonca Hospital said that medicines have been ordered for the three men. He has asked the doctors to be more aware of the symptoms of malaria as a lot of men are working in Guinea on construction contracts.

PJ clueless about the whereabouts of Martins. He is wanted for the kidnap (half a million Euros ransom was demanded) and murder of Guilherme Alves, who was a businessman in Porto Santo, and found dead in a water tank in Camacha on 17 July 2009. José Gabriel Libano Martins is on an international arrest warrant with an extradition request from Portugal. He is thought to have fled to Brazil, where he is supposed to be married to a local woman, giving him nationality status. Three other suspects have been arrested. The case has a time limit for investigation of a year which can be extended for a complex case. The police will not give details of progress, even to the family. There is a case to be heard in the Court of Porto Santo, on February 4 2010, where Jose Martins as the plaintiff, has mounted civil action against a married couple for civil construction negotiations. The other case, on 2 February 2010, where he is the accused, the MP has brought a case against the construction company Erucasa.

Ponta do Sol population buy bottled water. As a result of flooding in the area of Rabacas, the pipeline was damaged, and in Ponta do Sol and parts of Ribeira Brava, the water has been unsafe to drink since December 24. Despite two tankers of water in the area, the locals have brought bottled water and used home reservoirs and local springs. The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources estimates the supply will be restored by the middle of the week.

Car hit by stones in Encumeada. A landslide on Christmas Day caused damage to the windscreen and bodywork of a car whilst travelling in Encumeada. The woman and four year old in the car went into shock and had minor injuries which were attended to at the Health Centre at Câmara de Lobos.

Two families resettled in Sao Vicente. Ribeira Grande was hardest hit by the storm, 50 people affected and two families resettled in the Hotel Praia Mar in São Vicente. The local population had previously alerted the authorities to work on a road in the Laurissilva Forest, in which earth was deposited in two water courses near Corgo do Atalho and Ribeira Grande. They had also complained to the authorities that trees in Rosario needed cutting to prevent obstructing the flow of water. They were told a permit was required, and although promises were made during the election campaign, no action was taken afterwards. (11 photos on the Diário website).

Three now homeless in Monte. Three people in Tilas in Monte had to leave their dwelling due to rain causing the collapse of a retaining wall. The back garden has already ‘disappeared’. This occurred at 7.30 this morning and they will spend the night at the Pensão of the PSP.

Anonymous donor enables boy’s funeral. The son of Madeiran immigrants in Jersey who was killed in an accident with a firearm on 13 December, while visiting family members in Venezuela, was buried yesterday in Caniçal Municipal Cemetery. The funeral was finally accomplished thanks to a donation of 17,000 Euros (15,000 pounds sterling) by a person who requested anonymity. João Calaca Sousa, aged 8 years, died as a result of firing a gun he found while playing with a cousin, hours after he arrived in Caracas to visit his uncle. The family, from Caniçal, could not afford to pay for the transport of the body to Madeira. The Jersey community, particularly colleagues of the child’s father who is employed by a rent-a-car firm, after the case was highlighted by the local media, launched a campaign to raise funds and the final sum was achieved after an anonymous donation.

Assault suspects deny the PSP version. Two of the three men arrested by Funchal policemen on the night of 21 – 22 December, allegedly about to commit a robbery, refuted the allegations. Paulo Pina and Paulo Nunes, aged 40 and 39 years respectively, said they were at a warehouse in Boa Nova, guided by a third person, to buy dog food which was sold below market price. "The salesperson entered by the building’s front door and being in possession of the controller that opened the door of the store, told us where to go and we had not suspected that something was wrong." Paulo Pina drove his truck into the garage and after he began carrying bags of dog food, a fourth person came in shouting, "Thieves, thieves." The defendants said at least one shot was aimed in the direction of the salesperson, who fled through the interior of the garage. They were panicking and stayed where they were, when the fourth man returned, instructing them to lie on the floor. Paulo Pina, a former soldier, grabbed the wrist of the man who was pointing the gun at them and with the help of his colleague, was able to overpower him and take the gun. They repeated to him that they were not thieves and he fled, out through the front door, as had the salesman. They also left, with the truck remaining inside the garage. They started to go to the Police Station in Funchal to report the matter when they met a patrol car on the Estrada Conde Carvalhal, and flagged it down and reported the incident. The police removed the gun, handcuffed them and took them to Funchal Police Station. The man who was the owner of the gun arrived later and claimed the gun belonged to Paulo Pina who was asked to sign a form to verify that. The police are looking for the salesperson. The military cap in the photo printed by the press was from the truck in the garage. The Diário reporter could not get an official comment over the phone from the Regional Command of the Police.

Hotel occupancy 70% in the last 4 days of the year and 19,000 tourists expected to arrive through the airport.  In the last four days of the year, there are 137 flights scheduled to arrive with 22,000 seats and at this time of year, the load factor is usually 85%. Assuming the visitors stay for 3 – 4 nights, the occupancy rate of the 28,000 hotel beds will be as low as 70%. The actual rate will probably be lower as many have only booked for 2 – 3 nights and not everyone will require hotel accommodation. Despite this, many hotels have sold out for New Year’s Eve, for example the Pestana group of hotels on the island. There are also similar high occupancy levels in some areas of Portugal, especially the Algarve and in Porto. In comparison, the Tourism Secretary is optimistically expecting a 90% occupancy rate in Madeira.

2010 commences with new Coral beer campaign. 27 December – 3 January, the manufacturers, ECM, are having a publicity campaign. With 133 medals from the Monde Selection, (79 gold, 32 grand gold), the Coral Branca has 19 medals. The latter will be marketed as light, refreshing and enjoyable. Coral will be back marking its presence at the best parties on the island, details of the beers on their site cervejacoral — Judging by the website, the white is the low alcohol version.

Manuel Antonio Correia rejects criticism. The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources responded to the MPT (Earth Party) leader, Isidora, accusations that the Government is not alleviating storm damage in Ponta do Sol. He said the Government’s actions could not be publicized as the media offices were closed over the Christmas period. The Government, Ponta do Sol Council and the IGA have worked long hours during the 23, 24 and 26 December. Isidora also unfairly criticized Santos Costa, who had been to the area on the 23 and 24 December. The Government also paid attention to areas in Santana, São Vicente, Ribeira Brava and Machico. "I want to assure the public that everything that was humanly and technically possible to lessen the damage was done." The mayor, Rui Marques, also agreed with Manuel António. The Council had two employees working on Christmas Day to ensure that residents had access to a water supply.

Almada back with protest. Roberto Almada of the Left Bloc (BE) accuses the Regional and Local Governments of allowing materials to build up in waterways, leading to their narrowing, despite warnings from opposition politicians and environmentalists. This was particularly evident in São Vicente. When Parliament returns next week, he will lead a protest vote that the Government has behaved irresponsibly.

Gouveia wants National aid for São Vicente. The PS leader and councillor at Sao Vicente said that the area needs millions of Euros in aid due to extensive storm damage. He believes that the Parish Council, County Council and the Regional Government cannot meet the bill, so they will have to go to the National Government and the EU for funds. In Rosario, the damage is particularly bad with houses destroyed, municipal roads blocked and damaged, and farm land under water. He wants Alberto Jardim and José Sócrates to act. Unlike the CDS leader, he does not criticize the governments and authorities for damage in Ribeira de São Vicente since, "there will be other storms that will flood the town again."

Rodrigues attacks Jardim and confronts Sócrates. Yesterday, it was reported that he would write to Sócrates, expecting financial aid to tackle regional storm damage, as has been given to the Azores, and he is also writing a critical letter to Jardim. The CDS leader, José Manuel Rodrigues, starts his letter with the sentences, ‘We are deeply surprised and concerned to note the silence and alienation of the Government. There has been considerable damage to roads and agriculture, networks of water supply were affected; private companies had heavy losses, many farmers saw their crops lost and some land disappeared, some families lost their homes, many Madeirans did not have Christmas. When we expect a reaction from the Government to this reality, we are witnessing a silence and alienation unacceptable.’ There were no Government officials contacting people and comforting families. He was surprised that Jardim had not convened the Council of Government in order to take concrete measures. He agreed with most opposition politicians that the Government was responsible for damage in recent days by the poor construction of certain public works and the disposal of earth in the waterways. He suggests three specific measures: to survey the damage to companies and individuals and ensure support as stipulated in the budget; use national funds and evaluate the possibility of European funds.

Demand goes up 435%, supply only 20%.  A report from a PhD thesis about cruise ship movement at the Port of Funchal over the past 50 years. Ships are 3 times larger, the number of calls increased by 94% with 4 times more tourists but the port capacity has increased by only 20%. Lots of facts and figures and helpful charts for anyone specially interested.

Culture news. No municipalities have applied for the title, ‘City of Culture 2010′, the first time since its conception in 2007 by the Regional Government. It was created to decentralize culture, preserve the identity of people, help local economic development and make culture accessible to all. This year the title was held by Câmara de Lobos where the most notable event was the opening of the new Municipal Library. The Government contributes financially to the project but not enough to make it attractive in the present economic situation. An unusual headline, ‘Carlos Costa receives death threats.’ This young Madeiran singer is the winner of the talent competition, Idols. The threats were made through the phone and began in December but ended when the producer decided to bug the phone to listen in.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

* Gripe A : Two more dead and a woman at risk – With the diagnosis of H1N1 Swine Flu, the woman gave birth and now is in a serious condition due to an eclampsia. Eclampsia (Greek, "shining forth"), an acute and life-threatening complication of pregnancy, is characterized by the appearance of tonic-clonic seizures, usually in a patient who had developed preeclampsia. (Preeclampsia and eclampsia are collectively called Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and toxemia of pregnancy). Two men aged 37 and 47 died from the infection in the last week, both suffered with obesity.  That takes the death toll on Madeira to 5, and the overall number infected since the start to 676. Last week there were 143 suspected swine Flu cases, with 75 confirmed, 46 of which were women. 4,000 new ‘Pandremix’ vaccines are due to be received by tomorrow, 2,000 more than were originally expected. The next at risk group to be treated are children up to the age of 12.

Tickets and bus passes increase in 2010 – The rise hits urban and interurban buses. Urban prices will rise 1.19% and interurban 1.85%. A ticket that now costs €1.55 will rise to €1.57, so lot’s of fiddly change to mess around with.

* City ‘Volta’ without rain or shine – Rui Pedro Silva and Fernanda Ribeiro win the race spoiled by TAP and SATA.  Silva won the 51st ‘São Silvestre’ race in Funchal on his first attempt, despite intense rain, and despite having run and won the Marathon in Porto the previous day. Ribeiro won the female version for the fourth time.

Today’s main news headline : Guarantees from the Regional Government nailed to the ceiling – Many of those who received guarantees from the Madeira government failed to get paid on time, reveals the Court of Auditors. Who is  coming in with €5 million is the government. That is, the taxpayer.

It’s a toss up to define which is the main headline picture today, but I will go for another storm damage one over the winner of the São Silvestre  race. The landslide shown completely blocks a road, and seems to contain bits of a building : Storm leaves families even poorer – Damages in São Vicente. Families homeless in Monte and cut-off in Serra de Água. In Ponta do Sol 5 thousand continue without water. There is support, but only for agriculture. The picture is the same one as above, with the story from Elaine.

I think that’s the gloomiest front page I have ever seen in my years on Madeira, with death, disease, homelessness, ravaged lands and homes, contaminated water, government defaulting on supplier payments, public transport costs rising, and the airlines a-soiling. It’s normally around now that the press look back on the year, and summarise the good and bad highlights, but today’s front page seems to have captured it all except for the financial crisis and unemployment, and we can’t forget those manipulated national and local elections of course. What’s your highlight (or lowlight) of 2009?

One bit of better news though is that the weather forecast for tomorrow night is looking much brighter in Funchal, ready for the big night. The forecast for the passing of the year is to be without any rain, and little more than a breeze, just in Funchal. Elsewhere the rain will continue to fall, the wind will be strong, and there is the possibility of snow on the highest peaks.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated. 

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" … And an organizational disaster. It took us 1,5 hours to finally leave the ship and they extended the already short stay therefore for 0,5 hours. That was the worst of a long line of going ashore problems we faced. Don’t think that only because it says being at a port from 10 to 17 actually means you got that time". CRUISE PASSENGERS BLOG

"Funchal is another hillside town on the ocean. It has about 150,000 inhabitants and is another quaint town where tourism is the number one industry. Unfortunately, we were docking in Funchal on Sunday so a bunch of the attractions, such as the Madeira wineries, were closed. Enough of the tourist souvenir shops were open that we were able to get some shopping done". YET ANOTHER CRUISE PASSENGERS BLOG

"The island of Madeira has an oceanic microclimate with the warm Gulf Stream passing through the islands and offers year round warm waters to swim in. The capital town of Funchal is picture perfectly set in the bay and is home to the majority of 300,000 population". It’s about Madeira Wine, but quite well written, and worth a visit. DID WE HAVE A POPULATION EXPLOSION LAST NIGHT?

"Woman who battled cancer by embarking on string of adventures plunges 100m to her death from cliff". An update on the death of Ruth Holdway who fell to her death whilst out walking on Madeira. UK DAILY MAIL

Portuguese Ministry of Finance denies owing any money to local authorities in autonomous regions. Portuguese Finance Minister Teixeira dos Santos has denied that the State owed 15 million Euros to the local authorities of the Azores and Madeira. However, local authorities said that the State owes 5 million Euros to the Azores, and €8 million to Madeira in IRS revenues. Azores and Madeira local authorities voiced their complaints this weekend during the National of Associations of Municipalities which was attended by Prime Minister José Socrates. RTP AZORES

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

West Zone not celebrating New Year’s Eve. The amusement park Giga Park is the exception on the evening of New Year’s Eve. The amusement park in Ponta do Sol is the only official attraction for the night of New Year’s Eve in the counties west of Funchal. From Câmara de Lobos to Calheta, passing logically through Ribeira Brava, there will be no party to commemorate the passing of the year, with the exception of Ponta do Sol, which this year hosts the Giga Park Christmas fair, which on this long night is open until at least five in the morning. Here lies the only lure that will attract the attention of thousands of Madeirans in what for many is the longest night of the year. Moreover there will be no more proposals for animation because it its understood that Funchal is itself an attraction impossible to dethrone on the magical end of year night. In Câmara de Lobos, due to the proximity of the ‘capital’, a bet on staging a New Year Eve’s Party is risking an expected failure, since the well-held tradition focuses on the centre of Funchal and surroundings. Yet the bars in the old zone of Câmara de Lobos will be open until dawn, thus providing an alternative for those looking to escape the crowded fun areas of Funchal. The nearby Ribeira Brava this year has nothing to offer. After several years of promoting a musical show at the sea front in the early hours of the morning of the first day of the year, which almost always showed low compliance, the Council decided not to continue with an event that a priori was doomed to poor participation. Hence, the arrival of the new year will have no cause for celebration in this county, mainly because of the strong competition that focuses attention both on the capital city or in nearby Ponta do Sol. Ponta do Sol this year is placed on the ‘map’ of options for fun because of the Christmas fair there. The relative proximity to Funchal (20/25 minutes) and the privileged access to the main road – one minute to the expressway – and the large parking capacity (3,000 places) around the Giga Park, are factors that promise to heavily influence not only the residents in the area southwest of the island, but also from other parts. In the extreme, Calheta, also has a night without a party. A reality that also reflects the fact that the only nightclub in the ‘West Point’, the Art Caffe, closes its doors, transferring itself to Funchal on this night of the reveillon.

Christmas only for the great. Political Christmas party rivalry. With three elections this year, the smallest parties have no funds for gatherings. The PSD and the PS will have large celebrations in Madeira Tecnopolo. The PCP (Communists) have never held dinners at this time and the funds will be spent on their convention in February. The MPT (Earth Party) also have insufficient funds.  Of the three large parties, only the CDS-PP have a different choice of location for the Christmas dinner; 200 met yesterday in a restaurant in Encumeada. Last year, there were over 1,500 PSD members in the Tecnopolo and this year, the organizers expect a similar number. It will be at 20.00 on 12 December. With the usual protocol, the regional leader, Alberto Jardim, will open the official speeches before the dinner. The Socialists expect a more ambitious gathering than last year when there were 800 at the meal. This year, they expect 1,200 to 1,400 at Tecnopolo. This is scheduled for December 19 at 19.30, with a speech by the party leader João Carlos Gouveia. On 20 December, the Socialists Funchal branch will also hold a Christmas party for children belonging to the militants.

Credit growing in the festive season. It is normal for this season: closer it is to Christmas the use of credit increases considerably. The manager of Radio Popular in Cancela said that the main sales were in Forum Madeira but he expected a ‘flood’ in the days before Christmas. "Taking into account the experience of previous years, people all come at the same time: it is a massive demand." People of all ages now use credit cards, even the older population. FNAC expect the most sales in the middle of the month and normally the cards provided by the shops are linked to reductions, in the case of FNAC there is a 10% reduction on purchases on ‘days adherent’. —- Other recent articles about Christmas shopping, especially in smaller shops in the centre of Funchal, have been very negative with shopkeepers complaining that people are just looking and not spending.

Câmara de Lobos lights up tonight. In Câmara de Lobos, they maintain the tradition of the official opening of the Christmas celebrations on the public holiday assigned to today. In ‘baixa’, the House of Father Christmas at the entrance to the city is the ‘card’ for the visitor. A traditional nativity scene is by the Municipal Market. In the vicinity of the Town Hall, at the entrance to Avenida da Nova Cidade, the garden is decorated with a large nativity scene with a background of the traditional houses of Santana. Other areas for excellent decorations are the churches where the presepios and lapinhas have been authentically constructed.

Reveillon marks the ‘Day of the City’ of Santana. Santana begins to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the elevation of the village to a city from New Year’s Eve onwards. From Friday, the services of the municipality will begin to collect subscriptions to join the mega-gala dinner. There will be a meal and musical concert in a tent next to the City Hall. The mayor states that you can still go to Funchal to see the fireworks and return in time, as the celebrations will go on well into the night.

Funchal advance in 2010 with classification of trees. The inventory ‘Trees in the Public Interest’ will be advanced in 2010 to include the classification of nearly 30 trees of this genus. The law gives preservation status to these trees. These are iconic or monumental trees and are classified according to size, age and rarity. The most impressive examples are to be found in parks, forests, churchyards, public and private gardens, quintas and public squares. Once classified, the trees have a protection area which has a perimeter with a 50 metre radius from the base. The tree cannot be cut or pruned without prior authorization by the Forestry Authority and maintenance work has to be carried out with their technical guidance. The trees are measured every ten years to monitor their growth to try to prevent their decrepitude. Trees can also be classified for purposes of tourism or environmental education, if asked for by either the land owners, members of the public or authorities. The survey of monumental and emblematic trees was carried out in 1985 and updated in 2008, which is awaiting ratification. The Nucleo de Dragoeiros at Neves is about the only area where there is a Centre of protected trees, the dragon tree (dracaena draco) is slow growing taking 10 years to reach about 2 to 3 metres. The Regional Directorate of Forestry have edited a book on monumental and iconic trees. In addition to protected species such as the lauraceaes, the laurissilva in nature reserves, there is no progress in the protection of individual examples.There are many sites on the island to be looked at.

Fire at Panteada Market. Fire broke out early on Tuesday morning at Panteada Market in Sao Roque, causing extensive damage to 12 fruit and vegetable stalls. The warning was given at 07.07 and two emergency fire vehicles and two ambulances went to the site, manned by 15 men. The firemen wearing breathing apparatus broke down the corrugated zinc door and roof to extinguish the flames and allow the smoke to escape. It is thought that a short-circuit causing overheating of Christmas lights started the fire. After the investigation, the debris can now be cleared away and the losses which are huge are still being evaluated by the stall holders.

