Madeira News Blog

(23rd July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Government Suspends PDM – For this time, the suspension of the Municipal Master Plan is done for S. Roque: Twisting rules to permit the construction of a civic centre’. The Câmara of Funchal and the Madeira government are roughly in agreement with the action, that will allow a significant deviation in policy that ensures urban planning projects conform with investment requirements. The civic centre in São Roque, the conversion of an existing building, violates the rules of the PDM, but will go ahead under the label of "public interest", justified by the fact that the one new centre will unite the users of other local centres.

The day’s main photo shows a police vehicle parked outside a police station, and continues the kidnapping and murder story : ‘Family Of Guilherme Alves Had The Money For The Ransom Demand – Rui Jorge Ferreira, son-in-law of the murdered Porto Santo businessman, deplores that the kidnappers had not given time so that he could have transferred to ransom sum. Talking to the Madeiran society in a long open letter in today’s Diário, Rui Jorge who was also threatened with death, tells everything and says that he warned the police to detain the suspect at large. Still alert to businessmen and individuals "This real bandit can appear when you least expect him". The family of the murdered man have not requested special protection, but they are in fear of retaliation, but protective measures will have to be approved through a court, following examination of the circumstances. Also in fear are those with their names on a fake ‘headstone’, for their part in the failed business of Martins (as mentioned yesterday). The fact that there are two of the gang in prison helps, but with the ringleader still on the run, people are still worried for their safety, despite the fact that Martins is known to have fled the country using a false passport, but he may have other false documentation he could use to return.

In a related headline : ‘For their part, one family member of the suspect José Martins complains that no one offered psychological help to the family and he understands that, if his relative murdered someone, he would kill himself afterwards’. The relative mentions that Martins has farmland in Brazil, with around 300 head of cattle, but refused to give more details and the address when asked. They also say that he "is of good heart", and that he is "capable of turning himself in to justice, if he realises he is thought to be involved in the case", as he is "not capable of spending all of his life with the burden of guilt". It’s always best to hear both sides of the story to get a balanced opinion, but a man who flees the country on a false passport straight after a kidnapping and murder only deserves so much positive blog coverage. Who knows, I might soon be on his ‘gravestone’ black list, and I wouldn’t be to hard to track down.

"We’re Going To Lose History" – Traders and cultural agents ask for certification for traditional drinks of Curral de Freiras’. A solution that supports the production of traditional beverages such as ginja (cherry liquor) and castanha liquor (chestnut), is wanted by traders, and organisations that are interesting in preserving and disseminating traditional activities in Curral das Freiras (Valley of the Nuns). Currently local products such as chestnut cake, chestnut soup and grilled chestnuts are sold in establishments, but the ginja and liquors sold are not from Curral das Freiras, even though they may purport to be. The process for certification of ginja has already started, but no mention of plans for the chestnut liquor, and if it doesn’t occur then production and tradition may be lost. Does this mean to say that if one buys a bottle of ginja in Curral das Freiras now, then currently it would be considered to be ‘moonshine’?

The football stadium of Marítimo at Barreiros has now got permission to start work on the stadium redevelopment, from Funchal Council, although it does appear that work had already started.

‘PJ Investigate A Probable Murder In Calheta – A man looks to have killed his own wife, and then committed suicide’. It happened last night, with a disagreement being the cause suggested. The man appears to have taken his own life with a firearm.

‘Funchal Is The 5th Best District To Live In Portugal – ‘Land Of The Future’ was the slogan chosen by those responsible for the study’. From among 20 districts in all of Portugal, through enquires made to public using 10 objective criteria, Funchal finished in a top position, and was given the title ‘Land Of The Future’. The project did criticise Funchal for lack of investment in the area of culture, but the president of Funchal Câmara said that steps were planned for a venue to host shows, and for a public art gallery.

‘Two More Cases Of Gripe A On Madeira – The number of confirmed cases rises to five’. Two 9 year old children have now been confirmed to have H1N1 swine flu. They arrived from the UK on Saturday. Why don’t they cross-off the ones that are released? It would be nice to get back to zero again when the current 4 are released, but instead they just keep adding on.

