Nogueira Nightmare ; CMF Has 14 Year Old Debts ; Drug Baron Arrested In Estreito
(16th July). ‘Neighbourhood Of Bad Name And Scorn – Permanent tension. Inhabitants are unwelcome in the market for employment. Children without ATL(?). Families attempt to flee from there’. Nogueira doesn’t have a solution. Madeira’s government creates better conditions, but the residents wreck everything. It’s an area where unemployment is a true reality, where the residents suffer the fact nobody wants to employ someone living in Bairro da Nogueira, where the social problems just get worse. The population is stigmatised by drug addiction, where children have nowhere to pass their free time this Summer because the ATL(?) was vandalised and closed years ago. The more structured families appeal to the government to be moved out, while the neighbourhood becomes each day more of a ‘social labyrinth’. The area is of ill repute as far as Madeira is concerned, and the most scorned part of the island. They look to new alternatives, but this neighbourhood is at a crossroads of problems without solutions in sight. This long article is quite a scary read, it really is. I don’t think I have ever read such a damning write up about anywhere on Madeira. Whilst the day times are comparatively quiet, at night the streets come to life with people with drug and alcohol problems, and then there is often violence. The police are not respected, and the area even has the makings of a no-go zone. Everyone is watching everyone else, with a particular eye for strangers says the article.
‘Worker Dies Of Electrocution In Works In Bemposta, Machico’. The accident occurred when part of a cement mixer touched high voltage cables. A 39 year old man died, another was taken to the emergency unit in Funchal Central Hospital with serious electrical burns. An investigation into the incident has commenced.
‘Police Operation Against Drug Barons Bursts Into Estreito’. Estreito de Câmara de Lobos was the latest target for armed police wearing helmets, bullet proof vests, and protective clothing, in the fight against drugs. The operation started at daybreak yesterday, and took locals by surprise. The police were equipped with a court search warrant to raid a premise heavily suspected of being a ‘drugs barn’. Two men were arrested and detained, one was later released. The police also seized a vehicle, drugs, articles related to drug trafficking, and cash exceeding €20,000.
‘CMF Pays ‘Time & Hours’ Bad Debt Of 2005′. Funchal Council is making gains with it’s efforts to clear old debts, but the auditors of the court responsible for checks say that the council could be penalised through paying interest to the state. Some of the debts go back as far as FOURTEEN YEARS! Under the state programme which loosely means ‘Pay On Time’, auditors discovered that 91% of the backlog related to debts from 2007 & 2008, amounting to over €9 million. Much of the debt was not accounted for properly, and one debt for the supply of sand from a construction company was 4,943 days old.
‘Madeira On The End Of The List’. We are in the region of Portugal that builds the most new homes and apartments, and with the lowest rate of rehabilitation. It is also the region with the worst record for delays in building works.
In sport : ‘A Record In The International Meeting On Madeira’. Pole-vault, or ‘Jumping With A Stick’ as the Portuguese actually translates, brought a new national record in the XIV International Athletics Meeting on Madeira yesterday. A junior athlete managed a height of 5.11 metres at the sports stadium in Ribeira Brava.
Photo caption : With the opening of a new miradouro (viewpoint) in Achada at a cost of €93,000, Funchal now has 24 miradouros.
‘Rivers Flow Against Europe – Europe wants to re-naturalise our rivers and water courses, but Madeira moves towards artificialisation’. Under a European directive (200/60/EC), all member countries should make their rivers and streams comply with ecological quality objectives, and be there for the enjoyment of the people, moving back towards a natural state without evidence of man made intervention. Hélder Spinola, of the environmental agency Quercus, says that Madeira is going in the opposite direction, and not only in Funchal. The EU directive is aimed particularly at combating pollution, although on Madeira, because of the specific nature of the topography of the island, there are other concerns such as safety and public protection. The head of Quercus is particularly concerned about the more frequent floods, caused by the higher frequency of heavy rainstorms that deposit more water in shorter periods. He refers to the choking of waterways with increasing numbers of concrete walls, bridges and roads, spreading throughout the island, although the effect is now slowing if only due to the lack of money for new works. Any specific new initiatives now seem to focus on water quality, and not on the wider issues of managing natural water resources.