Revenue in 2009 does not depend on authorization of the State. With or without the ‘redistributive’ budget approval in the Assembly of the Republic, Madeira will operationalize the €230 million revenue in the budget for this year as ‘financial liabilities’. The redistributive budget and the revision of the Law of Regional Finances are to be voted on in Lisbon on Friday. These two documents represent many millions of Euros to Madeira. Due to falling revenues and the current expenditure, there is a shortfall of 100 million Euros. The budget has a limit of 5 million Euros but Madeira wants a loan of 129 million Euros approved, arguing that this is much lower than if the amount of debt allowed was in direct proportion to the indebtedness of Portugal. As for the Law of Regional Finances, if the proposed amendments are approved for calculating the money that should have been transferred from the State over recent years, 111 million should be returned to Madeira. It is thought that the Socialist Party in Portugal  will approve the new debt limit but the fact that Teixeira dos Santos did not include the Regional Government proposed amendments in the State Budget is worrying. Garces Ventura believes he can find some other way to ensure the budget revenue. Rather than go to the banks to seek authorization to pay off loans and short-term borrowing, the Government will go to funding sources that do not count towards the debt. This will include a new small loan. The vice-president of the Regional Government said that the State is obliged to pay the health and educational costs in the Region but it has not paid a third of what has been spent.

Quercus 12 tips for a greener Christmas. The Association for Nature Conservation has 12 tips to reduce waste which increases each year. Greeting cards should be via electronic mail. This is cheaper and reduces the use of paper and producing waste. If this is not possible, use recycled paper and reusable envelopes, or make your own using recycled paper. Offer any excess used toys to other children. Buy useful gifts which will not just be thrown away. Use rechargeable batteries. Re-use wrapping paper from gifts from last Christmas and birthday presents. Make use of Christmas tree ornaments from last year and buy artificial trees. If buying a real Christmas tree, make sure it is from authorized forest thinning and ask the Town Hall to collect it after Christmas. Buy longer-lasting higher quality items. Buy books printed on recycled paper. Do not eat in excess and cook at home rather than eat pre-packed foods. Consume drinks in reusable containers and use returnable bottles. Recycle packaging and use the waste bottle, card and plastic banks. Use energy-efficient lighting and appliances and have old appliances recycled. Use public transport whenever possible.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Funchal Council have €200,000 to restore the market that burned – The fire damaged 12 stalls in Penteada. There are in fact only 12 stalls or stands there, and all were damaged to some extent. Elaine has already covered the story above. There will be another 12 pretty unhappy families on Madeira this Christmas, as a chunk of prime selling time passes them by. Maybe the €200,000 recovery budget will compensate them, but things don’t generally work like that here.

PSP Police promise ‘zero tolerance’ during Christmas. There will be no ‘Christmas spirit’ as far as our police forces are concerned, and although they are sensitive to the festive season, the law will be upheld to the ultimate degree. The police chief said that his priority is to ensure the safety of the population, and as such there will be no slack for driving offences or other infractions, and checks will be reinforced.

People already infected by Gripe A swine flu advise calm. ‘Calm is the best remedy for H1N1′. 3 people of different ages tell of their experiences as victims of the the Gripe A virus, and they all talk of the importance of following the recommendations of the authorities. The total number of victims has risen to nearly 400, and there have been two deaths to date, but these were people with other medical problems. The advice given is to quarantine yourself for 7 days, and in most cases one can then return to a normal life.

Today’s main news headline : There are less Madeirans travelling by plane. The liberalisation of the airways doesn’t appeal to residents despite of the fares having fallen by 40% and the travel subsidy. Compared to the previous system, there are 100,000 less benefiting from the public assistance. The state saves 15.5 million Euros. The numbers are undeniable, in the first 11 months of this year only 117,513 journeys by the residents of Madeira benefited from the €60 subsidy, support from the state for air travel. Surprising really, as an early bargain booking combined with the subsidy would cost less for many than the  journey to the airport at Santa Cruz. Money spent that could probably easily be saved on Christmas shopping in Lisbon or even Porto.

Rui Moisés renegotiates previous contracts – The councillor runs a fine tooth comb through the council of Santana. Practically all of the negotiations of the previous president, Carlos Pereira, have been reviewed and renegotiated by the new president Rui Moisés. Loans, debts to suppliers, and public contracts are all being reviewed, and the new man has publically appealed to all the companies involved to show understanding. Moisés says the move is to meet budget cuts of €100,000 imposed by the government of Portugal through failing to transfer 5% of tax revenues. Discussions between the regional and central government seem to be going nowhere, so it may be that we see the other câmaras doing the same exercise now that Moisés has very publically set a good example, and as all councils face the same problem. I suppose most people will see it as a more palatable option than increases in council tax, but I do wonder if there is a little bit of an attempt in this to embarrass an already embarrassed outgoing president, who has already been undeservedly kicked in the teeth enough times by Uncle Bertie and pals.

In Gaula, councillors challenge puzzling work of the Regional Government.

In football : Portuguese great in the ‘Champions’ – Ronaldo scored two more, FC Porto thrash Atletico. Madeiran Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Real Madrid away at Marseille (1 – 3). Porto won away (0 – 3) at Atletico Madrid. Both teams qualify with ease for the knockout stages of the Champions league.

Another story that caught my eye, but away from the front page, was about a drunk cyclist arrested for hitting and damaging a parked car in Santa Cruz. The man was cycling with over 2 g/l of alcohol in his blood on Sunday night. It is an unusual case, as the cyclist clearly has no insurance for road accidents, and the police have had to take on the role of mediator between the cyclist and the owner of the car. The highway rules specifies that the man committed a crime by drink-cycling, and he will have to appear in court. What the penalty will be I have no idea, but unlike a car driver, it can hardly be anything that will prevent him doing the same thing again.

That’s all I have time for. If anyone else can oblige with any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines or other news stories, here is the link

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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. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

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

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

Breaking one of my normal rules of scope, there is an tribute here to the English lady who died here on Sunday after a fall on a walk. RUTH HOLDWAY

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

‘Balloon Bar’ robbed while still open. The Yacht Bar, or ‘Balloon Bar’ was attacked this morning while it was still open. More than 2,000 Euros in cash was taken at about 1.30 am from the basement office. The office is next to the toilets so the thieves did not arouse suspicion and with the sound of the speakers, no one heard anything. They were not filmed by the video surveillance cameras. "We spent a lot of money on alarms and security systems but it was the fourth time this year we have been robbed," lamented the manager of the bar in the Avenida do Mar. The theft was detected at two o’clock by an employee who went to the basement for ‘stock’. Both the office door and drawer containing the money had been broken. "This was the work of more than one person, because no one would dare to do this by themselves without having another to watch." "We had a full house and with the finalists (students) the evening was very busy." The manager also complained about crime in the area, "They attacked the bolo do caco stand, the tourist information kiosk, even the beach umbrellas." The Yacht Bar is managed by the Regency hotel group and has been the victim of several assaults, in one of which the thieves took about 5,000 Euros.

Aggression motivated the man wielding knives.  The mother of the 19 year old who was arrested last Friday morning, after walking around Funchal with no shirt on and a knife in each hand, maintains that the attitude of her son was in response to an act of aggression against him. "He was standing by the gate with friends when a man appeared, who he did not know, and punched him," she told the reporter, admitting that the attitude of her child was not the best. "My son was wrong and will pay for it, but saying that he had a chain around his neck or has a mental disorder are completely untrue." On the basis of this alleged aggression, he has relationship problems related to an ex-girlfriend. "He broke it up but she did not accept it." She alleged the police were exaggerated in their response, "No one was hurt, so I do not understand how it forced him to spend the night with the police."

Vacancies at the Institute of Employment. October closed with almost 13,000 registered unemployed and of 400 job vacancies, there were still 256 unfilled. Being older than 35 and having less than ninth year education is the worst situation for gaining employment. Candidates with more ease in getting a job are aged between 20 and 30 years of age with qualifications higher than the 9th year. The age group most affected by unemployment is 25 to 34 years old. Some candidates will not accept jobs requiring lower qualifications or a different skill level. This year, the largest number of job offers (36%) are in catering, 16% in commerce and services and 10% for vendors, operators and demonstrators. There is an imbalance between supply and demand. The Institute has negotiated with some employers to give employment to people with higher qualifications than required. If the job seeker is on unemployment allowance, they have to take any job offered that fits with their education and professional experience. In the last three years, half of the jobs in construction have been lost, dropping from 30,000 to 15,000. Those not entitled to unemployment pay have returned to South Africa, Luanda and Senegal. There are no signs of improvement with reduced EU funds, no private investment and no public funds. The number of unemployed electricians is growing, with wage arrears and no right to compensation. Companies are shutting down and not paying money due, as in the 1970s, and some electricians are saying they will try their luck in Jersey.

More funds for Madeira. The opposition parties are preparing to approve an amendment to the Finance Law that will give more money to Madeira. The State may have to reimburse Madeira about 400 million Euros in the next State Budget. On December 11, Parliament will discuss a resolution by the Assembly of Madeira which aims to replenish the first Finance Law for the autonomous regions, rather than the current law which came into force in 2007 by votes of only the Socialist Party. The document provides a replacement of the money lost from Madeira this year in transfers from the State and it seems, will even be approved. The document will only change the part that concerns the region of Madeira, leaving protected statutory rights acquired by the Azores in the current legislation.

Easier to switch banks. Rules making it easier for customers to switch banks for current accounts came into force in almost all other countries in the European area on November 1. On December 1, Portugal enforced these EU rules, including the possibility of the new bank acting as an intermediary in the amendment and the obligation of the former to provide all necessary information. The former bank must provide the customer and the new database all information about payments, for example direct debits or standing orders, and where possible, without costs. The old bank will have to provide the necessary information within seven days and the new bank has the equivalent time to restore normal operations in question.

Return to Alfândega not until after summer. Rent of Tecnopolo prolonged until the next legislative session. The members of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira debunked to Tecnopolo in April for eight months while the Alfândega building was being renovated and redecorated. Now it is known that the return to the old Customs House on the Avenida do Mar will be prolonged until the end of next summer. There was a delay in opening the tender for the works, which only happened in May. The other delay is due to the structure of the building. The annexe to the building, designed by Chorão Ramalho and built in the 1980s, is very degraded and requires significant strengthening. Currently, this annexe is being excavated and damaged material removed, then it will need to be renovated. The pond at the top of the building will be eliminated as it was responsible for many of the detected infiltrations. The works should be completed in the summer and then sound installations, computer equipment and video need to be installed. The rental of the premises at Tecnopolo and parking lots total more than 230,000 Euros per year and this sum could double to meet the new deadlines (a delay of more than 10 months). The initial cost of the renovation was €1.2 million but this will suffer a major increase.

Opposition calls special meeting. CDS-PP and PS will ask for explanations today from Romeira on the cancellation of some works. Rarely the PS and CDS share the same political views, São Vicente is an exception. The socialists and centrists requested a special meeting as they wanted to know more about cancellations of work. The mayor needs to explain the justification for the withdrawal of the improvement and asphalting of the road link between Ginjas and Paul da Serra. This work has been postponed for more than 20 years. The opposition also want to know whether there will be construction of the promenade at São Vicente. They are challenging many other issues of the mayor Jorge Romeira to try to derail them.

Madeira Wine and embroidery as Christmas gifts. The Regional Natural Resources launches a promotional campaign in the Farmers’ Market in Funchal. The campaign is launched on Wednesday to trigger Madeirans and tourists to buy these products for Christmas gifts. About seven thousand families depend on the sale of wine and embroidery products, so buying them as Christmas gifts is a great way to contribute to the economy and social life of the region. The campaign aims to promote Madeira Wine by associating it with a Madeiran lifestyle, refined and celebrational, suggesting one offers and increases consumption during the Christmas season and end of year. The campaigns represent an investment of 40,000 Euros. The consumption of Madeira Wine in the regional market is about 531,000 litres and represents around 3.8 million Euros.

Lorries overweight and noisy. 60 breaches detected in Operation Safe Environment. The police have been monitoring for breaches of the rules of environmental safety (digging and moving environmental materials). The campaign ran from 23 to 29 November and of the 456 vehicles stopped, 59 were found to be overloaded, too noisy, driving under the influence of alcohol or without proper licensing.

Porto Santo is the seventh in purchasing power. Porto Santo citizens have better purchasing power, 39.92% higher than the national average, which puts Porto Santo in seventh place among all cities. The unusual growth in wealth of the island can be attested to the fact that between 2005 and 2007, purchasing power per capita has risen 12% when the mean for the same period fell 1.2%. 48.2% of the workforce are eligible for a 30% increase in salary as compensation for the double insularity, which requires the regional and municipal budgets to inject an extra 2 million to improve the wages of those working in departments, services and other public structures. Residents on Porto Santo are privileged because they have twice the purchasing power of Madeirans living in the eight municipalities, surpassing even those in Funchal who have a purchasing power per capita 35.44% higher than the national average or 3.3% below that of the inhabitants of Porto Santo. The privileged situation is due to the structure of employment, most working in either public service or hotel work, so very few earn the minimum wage. Over the past seven years, Funchalenses saw their purchasing power rise 25.5%. The only other municipality where purchasing power increased was Porto Moniz, so in the other areas of Madeira, people have become poorer. In Portugal there is a positive association between the degree of urbanization and purchasing power.

Chefs challenged to choose local products. The Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development is to have promotional meetings with heads of national and regional cuisine, challenging them to cook dinner on the basis of Madeiran agro-food. This was the concept for a dinner recently held for more than 100 guests at the hotel Four Views Baia. The Regional director said that the challenge would also launch regional producers: SantoQueijo, OvoGirao, Engenho do Ribeiro Seco, Quinta Pedagogica dos Prazeres, Madeira Agricola and Horticalheta. "With pleasure, participants could enjoy for example, a starter of requeijao com abobora menina e tomate da Madeira with Mel de Cana da Madeira, and the meal itself of fresh lombos de tuna accompanied with a creme de abacante da Madeira. This initiative will be promoted using an increasing number of personalities and influential agents. The aim is a gourmet approach to dining, the consumers, whether professionals or individuals, enjoying regional products associated with the characteristics of taste, aroma, texture and freshness and not less important, the environmental aspects associated with agricultural awareness of the locality.

Today’s front page news headlines from the Diário de Notícias :

Gripe A arrives at the schools through the fault of parents – Carelessness obliges the new rules : Without medical certification, the students with the swine flu virus are obliged to stay at home for seven days. Parents skip the seven day quarantine period and increase the risk of spreading the the H1N1 virus, probably because of the fear of taking time off of work. A new instruction from the secretary for health is causing confusion amongst parents and guardians, and school administrations. It says that to avoid the virus spreading, medical certification is needed stating that the child is not affected by Gripe A, and such certification can be issued by an assistant doctor at a hospital or health centre. Meanwhile schools are refusing to accept certification from private doctors, when they are equally acceptable, because of confusion in the new rules. One case is mentioned where a mother whose child had a temperature (not Gripe A) was obliged to go to a doctor for a certificate, but as her family doctor only gives consultations one day a week, she had to kick up a fuss and get someone else to issue a certificate. Any student with a ‘flu like’ illness is affected by the new rules, and siblings of affected children are also obliged to stay at home for 48 hours, even without symptoms. Up until 29th November 39 schools on Madeira had outbreaks (two or more cases) of swine flu.

Thanks again to Elaine for this one : Today’s main news headline : Government technicians deceive farmers - The development of agricultural projects in the region is a right mess. The ‘scheme’ omits information for the person requesting official support, generates unforeseen charges and involves technical work that is not allowed in an association. The Regional Government technicians prepare the farmer’s projects for the Farmers Association and the farmer pays for the project! Farmers can apply for public funding for investment projects and the Government heralded the technical support to apply for the funds free to the farmers. But when they have applied, the farmers have been surprised to receive an invoice for the preparation cost from the Farmers Association. The eligible maximum amount of preparation costs can be 5% of the project (or 10% for biological products) which amounts to a 2,750 Euros invoice for an investment project of 100,000 Euros, even though the project might not be approved. The Government technicians also work as technicians for the Farmers Association, and prepare the projects for the Farmers Association that charge its members. The problem started in July 2008 when the Government agreed free technical preparation (by Government technicians) only for investment projects of less than 5,000 Euros (small) and all others were to be covered by the Farmers Association. The Government seeks to benefit about 2,000 farmers for small investments and 445 other farmers for medium and large investment projects, until 2013. The President of the Farmers Association assumes that the Association has technical staff who are also part of the Regional Government and they are allowed to prepare the projects outside work hours. This is not so because to avoid a conflict of interest, public officials who want to take part in private-functions must seek permission to do so. The Government staff are also directed to warn the farmer of a project costing more than 5,000 Euros that it will go through the Farmers Association. The Government said it will not stand for any violations and promised to investigate cases and if appropriate hold disciplinary meetings.

Thanks again to Elaine for this one : Councils are waiting for €8 million from the Republic of Portugal – The budget has not been paid since January and concerns tax transfers of the state budget. More than 8 million Euros and by the end of the year, will exceed €9 million, the amount that the Government of the Republic should transfer to the eleven Councils in Madeira in relation to IRS from the State Budget. Since January this year, the 5% has not been paid. This is not how the Government of the Republic have interpreted the rules after the approval of the Local Finance Law. The executive of Prime Minister Sócrates believes that since the tax receipts are in the Autonomous Regions (Azores and Madeira), the Regional Governments should support this payment. In the middle of this tug of war are 30 Municipal Councils, (11 in Madeira and 19 in the Azores). The Regional Municipalities say this is discriminatory as their Portuguese counterparts on the continent continue to receive this money directly from the State Budget. This debt has led to various complications in the management of annual budgets of municipalities, especially for the largest municipalities. To the Mayor of Porto Santo, the big problem is that income tax receipts were entered in the budget of the Council, and this value has not been paid. "This is so since January. The problem is that we introduce these funds in the budgets of the Councils and then no money comes. Of course, there are payments in arrears. If we do not receive these funds, we begin to have difficulty paying, for example, wages to our employees." There are also delays in payments to suppliers. "I know some municipalities have paid small suppliers, because these debts are easier to pay off, however we know this money is needed by businesses. We are in the situation where you pull the blanket to the head and uncover the feet." Because they feel discriminated against compared to other municipalities in the country, the Association of Municipalities of both the Azores and Madeira have been working together to solve the problem. The matter has been put to the Prime Minister, Jose Sócrates and they are still waiting for him to resolve the problem, hopefully soon. The hope of the Associations of Municipalities of the Azores and Madeira also turns to the National Assembly, thanks to the majority that the opposition parties have achieved in recent elections and subsequent reduction of power of the socialists. The two municipal associations have sent to the regional delegations of the parties that are represented in Parliament, a document to explain the situation. They will not send the document to the PS because the party in Madeira agreed with this law. The Mayor of Porto Santo says they want to resolve the situation through dialogue but in the extreme case will go to court, entering an injunction against the decision. The Government of Madeira has been in discussion with the Government of the Azores because they also feel discriminated against.

‘Spread the words’ stirs three thousand children – The project of Funchal Council started in 2008 and develops the enjoyment of books in 6 groups. The scheme aims to boost interest in books and reading amongst children of a very young age (up to 1st cycle basic school), and now has 3,011  participants. At a gathering in Santa Catarina park in Funchal, the children are first allowed to run around and play. "It must be like this" one of the monitors said, explaining that otherwise the youngsters would not focus on the books. After half an hour of running the kids are ready to learn and discover another world. The sessions last about an hour, but it various according to the age of the group, as the younger ones tend to have shorter sessions. So what do the kids think of it all you must be thinking? The Diário obliges with some interviews :

Beatriz, four years old,  confesses not to have books at home because she does not like them. She prefers her dolls, and straight away opened both hands when asked how many had. Rodrigo, of the same age, said he had four books and a remote-control car. "My dad reads to me when I ask" he said, but the subject was soon diverted to his car, a favourite because "it is new and has a remote control with batteries," he said enthusiastically, with all his wisdom. At this age the memory plays tricks and it is not easy to remember the stories, or even the school. Pedro remembers the ‘Spark’, the adventures of the ‘Hero’ but had trouble remembering the other characters in his books. But Rodrigo prefers the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’ "And the big bad wolf that blows the house" he said, before scattering with the others, hoping a few more minutes of play.