In a related headline story : ‘Gripe A: The Race To The Pharmacies Continues – Paranoia helps to sell out supplies of disinfectants and masks’. On Tuesday one chemist sold 130 bottles of disinfectant, and the story repeats itself throughout Funchal, if there are any stocks left at all. One customer brought 10 bottles. Those most worried are those that work in public service and have contact with the public. The masks are also in high demand, mostly from those going on holiday, to wear on the plane. What they don’t realise is that the masks on sale are not suitable for Gripe A, and all they do is protect others from the wearer of the mask, and not the other way around. It’s an updated and recycled story from a couple of weeks ago. National forecasts on the expected impact of the swine flu is that 2.5 million people will be affected, and between 2,500 and 8,700 people will die. For just Madeira, 62,500 infected, and between 625 and 2,170 will die.  If that news doesn’t send people scarpering off to the chemist, I don’t know what will!

A report released yesterday on the state of forestry on Madeira reveals that 43% of the island is forest. Of the total area of Madeira (80,102 hectares) over 34,000 are forested zones, mostly Laurissilva. The report, which is the first forestry ‘inventory’ ever carried out, shows that just 5% of such areas exist in urban zones, and the rest is roughly equally split between natural forest and cultivated forest. The report will be updated every 5 years, and will be a key tool in planning matters. Like what forest will we use to build the next cable car perhaps?

Traders in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos are suffering a crime spree. A florist shop in the centre is the latest victim of 5 robberies within a week. Around €100 was taken during the night. It seems a lot of robberies take place because cash is left on the premises overnight. If the insurance companies insisted on ‘no cash’ left on the premises, a lot of this would gradually fizzle out. Otherwise who would burgle a florists?

‘Madeira Gains New Magazine. It can be read on http://magazon.netmadeira.com/ Magazon is a magazine about arts, politics, society, and the good things in life. It is only available online, and is in Portuguese of course.

(6th July). ‘Another Illegal Extraction Of Aggregates – It takes place in Machico, threatens houses, has been identified officially, but it continues operating’. The council has authorised a reshaping of the land for agricultural purposes, but the construction company instead is taking out earth and gravel from the site for its own use, at the site in Landeiros. Despite involvement at police, council, and government level, the unlicensed activity continues. Dozens of houses located beneath the site are considered at risk, and residents are alarmed with the situation, and the apparent inability of the authorities to do something to stop the activity which has now been ongoing for 6 weeks. Some residents were minded to block the access route to the site to prevent lorries entering, but were warned by the police not to do so. The residents have particular concern in case there is heavy persistent rain. The construction company believes that it is acting within the terms of its licence.

‘Festival Has Always Been Rising – The 10th Jazz Festival worked out well’. It finished Saturday night and deserves a mention for the good organisation, getting better each year, and with the change of venue adding to the event. "Santa Catarina park is magical" said a spokesman. The president of Funchal council is already thinking about next year, and thinks that 2011 should be the year to pay homage to the women of jazz. Vânia Fernandez was a woman last time I looked?

‘To Have A Driving Licence It Is Needed To Know How To Drive In Tunnels – Community directive obliges knowledge in theory and practice’. Europe has demanded that Portugal incorporates this requirement, amongst other things, into domestic law. Any candidate for a driving licence must now have a good theoretical and practical knowledge of driving in tunnels, in order to improve safety in the criticised infrastructures. Several attempts have already been made to get Portugal to incorporate this requirement, so far without success, but it looks that this time it will happen, and is something clearly very relevant for Madeira. There are also other new safety requirements covering the need to revalidate driving licences for bikers aged over 50, and also new tougher requirements for medical assessments for conditions relating to eyesight, diabetes and epilepsy.

‘Walk Through The Serra Finishes In Tragedy – 53 year old man died after falling around 25 metres on the São Vicente levada’. The victim on a Sunday walk with his family and friends along the levada at Ribeira do Inferno, fell to his death. The reasons for the accident are unclear, he just fell and died almost immediately. A mountain rescue team took four hours to retrieve the body because of difficult access.

A new police station in São Vicente is to be inaugurated at 6pm tomorrow. 