Portugal news : As of this morning 107 cases of Gripe A (H1N1 swine flu) have been recorded, but of these 104 victims have already been treated and released.
’45 workers contest their dismissal by the Savoy – The decision was made yesterday in a session with the trade union representing hotel workers’. The 45 workers, who did not sign the termination agreements from the SIET Savoy Group, will challenge the collective dismissal through two lawsuits, with the objective of returning to work. 55 workers who accepted the termination of their employment received a payment based on length of service, and are now able to receive unemployment benefit. The Savoy hotel was closed a couple of months ago, in preparation for demolition to make way for a new hotel.
‘Friends of the Park’ are in action Saturday in Areeiro and Cabeço da Lenha – The Association continues the project of planting trees and shrubs which began in 2001′. The indigenous trees and shrubs will be planted in the Ecological Park and in the Field of Environmental Education in Cabeço da Lenha. The general public are invited to participate. Those interested should make contact by phone or fax on 291783999, or by e-mail to amigosdoparque@gmail.com before 5pm on Friday.
‘Astronomy Night – Night of the stars – Calheta puts out the lights on Saturday to assess light pollution’. The tour of ‘Astronomy Night’, to mark the international year of astronomy, moves to Calheta this weekend. Measurements will also be taken to establish the levels of light pollution, and to make the population aware of the "dangers of the use of excessive light", which cause "serious environmental and social damage".
(15th July). ‘Living Close To A School Does Not Guarantee Places – School denies ‘connections’ and says that the morning shift is not available to all students’. The secretary for education says that living near to a school does not guarantee a place, and although there are rules that may give priority to locals, parents are finding out that the reality is quite different. Also, as many children will be allocated an early or late ‘shift’ in school, this also is not determined by ‘connections’. The later shift has a worse reputation in education terms, a situation denied by one school leader in the article.
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It’s the Banana Exhibition / Festival in Madalena do Mar this weekend. I believe it starts Saturday evening and runs through to Sunday night, but I am sure someone will correct me if necessary.
‘Naviera To Continue Carrying Cargo – The ferry owner and Conceição Estudante point out that it is necessary to comply with the licence issued’. Naviera Armas and the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport (STT) have not yet received notification from the court and the operation of loading and unloading in the port of Funchal will remain as at the moment. However the two parties, who met yesterday, agreed to comply with any future decision made by the court, that ruled that due to unfair competition the ferry between Madeira and Portugal could not carry freight, unless transported in lorries, and not in containers and trailers. 
(8th July). ‘Promotion : Money Is Not Even A Problem – Jardim Scorns, but the region ought to use the ‘Jewel of the Island’, Cristiano Ronaldo’. Madeira has not taken advantage of the revitalised worldwide appeal of Cristiano Ronaldo, but Portugal has him in a campaign costing €6 million. Recent statements by President Alberto João Jardim – that the region had no way to use the image of Cristiano Ronaldo – show that the regional government has no promotional strategy and the president does not know what colleagues in government are doing, being out of step with reality. Tourism of Portugal, through the Secretary of State for Tourism, has been accused by Jardim of showing a lack of ethics in the use of Ronaldo in it’s promotion, which is running in many countries including Spain, the UK, Germany, Russia and France. One such promotional poster appearing on large billboards or in ads, shows Ronaldo saying to football fans and other potential customers that "my country has the largest white sand beach of Europe", a favour for which he apparently charged tens of thousands of Euros. One marketing spokesman believes that Ronaldo could work wonders for the image of Madeira, and he has previously said that he would be happy to participate in a campaign to help the island. 