In football : Nacional is going to sell Rúben Micael and Filipe Lopes. The game today at Werder Bremen is "all or nothing", but also a shop window for the business already determined by Nacional president Rui Alves. The article also has the big front page photo today, an odd and slightly surreal picture of players in training. Nothing other than an away win will give Nacional any chance of progressing in the Liga Europa, and even that would then depend on the result of the other match in the same group. Nacional will be playing in near freezing temperatures, with their manager still seriously ill in hospital, so the signs are not good, but the team is fired up by the talk of a ‘walkover’ by Werder Bremen. Players Micael and Lopes will be on their way out of the club in the January transfer window  admits Nacional’s president. The Diário claims to know that Rúben Micael is going to play in England for a transfer fee around the €10 million mark, but adds that a number of scouts (not the sort with toggles) will be at tonight’s match. 6 pm SportTV1.

Unfortunately my laptop is bleeping with just 9 minutes left in the batteries, so I have to go with 2 stories left untranslated … someone help me out here please, pretty please. Elaine stepped in again, as usual … is there  really no one else who can help us out with news stories and translations?

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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. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

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

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

"Madeira, the Portuguese island known as the floating island of flowers that lies offshore in the Atlantic just like the Spanish Canaries, provides an unusual sliver of Portuguese tradition but with a flavour of independence. The island no longer depends on its mainland parent for anything and unless you knew its history you could easily leave without having any clue about its mainland links". WHERE DO PEOPLE GET THEIR INFORMATION FROM ?

"Well, I am sure there is a whole lot of other exciting stuff, but Madeira pretty much trumps everything since there are only 10 missionaries there, it is pretty coveted. Irmã Draper has been looking at me about every 10 minutes for the past two days and saying something along the lines of…. you realize you are going to Madeira!" YOU WORK IT OUT AS I COULDN’T

Sue kindly sent in these news stories, many thanks :

Conductor of the Classical Orchestra of Madeira – Rui Massena in Dukes. The conductor of the Classical Orchestra of Madeira (OCM), Rui Massena, runs on Saturday, the Dukes, in Guimarães, the Orchestra of the North. The concerts will be interpreted works by Shostakovich (the opening party, op.96), Tchaikovsky (the Overture Romeo and Juliet) and the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov (Rhapsody on a theme of Panini, op.43 for piano and orchestra minor), which will feature the pianist Antonio Oliveira.  Rui Massena is considered one of the youngest conductors Portuguese, is 36 years old, was born in Vila Nova de Gaia, began learning piano at six years old and runs the CMO since 2000. Graduated in conducting at the National Academy Orchestra under the guidance of Jean-Marc Burfin and continued his studies in Italy, with Gianluigi Gelmetti, and France, with Cristhian Manem. He was conductor of several concerts in some of the most prestigious venues in the world, cases of Dvorak Hall (Prague), Tonhale (Zurich), La Fenice (Venice), Carnegie Hall (New York) and New England Symphonic Ensemble. Directed José Carreras, Jose Cura, Mark Zeltser, Eva Maria Zuk, among many others, and orchestras in Portugal, Italy, Mexico, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Canada and the Czech Republic. Was the guest conductor for the Presidency of the Republic, for the concert commemorating the Day of Portugal – 10 June. Since 2005, Rui Massena is also the educational director of the Conservatory – Schools of the Arts of Wood and artistic director of the International Competition Wood Music

In the Region, under the Safe Summer Program – PSP oversaw 260 homes this summer.
During the summer of 2009, the PSP has overseen 260 homes in the region, under the Safe Summer program. This is a program in which the police carried out surveillance of homes during the holiday period of the owners, by their request. PSP-M emphasizes the effectiveness of the police action, since "there was a single residence associated with any anomaly, any theft or any other disturbance."

Municipality of San Vicente launches program to support basic needs – Board is helping the county’s elderly. The Board of St. Vincent will do a survey of people over 65 years living in the county and determine the conditions under which they live. The "Program 65 +", and called the initiative will, for example, building ramps to homes to provide easy access and guarantee the purchase of medicines or food, going to get them at pharmacies or markets.  The Mayor of St. Vincent will promote a survey of the number of seniors over sixty-five years and their living conditions.  The initiative comes under the Program 65 +, a project that will be led by the northern municipality as early as next January.  Jorge Romeira, speaking to the JOURNAL OF MADEIRA, that it has already contacted a local association (the Association of Development of North Madeira), with the task of putting the project on the ground.  The mayor notes that the project includes the removal of all persons over 65 years living in the municipality of San Vicente.  "We know how they live, where living conditions if they are alone or accompanied and what their main needs," he explains. Our party, for example, will assess the person’s access between the road and the house in order to facilitate their mobility. "The project could include a cementing  footpaths, placing of ramps instead of stairs, etc.." He said.  But the initiative will also serve to assess other needs of the elderly. "People often do not have anybody to go buy drugs or foods. The project will include this service, "he added.  He says that the support would be individualized and considered on a case by case. Socially, the Mayor of St. Vincent also announced that "promoting the improvement of municipal services for staff and users’ and recalls the construction of an old people’s home (Dona Hilaria Davis) and a public garden.

The program of the Regional Government and CMSV are also covered in the construction of the Bonaventure community centre, support for social housing, the creation of the Office for the farmer, by encouraging the construction of small "barns" on agricultural land and building partnerships with institutions such as Social Solidarity. There will be the implementation of activities of leisure, the creation of youth cards, social support to schools, jobs and sports, incentives for private companies to create jobs and promote employment Industrial Park of cherries for the promotion of employment.

Man tried to rob the bank but ended up surrendering to police. A man tried to rob today a bank branch in Covington using a weapon, but ended up surrendering to police, told Lusa the PSP. The individual, aged between 35 and 40, entered the branch of the BPI Europa Avenue, near the main shopping centre of the city at about 11:35 am, where he threatened staff with a knife. According to police sources, have asked for money, but then ended up surrendering voluntarily to the PSP still in place, and without having in possession of any amount of money. This case was submitted to the Judicial Police and the individual waits for the first interrogation in the Court of Covilhã .

Elaine very kindly provided yesterday’s top news headlines again :

Airport screening against Influenza A. There will soon be created at the airport a Line of Screening against Influenza A (Gripe A / swine flu). An announcement was made yesterday morning by the  President of IASAÚDE at the seminar ‘Risk Assessment – New Risks: The Influenza A’. He took the opportunity to express concern about the fact that many people are not complying with measures to prevent the spread of the virus in the region. The airport has acquired sensors to detect temperature changes in passengers. Alongside this, there has been training for health professions. Mauricio Melim was keen to stress that the guidelines given by entities of Public Health "should be followed" as "We have a civic duty to prevent the spread of flu."

Christmas Events Program 2009.  Major points of the program. Friday 27th November starts the first phase of lighting in downtown Funchal, 4 December the second phase. On December 11th the music and performances in the city centre begin. On that day, there will be the official opening of the decorations in the city centre; an ethnographic village in the streets, a decoration in the Largo do Chafariz, in front of the Sé a Christmas Crib and other displays by the SRTT and in the Municipal Gardens. From December 11 to January 6, performances by brass bands, folk groups and groups from the Coordinating Office of Arts Education and puppet shows in the Avenida Arriaga. In front of the Municipal Park, there will be several animation projects for children. 2,500 people will be involved. New Years Eve will be celebrated by eight minutes of fireworks, consisting of 21 separate displays representing flora and fauna of Madeira. The Government will invest €5.2 million into Christmas and New Year and lighting will take over 50% and the fireworks most of the remainder. At present, the hotels are 50% occupancy for Christmas and probably more at New Year than last year. These will not make up for a poor year for tourism. —- Just checked the Tourism site, the full program is only in Portuguese so far.

Weather is part of the tourism attraction of the region. The regular mild climate is one of the main attractions of Madeira as a tourist destination. The Secretary of Tourism and Transport ensured that the region is doing its share to protect the environment and nature, focusing more on ecological projects. "Madeira is an island of ‘Spring’ and I hope that does not change." This is the debut year for the prize for the most environmentally friendly establishment. There are 14 entries from hotels, restaurants and companies involved in animation. The aim is to act as an incentive for companies to participate in more environmentally protection activities.

Volunteer Fair Thursday 24th to Sunday 29th November. In the Municipal Garden in Funchal. The Casa do Voluntário called on the institutions in the region to present work done over the years by the public, as well as sharing experiences and exchanging information, thus encouraging volunteering as an expression of active citizenship.

Christmas Parade. Parade dressed as Father Christmas to help support the two institutions that help children and win valuable prizes, is the challenge that Madeira Shopping throws to Madeira for next Saturday November 28. The Christmas Parade is scheduled for 15.00, leaving the churchyard of the Church of Santo Amaro and finishing at the House of Father Christmas at Madeira Shopping Centre. For each entrant (free) the Centre will donate 5 Euros to the Hat of Hope. Money will be divided between the two institutions; O Abrigo Nossa Senhora do Conceição and Lar São Filipe. The winning prizes are a playstation 3 from FNAC and a 100 Euros voucher for Modelo. At the end of the parade, there will be a concert by the students of the School of Arts and Music.

Court case after fire in the building Elias Garcia. On March 14 2004, a fire of unknown origin broke out in the garage of the building Elias Garcia III and forced the evacuation of the building. A 59 year old woman required treatment for carbon monoxide inhalation. The fire started in the basement car park and affected five cars, destroying three. It was fought by 10 fire engines and 40 fire fighters. The person whose car the fire originated in, is in the dock and there are questions as to whether it was due to either a short circuit or overheating, which he rejects. In the wake of the fire, the Municipal Service of Civil Protection carried out a technical audit that found security flaws and the absence of fire doors in the basement garage.

Regional Plan Against Domestic Violence 2009 – 2011. Since its formation in 2002 until last year, the Support of Victims of Domestic Violence Team has seen 619 people. Last year they saw 100 people and the number of people reporting violence is increasing each year. The most problematic ages are 30 – 34 and 40 – 44, followed by 25 – 39. The plan includes several lines of intervention; who to tell, raise awareness, educate, protect victims, prevent secondary victimization and qualify the professionals.

SANAS training course. Training 20 new lifeboat crew, selected from 60 candidates. There are more crew needed because of the opening of the Lifeguard Station at Santa Cruz and also needed for Funchal. The training lasts 120 hours, of which 70 are of a practical nature. Training in the following areas: help at sea, communications, meteorology, navigation, techniques for rescue at sea, organization of lifeboats, first aid, survival at sea, public relations and support for sports.

Irregularities in Areal Dourado. The Municipality of Porto Santo have delivered a complaint to the Court against some of the management of the municipal company Areal Dourado, which manages sports, social and cultural events. Some of the board of Directors are thought to use financial resources to their advantage.

Model Boat Championship. Organized by the Nautical Association of Madeira and held last Sunday at the Centro Nautico da Ribeira do Natal in Caniçal. The trophy ‘Liquid PC’ for radio-controlled boats winner was Goncalo Sousa. The wind was weak and variable, the participants experienced some difficulties because the small boats were unruly, forcing the organizers to postpone most races until the afternoon. With rising wind and tide, the races went ahead. The big surprise was Omar Vieira who won five of eight races with ‘Bleu’. 32 boats were entered in the races. —– I never knew there were model boat enthusiasts in Madeira. There will be train spotters in a couple of years too! Der.

Region has not secured 29.3% of the revenue. Never has the Government proposed a budget that the extra revenues represent 29.3%. This is the conclusion to be drawn from the fact that Ventura Garces admits that he would seek authorization from the State to borrow 230 million Euros, 15% of revenue, with  ‘other revenues’, 219.5 million Euros which represents another 14.3% of revenue. In the proposal he assumes a sale of assets worth €140 million and shares worth €18 million. The State should transfer 15% of the revenue and the EU 5.7%. The budget depends on the State specially permitting the debt limit to be raised. Revenue is expected to decrease, 29% less IRC and 11% VAT receipts. The Municipalities will receive €34.5 million from the Regional budget, and €69.3 million transferred from the State. The Government wants to raise the debt limit by more than €180 million to reduce the time taken to repay suppliers, to repay public debt formed during the year and the existing loans.

Sue is back again with yet more, so it looks like I won’t be needed any more today … many thanks ladies. Der

Urban Plan of the Ribeira de S. John goes today for approval at the meeting of the CMF – Index construction will increase in Cabouqueira. The Municipality of Funchal will adopt today, the Urban Plan of the Ribeira de Sao Joao This is the third and final plan that involves the three main streams of the city over an area of 43 hectares. Among many other things, the document will provide a higher rate of construction in the area of Cabouqueira (behind Funchal Centrum) and also defines a set of rules for the area where the warehouse of the Sa. The Minas Gerais, only goes with the presentation of a project that meets the new rules, i.e., the decrease of some floors of the building….

General Luís Araújo says F-16 will come when "necessary and appropriate". Chief-of-Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Luis de Araujo, said yesterday on the island of Porto Santo that the F-16 aircraft will come to Madeira "when necessary and appropriate." "It’s in our plans when necessary and appropriate, deployment of F-16, one or two teams, to do surveillance and airspace control this part of the country when the radar is ready," said Gen. Luís de Ali on the sidelines of the ceremony of founding of the Aerodrome of Maderia / 3, based on the island of Porto Santo. The deployment of the Portuguese Air Force in Porto Santo, created 25 years ago, has from now on be called the Unit AM3: "This unit has been in the Air Force for a long time but was not named, this was a simple ceremony giving a name to one of our "children," stressed Luis de Araujo. The general said that is also in future projects to install a military parade, accommodation for officers, sergeants etc. in that unit which currently has 15 military and a score of officials . Luis Araujo also said that if his mandate is extended (ends December 18) next year "in principle" the Day of the Air Force will be held in Madeira. The unit commander, Col. Joaquim Ferreira, reiterated the "need" to be made "minor adjustments in the modules as staff will be implemented at a local set of tasks of logistical and administrative framework that are, to date, done by other units of the Air Force. He also called for a solution "with housing, healthcare, food and transportation to and from the continent, the personnel deployed in AM3. The ceremony brought together several prominent branches of the Air Force, Army, Navy, Police and members of the Regional Government also noted the Unity Day of Maneuvering Aerodrome No. 3 and appointment of Colonel Joaquim Ferreira as commander of AM3. It looks like we now know what that radar is for on top of the mountain!

Cravo e Canela collection shows the "open air". On 7th December the store Clove and Cinnamon, now situated in Rua Vale da Ajuda, will display their collection of evening gowns and ceremonial clothing. The event is being produced by Eduardo Pinto and will have the support of the City Hall since it will use the promenade to the achievement of the parade. The idea, explained the head of the Journal da Madeira, "is to make not only our customers but also people who are in the street able to watch the parade." In a "showroom", the parade will start in-store, and the bridging will go through an entire corridor leading to the street, and run up to the parking spaces that are on the front of the store. According to Eduardo Pinto, this year’s event will again be attended by the British model Fiona (which, it should be noted, took the last two shows of the store) as well as Alexandra Vieira, Eva Lara, Yorain, Macedo and Licínia Roberta Laza. In enriching its collection, the Clove and Cinnamon decided to partner with AM Jewelry, a shop that will also show pieces of their jewelry made by prestigious international brands. Also of interest regarding the collection being presented on this day is that  Clove and Cinnamon have chosen to display evening gowns and ceremonial clothing. "It will be a glamorous collection, very colorful, where flowing silks and fabrics are featured", said Eduardo Pinto.

and yet more from Sue with entertainment news …

‘Mega Park’ under the airport runway opens on 11 – Sponsor wants to revive Water Pena, the fun of Almirante Reis. Madeirans can count this year with a lively Christmas season, which will have several areas or appeal from 11 December. The fun is in charge of the ‘Mega Park’ and the Circus Brazil, which will repeat their presence of last year. The main novelty is the installation of ‘Mega Park Madeira’, in Water Pena, under the runway of the Madeira International Airport. For the first time in the region as responsible for ‘Mega Park’, Fernando Tavares promises, that the park will provide, "the rekindling the Almirante Reis”. We will have some of Madeira’s best attractions in Europe and worldwide. This park will have several new entertainment and cars already having met the new security laws. The controller of ‘Mega Park’ highlights the fun ‘New crazy kangaroo’, which in his opinion "skips, walks in circles and makes waves" and "Megadance ‘, a radical fun machine where people rise higher and will be suspended upside down (not the the faint hearted methinks!). This year also highlights the trail bumper that Fernando Tavares said is to be the best in Europe with its level of security. "The track is 50 feet long and all the bumper cars are already equipped with shock absorbers, seat belts for drivers and two ‘bags’ in fly ash (think this is probably “air bags”). All as required by law." Day 11 entry is free. The "Mega Park" invites the islanders to attend the official opening day, December 11, where all the attractions can be experienced for free. "We want to make a toast to the population. We believe that, thanks to the place where the ‘Park’ will be mounted and entertainment that we bring, we will cause a revolution in entertainment Madeira. The fair officially opens to the public on 12 December and will close down on 17 January. Fernando Tavares highlights Wednesday as the cheapest days to experience all the park, where each attraction costs one euro.

Circus Brazil back to Machico. Even the smallest will have the privileges this Christmas, with the return of the Circus Brazil, after a first appearance last year. The circus will be based on the same site last year, that is, near the football stadium UD Machico, a place where the leaders of the City Council say there is good accessibility and ease of parking. The debut of the circus is scheduled for December 11 and can be visited until 10 January.
This year, more people will have more attractions to watch at the circus, with the main novelty being a fantasy of Harry Potter, but could still see a show ring that is unique in the country. Also promoted still be some jugglers and a special show with clowns. The price of tickets remains the same as last year, and range from 12.50 Euros for adults and 7.50 Euros for children.

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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. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

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.

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

Thanks once again to Elaine for keeping the blog going with yesterday’s main news stories :

40% couples live together before getting married. There are more couples experiencing life together before getting married. According to the 2008 Demographic Statistics, 40% of couples who married in 2008 in the region had already lived together. In 2003, the percentage was 19% and this has increased each year to 31.9% in 2007 and 40% in 2008. In Portugal, the trend is from 20.6% in 2003 to 35.4% last year. There has been a decrease in the number of marriages both nationally and regionally and the upward trend of cohabiting couples is a reflection of social instability, according to a Sociologist. The number of divorces is increasing, 27% more in 2007 than 2006. Second marriages are also increasing, up from 15.9% in 2003 to 24.1% last year. The tendency to marry more than once is also up, from 16.3% to 23.4% and more couples, 27.6%, have children from previous marriages. The mean age of first marriage has increased to 28.1 years for women and 29.6 years for men.

Armistice Day ceremony on Saturday. A morning Mass at 9 am in Carmo Church followed by a military ceremony at 10.00 at the Monument To The Dead From All The Wars in the Avenida do Mar. There will be a tribute to soldiers who died in World War I, the War in Africa and also Afghanistan.

Santana Council promote vacation holidays in the area. The Council want both travel agents and the locals to identify the most attractive features of the county for visitors, in the areas of culture, sport, landscape and recreation. They want to be able to offer stays lasting 1, 3 or 7 days during which visitors can travel the county from end to end, spending nights in tourist facilities and dining in the local restaurants. The Mayor wants public-private partnerships. He highlights the following features. Arco de São Jorge has a roseiral (rose garden) and local museum. São Jorge has a bathing zone, church, traditional houses and ethnology museum. Archada do Marques is an excellent area for walking. Attractions in the area are Madeira Theme Park, traditional A frame thatched houses, Pico das Pedras leisure area leading to the Caldeirão Verde (Green Cauldron), Rocha do Navio cable car and Pico Ruivo. The promenade area at Faial is being redeveloped and at São Roque do Faial there are levada walks to Portela, Balcas and Ribeiro Frio. Animation will be better marketed, for example the Festival 24 Hours of Dancing.

SESARAM denies any discontent among Health Professionals. The Health Service counteracts yesterday’s allegations in the Diário. They say there have only been 95 complaints from a total of 547 doctors, there is no career vacuum and recruitment occurs nationally. There will be no changes at the Health Centres as regards doctor’s  lists.

Luxury yacht in port today for refuelling. As well as 3,700 tourists in port from two cruise ships, the MSC Fantasia and the Grand Mistral, the mega-yacht Odessa expected at 13.00. After refuelling, the boat departs around 17.00 for Antigua. The last time this yacht called was on the 25th April on a repositioning cruise from the Caribbean to Europe. The five luxurious cabins can accommodate ten guests.