At 6.28pm yesterday evening the Diário helpfully published a late bulletin that an 18 piece guitar group was performing in Ribeira Brava church square … starting at 6pm yesterday!

‘Vodafone wants To make Available New Smartphones At A very Cheap Price Until Christmas’. Aside from companies, those who want them most are young people, without sufficient money to buy them. To help, Vodafone and various partners, is to offer these powerful devices at less than €200.

In football and today’s main photo, a picture of a striding Cristiano Ronaldo, surrounded by trophies : ‘Ronaldo Tries His Luck In Madrid – The foreign journalists warn that the player won’t have an easy life in Real. Today 80 thousand supporters will welcome the star to Madrid’. At last CR737 makes the move, after what I thought had been a quiet few weeks since the transfer was agreed. It’s taking up about half of the TV and radio news this morning, and live pictures show fans gathering at the stadium for the introduction which doesn’t take place until tonight. I guess the introduction will be pretty long distance for 99.9% of the fans, the important thing for the club will be getting them to spend their cash on expensive new football merchandise with Ronaldo’s name.

I know there are lots of British readers who check in on this blog, and whilst that doesn’t imply that a love of Madeira also implies a liking for Madeiran music, I felt some duty to help boost the audiences for The Madeira Mandolin Orchestra, by announcing the dates for their tour of the United Kingdom this month. Accompanied by Portuguese tenor Carlos Guilherme, the program consists of performances of music by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, and Bach, and they also accompany Carlos in a selection of Neapolitan songs. Established in 1913, the Madeira Mandolin Orchestra is the oldest established mandolin orchestra in Europe, but in terms of average age it is considered to be the youngest in the world. Performances :
July 16, 2009 – St. Paul’s Church Knightsbridge
July 17, 2009 – Petersfield Utd. Reformed Church – Petersfield
July 18, 2009 – Maldon Town Hall, Maldon Essex
July 19, 2009 – The Albert Hall – Nottingham
July 20, 2009 – Holy Trinity Church, Huddersfield
July 21, 2009 – The Grand, Clitheroe
July 22, 2009 – Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
July 23, 2009 – Lichfield Garrick
July 24, 2009 – The Forum, Bath
July 25, 2009 – St. George’s Bristol

(5th July). ’38 Confirmed Cases Of Gripe In Portugal’. 30 of the swine flu cases have been registered in the last week, including the first cases of direct transmission. UPDATE 6th July : A 20 year old woman was taken to hospital in Funchal suspected as having gripe A. She was known to have spent time recently in the company of people from Mexico, the United States, and other high risk countries, and the precaution was taken after she displayed the swine flu symptoms. Tests cleared the woman of the virus, and she has now been released. 

(3rd July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Rats And Cockroaches Invade Formosa – The thicket in the zone near to the beach contributes to the plague that intimidates users and traders’. With the hot weather only just starting, the rats and cockroaches are already displaying a worrying level of activity in the area. Traders, bathers, and those who frequent the area, tell of appearances of the two creatures around restaurants, rubbish bins and even on the beach pebbles, and they fear the situation will worsen significantly with improving Summer breeding conditions. Part of the problem area is the old Shell installation, abandoned in 2007, and now overgrown. A rat extermination programme that covered public spaces finished 3 months ago in Funchal, but will be restarted soon to include the Praia Formosa zone.

The main photograph today shows jazz singer Vânia Fernandes at the opening night of the Funchal Jazz Festival : ‘Jazz Sells More – After the filling of the opening night, Funchal Jazz today hosts a musical legend’. The headline is referring to the ‘legend’ contrabassist Ron Carter, who performs tonight at 9.30 in the park of Santa Catarina in Funchal. Aside from being overflowing last night, ticket sales have been "pretty good", with three day passes tripling in sales compared to last year.

‘Eight Thousand Teachers Contest 295 Vacancies’. The internal application deadline is midnight tonight, and external applicants are able to apply from next week. They are competing for teaching posts through the regional Department for Education. This exercise happens every year, and I assume these are permanent full time positions, that are of interest to existing teaching staff that have lesser status or working hours.