Marítimo owes 5 million euros to construction firm. Construction of Marítimo Sports Club Complex might end up in court over 5 million euros. During the construction, Marítimo decided to make alterations to the project, which the construction company carried out. These alterations were due to Government amendments and they said they would support the work. This work cost an additional 5 million which is 150% more than the Government promised. The Government now says it will pay €2 million leaving the club to find the other €3 million.The construction firm is threatening court action and the €5 million has accumulated €1 million in interest, also still to be paid. There are complex legal issues about the legality of the amendment to the original contract, and whether the work is unauthorized, and who is responsible for paying. The construction firm originally invested €8 million for the main building.

Airport paid for by RAM. The Regional Government cannot change the airport charges, as did the Azores, because it is paying in full for the construction work. The Government is paying back the loan from the European Investment Bank. "The Portuguese Republic has not put a penny into Madeira airport," stressed The President of the Regional Government. The Regional Government cannot decrease the airport taxes as there is not enough money in the budget.

MEP worried about European funding after 2013. The European Commission is working on guidelines for distribution of cohesion funds which will adversely affect 2/3 of European regions, including Madeira losing funding. Access to funds will be dependent on when the country joined the EU, (old or new countries), and on their competitive advantages. The Commission also want to centralize the management of funds at either a national level or at Brussels, rather than regionally.

Suspicious fire threatens a family. In Piornais, a fire caused by a gas cylinder broke out in a structure built over a house. The man living in this annexe has previously threatened arson and is thought to have started the fire, endangering other members of his family below. The police are investigating the case and had already visited the family that afternoon.

Fire in offices at the top of a building in Funchal. The building was in the street in between the Rua dos Aranhas and Avenida da Arriaga. A large response of firefighters was required due to the built-up area. The cause is unknown, possibly an electrical short-circuit.

Santa Claus is coming to town. Arrives at Forum Madeira on Saturday 14 November at 12.00. There is also a collection area for used and new books and toys, to be distributed to various charities.

There will be money to pay the Regional debt. Reassurances from President Jardim about public properties used as guarantees for debt. He said the process was legal, a normal operation for all sovereign states and is properly supervised by the Court of Auditors. "There is no drama." "The critical stage will be 2009 / 2011, because they will be taken to finalize and pay for large investments in Madeira, which will be practically completed by the end of 2011. From next term, the Region has no major capital expenditures to make and there will be more money available to pay off the debt." "From 2011, public spending will be lower."

Porto Bay hotel chain wins 12 awards. This hotel chain previously won awards from tourists travelling with the TUI group. Three new hotels have won awards from the German operator Thomas Cook / Neckermann; Suite Hotel Eden Mar, The Residence and Porto Bay Falesia. In London at the World Travel Market, the group earned nine gold awards from the tour operators Thomson and First Choice.

Madeira is prepared for predictable epidemic of influenza A. The Regional Secretary for Social Affairs said that Madeira is ready for the foreseeable epidemic and stressed the importance of preventative measures to minimize the effects of the rapid increase in the number of cases, particularly among children. There have been cases of infection in three schools, for the first time in the region, and contingency plans have been activated. The Director General of Health in Portugal has called for the Health Professionals who have refused to be vaccinated to protect themselves, as the epidemic activity will intensify and the risk after the vaccine is virtually nil.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
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.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

Tobi found this Madeira online radio station MIRADOURO I had a listen when I was reading through the Diário yesterday, It’s was all pre-recorded music early morning, although there was some talking around 8 am.

Tobi, also said : "A friend of mine Luis Filipe Pessoa e Costa has an exhibition on in the Electricity museum of paintings and some other artwork on the theme of Africa, they are there till the 14th November, and its free to enter, just ask to see the Africa Exhibition.  I have added a link to the photos I have". AFRICA ART

Don has updated his blog with a preview of a Madeira Christmas FUNCHAL’S EVENING DRESS

"Portas do Mar in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel (Azores), has unveiled a New Year’s Eve program set to rival that of Funchal, Madeira". I DON’T THINK SO!

It’s the day of São Martinho tomorrow, a special saint’s day for bacalhau, castanhas, wine and good deeds. The Roman soldier died in 397 AD, and his first and most famous good deed was to cut his cape in half with his sword to help keep a half naked beggar warm.

And talking of good deeds, I’m in a better mood today, particularly cheered up by a kind soul that used the PayPal button (just down there on the right hand side of this page). How he got through the rust I don’t know, but he managed, and it is now loosened and working OK. Anyone else encouraged by this act of kindness, please bear in mind that without volunteers to contribute to this blog there are no guarantees as to how long it will keep going. At the moment it’s just a few regulars, and in particular Elaine, who has been providing the daily news, keeping this going.

The rumours last week were true, with the TVI series set on Madeira, Flor do Mar, coming to an end after nearly 300 episodes. Anyone wants to know who shot Ana-Maria, I’m your man. It finished in an action packed fashion, with yet another murder, and the suicide of the baddy (of the feminine type).  That should save the government here a few Eurobucks in hotel bills.

There were 8 new cases of Gripe A swine flue on Madeira last week, half of the victims  were aged 15 or under. Two cases of the virus were caught here. 27 suspect cases were tested.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Delays in Santa Cruz Court. People in Santa Cruz are having problems obtaining compensation due to delays in court hearings, now taking three years. Both cases cited were against Vialitoral for damage to cars when hitting loose stones on the motorway at Porto Novo and near the airport. One case was dismissed and another is still awaiting a trial date. One person sent a letter to the President of the Supreme Court of Justice asking him to intervene to make the court enforce the Civil Procedure Code and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so there would be justice without delay.

"The worst is yet to come." Unemployed immigrants from Eastern Europe are going in increasing numbers to the Presbyterian Church for social assistance to help pay their utility bills. The Church has limited funds. Employment is increasingly scarce whereas in the past, unemployed workers could obtain temporary work in agriculture, e.g. banana cultivation. People can not see a way out of the crisis and often become alcoholics and both men and women turn up drunk when they go to ask for help. The Pastor stated, "The most serious are the middle class in poverty, feeling embarrassment and shame. This has not yet appeared in force, but I believe it will appear. They are hoping the problem is resolved. The worst is yet to come." Many of the other 200 Presbyterian population are also experiencing hardship, pensioners needing help with obtaining medication. At one stage, there were 4,000 Ukrainians resident in Madeira, and now are less than half, but they are having problems getting their permits renewed if they cannot provide evidence they can support themselves and their families. They do not want to return to the Ukraine where the economic situation is worse and they have families here with children in the education system. As well as the Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church receives Government aid and the Pastor thinks there could be better social assistance by a united effort of all the Christian religions.

Criminal Register Certificates. These are for criminal convictions handed down by Portuguese courts and foreign courts for both Portuguese and foreign residents. The Criminal Register Certificate  can be obtained from judicial offices, Loja do Cidadão and representatives of Foreign Consulates or Embassies and costs 3.5 Euros.  It should take no more than three days to obtain and the content depends on the purpose it is intended for. It can be used for employment, licence, permit or registration of a public nature. It is required to obtain Portuguese nationality, change of name, taxi drivers, children transport services, freight forwarding businesses, public service workers etc. There is also a certificate for public companies, organisations and institutions. Misuse is punishable by either a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.

Diocese of Funchal held vocational meetings for young people. For people interested in entering seminaries for the Priesthood. About 20 boys of year seven or above at school attended the meetings where there was a screening of an American video about the life of a priest, called ‘Fishers of Men’ and is available on YouTube. They also learnt about the three components of seminary life; prayer, relationship and living and study. In the 96 parishes of the Diocese of Funchal, there are 76 priests and 22 are more than 70 years old, and 4 between 50 and 60 years. There has been 10 years with no ordinations and there will be 3 new Priests in Madeira next year. On average, there are 2 ordinations a year.

Socialists call for an inquiry into RAM debt. The "rampant debt" and the "illegal debt" the Madeira Government has been mounting up, could lead to a 100 million Euros penalty in State transfers in 2010. The 150 million Euros in loans which "violated zero indebtedness" under applicable laws could result in a penalty of more than 50% of transfers in 2010. The Socialists justify the initiative as follows: "The need for the commission of inquiry stems from the fact that the Government of the PSD shows a great sense of irresponsibility and makes politics a weapon against the Madeirans since launching  a state siege with the loss of two million per year in the Regional Finance Act (between 2007 and 2009), and calls into question more than 100 million Euros in transfers in 2010, with the bad governance it practices." They also accuse the Government of the "obvious inability to act" with incentives to overcome the crisis that have proved "clearly insufficient". They proposed seven initiatives to help the crisis.

‘Almanaque PEF’ celebrates 150 years of existence. The cover picture is a reproduction by a forgotten artist from Madeira, Jayme de Sa. This yearbook has 200 pages of regional events, religion, agriculture, history and cuisine and in addition to the tributes each month, a chapter on the British participation in the economic, social and cultural Madeira. —– I assume there is not an English translation. It sounds interesting.

‘Delights of Israel’ in Reid’s Palace Hotel. The Embassy of Israel in Funchal is promoting the cultural event to be held on the 7th and 8th December. Specialities in ‘Les Faunes’ restaurant will be provided by the Executive Chef of the Sheraton Plaza Hotel Jerusalem with music provided by the singer Ya’ara Olchik.

Mission Recycle short of expectations. After three days in Funchal and Machico, only 72 used coffee machines deposited, enough to represent the planting of only 18 trees. No one showed up later on at Ribeira Brava after the initial queue at 7.15 am for the offers of 10 coffee machines at 10 Euros. .

PS Rui Caetano warns of illegal container park. He was at the entrance of the food market in São Martinho yesterday morning to highlight the fact that the illegal parking of trucks and containers has occurred for four years. The problem starts when it rains and the mud floods the road and obstructs access for residents and customers of the food market. There is also the issue of unfair competition as there are some companies with the same activity which conform to the payment of taxes. The land is a public space and is not licensed by the Council and taxes are not paid to either the Council or the Government.

Another container site in between Machico and Santa Casa de Misericordia has been complained about to the police and the Council of Machico, as the container has been placed there without prior written permission of the owner since 2006. Manuel Franco Santos told the Diário, "I went to the Council of Machico, where I was told it was illegal and they would notify the owner of the container to remove it within 15 days." So far, nothing has happened. The President of the Council says he will send an inspector to investigate as the situation is illegal and an invasion of private property, so justifies informing the police. In 2007, Manuel Franco Santos filed a complaint with the police but they said they could do nothing as it was private property.

Habitat restoration projects are important. 10th November is the anniversary of the Natural Park of Madeira becoming the second protected area in Madeira in 1982. (Interview with the Director). The objective of the Park is to improve the quality of life of the people of Madeira for the long-term. The Director of the Natural Park said, "The mission is to contribute to the sparing use of our unique natural heritage, preserving our cultural identity and landscape, three elements crucial to creating wealth and employment interests of sustainable tourism." The Natural Park occupies 70% of the island, includes several different habitation areas and some species in danger of extinction. One of the many projects being developed is the recovery of the habitat of the Freira da Madeira (Zino’s Petrel) to help its survival. Another project is to minimize the impact of wood pigeons on agricultural fields. Surveys are looking at the use of natural plants in the everyday life in the rural parishes and in Fajã da Ovelho, and cultural and heritage uses of natural materials. The Marine Reserves are an asset to the island; Garajau, Rocha do Navio, Ilhas Desertas and Selvagens and around Porto Santo.

Almost half of the olive oil consumed in Portugal comes from Spain. Between 40 and 50 thousand tons imported per year but within four years Portugal will be self-sufficient. This is when the recently planted olive groves will be in full production. Spain is the main investor in Portugal in this sector, especially in the regions Alentejo, Beja, Serpa and Ferreira do Alentejo. The price has almost increased 50% worldwide in two months. Portugal exports 32.3% of its olive oil production, mainly to Brazil. This year, Tras-de-Montes predicts a fall in production, Alentejo region estimates a 20% increase in production and Beira Interior promises to be the best harvest in recent years.

SATA and TAP reinforce code-sharing agreement. The Azorean airline increased the agreement it has with TAP to destinations linking Porta Delagada and Funchal to northern Europe and Lisbon-Zurich. —- Details given but I haven’t a clue what code-sharing means. It just means they share the same plane, but from a passenger point of view they are separate flights … until they board that is. Der

Cristiano Ronaldo receives compensation from the Daily Mirror. The British tabloid newspaper accused him of drinking excess alcohol and dancing while recovering from a foot operation in Los Angeles in July 2008. He received an apology and an unspecified amount of damages.

Madeira nurses are better leaving the region in search of better working conditions. The complaint of the President of the Order of Nurses, due to motivation and difficulties in finding employment. Nurses have left due to recent changes made by the Regional Health Service for nurses with more years of service and difficulties for recent graduates in finding work. The President said that the future is black and within six or seven years, Madeira will have to import nurses from less developed countries. For these reasons he calls on the Government to reverse the health policies in the region. He said the health service lacks human resources and the 75 nurses who qualified this year are not enough to make up the shortfall.

Of the six patients in Portugal who had severe problems after eye injections at Santa Maria Hospital, two have just been told they are permanently blind. The hospital later denied that the blindness is irreversible.

Interest rates threaten to double by the end of next year. Opinion of many analysts that the Euribor rate will settle at around 2% in 12 months time, i.e.. late 2010. At present the rates are at a historic low at 1% and there has been a downward trend since October 2008. Last September mortgage rates reached the lowest value at 2.361%.

Holders of firearms unaware of amendments to the law. The Regional Command of the PSP has found irregularities in the supervision of individuals with firearms due to amendments of the act in May 2009. Failure to comply with standards of conduct leads to fines, forfeiture of licences and confiscation of weapons. There is "frequent confusion" between liability insurance policies, and safe storage of firearms to ensure against loss, theft and accidents.

Praça do Município in Funchal illuminated blue. From last night until Sunday the three most  important buildings in the square, the Town Hall, Sacred Art Museum and the Church of the College, are illuminated due to an initiative of the International Diabetes Federation. 10.9% of the population of Madeira suffer from diabetes. 26% of those aged from 60 – 79 years suffer from the illness.

A quick peek at the front page of today’s Diário newspaper :

Today’s main news headline : Alcohol sends 600 a year to hospital. Liver cirrhosis problems account for 95% of the hospitalizations in the Service of  Gastroenterology. The Nucleus of professionals of that sector, who celebrate 25 years, meets Friday and Saturday in Funchal. Too many medical terms in this one to make sense to me, but the 600 alcohol related admissions mentioned in the headline, would be higher, but the unit is limited to just 15 beds.

São Martinho : Bacalhau without music – The celebrations today on Madeira are the initiatives of the  traders. And, with the exception of São Roque in Faial, new wine and cod fish is served without music. Even in São Martinho. There will be less barracas than usual in São Martinho tonight on the eve of it’s patron saints day, but the urge to mark the tradition will be the same as always.

Minister says that Madeira received €10 million more – Office of Portugal’s Finance Minister insists in the advantages of the current Finance Law. The PSD-M social democrats say that the Regional Finance Law loses Madeira €200 million, the PS-M socialists say it amounts to just €6 million, and now the chancellor of the Republic says it benefits Madeira with an extra €10 million. As the Diário correctly points out, analysing the Finance Law is like analysing the election results, with each party having a different angle on the subject. They all agree that Madeira has lost out however, and there seems to be no doubt that the Azores receive more than Madeira from the State Budget. And why shouldn’t they, if the need is greater.

Golf of Ponta do Pargo already awarded – It just lacks the money. The €40 million needed has not yet been secured, even though the consortium of Somaque and Zagope has already been awarded the €16.4 million construction contract for the new golf course. The 100 hectare site has already been acquired at a cost of around €20 million. With an area of around 1 million square meters, the design conceived by Nick Faldo will include an 18 hole course, a 9 hole ‘pitch and putt’, a driving range, and a club house. The work will not start whilst the finances are unresolved, and the banks are tightening their lending criteria, and will not now lend against the original concept of the project to minimise their risk. So big deal … we need another golf course here about as much as we need Uncle Bertie’s debt management skills. I have been living here since before the concept of this new golf course, and despite the picture, I swear that there has never been a report of Nick Faldo ever coming here, so maybe his kids designed the complex with some coloured crayons when they were like 6 years old.

Ronaldo provokes ‘Iberic war’ – Portuguese Football Federation pressures, but Real Madrid won’t back down. Portugal want to call up Ronaldo for the game against Bosnia, but Real Madrid say he is injured and won’t be ready to play. But the Portugal manager reckons that Real are pulling a fast one, and said send him anyway and we will get our own doctors to check him out, and if there is any risk we won’t play him. Ronaldo himself when asked said he just wants to play football, so he is keeping out of the politics.

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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.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

This weekends football : Both our teams are in action on Sunday, and both unusually on TV (SportTV1). Nacional host Setúbal at 6 pm, and Marítimo visit Sporting, kick off at 8.15 pm. The big game of the weekend is today between Braga and Benfica, the two top sides in the Liga Sagres.

Deputies (MPs) in the regional assembly are not interested in being vaccinated – The vaccination plan against Gripe A is underway, and the MPs are included in the priority groups. The move started yesterday on Madeira, but our politicians showed little interest. Some through fear, others because they did not see why that MPs should be in a priority vaccination group, and of course they are under no obligation. The article showed that in almost all the parties, that there was no intention to be vaccinated, except a PSD social democrat who said she was going to consult her doctor first. Well of course if you are a PSD member, you have to consult someone, as decision making skills are not one of the key requirements  to represent your party and the electorate, as Uncle Bertie decides everything. Blog writers it seems do not come within the priority groups, but do I care … I still have 1.5 litres of © Toranja Poncha © chilling in the fridge, and that should keep the swine flu away for at least two nights. 

Madeira studies new areas for fishing for the black espada fish – The regional secretary for the environment and natural resources presented the project ‘MARPROF’. Due to the reduction in the catch of the fish new fishing zones are being sought. The project MARPROF (I won’t bore you with what it stands for) has the objective of investigating marine biodiversity, and coming up with ways to develop the fishing sector of the archipelagos of Madeira, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. Shrimps and deep water crabs are other species sought that that have economic potential for Madeira. So that’s the environmental solution for overfishing is it, go and overfish elsewhere. I think I could manage without espada for a couple of years to let the stocks recuperate.

PSD-M presents proposal for a law that creates a pension supplement worth €65 – Supplement is compensation for the costs of insularity. The social democrats of Madeira will present the proposal, that will give Madeira’s pensioners the extra 65 Eurobucks monthly, in the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal. If approved it will benefit 30,000 pensioners through old age, disability, or social reasons. Hmmmmmmm, I smell a rat here. Should the AR approve the proposal, and I can’t really see that being on an island affects pensioners more than anyone else working or living here, then there would be a uproar that everyone else deserves the same, here, on the Azores, and maybe on the mainland too. No this is a political dagger, knowing that the idea will be rejected, giving more ammo for the PSD-M against the PS socialist government.

Petrol prices take a bit of a hike on Monday with a 2.c rise per litre. Diesel will rise by 1.c.

Have a great weekend !

Many thanks to Elaine for her contribution from yesterday’s news :

26th Chestnut Festival at Nun’s Valley this weekend. Begins Saturday afternoon at 18.00 with traditional games, a fashion show at 20.00 and animation between 21.00 and 23.00 with Enio Fernandes. The main event is Sunday. The exhibition opens at 09.00 and mass in the Parish Church at 11.30. At 12.00 there is the official opening with the parade at 12.30. Tradition folklore groups start performing at 14.00 and a ‘Miss Chestnut 2009′ competition from 19.30 to 22.00 then entertainment continuing throughout the night. —- No ‘Mr Chestnut 2009′! Perhaps they should have a Miss Chest and a Mr. Nuts Elaine? Der

Madeira exports hospital waste. The Region is sole shareholder of Valor Ambiente which refuses to allow hospital waste to be incinerated at Meia Serra. Refusal is on the grounds that the consortium who built the incinerator and equipped it did not meet the requirements specified. The hospital waste was incinerated there for a year but caused environmental concerns. It is now incinerated in Spain at a cost of €1.2 million a year. The cost of exportation and incineration is being charged to the consortium who built Meia Serra, who are challenging this in court. The Region still owes €18 million for the construction of Meia Serra and €5 million operating costs. At Meia Serra, it costs 1.15 Euros / kg and transportation costs of  €0.08. Exportation to Spain, the cost is estimated by the Diário to be 1.23 Euros / kg.

Diário also complaining that animal waste is not being incinerated but entering landfill instead. At present, the amount is 40 tons a month, which is not an environmental hazard but could be in future due to soil contamination. The amount of clinical and animal by-products increased 74% last year, and the courts are normally slow to settle disputes.

First seal cub to be born in 2009. Population of seals (Monachus monachus) in the region is now 39. On the 25th October, the rangers at the Desertas Islands observed the first cub of the year. The colony has at least seven breeding females and the majority of births occur in October and November, so they are hoping for more. The conservation project was begun in 1988, with three main guidelines: monitoring, protection and education. Monitoring is increased at this time of year to identify the mothers, observe the behaviour of the animals during the breeding season and be attentive to the emergence of new individuals. The local seal population is increasing, whereas worldwide the number of seals is decreasing and its range too. The world population is 500.

Madeiran immigrants in England struggling. Some have been going through financial difficulties, to the point of being obliged to seek help of the Portuguese Sports Centre and Cultural Club in London to eat. The situation has worsened with unemployment associated with the economic crisis. The problem was felt most strongly at the beginning of this year but the situation is gradually improving due to economic recovery in England and increased employment. People usually only temporarily ask for help until they can get a new job.  There are also social problems like alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health problems. There is one person who is unemployed and homeless who goes to the club everyday to eat. They have paid three times for him to return to Madeira but he keeps returning, over the past two years. Even with the crisis, it is always easier to get work in London than Portugal. The main requirement for employment is a good command of English, which has improved during the past few years. The club helps the immigrants to integrate, especially new arrivals.

Landslide in Colmeal blocks road in Nun’s Valley. Firemen form Câmara de Lobos had to unblock the road to allow the bus to pass yesterday afternoon, an operation which took an hour. Landslides are common in this region and difficult to prevent due to a nearby high escarpment which is difficult to reinforce.

Second false distress alarm. Maritime Police and SANAS yesterday morning responded to a distress flare in the bay of Funchal. This flare was fired during training carried out by the Regional Directorate of Fisheries. The Port of Funchal had authorized the training but the location was not as expected, hence the Port Captain decided to launch a rescue.

SANAS has acquired a Mobicall system that will allow a fast and reliable communication to avoid wasting valuable time in responding to a rescue alert. The investment was 10,000 Euros.

Trial between Jardim and Carlos Pereira in 2010. Reported yesterday that Pereira is suing Jardim for 35,000 Euros. At today’s hearing, it was decided that there is a case to answer and due to the Court’s agenda, it will be in mid-2010.

Still  lack of fuel on Porto Santo. Lack of petrol and diesel causing problems especially for public transport, tourism and rent-a-car sectors. It is worse at the weekends resulting in queues of cars and motorbikes at the city centre filling station. GALP is the only supplier and they say they are unaware of the problems and it is the petrol station managers who are liable.

Madeira is studying new fishing areas for Black Scabbard fish. Due to the reduced fishing haul, the Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources is looking for new fishing areas. Want to innovate and develop the fishing industry of the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Shrimp and crab are other species with economic potential in Madeira. Whoops a bit of duplication there, sorry Elaine, but your piece has a photo. Der

PSD introduce a draft bill to increase benefits by 65 Euros a month. If approved by Parliament, to be included in the State Budget 2011. Will help 30,000 people receiving benefits for old age, incapacity or social benefit. Whoops again!

Man died after fall from the fifth floor.  Occurred on Friday afternoon. He was 53 years old and fell from the fifth floor of a building located in the Praça da ACIF, at the rear of the Loja da Cidadão. He was a civil engineer and married with three children. The PSP and Judicial Police are investigating the circumstances.

Prison guards denounce ‘malaise’ in the Prison of Funchal. Malaise, poor management of human resources, lack of dialogue and respect of their status experienced by prison guards. The blame is aimed at the Director of the Prison, Fernando Santos, by the President of the Prison Guards Union. —– There have been strikes recently.

Moviflor opens new store in Funchal. Will open to the public on Saturday at 10.00 until 22.00 with opening offers this weekend. 2,600 square metres of furnishings and decorations. Located at the Caminho de Santa Quiteria next to Madeira Shopping and the previous shop in Funchal is closed for renovations.

Regional Plan for the Homeless 2009 – 2011. It is the adoption of a document entered into the objective of ‘Promotion of Social Inclusion and Prevention of Social Exclusion’. The plan intends to identify people living on the street, the issues why they are there and then integrate them into society with dignity. The plan is being implemented by the Regional Secretariat for Social Affairs, private institutions, parishes and municipalities. 35 people are already identified as homeless, scattered around the Farmer’s Market, Rua Dr. Fernao Ornelas and the Building 2000. They are to be reintegrated back into their family or if none, into institutions.

Fuel prices increase from Monday (midnight 2 November). Unleaded petrol up from 1.187 to 1.202  Euros and diesel 0.950 Euros a litre.

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

Christmas anticipated to sell despite of the debt situation – The requests for help grow from families struggling with their commitments. Of 531 cases that went to the Consumer Defence entity, 160 are are about financial overcommitment. But still the race for Christmas shopping is underway.

In football : Draw of FC Porto livens the game (tonight) between the league leaders – Belenenses stall the champions. Poor first half by Porto, but dominated most of the second half, and were unlucky to end up with a 1 – 1 draw. Braga and Benfica play today for first place. 9.15 pm on SportTV1. Chelsea come to see Rúben Micael. Whilst I hope Nacional can hang on to Micael for as long as possible this season, for sure he will  be sold fairly soon, and what better buyers could there be than Chelsea, famous for paying stupid prices for average players.

There come the witches with a weekend of partying for Madeira. A creepy Halloween for all tastes. No evidence of witches and monsters yet in my town, and Halloween here it is still a hit and miss event, and sometimes passes by totally unnoticed. I saw a full page advert in yesterday’s Diário for Hiper Sã in São Martinho (I think), and it was all for Halloween products at incredible prices, and I reckon to get fully kitted up for a scary appearance you wouldn’t have gotten much change from €50. The Chinese perhaps haven’t got wind of this yet, but when the new megastore opens in Machico, they should be able to slash the price of future Halloweens, as after all most of the junk that people buy probably originates in China anyway.

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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 or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

‘Easton resident, native of Madeira, follows calling to become a Spanish teacher – Blue Hills Spanish teacher is well-versed in five languages’. Worth a quick visit to read the beginning bit about the differences in education, and although things have vastly improved here, the kids / parents still have to buy their school books. BOOKS FOR FREE

‘Wind Power in Portugal’. Although not specifically about Madeira, quite an interesting article about renewable energy policy and achievements in Portugal. THAR SHE BLOWS

"Hi all, I have found a website for anyone wanting to learn a new language, you can find it at www.livemocha.com . There are about 160 hours of lessons in 21 different languages available for free, including Portuguese.

The livemocha site offers social-networking tools that augment the online lessons and let users add hints and tips. You are given a personal homepage where you can see what lessons you have taken, how far you have progressed, and how fast you are learning. The site also supports video chat so you can hook up with other students and practise conversations. The site is totally web based, and easy to sign up which I have done, lessons seem quite easy to start you off, and could be a good free way of getting some practise in Portuguese". Tobi.

In today’s news : ‘Seasonal Flu Vaccinations Start On Monday – The campaign gives free jabs  to at risk groups’. The health centres of Madeira will start the injections next week, with the over 65′s, people with chronic conditions and respiratory problems, and other ‘at risk’ illness groups at the head of the queue. 27,000 vaccines were ordered, 3,000 more than last year.

As for Gripe A swine flu, last weeks figures were released and the numbers remain unchanged, with no new cases confirmed from the 10 that were tested. The count since the start remains at 40, mostly being foreigners, with just 4 cases of secondary transmission so far.

‘Mosquito Bites Increase In The Last Few Days’. The complaints have noticeably increased, but it is not possible to confirm whether the ‘Aedes Aegypti’ was responsible, or other mosquito species, particularly as studies in July have shown the AA population to be low. A new study started yesterday looking at the AA population density, and the effectiveness of the insecticides being used.

‘Rock Fall Hits Via Rápida – Junction at Quinta Grande closed in the direction of Ribeira Brava’. At around 2.30 yesterday afternoon a rock fall closed the via rápida, forcing drivers to exit the road at Quinta Grande and rejoin at Campanário. No one was hurt and and the damage caused was minimal. It was hoped to clean up the area and have it reopened last night. The TV coverage didn’t show much evidence of the rock fall, but the workmen were up on the rockface clearing off loose material.

The main news headline today : ‘Fire In Quinta Escuna Creates Political Controversy – The company that owns the property in Santa Cruz said it is the "victim of an act of vandalism" and involves the movement ‘Juntos Pelo Povo’ (JPP) in a communication about the fire of suspect origin on Sunday. The case is already in the hands of the law. JPP threatens it own lawsuit’. The company that administers the Quinta Escuna, Tijolo Branco, has sent a communication to the Diário making 5 points about the fire, that was started by a tyre and petrol, and could have caused much more damage if the emergency services hadn’t arrived quickly. The basis for the blaming of the JPP, who are contesting all the seats in Sunday’s local elections, seems to be based on the fact that an organised event was cancelled due to bad weather, and the fire occurred soon after, after many of the JPP supporters had "frequented the taverns and bars of Santa Cruz". A fire of suspect origin eh? I would suggest that a burning tyre accompanied with petrol was slightly more than ‘suspect’, especially if the rest of the car was missing at the scene.

‘Delays – The Complaints Increase : Correios [Post Office] delay payments to the retired, that increase by more than five thousand in a year’. Madeira has over 37,000 retired pensioners, but add to that those with ‘survival pensions’ and disability pensions, the number rises to close to 64,000, rising by an average of 524 each year over the last decade. These people complain about the services of Correios in sending their pensions, and the Association Of Retirement of Madeira has called a conference next week to discuss the matter. There should be a counter just for complaints at the Correios, as the service just seems to get worse and worse. For me lately, stuff delayed by weeks, stuff correctly addressed but returned to sender, masses of repeat and out of date junk mail, and then last week an attempted delivery that wasn’t when the postman couldn’t be bothered to ring the doorbell, and left a card instead. The days when the bills arrive before the direct debits are taken from the bank have become a rarity. Darn contractors, no pride in the job and the lack of local knowledge, are probably the main reasons, and if we could get Uncle Bertie to give them as good a slating as he did with the police, then maybe the Correios bosses might sit up and take notice.

UPDATES : Thanks again to Elaine in Garajau :

Funchal council demolish building in Rua de Santa Maria. They will demolish part of the building which partially collapsed on Friday, as it is a danger to passing people and adjacent buildings.

Shelter has new attic wing for boys. Funchal council will aid expansion of the shelter for young people, Our Lady of Conception, which at present houses 45 young people, although it can accommodate 50. It successfully helps them integrate back into society.

Camacha has a new Centre for Occupational Activities for children with special needs. Necessary due to geographic location often making travelling difficult to other areas.

Three parish councils provide training for the unemployed. Three areas of Funchal, Sao Martinho, Sao Goncalo and Imaculado Coraçao de Maria, will provide IT and commercial training, leading to recognized qualifications, for 15 people in each area. The courses last 15 months and they will receive a subsidy of 500 Euros.

Rain affected official inaugurations. The rain affected Jardim’s inaugurations of new roads in Câmara de Lobos and Ribeira Brava yesterday. In the first one, he had to use the PSD campaign car’s sound system. Usual refreshments were still served. Jardim looked favourably upon the rain, saying: "It is said that when there is rain there is happiness." "Thanks to God we always need plenty of water for our land, especially for these agricultural areas that have missed the rain". The photo with this story will appear tomorrow, for reasons that will soon become clear.

Two PSD rallies have been cancelled due to the rain, one at Santo António and one at Ponta do Sol.

Government has filed a complaint about Friday’s policing of the opening of the port tunnel. Unlawfully disturbing the activities of the Government can lead up to three years in prison. Jardim keeps stating he has no problem with the PSP of Madeira it is just outside influence (Portugal, I presume).

Political disagreements about the residential home in Porto Moniz. A PS candidate for the area complained that the opening of the home had occurred just prior to elections, although it is not ready to function or would employ as many people as stated. The Foundation which run the home have rebuffed this political accusation.

Usual complaints by all political parties about unfair electioneering by inaugurations, defamation and sweeteners.

Fishermen in Câmara de Lobos complaining. Saying that politicians only think of them during election time. Still want a fishing port, and subsidies during the low season similar to those in Machico and Caniçal. Also, poorer catches of the black scabbard (espada) fish.

PSD confident to win Câmara de Lobos. Usual pre-election poll says they will return to power, as in 2001 and 2005, with 5 seats and 2 to the PS. They will get 50 – 54%  of the vote, less than 61.4% in 2005, and the PS 15.4% instead of 17.6% last time.

PS candidate for Funchal asks the Minister of Finances to resolve the situation of €8 million owed by the Portuguese State. Claims that there has been 5% IRS withheld from the 2009 Budget, 5.4 million Euros from Funchal council and when including other municipalities, 8 million Euros should have been transferred in February.

Porto Santo has emergency plan. More details of proposed work on the island. There will be an emergency fund for housing repairs, food assistance and assistance with medical expenses, especially to the elderly. Road improvement, expansion of the Residential Home, Arts and Crafts Workshop, Cultural Centre, Library and Archive and Fire Department.

Colombo’s Resort still stagnates. Work stopped in 2008 when the developer SITCB needed 60 million Euros to complete the project. Difficulty in obtaining investment and bank loans due to the financial situation. In July, there was supposed to be a memorandum between public and private companies to restart the work but still no progress. Was due for completion in summer 2010. There are still negotiations about the continuation of the works on Madeira Palace Hotel, and management of the Quinta da Lorde Resort in Caniçal.

‘Costa Serena’ will start cruises from Funchal next January. The Costa Cruises Portugal promoter confirmed that you will be able to board in Funchal on the cruise from next January.

Date of next year’s International Film Festival still not certain. Not yet confirmed that it will be 10 – 17 April 2010.

‘Overcoming the Fears’ exhibition opens in the Electricity Museum. Opens at 6 pm tonight. Illustrating the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals, established in 2000 by 189 Governments.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or 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 or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

If you post a comment and are not registered on this site (free), your comment will be moderated, so please do not waste time with spam postings.  If you register, your comment will be posted automatically. If you register, your email address will not be passed to any other party … promise!

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira News Blog © 2007 – 2009 All Rights Reserved

‘Manor House Donated To The Region Falls Into Abandonment – The ‘Solar do Aposento’, in Ponta Delgada, is shown in the guide books, but the tourists knock on the door with their noses’. The north coast historic building was given to Madeira 6 years ago, that is also known as the Museum of D. Hilária Freitas, is part of Madeira’s heritage, but it is abandoned and the maintenance neglected, and outside the weeds are taking control. The building is also not secure with old doors and windows, and there are fears for the security of the contents. The Solar was bequeathed to Madeira by the owner, who died in 2003. It is a building of 18th century civil architecture, and contains works of arts, antique furniture, chandeliers, and religious artefacts. It was officially adopted as a "property of public interest and local value" by the government in 2002. Ponta Delgada council are talking about it’s use as an old peoples home, and this could happen by 2011. ‘Knock on the door with their noses’ .. what a wonderful expression. I must remember that one next time the postman says he called (leaving a card) but no one was home, when for sure I was.

In today’s football headline : ‘Marítimo Not Rushed For Manager – SAD maritimista presents €1.4 million of losses’. At the general assembly of the club, attended by 92% of its capital holders, Marítimo declared losses of €1.4 million for the last season. The temporary coach appointed this week for Marítimo’s first team is also staying in charge of the ‘B’ team, and will remain in charge until a new coach with a proven track record can be appointed. Just as well Marítimo didn’t have to pay for it’s stadium then, or the €45 million needed to revamp it, thanks to Madeira’s government and taxpayers, otherwise the end of season accounts would have looked much much different.

‘Culture is the new ‘trump card’ for the promotion of Madeira – Department of Tourism increases its investment in the domestic market. Exhibition, theatre [?] and a new mini-series of TVI were some of the initiatives of the campaign launched on Tuesday in Lisbon’. In order to raise the awareness of the richness and cultural vitality of Madeira, the secretary of tourism, in partnership with the Department of Education and Culture will promote an exhibition of pieces from various museums on Madeira, in the Ajuda Palace, in Lisbon. Madeira has also been confirmed as a venue for a new mini-series on TVI (channel 4). These initiatives are part of the package that the government is banking on to attract tourists from Portugal to our region. In the latter case, the belief that the national TV series made here, Flor do Mar, has already increased tourism and warrants further exploring. As well as a new advertising campaign presented in Lisbon yesterday, the half yearly tourism figures were presented, showing a 15% rise in tourists coming from Portugal, with over 30,000 more coming here. Over the last two years, around 220 to 230 thousand Portuguese have come each year, increasing Madeira’s share of the domestic market. Another article talks about the initiatives outlined costing €680,000.

The new mini-series set on Madeira will run when the existing soap ‘Flor do Mar’ has finished, and filming will start in November. The new series doesn’t yet have a name, but will be the project of TVI, as was Flor do Mar, that received some funding from the Madeira government.

"One Doesn’t Even Make A Cêntimo For A Coffee" – Taxi drivers of Porto Moniz pass through days without having a fare’. The Diário’s featured location this week, covers the taxi drivers plight, where they go days without a customer and have weeks where they earn little more than €5. The crisis has not helped. The two drivers interviewed say they are tired of spending the day sitting on the rank at the Praça do Lyra, and also complain about the transport service provided for the sick, saying that the ambulance charges twice the price per kilometre that they do. The traders of Praça do Lyra are also suffering, with one seller of regional handicrafts saying his sales have dropped by 25%. Limited car parking also affects business.

‘PSP seized 300 doses of cocaine and €1500 resulting from drug trafficking – Officers from the Funchal Police detained a foreign individual and identified two drug drug addicts. The alleged activity was operating in the area of Avenida Arriaga’. Police intercepted on Sunday morning a male of foreign nationality in possession of several packages of cocaine and €1,500 in cash, allegedly resulting from illegal activity. Police had spotted a number of individuals seemingly buying / selling drugs and moved in. Subsequently they identified a house used for transactions, and in the house was found a precision scale, a prohibited weapon, several mobile phones and money. The individual detained is now subject to weekly reporting at a police station until investigations are complete.

12 suspected Gripe A cases were tested on Madeira in the last week, but only one man of 46 years from Venezuela was found to test positive for swine flu. He was taken into intensive care, but his condition is stable. That takes the total from the beginning to just 40 confirmed cases, with just one case in two weeks. Early days I know, but isn’t it reassuring that we are in the lucky position of knowing the age, sex, and nationality of all our Gripe A victims, whilst other countries have lists amounting to hundreds or thousands on a weekly basis. Just doing my bit in case any potential ‘non infected’ tourists come across this posting and fancy paying us a visit.

‘Oral Health Month Also On Madeira – 17 dentists on Madeira and Porto Santo join the initiative running during October’. In order to prevent oral diseases and improve education for proper oral hygiene among the Portuguese population, Colgate and the Portuguese Society of Estomatologia?? and Dental Medicine (SPEMD) are carrying out in October the 10th edition of "Oral Health Month". 15 of the dentists are in Funchal. They will be available next month to do free dental check ups (without treatment or radiographic examination). The annual initiative has allowed so far 95,000 free check ups since it’s first year, and more dentists are joining up. The main conclusion from 2008 was that less than 1% of adults have completely healthy gums and teeth.

Next Tuesday the cruise ship ‘Black Prince’ arrives in Funchal on its 594th and final visit. The ship has been in service nearly 43 years. Several initiatives are being planned to mark the final visit, including a short lecture on the ‘Black Prince’, which will take place tomorrow, 1st October at 18:30 pm, in the auditorium of FNAC in Madeira Shopping. The ship has been sold to a Venezuelan company, and it expected to remain in tourism activities.