‘The First Step Is Taken – Bernardo Trindade is confident that the agreement to resolve matters at Colombo’s Resort is going to work out’. The first stage in rescuing the incomplete and paralysed tourist complex on Porto Santo has now been taken, with the new partners signing an agreement in Lisbon yesterday. Trindade said he expects it to move forward, regardless of the election results in October, even though it is no more at this stage than a gentleman’s agreement. Work stopped on the construction some time ago when the original project ran out of money. It is interesting to also learn that the €5 million pledge by Porto Santo Council, is not in fact a pledge, but an exemption from municipal taxes. I know they are allowed to do this, but that might raise an eyebrow or two with other hotel owners past, present and future.

‘Ministry of health Announces Three More Cases – Two women and a child infected with gripe A virus’. That takes the total now to 23, and there were just a handful a week or so ago. One of the women has just returned from Spain, and is now being kept in Lisbon in the hospital called Curry Cabral (Goat Curry?). The other woman, in the Azores, came from Canada. The child is an eight month old baby, coming from Majorca. All 23 cases are confirmed as having H1N1 swine flu. I have seen no update on the two that came into Madeira Airport yet. I wrote that last night, this morning on the TV news it says there are now 27 cases.

‘Madeirans have the highest global rate of deficiency in the chromosome 14 gene – Researchers publish results of a study in an international scientific journal’. The study, managed by the Laboratory of Human Genetics in the University of Madeira (LGHUMa), will be published soon by the British scientific journal ‘Respiratory Medicine’. The deficiency exists in 4.1% of the population, and relates to the presence of glycoprotein, that functions to protect the lungs against dust, air pollution, and tobacco smoke. The deficiency can lead to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema), or diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver. It has been well known for years that respiratory problems are a frequent problem for Madeirans, and a genetic problem was often mentioned. Perhaps now that the exact cause has been pinpointed an exact and effective remedy can be developed.

‘World Press Photo On Exhibition – The best photographs in the world of news are on display to the public until 23rd July’. I had mentioned it some weeks ago, but the exhibition starts today in the Salão Nobre of the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias (Funchal Theatre). The photos from 2008 will be displayed here, in a custom now in its fourth successive year. The entry fee is €1, but if you prefer you can send me the €1 and see the photos here (go to ‘Winners 2009′): WORLD PRESS PHOTO

‘Disgusted drivers leave TEAM MARÍTIMO – The walk out has already taken place in the rally club’. The drivers are fed up with internal politics in the club, and a broken promise of the club president over free inscriptions for the Coral Championship.

‘Nacional awaits €1.5 million from FC Porto for Paulo Assunção’. The ‘bonus’ will come as a result of the transfer of the ex-Nacional player from Porto to Athletico Madrid for €3 million, of which Nacional has the right of 50% under terms previously agreed with Porto.

(2nd July). And a few snippets left over from yesterday …

‘Hospital Already Performed Eight Operations by GPS – Computer assisted operations since May’. Funchal Central Hospital performed between 60 and 70 knee rebuilding operations per year over the last 10 years or so, to deal with wear and tear and other medical conditions, but a new procedure introduced in May using a computer navigation system is proving successful. The equipment used does not yet exist in other hospitals in Portugal. The eight patients so far are recuperating very well, and indicating an encouraging start for the new procedure, which can also be used for hip replacement operations.

Madeira baby Rodrigo, who received a bone marrow transplant a month ago as a result of being diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 6 weeks, remains in hospital in Lisbon, but is doing well after liver and kidney complications were resolved after 15 days in intensive care. He will stay in hospital longer than was originally hoped, and will now have to spend his first birthday there on 7th July.

Discussions are underway in Gauteng in South Africa, where there is a Madeiran community, for a twinning relationship with Madeira.

Serra de Água has its first multibanco machine (ATM / Cash point) after years of asking. The population wanted it in a location where it could be accessed 24 hours a day, but eventually had to settle for it being located in the ‘Tasquinha da Poncha’ (Poncha Bar). What a dream excuse for a quick bevy … just popping out to the cash point dear … won’t be long!