‘Police officer Assaulted By The People In Caniçal – The violence coincides with the criticism made by Jardim towards the police. The ASPP trade union protests "indignation" for the lack of respect’. The officer, who was on traffic duty, went to hospital with a fractured toe and / or a serious foot injury, after the assault on Sunday night, which occurred during the gathering for Nossa Senhora da Piedade when he intervened in a quarrel. The incident happened just hours after president Jardim had criticised police for not intervening during a political event which disturbed his inauguration of the new cycle path in Funchal. Jardim’s words have infuriated the trade union representing the police, with a spokesman saying that it is not acceptable for a political leader to ‘tarnish’ the institution of his own police force. "When a politician does not respect the PSP, people are also legitimised to disrespect the police," said the TU bloke. "These people are the first to throw the stones, and the last to give us a hand" he said, adding that he was "very angry" with the statement of the President. Jardim accused the PSP of not upholding the law and limiting itself to issuing parking tickets. What Jardim said deserves to get him in trouble, as I for one know that the PSP generally do a good job, but to link what he said with the trouble in Caniçal is just plain stupid and asking for more trouble. I often say that Jardim does little of use and says stupid things, but that doesn’t incite blog readers into nipping out and giving Uncle Bertie a bit of a kicking (you don’t do you?).

‘Câmara Finished With Containers In São Martinho’. The council ‘dumps’ the two companies that had set up on dubious sites. In a situation that has dragged on for some months, Funchal Council has guaranteed that the matter is on the brink of being resolved. The issue involved a piece of land on the west side and adjoining the cemetery in São Martinho, brought by Funchal Council many years ago to enable the means of expanding the cemetery itself. Two (GRP) shipping container companies located there have been bothering local residents by parking trucks on the nearby road. The two companies were ordered some time ago to leave the site, which they had no right to occupy, but nothing happened. The council has now passed a new resolution to deal with the matter, and this time if the warning does not work the police will be called in to enforce the situation. Once the site it cleared, it will be sealed off to prevent future problems.

‘Stop … Gripe A’ – The secretary of Education launches on video and audio a prevention campaign’. Not translated, that is the actual name of the new initiative started yesterday. The material gives in plain and simple terms an awareness of how to prevent the spread of swine flu. It even has it’s own song, which will be included in school music lessons. I see posters are now appearing in bar and cafe loo’s round my way. I would rather they put them at the entrances, as once the virus carriers are inside the risk starts. Surely the main aim is to keep the risk away altogether, whilst hand washing after a pee is just good hygiene? Whilst on the subject, Madeira was Gripe A free for the last week, with 14 suspected cases all proving negative.

An article covering dentistry and dentists on Madeira is published on this blog, but makes difficult reading, indicating to me an automatic software translation with a minimal effort to correct. TWELVE COMPLAINTS AGAINST DENTISTS

‘Albuquerque Promises A New Public Garden’. In an article about the inauguration of a new apartment block called ‘Madalenas Residence II’ in Funchal, the president of Funchal Council said it is the next objective to create a large public garden in the area of Madalenas. The new building contains 80 apartments, of which nearly half are already sold, and cost €11 million of private investment.

‘Madeira Has A Public-Private Social Partnership’. It is a discrete project, apparently modest, but for the three thousand families involved it is of exceptional importance. Because with the support of EU funds, the involvement of the councils, and the Development Agency of Madeira, the restoration and improvement of run-down houses has become possible. Yesterday in Santa Cruz, contracts were signed with 38 families in the parish of Caniçal, that benefit from the supply of tiles, paints and other materials for the restoration of their homes. A helping hand that could amount to €3,500 per family. The scheme was revealed by the president of Santa Cruz council, José Alberto Gonçalves, who says that the restoration project in Santa Cruz will involve "320 families and more than 1,300 people, and a gross financial outlay of €1.2 million, with the council itself investing €250 thousand". The families involved will receive the materials by the end of this year, and then they have 90 days to complete the work. The scheme is being rolled out in 8 of Madeira’s 11 regions.

‘Robberies In Garajau And On The Levada Dos Tornos – Youths steal the cash register and have the police waiting when they arrive home. Couple robbed at knifepoint in Camacha’. The first story is about a Café / Bar called ‘Brites’ in Garajau, that was robbed at around 4 am yesterday morning, when 2 young men smashed the shop front glass window, and took the cash register, containing just some change. The two robbers, who were regular customers in the bar, took the till to a car park to open it, where they were caught on video camera in the act, along with the registration plate of their car. Police were able to identify the owner of the car, the mother of one of the men, and when they arrived home the police were there waiting. They were taken back to the crime scene, where they apologised to the owner, returned the stolen money, and offered to pay for the damage caused, which included the €400 cash till, the broken window, an aquarium, and a fridge. It is possible that that the same two men had also tried to break into a bar in Cristo Rei, hurling a rock at the front window, which didn’t shatter as it was double glazed, but caused around €200 worth of damage all the same. The sophistication of the crimes and the intelligence of the criminals of Madeira never ceases to amaze me, and once again the police do a great job in cleaning up the mess. I have no idea whether the men involved here were charged, but often an apology to the owner and the payment of the losses and damages suffices, showing the forgiving and kind hearted nature of people here. Personally I would have wanted them strung up if they had done that to me, but there again there are men who have committed far greater crimes but still legally walk our streets. PS Dare not mention who for fear of reprisals.

The other story sounds much more serious, as two German tourists were robbed at knifepoint on the Levada dos Tornos, in the zone of Vale Paraíso, Camacha. He surprised the couple, and demanded the valuables that they were carrying. He stole the rucksack and about €100, but apart from being shocked, the couple were unharmed. The rucksack was later recovered by police, less the money. The police have a description of the suspect and are conducting investigations. I hate doing these stories more than anything, as levadas are supposed to be such safe and peaceful places … and of course still are. The police normally catch these thugs, but it’s best to be aware that there are occasionally problems in just one or two places. How people will obtain such information after next week I don’t know, but I hope they can ask at hotels or go on accompanied tours, or at least find out about any risky areas from somewhere.

’36 From The Savoy Refute Dismissal – The case started yesterday in court’. The collective dismissal of staff from the now closed Savoy Hotel in Funchal is in court, with 36 workers challenging the SIET Savoy Group decision to dismiss them. Their aim is to reverse the decision, and guarantee themselves future employment. The trade union representing the workers said it was the only option open to them once negotiations with the employer had failed. Win and they have their jobs back, lose and they will be entitled to compensation based on length of service. Many of the 99 workers have already accepted the termination and compensation package offered, when the hotel closed to be demolished, to make way for a new Savoy Hotel.

After yesterday’s story about the school of in São Martinho (Funchal) that failed to be ready on time because of building problems, it seems that São Martinho kids are stricken with bad luck, or good luck depending on the point of view. ‘Lombada School in São Martinho Fails To Open At The Start Of The School Year – A lack of staff has left parents and students at the school gate’. They turned up, but that’s as far as they got, as the school remained closed when staff didn’t turn up. The situation caught some parents off guard, along with 250 kids, even though there had been some communications about potential problems. Teachers weren’t lacking, except for the maths teacher, but one cleaning lady was on holiday, one was transferred, and the other one remaining refused to work alone. The knock on from that is that the catering staff and auxiliaries didn’t then turn up for work for fear of being put on cleaning duties. According to the government Education Department the situation has been resolved and the school is now fully operational. It wouldn’t happen in the private sector for sure, and if I had been in charge I would have had those parents in scrubbing the floors and doing the cooking, and sent the non-teaching staff off to meet those ex-Savoy Hotel workers.

‘Erasmus’ Sent Away 117 Madeiran Students In 6 Years’. The programme, according to funding available, allows students at Madeira University to study abroad. The scheme is growing in popularity, but as there is no specific funding for the purpose, applications depend on the general funding of UMa being able to support the applications received. The programme has proved particularly popular for students in physical education and in languages, with the countries most selected being Slovenia (23), Spain (32) and the Czech Republic (32).

Bit of a school theme going today, so here’s another : ‘Gripe A : Teachers “are not a priority risk group”. Contingency plans against the H1N1 swine flu virus in schools caught the attention of the Teachers Union of Madeira, this week. Coordinator Marilia Azevedo regretted the fact that the infection prevention plans have been made only with students in mind. A spokesman for the matter (I have no idea where from), said that the health services and Regional Secretary for Education and Culture had been working together for some time, “[teachers] are not a priority risk group in particular, as the groups that are in contact with the sick are health professionals. I do not see that there needs to be a special scenario for teachers”. What gobsmacking incompetence, as infected teachers are as much of a problem as infected children to start with, but absent teachers cause a different problem altogether, and without them to control the children, the risk of cross infection is highly elevated. Just imagine if one infected teacher in the weekly staff meeting infects the whole teaching staff group … chaos!

’224 Citizens Of Funchal Try Out The Services Of Horários do Funchal For Free – Bruno Pereira, vice-president of Funchal Council will be one of the participants’. The famous yellow bus company of Funchal wants to attract new customers to its regular services of public transport. With this objective in mind the company yesterday started the week with a promotional project ‘Ad personam’. Under the initiative, which is part of a wider European action called ‘Intelligent Energy of Europe’, over 224 people aged between 18 and 60 years can travel free for a week on the bus network of Horários. The lucky 224 were selected from 805 respondents to a survey undertaken in May, and addition to this weeks freebie, will be able to obtain discounted bus travel for the rest of the year through a monthly pass.

The headline I thought I would never see : ‘Marina At Lugar de Baixo Reopens – It will open, but not for boats to moor there’. No firm date has been set, but it is virtually certain that the marina infrastructure will reopen to the public sometime this year, with boats allowed back in shortly after the Winter. Clean up work is still ongoing, including partial clearing of a cliff face. The badly damaged car park has been demolished, and will not be rebuilt, but other parking is available. I can hardly wait for Uncle Bertie’s reinauguration (right!), and to go and enjoy the swimming pool and tennis court, or even just taking a coffee there. I have never tried hard-hat swimming before, but I presume I will need a strap-on-version, as well chastity-belt type swimming trunks. As for the coffee, will the café staff be trained to ask “will it be one lump or two?”

The sport / football headline : ‘Cup Takes Marítimo To The Azores’. Our team travels to Santa Clara to play on the 18th October, in the 3rd round of the Portugal Cup. Nacional will go to the north of Portugal to take on Varzim. Both opponents play in the Liga Honra (the 2nd highest level), and so should not in theory present too much of a challenge. There are still other teams from Madeira left in the cup, but as there are no big name opponents involved, I will leave it there.

Work on the new cemetery in Caniçal has been halted for three weeks. A digger started work, but after a couple of days was taken away. The main problem is with expropriations, or compulsory land purchases. The €1m project wasn’t in the council work programme for the current mandate, but the decision was made to proceed urgently because the existing cemetery is absolutely full. Aside from the purchase of land, how can a cemetery cost anything like €1 million to build? Aside from some ground levelling and boundary walls, what else is there. Will it be fully equipped with ready-to-wear tombs and blank gravestones, or am I just out of touch with today’s cemetery construction prices?

‘Sentence Annulled – António Henriques, condemned for the crime of active corruption in sport, won his appeal’. A court in Porto annulled the suspended sentence of 28 months in prison for the man who was tried after a game between Marítimo and Nacional, in the 2003 – 2004 season, that secured a place for Marítimo in the UEFA Cup. The referee in the game was also convicted at the trial last November, and given a suspended prison sentence of 20 months. Unreliable evidence and unclear facts helped clear the former vice president of the Refereeing Council, for his alleged part in the ‘golden whistle’ game, which became known as the game ‘well robbed’. No doubt destined for a career in Politics now. Uncle Bertie is probably on the phone to him right now, especially as the alleged act thrusted his favourite team into Europe that year.

’50 Students In A Basement – Paralysed works in the school of Lombo de São João oblige the controversial transfer to the basic school of Ribeira Brava’. Families of around 50 pre-school students demand real classrooms in the return to school. The usual school in São João is undergoing improvement works, that were promised to be completed in January this year, but the works were suspended for 6 months due to the contact being transferred to another company, due to insolvency. Meanwhile the kids occupy two basement rooms at the Basic School of Ribeira Brava, where the temperatures are high, and there is very little natural light.

‘Officers On Waiting List – The regional command of the Public Security Police is going to receive 23 new Madeiran officers, but there are 79 transfer requests still unanswered’. The ‘green light’ has been given by the PSP nationally to transfer the 23 officers to Madeira to strengthen the regional command. But there is no shortage of further candidates, with 79 officers on the mainland asking for transfers to Madeira. Some are desperate to come here, and join the region of Portugal that has the lowest ratio of police to population, just 3 officers per thousand inhabitants. The last influx was in January 2008 when 15 officers were transferred from Portugal. The new recruits are due to start duty next month, and will take the PSP numbers up to around 750 officers. The trade union spokesman for the police said that he had not been informed of the transfers, and preferred to wait and see before commenting, but did say that 23 recruits was not enough to provide the total contingent needed.

‘PSP Seize Arms In Machico – Domestic violence triggered a search’. 7 fire arms were seized, various forms of rifles, along with around a thousand rounds of differing calibres of ammunition. Police managed to obtain a warrant for a search of domestic premises, and were seized on the basis of elevated risk in a case of domestic violence, which applies even if the firearms are legally held.

‘All The Schools Now have Contingency Plans For Gripe A – Rui Anacleto says that self-control is needed’. All schools will start the new academic year on Monday with a swine flu contingency plan. The regional director of education guaranteed yesterday that all schools are prepared and ready to deal with the H1N1 virus, but only in terms of procedures and prevention in the spread of the virus, with the reinforcement of hygiene requirements. Disinfectant products, masks, and isolation rooms form part of the plans. Anacleto said that everything was being done to minimise the situation, and asked all involved to show self-control. He said he did not want "to transform the pandemic of Gripe A into a pandemic of fear".

Monday will see the official presentation of the Monte Train Project. Funchal Council will reveal the project ‘Comboio do Monte’ on Monday afternoon, that will provide a route by rail between Largo da Fonte, in Monte, to Terreiro da Luta.

The Festa do Pêro is tomorrow in Ponta do Pargo, Calheta. President Jardim will be there around 1 pm to make a speech to the farmers. On Monday he will be performing inaugurations at two schools, one new, the other enlarged.  

Police (PJ / Judicial Police) are warning people to ignore emails that are seemingly coming from them. The emails have been sent to many on Madeira, advising them to install a Microsoft security programme, that in fact is a virus. The emails seem to be coming from South America, and the exact source is being investigated.

A young man, who has had an arrest warrant outstanding for over a year, was finally captured yesterday in Nazaré, Funchal. The arrest was made after a routine check in the area. The man is wanted in connection with of thefts and robberies in Funchal going back over several years.

‘Albuquerque promises better quality of life – Centre of São Martinho is enhanced with a garden overlooking the sea’. A new garden was opened yesterday in São Martinho, Funchal. The garden, with sea views, is located at the Centro de São Martinho. The president of Funchal Council who was at the inauguration, promised more such urban open spaces that offer the population "more quality of life". The new garden occupies a site of nearly five thousand square metres, and was transformed at a cost of €450 thousand. It has 145 trees of 60 different species, seat, litter bins, and play equipment for children.

This weekend’s football : Only one football match worth watching on Madeira this weekend … the local derby. Nacional v Marítimo Sunday 6 pm, on SportTV 1.

Petrol and diesel prices drop 1 cêntimo on Monday. Petrol will be around €1.19 a litre, and diesel €0.93.

UPDATES :

‘Registered Unemployed Rose 50% In August, Compared To 2008 – In August 2008 there were 8,209, one year on there are 12,315. But there are 74 less than in July’. The registered unemployment on Madeira and Porto Santo continues to show signs of improvement, for the second month running. However, August is normally the best month of the year for job offers.

‘Another Fine Mess – Madeira was involved in another case that shakes the country, this time the bugging of the Presidency of the Republic’. The scandal is believed to have connections or even origins on Madeira, after information about bugging the President’s office in Belém was revealed by an aide of Cavaco Silva. First it was the free ride in the car of the regional government to the national leader of the PSD, and her presence at inaugurations, then it was the "**** ****" of president Jardim, and now the listening device(s) in the office of the President of the Republic. Several controversial episodes, separated by just a few days, and in one form or another, they all have Madeira in the middle. Madeira and the PSD that is. It was on the front page of the Daily News of Lisbon yesterday, that the principle aide of Cavaco Silva had revealed there had been a possible interception of information through monitoring of the President’s team. The news is full of this story, but Cavaco Silva himself has refused to discuss the matter publically, as he thinks it is better to wait until after the elections.

In the latest poll by SIC, the PS socialists have moved ahead of their only real rivals, the PSD social democrats, in the race for seats in The Assembly of the Republic, due to be contested a week tomorrow. The poll indicates that the ruling PS have increased their vote share from 33.6% to 34.9%, whilst the PSD have fallen back to 31.6%, a difference of 3.3%. The BE Left Block has remained steady in third place with 9.6%, whist the CDU communists have fallen back 1% to 8.4%. 15% of those involved in the poll said they were still undecided on which way to vote.

‘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.

The main sport headline, in football : ‘Hugo Almeida Warns Nacional : "We Are Strong" – The Portuguese International that plays for Werder Bremen praises the first opponent in the Europa League’. The player praises our local team, but has no doubts about Werder Bremen, saying "we are favourites".

‘Bandolins Seek Big Venues – The orchestra wants to perform in the Centro Cultural de Belém and in the Casa da Música (Porto)’. The new season 2009 – 2010, that starts today, brings new ambitions including the conquest of new audiences, and the chance to play in renowned venues in Portugal and abroad. The first concert is tonight at 9 pm in the English Church in Rua do Quebra Costas, in Funchal, which I believe will be a regular event on Friday’s. Another tour is planned in the UK next year, and the artistic director of the orchestra says that they must focus their work on venues abroad to promote Madeira and win new audiences. Special performances are also scheduled at the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias. I didn’t know that mandolins or music have seasons, but anyway, this is one of the few sources of local entertainment that anyone who reads this blog has ever shown any enthusiasm for*. Not had the privilege of seeing a performance myself yet, but maybe a trip out to Ribeira Brava is a bit beneath them now they are established internationally. (*aside from me and Vânia of course, who happened to be performing in Gaula this weekend).

Another 61 allotment plots for vegetable gardens will be provided in Bairro de João Gomes by the river. The plots which will be ready in November will take the total for Funchal to 170.

‘CMF Gives 3 Months To Update Meter Records’. Funchal council is owed €320,000 in unpaid water bills. They estimate that 11 thousand out of 50 thousand water meters are not registered to the correct user. During the period, water users can update their water meter details free, apart from a small stamp duty charge. If the deadline is missed, there will be a charge of €14.60 to change the details, and the council will move to collect outstanding water charges, regardless of the name on the account.

‘Madeira Government To Reinforce Cliff Face In Calheta Village – The work continues on what was already completed in 2003, and will cost around €7 million’. The plan is now to reinforce the complete escarpment, around 370 meters long, to prevent falling rocks and debris. Up until now just the central part has been dealt with, using barriers and wire mesh. The project, which is in the programme of works for 2007 – 2011, was agreed by the Governing Council yesterday and will now go out to tender. A spokesman for the government said that the "natural evolution" and "erosion" of the escarpment overlooking the sea front of Calheta, has over the years, resulted in "several detachments of blocks and fragments of rock and earth".  

At the same meeting yesterday, amongst a number of projects and grants approved, €700,000 was allocated for the construction of a central (town) square in Caniçal, and €3 million for a new connecting street for Sta. Quitéria-Três Paus and Viana, in Funchal.

‘Conceição Estudante Criticises The Secretary of State for Tourism For "lack of ethics and opportunism" – Madeira’s Tourism Secretary accuses Bernardo Trindade of "assuming leadership" in announcing a new air route to Madeira’. She is upset because he  anticipated the announcement of a new air route for this region, and took the credit. "I dislike having to make this comment at a time when the Secretary of State, Bernardo Trindade, is campaigning (head-of-list for the PS-M to the Assembly of the Republic), but the Secretary of State is taking a leadership role that he doesn’t have in this case", she said. She was speaking about the new route of the British company Jet2, that will carry passengers between Manchester and Madeira, from February(?) 2010, which was announced Wednesday by the Secretary of State for Tourism. She says he was not ‘in the chair’ during the negotiations, and that Trindade’s announcement "was an unpleasant exploitation, opportunism, and it was not ethical by the secretary of state to pre-empt the announcement". She then got a little more upbeat by saying "But what’s really important is that Madeira will have one more link in a market that is very important to this region, the United Kingdom".

Today’s main photo shows a picture of the president of Funchal Council in a bookshop : ‘Court Fines CMF For Bad Faith And President’s Threat – The "shocking" illegalities in the ‘VIP residences’ and the disrespect for judicial decisions lead to criticism from TACF. Miguel Albuquerque incurs a ‘crime of disobedience’ if he doesn’t repeal the licence and cut off the water’. The Administrative Court of the Circle of Funchal (TACF) fined the council and an ‘advisor’ €2,500, in connection with the VIP residences ‘Villas Jardins D’Água’. The judge ruled on 25th August that there was bad-faith from the council and developer of the properties, disrespecting judicial decisions, as if they had not been declared illegal. Work continued illegally after the judicial decision was ignored, and then the council illegally issued the authorisations for habitation, and now the properties are illegally occupied, said the judge, "It’s truly shocking in a state of European Union law". The council also has to take remedial measure in respect of the properties, including cutting-off the illegal water supplies. Councils and developers defying court judgements, what could have been the motivation? Must nip out later, as I am almost out of brown envelopes and other essential stationary items.

‘More Support – The crisis obliges the Social Security to expand its budgets for the institutes of solidarity’. The Social Security Centre Madeira (CSSM) gave €6.1 million to Private Institutions of Social Solidarity (IPSS) and other non-profit institutions of social support during the first half of 2009. Compared to the same period last year that was €300,000 more, with the number of support organisations increasing from 57 to 58. The biggest beneficiary was the Centro Social e Paroquial de São Bento, which received over €947,000, followed by the Centro Social Paroquial de Santo António with nearly €700,000, the Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Calheta with €512,000, and the Centro Social e Paroquial da Santíssima Trindade da Tabua with €437,000. The president of the Board of CSSM, Bernadette Vieira, said that this increase is a reflection "of investments that have been made in the areas that benefit senior citizens and children", and  stresses, that needs tends to increase, not only due to the emergence of new institutions of support and social solidarity, but also due to some serious social problems arising from the economic crisis.

Most of today’s front page is taken up with a photo of Cristiano Ronaldo with that agonising look he specialises in when he misses a scoring chance : ‘The Cursed Lack Of Aim – Liedson makes his debut with a goal but Portugal didn’t go beyond the draw (1 – 1) in Denmark. Faced with the triumph of Sweden in Hungary, our team fell to 4th place in the group and now has to rely on the others to enable it’s arrival at the World Cup’. It was just one of those games, when Denmark had just one shot on goal and scored, and Portugal had 15 at the last count and scored once. The referee was taking a bit of stick on the TV news this morning too, for not giving a pretty obvious penalty. With 3 games left against Hungary (x 2) and Malta, Portugal now need Sweden to slip up to have any hope of a play-off position.

‘Paul Loses Fishermen – The land of ‘sea captains’ awaits the construction of a fish market and for a civic centre’. Another headline : "Some Work The Land, Others Work The Sea" – Paul do Mar marked by emigration’. With 20 years Carlos Ferreira swapped Paul do Mar for Panama four years ago. Since then he has travelled around several Latin American countries on board tuna fishing vessels. The story of Carlos is no different from most of the inhabitants of Paul do Mar, a neighbourhood marked by emigration where "some work the land, others work the sea", explains Maria Fernandes, who at 64 years has also been an emigrant in South Africa. Australia, Panama, Samoa, Venezuela and England are other destinations for ‘pauleiros’. It is in the sea that the majority seek a living and better conditions in life. "It is very worthwhile," says Carlos Ferreira, who has no regrets having spent so much of his life at sea. "You earn a lot of money," he stresses. But in this "corner of heaven" not everything runs to form. There is still much to be done. The population welcomes the progress in the work on the Civic Centre, but complains about the lack of employment, and the health centre, for failing to offer a permanent service. It looks like the Diário series ‘Through Madeira’ is back. Marked by emigration it may be, but also marked by strewn concrete blocks like much of our coastline I see from the photo.

UPDATES :

‘Five Thousand In Grape Harvest Festival’. An estimated 5,000 people, including many tourists, went to Estreito de Câmara de Lobos yesterday morning to see the 32nd Festa das Vindimas. The Diário observed that the festival goers snubbed the risks of Gripe A swine flu, passing around drinking classes from person to person, a high-risk behaviour. One visitor was dazzled by the party and with the island, saying "It’s very beautiful. I’m really enjoying it. Madeira is beautiful". Herminia Lopez, a Luso-Venezuelan visiting Madeira for the first time praised the festival, "I loved it. It is very interesting". The regional secretary for tourism said that the wine festivals are well consolidated as tourism events, a fact proved by the 75% hotel occupancy, but she still aiming to improve on that. Grape production this year is expected to fall short of that achieved last year, and the harvest is also delayed as a result of weather conditions.
The photo is from Estreito de Câmara de Lobos yesterday.

‘Families should make contingency plans – The Director-General of Health states that each one must have their own procedures’. "We are informing all the Portuguese that the principal contingency plans are those of families", he said, referring of course to Gripe A swine flu. He also said that the obese, asthmatics, diabetics and those who have chronic problems, should consult their doctors beforehand to prepare protocols and procedures, to work to in the event of contracting Gripe A. "We are not at great risk, but it may be in the Autumn or Winter that this will happen" he added, stressing that at that time, "everyone should know what to do". The President of the Board of Health and Social Affairs, Maurício Melim, also present at the awareness initiative, said that the regional authorities will continue to invest in a plan of prevention, with particular attention for children, pregnant women, and the chronically ill.

‘Dog Show With More Breeds – The Lido Gardens filled yesterday afternoon and the appeal of the organisation was heard’. 65 dogs were entered and judged in several categories. The organiser took the opportunity to appeal to people not to abandon dogs, and to ensure that they were sterilised. There is a slideshow HERE with more photographs.

The International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London came to distinguish one wine made in Madeira as being the best in its category. The award for the best dessert(?) wine in the world was given to Verdelho 10 Old Reserve produced by Vinhos Barbeito. The election of a Madeira wine as the best liqueur(?) in the world is of great importance, since Madeira will increase its exports when the quality of its wine is recognized in such a way. Two other Madeira wines were also awarded at the event last week. Henriques & Henriques won a medal with a Malmsey of 2001, and also a Bual Colheita 1993 was among the winners. (It’s a bit tricky translating wine terminology, so a bit of guesswork was involved … just in case anyone was thinking of going out to buy a bottle of one of those mentioned).

The last of the front page stories today : ‘Parties Repetitive – There are places and entities, almost always the same, that are tempting for the parties in campaign times’. Bit of a pointless article really, but here goes. The political parties always target the same institutions when on the election campaign trail. Some institutions refuse to get involved. Favourites are Funchal Central Hospital and the regions health centres, to highlight a lack of conditions, Madeira Education Centre, the Farmers Market in Funchal, to get nice colourful pictures, and Madeira Free Zone. Visits to the regional command centre of the police, to highlight security issues, and the employment office of course, are also popular. The PSD social democrats particularly like to associate themselves with the church, and charities are also popular. In terms of a good backdrop for TV interviews, Pico dos Barcelos is popular, being a good spot with a panoramic view over Funchal.

"Absolute Majorites Always Abuse" – To inaugurate in election times is a sign of a lack of democratic maturity’. Those were some of the messages from Paulo Portas, national leader of the CDS Christian Democrats, on Madeira yesterday for the party political rally in Prazeres. The party has a slight chance of a seat in the Assembly of the Republic, if all goes really well. Portas referred to two politicians in his criticism, José Sócrates and Alberto João Jardim, saying that in absolute majorities "they transform the power into abuse". We all know that inaugurations at election time are a speciality of president Jardim, to win votes, but this year prime minister Sócrates is being accused of copying Jardim by doing much the same thing. Not quite on the same scale, as Jardim does two a day, and Sócrates just one. 

‘Injunction Hinders Completion – The urban works in São Roque are stopped for nine months’. The main picture of the day just shows a pretty empty street. The courts ordered the work to be stopped last November, but last week the machines returned to São Roque to demolish another building. The three residents, who sought and obtained the injunction, are now in fear that the machines will be entering their own properties. They took out the injunction to stop compulsory purchase of their property because they were not satisfied with the compensation offered. The department responsible for the infrastructure, guaranteed that work will resume only after the court decision is known. Until then they will just demolish buildings whose owners have accepted the terms of expropriation (compulsory purchase). The project will see the construction of a roundabout.

Today’s sports story : ‘Clubs Of Madeira Deceive Federation – FPF imposes tickets priced at €6. But the price is not inviting, so the clubs release freebies’. The Série Madeira, the new football league starts on Sunday, but the clubs feel obliged to fool the organising federation who have set the minimum ticket prices for spectators. "Instead of helping, the Federation just complicates life for the clubs", said a manager at one of the participating clubs. The price is just too high for the level of football, and the clubs don’t want to discourage spectators from attending the matches. Among the measures being taken, or considered, is ‘open doors’ matches, cut price season tickets, memberships, and other incentives. The clubs do need to cover match expenses, so most are considering offers that still attract spectators but cover costs as well. Many of the football clubs already have membership schemes where fans just pay a few Euros a month (€2.50 in Ribeira Brava for instance) which includes entrance to the matches, so €6 a game is a big jump.

‘Builders Give Up On ‘Affordable’ Housing – The crisis has changed the tendency of the market, and developers claim that they have lost clients’. The builders say there are no buyers because the market has changed, and new projects are selling badly, with houses and apartments left unsold. Falling prices have also made these projects less viable, and more difficulty in obtaining bank loans and finance. The situation is not serious according to some of the businessmen contacted by the Diário, although some refused to discuss the matter. I think these are developer led projects, that buy up land to build a apartment block or row of houses, where economies of scale and other factors make the costs and selling prices much cheaper than a ‘one off’ house build. It is much the same situation as reported as happening on Porto Santo a few weeks ago.

‘Festas Stacked Up Don’t Worry ‘Xutos’ "It will be a memorable concert", says Zé Pedro of the Xutos. On a Saturday of festas, the appearance of the band in Ponta do Sol is one of highlights’. This is the top rock act in Portugal, and they perform at 10 pm on Saturday as part of the ‘Festa do Conselho’. ‘Xutos & Pontapés’ will perform 10 songs from their new album, as well as a ‘journey through the classics’. It seems they are on a busy schedule, but really wanted to play on Madeira, "where we have many friends" said one band member.

(2nd September). ‘Electricity Of Madeira Distributes 250,000 Light Bulbs – The campaign will start this month and function in the same manner as the previous campaigns’. EEM has made available ‘new stock’ to persuade its customers to switch to energy efficient light bulbs.

UPDATES :

The President of the Board of the Regional Health Service (SESARAM), Almada Cardoso, released a statement following the reporting of the high profile case of a young lady who caught a hospital infection whilst undergoing surgery. The infection attacks the immune systems of it’s victims. In the press release, Almada Cardoso states that "nosocomial infections occur in all hospitals in the world" and that "Funchal Central Hospital has a lower rate than the national average, thanks to the very worthy work of the Commission for the Control of Hospital Infection of SESARAM, that performs an important daily prophylactic activity, to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial infections, which is a constant and permanent challenge". I am glad that was clarified, as the report yesterday was one sided, and the response from the hospital spokesman was very poor, and gave the impression that nothing could be done, and nothing was being done to minimise the chances of infection.

‘Treatments distributed to beekeepers’. In order to combat varroa, a parasitic disease caused by a mite which causes the weakening of the swarms, the Regional Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development is distributing a veterinary drug to Madeira’s beekeepers.

‘Enrolments For The Dog Show End Today‘. The last chance is today (6 pm) to enter a pet into the IV Dog Show for the event in the Lido Gardens on Saturday, starting at 2.30 pm. Rush to SPAD or VetFunchal now if you forgot. Any race, or non-race, can enter but must be between 4 months and 10 years old, and must have proof of the necessary vaccinations.

In Portugal, a new automatic car registration reader was installed in just 17 police vehicles in June. Already in just 3 months, 521 stolen cars have been detected, and 2,256 cars have been identified without insurance. The equipment costs around €11,000 per vehicle. We don’t have it here yet, but nationally the plan is to extend the installation of this equipment in vehicles of the security authorities (GNR & PSP).

On the TV news this morning, there was an astounding leap in the cases of Gripe A in Portugal. Swine flu has been confirmed in 5,123 cases, up 2,897 in just one week. Madeira, is included in these figures, but itself had just 3 new cases in the week, taking the total number of confirmed cases here since the beginning to just 33. The message is clear, come to Madeira for your safe holidays (as if you didn’t already know!), as long as you don’t bring Gripe A with you.

In politics today :

‘Carlos César considers Sócrates "courageous" for advocating the need for greater support for the Azores – The leader of PS Azores reaffirms that the "cost of living on the nine islands are greater than on two, and the Azores need more support than Madeira". The row continues, with the president of the Azores again reiterating that the Azores needs more financial support than Madeira. Personally I don’t see what the row is about, as each region has it’s own needs, and central funding must be based on those. I can’t see any value in comparing the two and squabbling about who deserves more. I didn’t see any statement from prime minister Sócrates on the issue, but it seems he agrees with César anyway, who in turn is using it as an election tool to persuade the Azores population to vote for the PS socialists.

‘Council Presidents Receive Thousands Even In Times Of Crisis – Albuquerque receives half of the president of the republic, €250,000 per mandate’. The full time presidents of the câmaras have no reason to complain, as is the case for those others in positions of high political trust. Miguel Albuquerque, president of CMF (Funchal Council), is paid €250,000 for his 4 year mandate of the governance of Funchal, and is the ‘richest’ on Madeira. Presidents of smaller câmaras receive €200,000 per mandate. Miguel Albuquerque receives €4,483 a month, including allowances / expenses, about half of the salary of Cavaco Silva, Portugal’s president. In the other regions, in those with between 10 and 40 thousand voters, the presidents receive €4,035 a month (inclusive), and in those with less that 10,000 voters the presidents receive €3,586 a month. Full time councillors in Funchal receive €3,310 a month (including allowances / expenses), with the rule of thumb being 80% of the salary of the president.

The main photo today shows a couple of ladies cleaning and cutting bananas : ‘Madeira Government Takes Possession Of The Banana Factory – A conflict between partners initiates the ‘nationalisation’. The solution conflicts with community rules. Although it might finish with the dumping of tons of bananas in Meia Serra waste processing plant’. Madif, the company of the banana processing plant in Ponta do Sol, was hit by internal disputes, that should oblige the regional government to nationalise the company and take on the management. The plant has had problems since it was opened in 2004, with breaks in production and low productivity, the collapse of the banana cooperative, and the presence of a Spanish partner who wanted to change the terms of operation. Obligations arising from the aid given by the European Union further complicate the matter.

Today’s sports headline : "Television Rights Are A Scandal" – The president of the General Assembly of Nacional tackles the moment of the "4th best" in Portugal’. An interview with Miguel de Sousa, president of AG Nacional, who considers the football club to be the best in Portugal, outside the ‘big three’ on the continent. He says that Nacional and FC Porto are the fastest growing clubs in terms of fans, because of their successes. As regards TV coverage, he says the obligations placed on the clubs are a scandal when the media concentrates so much on the ‘big three’, and the revenue from TV coverage is not distributed fairly.

‘Eco’ Freebie Attracts New Customers- Around 50 people regularly use the ‘Eco Line’ buses, the trips that used to cost 50 cêntimos are now free’. One of the Eco bus drivers said that yesterday that "many strange faces" boarded his bus. The Funchal buses run Monday to Friday between 8 am and 8 pm, and Saturday until 2 pm. The 4 buses can carry 8 seated passengers, 11 standing, and also has space for a wheelchair.

Any table tennis fans? The Funchal Junior Open begins today. Everyone a Winner in Funchal (in English).

‘Madeiran On The Up On The TV In Latin America’. Gavo Figueira is an actor in a soap called ‘Oye Bonita’ in Columbia, that is also being shown in Venezuela, where he also had roles in several soaps. He is also a model and writes books. Born on Madeira, but raised abroad, he has been in acting since he was aged 12.

An unnamed ‘electrical shop’ in Fórum Madeira was under fire for what was showing on a large LCD TV screen. Dad said that his three year old son turned to him and said "what are those people doing", and he looked around to see a hard-core pornography film being shown on a huge screen in the shop. The man complained and the film was switched off. The Diário said that the manager was not available to explain the situation.

UPDATES : 

‘Three New Cases Of Gripe A Confirmed On Madeira’. 24 suspected cases of swine flu H1N1 were investigated in the last week, with just 3 with positive tests, taking the total to 33 since the first case. All three came from abroad.  Two cases admitted to hospital prior to the latest count are doing well, although one is stable in intensive care.

‘Council ‘Without Hands’ For Leakage Repair Work – On average there are 12 ruptures daily in the drinking water system in Funchal’. One case was reported a month ago, but still has water running off down the road, getting the locals wet as traffic passes by. The council is aware of the leak, but works have not yet started, and the repair teams have not been able to attend all the leaks reported in recent weeks. Funchal council says it has had to raise a tender contract to deal with the most urgent cases, almost all in the east of the city. A major contract will be awarded for pipework renewals, but that won’t happen until January. A counsellor explained that the new leaks are coming quicker because works in the west of Funchal raised the pressure in the water network.

‘Passenger Airlifted From The Armas’. A passenger was airlifted off the ferry on its way to the Canary Islands, and taken to Funchal Central Hospital. The navy rescue was undertaken Monday night by the Merlin helicopter, 112 km south of Madeira, to deal with a man who lost a finger on board the ferry.

The 24 year old man caught twice with stolen cars in just a few days, and without a driving licence, has been released again by a judge ‘awaiting trial’.

‘President On The Way Out Helps PS’. The PSD president of Santana, on his way out from the job which he has held since 1984, voted with the socialists on a proposal to lower property taxes (IMI) in Santana from 0.7% (of valuation?) to 0.6%. A rare event indeed for a social democrat to side with socialists on matters of public finance. The meeting had 2 counsellors from PS-M and 2 from PSD-M, but chairman Carlos Pereira had the casting vote to block the proposal had he needed it. The reason given by the socialists for the cut in IMI taxes is that Santana has high levels of population leaving the area, and those left are in an ageing population. The lower taxes might be an incentive for families to stay in the area.

‘Passenger With Gripe A Prevented From Boarding – The tourist was already in the airport when he received internment orders from Marmeleiros Hospital’. The tourist spent the night in hospital. Confirmation that the person had swine flu resulted in him being prevented from travelling to Lisbon and infecting other passengers on the flight. His three travelling companions also spent the night in the hospital to be screened, but at the time showed no symptoms. The tourist was on the list of suspected cases, having had symptoms, and attended Funchal Central Hospital for checks. Whilst the analysis was being done he took the medications, but his condition developed rapidly as he prepared to return home, and the confirmation of Gripe A changed his plans. The firemen of Santa Cruz were sent to the airport to pick up the group in a vehicle equipped for such cases. One of the sick patients already in hospital with pneumonia (and gripe A) has improved in health and is no longer connected to the ventilator. That patient, probably the most serious case so far, from Câmara de Lobos, no longer needs breathing assistance. They should put warnings signs up in the airports and on check-in desks to tell people that if they know they have Gripe A, and continue to fly, they could go to prison for knowingly infecting others on board – 5 years inside if I recall correctly.

‘Port Without Space Is Losing Cruise Ship Visits – A shipping agency alerts to the need to increase the posts for mooring’. This is an article in the series ‘The top 100 Companies’. This one is called Agência Ferraz, specialising in the ‘shipping’ sector, and founded 80 years ago. It deals with some of the big players in the international market, and includes tourism. Carlos Santos of the company believes that Funchal Port needs upgrading works, and although the new port building is very welcome, the real need is to increase the number of berths, particularly as ships are now getting larger. He said that the port has already lost business for not responding to the call for more capacity, and this will continue to happen. "We can not think that docking a liner in Funchal is the same as in the Mediterranean, in Greece or the Caribbean. We can not allow ourselves the luxury of refusing scales or influencing the choices of companies" he said. 

‘He Lived The High Life And Left Debts Of €20,000′. A 27 year old man is under investigation by police after a series of frauds. The man from Castelo Branco in Portugal used scams to live the life of a lord on Madeira, leaving debts in hotels, shops, and restaurants in Funchal and surrounding areas. For almost a year he used stolen cheques and faked bank transfers to ‘live the life’. In one Funchal jewellery shop he brought gold worth €1,500, paying with a stolen cheque. New complaints are coming to light, and the extent of the fraud is mounting up, and the Diário has totted up more than €20,000 so far. The case goes back to December last year, when the young man, with a criminal record as a con man in Portugal, stayed at a hotel for a few days in Funchal, leaving behind a debt of €1,200. Several other hotels also fell victim, including the Carlton Hotel, again for €1,200. The con man is no longer on Madeira, and his whereabouts at present is unknown.

Today’s main photo and sports story : ‘Marítimo Uninspired In Leiria – Goalless draw justified in weak offensive performance of the ‘Verde-Rubros’. Nacional play this evening.

That’s everything from the front page today. Normally there are at least 7 headlines, sometimes as many as 9, but today just 5.

UPDATES :

‘Lugar de Baixo Undergoes More Works’. The controversial marina at Lugar de Baixo is again the subject of repairs. This time the work addresses the damage caused as a result of securing the overlooking cliff face, as well as some damage, caused by the strength of the waves, to the wall of the jetty that protects the marina. Also the construction that houses the car park, that was also badly damaged by rock falls, is being completely demolished, as that is was deemed to be the cheaper and most appropriate option. A new parking facility will not be built for now. "At this stage there is no justification, because we have enough parking in the area for the immediate needs", said a spokesman, adding that even if there was a need, it is intended in the future to consider other enterprises planned inside the marina complex.

‘Festival of Curral Finishes With Drunks and Brawls’. A young man was left unconscious after an assault in a bar, and several men were suffering with severe alcohol intoxication, during Saturday night in the festa in Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns). Ambulance services were called on six times between midnight on Saturday and 8 am Sunday morning. Also during the weekend festival in São Vicente the fire department was called upon to rescue several people worse the wear from excess drinking. "But this, as they say, is normal when there are festivals in the parish". It might be normal, but it’s certainly not acceptable!

‘Searches are continuing along the coast’. Despite having been officially suspended for four days, the search operations for the 78 year old fisherman who may have fallen in the sea in the area of Lakota, Porto Santo, have continued with searches along the coast of the island. "Once or twice a day, we carry out searches along the coast", said the commander of the Maritime Zone of Madeira, adding that after so much time having passed since the disappearance, there is little chance of the body appearing along the coast.

‘Cimber Sterling Connects Madeira And Copenhagen’. The Denmark based airline flies today to Madeira’. The first of the weekly flights was due to land at Madeira Airport at 12.50 pm, returning to Denmark one hour later. The journey each way is around 5 hours.

‘CEB should maintain interest rates’. The Central European Bank should maintain its interest rates on Thursday, waiting to see if the signs of recovery in the euro zone will extend further. The main rate by the CEB should continue at its lowest historical level of one percent, where it has been since May, according to financial analysts.

FINALLY A FEW POLITICAL BITS & PIECES :

‘Jardim Responds To César – The number of islands is not an argument for positive discrimination’. "On this, one doesn’t count the number of islands, one counts the population, and Madeira has a higher population than the Azores" he said. He was responding to the president of the Azores, who said that the autonomous regions of Portugal should not be treated equally in terms of state financing, and that the Azores should have more than Madeira because it has more islands (9). "The density of population of the Azores is 110 people per square kilometre, and on Madeira it is 330", said Jardim, who also argued that Madeira has to import from abroad more than 80 percent of what it consumes, while the Azores have "a primary sector of agriculture, fisheries and livestock" with which they have little need to import. "If he is to play with the arguments, then, I also demand a positive discrimination in relation to the Azores", he said.

The best news today is that president Jardim returns to work after 20 days of holidays on Porto Santo. Over the last few weeks his day started with a game of tennis, then its was off for a stroll with his buddies along the golden beach as far as the famous ‘Bar do Henrique’. He also took some work with him to keep busy, as well as having some official duties arranged to coincide with his stay on Porto Santo, including inaugurations. He also read a book whilst there, the latest offering by Fernando Dacosta, and returned to Funchal for the 501 year celebrations. He also had other books with him, including one I mentioned the other day ‘The Mysteries of the Islands’, which he highly recommends we should all read. That summary of Uncle Bertie’s holiday, which cost him just €200 in accommodation charges, was from the Jornal da Madeira today, just in case anyone thought I was writing my own ‘soft’ account of our presidents exploits, which included insulting half the political forces and personalities of Portugal. Is there such a thing as ‘holiday rage’, ‘cos I think he caught a dose. I for one am pleased to have you back Bertie, as it will get Porto Santo out of the newspapers, having had more coverage than Funchal over the last 3 weeks.

From the Jornal da Madeira yesterday : ‘Ferreira Leite On Madeira On 8th September – A day for contact with candidates and the population of Madeira’. The PSD party leader, president Jardim’s boss in political terms, will visit some streets in Funchal to talk to people.

She’s the one on the left. I have no idea who the other bloke is.

‘Gripe A : Six Thousand Masks Face masks For The 1st Cycle And Pre-School’. Madeira government preparing plan to ensure there is no disruption to school meals. Paper towels and hot air hand driers installed. All measures in response to the risk of the spread of H1N1 swine flu. The masks will only be used in the event of a suspected case, while the situation is being dealt with and the kids are in isolation. In fact, right now, all eyes are focused on a contingency plan to avoid disruptions in the supply of meals in schools. The Director of Planning and Educational Resources points out that this issue is very sensitive and, if not taken care of, can cause problems for families. "Imagine that two of the three kitchen staff of a school fall ill during the night. The school must have alternatives to continue to provide meals to students, in order not to compel families to find solutions on their behalf". Now there’s a scary thought … 6,000 infants, … even scarier is 6,000 hungry infants with masks.

The sports story of the day is an expansion on what was given yesterday : ‘The Distinguished And Dangerous In The Group Of Nacional – Club President Rui Alves expects to get through the group stage with victories in the Choupana’ (home games). Group L fixtures for our local football team in the Liga Europa are : Weder Bremen 17/9 (h) & 3/12 (a), Austria Vienna 1/10 (a) & 16/12 (h), and Athletic Bilbao 22/10 (a) & 5/11 (h).

‘Licensing Hours Annoy Businessmen In The Docks – The council of Porto Santo provides for the bars of the city and leaves Penedo do Sono deserted’. The article is accompanied by a photo outside the location in question, with not a person in sight. The bosses in the dock area say they are worried. Those that invested in bars in Penedo do Sono are upset with the câmara who have spoiled their Summer by "giving out licenses to any bar on the island that might want to stay open until 4 or 5 am in the morning", said Ruben Drumond, night club owner and spokesman for the discontented. He said he made a considerable investment in his venture on the strength of a ‘scenario of withdrawal from the city and residential zones, that did not come to pass’. A measure adopted, he adds, because it is a local election year.  "It appeared to us a sense of injustice and disrespect on the part of Mr. President, Roberto Silva, who conceived and laid down certain rules that now have no value in themselves, thereby showing a great contempt for those who believed in his ideas" he regrets. "The city council had set a strategy to remove the noise from the city centre and focus on the nightlife in Penedo do Sono" he recalls, explaining that this was intended to "feed the evolution of the island as a destination of quality", with a separation between those people seeking rest and those seeking nightlife. Ruben, who owned a bar in the town in 2005, was approached directly by the câmara president in November that year, and told that the opening hours were to be cut back, and anyone wishing to ‘make a noise’ late on would have to do it in Penedo do Sono, which was to be built for this purpose. A politician who doesn’t keep his word … whatever next! A businessman who bases a substantial investment on the word of a politician … whatever next!

‘Adverse Weather Conditions Cancel Entertainment In São Vicente – The international group Hermes House Band should have been playing, but the performance was cancelled’. The entertainment programme, including the open air disco, for the night in the annual festival in São Vicente was cancelled due to strong winds and rain. Tonight the top comedy act ‘Super Gordo’ also depends on weather conditions. And there’s me just down the road struggling to find a breath of cool air last night, and certainly not a sniff of rain.

UPDATE

‘Excavation makes rats to flee to the homes’. An excavation which is being undertaken in the area of Ribeiro Seco, which is encompassed in the work of connecting the Port of Funchal to Pilar, is causing the rats to flee, which were there in large numbers, to the houses in the vicinity, including the Caminho da Fé. The complaint was made by a resident of the area, directing criticism at the company who is doing the work, in particular for not having targeted the rats for extermination before the start of the ground-works. Something he stresses that has been suggested by residents at an earlier stage of the work.

Restriction on some lands preventing hunting have been lifted, in time for the new hunting season. As a result, in Paul da Serra there will be 400 more hectares available to hunters than there were last year.

‘Biofuel production to start in Porto Santo before the end of the year’. The production of biofuel from biomass, made through the intensive cultivation of micro algae will start to be implemented by the end of the year in Porto Santo, said a spokesman from EEM (Empresa Electricidade da Madeira). The new ‘substation’ at Calheta is costing €1.3 million, and is in response to growing demand on the island, and to make Porto Santo "truly green in terms of electricity". Porto Santo, was the home of the first wind farm in Portugal, established in 1998.

Several ‘bush’ fires were reported yesterday, including in Santa Cruz and Câmara de Lobos, and also two suspicious fires started in Campanário.

Funchal’s taxi drivers are to put together a petition against the decision to make the 4 ‘eco buses’ free of charge to users, on the basis this it creates unfair competition. Actually it says ‘taxi drivers of the region’, so maybe they are expecting others outside of Funchal to come on board. The decision was taken at a meeting last week, to which very few taxi drivers actually attended. The petition will be signed by the drivers, families and friends. The chances of getting public support will be pretty thin, like turkeys voting for Christmas, and what with the fierce inter rivalry between the 11 regions of Madeira on taxi matters, I doubt whether there will be much support from outside of Funchal either.

The ground staff on strike at major airports have returned to work, after promises from the airline TAP that jobs will be retained. Unions and management signed a protocol after a meeting lasting 4 hours, that ended the industrial action of the ‘handling’ company Groundforce.

The last of the front page offerings for today is from politics. The main photo today shows a close up photo of the face of Humberto Vasconcelos, the president (or soon to be ex) of São Vicente Câmara : ‘Humberto Felt That They Wouldn’t Allow Him To ‘Give More’ – Humberto Vasconcelos expressed his state of spirit on The Dia do Concelho (day of the region) of São Vicente about not being able allowed to continue the work in the North. In an interview to the Diário, he explains himself better. Who doesn’t feel …’. A restrained interview with HV who seems to be popular locally, but he got on the wrong side of President Jardim, who stopped him standing for another term. "That I have to respect" he said. "From my point of view there is no conflict, it was a strategy determined by the (PSD-M) party", he said. At his farewell speech in the ‘dia do concelho’ this week in São Vicente he received a standing ovation from the crowd, something the government representative in attendance didn’t get. The opposition parties will use this controversy to pressure the PSD-M in the forthcoming elections, and as the seat is less safe than the social democrats would like, they might find winning here a bit of a struggle. Another Uncle Bertie classic ‘own goal’ perhaps?

The main photo today shows a taxi rank, with the first in the queue out of his cab and looking rather annoyed : ‘Free ‘Eco Line’ Infuriates Taxi Drivers – The taxi drivers on the rank are worried and indignant with Albuquerque and Conceição Estudante : the free transport in ecologically friendly buses threatens to explode the market’. Taxis in "slow death". "In reality, we don’t know what the future will hold for taxi drivers after 1st September". It is with concern that the president of the Taxi Association AITRAM, António Loreto, sees the future of these professionals after Funchal council and the regional secretary for tourism and transport revealed their intentions to make travel free on the ‘Eco Line’ buses. Alongside the illegal competition from some transport companies, Loreto says that this latest news is tormenting his members and "is going to damage yet more  the life of the taxi drivers". He believes that the Eco Line is a experimental initiative, with a duration of six months. "It seems that we just have to pay taxes, whilst others take our business" he adds, referring to the fact that it will be very difficult to attract tourists and residents when there is a free bus every 10 minutes connecting the main points of the city and hotels. There are 450 taxi drivers in Funchal, and over a thousand jobs overall, that depend on the trade. This week AITRAM will hold an emergency meeting with its members to analyse the problem. Not much sympathy from me when it comes to taxi drivers in Funchal, I guess the ones that are that way inclined will be ripping off a few more tourists to try to fill their pockets. Tough on the good ones though, doing my politically correct bit of course. What price a cleaner environment eh? I am hopping mad with jealousy because we (over my way) will continue to have the filthy old polluting buses of Rodoeste, and still have to pay for them. All the good stuff goes to Funchal as usual, sod the poor people out in the country.

‘Only Two Salvage / Rescue Stations Operational – The programme for 6 marine assistance centres is far from the end’. Network of stations in "dry dock". The six centres for costal rescue stations were promised in 2007, but progress is slow. In fact the only one in operation is in Funchal, although the one in Santa Cruz (which will act as the HQ) situated under the airport runway, is used in necessity, but has not yet been inaugurated. Porto Santo should be ready in 2010. With the other three, the situation is uncertain. In Porto Moniz, APRAM awaits authorisation from the civil protection authorities to start work in the port, and in Lugar de Baixo, well we all know the situation there. Porto da Cruz is in no better situation, depending on the decision of the government regarding the harbour location, with nothing expected to happen before 2011. Despite the uncertainties, SANAS went ahead and have already bought the six lifeguards rescue stations. These are now in ‘dry dock’ waiting to be used. There is a story and / or excuse for almost all the delays, and little concrete information on moving forward. The incident at São Vicente a few days ago when a fisherman was swept out to sea, proves the need for a ready nearby response, rather than waiting for aid to come from afar. When installed, each station will have a lifeboat in readiness to be launched when an alert is raised. We already have one tucked away here in Ribeira Brava, which I believe is operated by our firemen, so perhaps the Diário doesn’t have the full picture regarding sea rescue resources.

Yesterday’s search efforts pictured after a 73 / 75 / 76 year old man disappeared on Porto Santo on Sunday. He went out to do some fishing and didn’t return. ‘Missing Fisherman Of Porto Santo Was The Chauffeur Of The Murdered Businessman’. Despite the headline, nothing has been found to suggest that any third party was involved in the disappearance. Involved in the search are the navy patrol  boat ‘Cuanza’, two launches, a Merlin EH-101 helicopter, firemen and 4 forensic divers from Funchal. The search started yesterday continues today.

‘Seven Detained For Driving Under The Effect Of Alcohol – PSP dealt with 21 accidents at the weekend’. Three of the cases were in Ribeira Brava, the other 4 were spread around. One arrest was made for driving without a licence, and another for having a pop at a police officer. The 21 road accidents caused 5 injuries, one serious. Over the previous week on the via rápida hosted 63 broken down vehicles, as well as 8 vehicles stopped without apparent reason. 9 people were caught ‘on foot’, 8 animals rescued, and 35 objects of ‘risky dimensions’ were removed.

In football : "Terrible Atmosphere" Awaiting Nacional – Zenit player praises the promotion in Russia and makes himself available to collaborate in every way’. The Zenit player is Danny, not born here, but considered as a Madeiran. The stadium is likely to be full (21,000+) of baying Russians, giving Nacional a very ‘warm’ noisy welcome on Thursday. He applauds the decision to use the game to promote ‘destination Madeira’, and considers it a good investment of €10,000. He said he has already told footballing colleagues about Madeira, and some have visited, including the owner of his former club Dynamo Moscow.

‘Cavaco Silva vetoes new law on unions ‘de facto’ - The President of the Republic considers "inappropriate" making substantive changes at the end of term’. The President vetoed the new law on unmarried couples, considering it "inappropriate" at the end of a legislative term changing the current law, and pointing out the lack of a "in depth discussion" on the matter. "Without contesting the eventual need to make an improvement of the legal regime of ‘de facto’ unions … it is considered that at this juncture, this change is not only untimely, but it was not subject to discussion with the depth that the importance of this topic necessarily requires", reads a note posted on the website of the Presidency.

‘Rockfall In Albufeira – Prosecutors opened criminal investigation’. The public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the collapse of a cliff on the beach Maria Luísa in Albufeira on Friday, that killed five people and injured several more. The inquiry will be conducted in Portimão and the report referred to the court in Albufeira. The inquiry will "investigate any responsibility for what happened".

UPDATE : 

‘Police Action Results In Complaints – PSP says it was acting in a situation of public disorder in Camacha’. Three men claim to have been the victims of aggression in the area Nogueira, from the Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR) of the Public Security Police. The situation is worsening the already complicated relationship between the police and residents of the zone. The three young men aged 20, 26 and 27 claim they were the target of a revenge attack, because of personal issues that they had had with an officer of BIR. A police spokesman said the BIR was called in to deal with a situation of public disorder. It all happened at the Festa de São Lourenço at around 12.30 am, and witnesses said that the three men were eating espetada without bothering anyone and doing nothing to annoy the police officers, but when the three moved away to go to the toilet they were followed by the BIR team (made up of 9 officers). The toilet entrance was blocked to stop anyone else entering and the three were given a "drubbing that almost killed us", according to one of the three men, as well as being threatened with death. The police used guns, batons, and pepper spray in the attack he said, and he ended up pretending to pass-out to stop the assault. The police version says the men were found in the public toilet when responding to a call about drunkenness and drugs, and they resisted arrest, but were handcuffed and taken to the police station and later released. The case is now with the public prosecutor in Santa Cruz.

‘Police Charge Bar on Porto Santo For Unlicensed Security’. The popular bar in the docks area was caught using two bouncers, when not licensed to do so. The fine for the offence ranges from €10,000 to €100,000. That should put an end to that bar then!

‘Hotels Are Prepared – Hoteliers commend the meeting to clarify matters about Gripe A’. The hotels are already preparing themselves for a possible outbreak of swine flu cases, with the arrival of cooler September temperatures. They have the materials and disinfectants needed, and also a contingency plan. The Diário contacted the main hotel groups of Pestana, Porto Bay, Savoy and Dorisol, and all assured that they were ready for the expected pandemic, with workers instructed and provided with ‘protective kits’, that include long-sleeved uniforms, ‘duck billed’ protective masks, and gels and disinfectants for cleaning telephones, doorknobs, printers, sanitary facilities etc. They are also trained in being diplomatic as to not upset customers. Can’t deny that being an interesting prospect, some one dressed on like a duck billed Darth Vader approaching a sneezing guest and hosing him down with disinfectant and yet maintaining hotel type diplomacy. I can’t deny being a little intrigued by the ‘kits’ containing materials for cleaning ‘printers’, although everything else makes sense. What make printers a special case I wonder? It’s a while since I went to a hotel I must admit, but in this day and age do they now put printers on dinner tables, or do people sleep with them. What about the computers they are connected to, are they somehow immune to Gripe A, and an even worse risk I would guess is the computer keyboard, as that’s where people have their hands after the previous gripe victim has coughed and sneezed all over it. I would have thought that lift buttons, and indeed coins and notes, would present a higher risk and have a higher priority than printers. I am busy saving up my small change, so when the pandemic hits Rib. Bra. I can always pay for things with the exact money … no risk then with infected change. What worries me is the kissey kissey thing and shaking hands with so many people, as I don’t want to offend anyone by refusal. Perhaps I will paint my face with pink spots, then people will avoid me instead.

Only around 20 articles in today’s Diário news sections (excluding sport and events), so that’s it from there today, but might I drift over to the dark side later to see what’s in the Jornal da Madeira, but no promises.

Just this one : "Mistérios das Ilhas" In The Bookshops Of Madeira’. ”Mysteries of the Islands’, controversies and secrets from the history of Madeira, by the author journalist José Luís Cabrita, is already on sale in all good bookshops. It has a preface by a man called Alberto João Jardim, who also happens be the president of Madeira (and presumably that also means that he is protected from any personal embarrassment). The book questions the discovery of Madeira, and looks at the ‘captains’ of the island, it’s settlement, and its inhabitants. It presents little known information about Madeira, some of it controversial. In the preface, Alberto João Jardim believes that "Mysteries of the Islands" is "a new and different image that brings the history of Madeira to political debate". I want to read it, but at €20 a copy, it might have to wait until Xmas.