Madeira News Blog

(25th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Gripe A Changes Habits In The School – Electric hand dryers and disposable towels replace cloth towels; washing of toys and door handles; lessons in hygiene; all in September’. That’s just the headline, and the new school term is still two months away, but the list continues : Windows open in classrooms to keep them well ventilated, a switch to liquid soap and paper towels, stocks of disposable masks, tissues, and disinfectants. How much it is all going to cost no one knows, and the budgets are only just starting to be done. Even children are to be taught in school not to mess with their mouths and eyes with their hands. That’s just schools, and the article goes on to briefly cover other public places like social centres and public toilets, that need precautions to prevent the infection and spread of swine flu.

‘Kidnappers Threaten – Names on the ‘black list’ of José Martins are receiving threats with demands by mobile phone on Porto Santo’. The police investigate’. Just a tiny headline on the front page. The ‘tombstone’ (photo) of marked men, allegedly placed next to a grave by José Martins, alleged kidnapper and murderer, has already led to threats to some of those named, sent by text message. The messages gives 48 hours to meet the demands within. The four (at least) businessmen named on the tombstone, are accused of a hand in the failure of the company ‘Erucasa’, owned by Martins around a year ago. The four have been to the police, but there may be more victims. The messages were all different, and although each ended with the words "this is a warning", they did not say what the consequences would be if the demands were not met. You would think at first it must be hoax, but the fact that he has their mobile phone numbers gives some credence to the article. I am beginning to think I should write a book about this whole episode, and I reckon it would sell well as a work of fiction. Maybe even worth international news coverage (Tobi, you know what to do, and we will split the proceeds) 

‘Journalist Silenced – The Journal of Madeira took a reporter off its panel called the ‘Media File’. The management of the Journal invoke exclusivity. The decision arises after criticisms of Jardim on a programme of RTP-M’. Jardim asked for the recording of the programme and sent it to the regulator and the National Electoral Commission. Journalist Marsilio Aguiar was prevented from taking further part in the weekly programme on RTP Madeira ‘Media File’, after 3 years in the role. The programme covers the news highlights of the week, with journalists invited to express their personal opinions, not as representatives of the media companies they work for. The JM management came to the conclusion that the presence of the journalist on television is "incompatible" with the role he plays as head of editorial of the Journal, a newspaper almost totally owned by the PSD Government. The fact has not passed by unnoticed in public opinion, and the removal is interpreted as a ‘reorganization’, given the recent protests of the President of the Government to the views expressed by some commentators on the program. There has been speculation that this is a clever way for Jardim to indirectly ‘liquidate’ the program. The Diário contacted the journalist, who refused to comment on the affair (now there’s a surprise!), but the director of RTP Madeira has gone on record as saying that he has not appeared on the last two programmes due to "professional issues". The programme is now going to be suspended until after September due the period of the election campaign. There are no details given of what was actually said in the programme, but it shows that freedom of speech is not alive and well, and criticising government is especially dangerous when you work for a company that is government controlled and funded.

‘Gripe A – Ministry, bosses and trade unions debate who pays for forced absenteeism’. In a national story, a meeting was held yesterday on the subject of who pays the workers in the event that a place of work has to be closed due to a risk or an actual outbreak of H1N1 swine flu. The working laws specify that workers have the right of 75% of their salary, paid by their employer. But bosses have already refused to honour this expense, as it is a matter of public health. It’s an extraordinary situation, with the motive of resolving the situation before it happens, and not penalising employees when it happens. The trade union presence is concerned that some unscrupulous employers may use the situation to create forced lay-offs. The ministry for employment has already expressed the view that the situation requires no new measures.

In a slightly linked story, the Portuguese are the Europeans most pessimistic in a scenario of losing their jobs for fear of not finding another for a long time. Just 16% were optimistic of finding new employment quickly.

The 10 Spanish scouts that were admitted to Funchal hospital were observed / tested, and nearly all have been cleared of infection of Gripe A. Just two are now waiting for test results to come back from Lisbon. A laboratory has now been established on Madeira, and should be functioning this weekend, removing the need to send samples to Lisbon for testing.

Just about keeping the chain going … pet owners may need to be concerned about the Gripe A crisis, not just for themselves, but also for their pets. Cats and dogs will not be affected, but parrots and parakeets are vulnerable. I can’t remember the last time I saw a parakeet out for a walk and sniffing another parakeets private parts, so I would have thought that the only real risk would come from an infected owner.

At an award ceremony yesterday to give 28 newly qualified young nurses their certificates, President Jardim promised them jobs. "If by the 31st November, the opportunity for employment has not opened, you have my authorisation to hold a protest outside my offices" he said. Shrewd wording or poor translation on my part?

‘There Are less Mosquitoes Than Expected’. Initial results of an investigation to count and locate the Aedes Aegypti indicate that there are less insects than expected. The working group that includes entomologists are undertaking searches in various parts of Funchal and Câmara de Lobos. One of the entomologists however alerts us to the danger of the mosquito, and calls to the population to reinforce the fight against them. He explains that the eggs of the mosquito are able to stay active as long as 3 years in completely dry conditions. Unable to find many pests in Câmara de Lobos?, I find that hard to believe.

I gave up reporting extreme UV levels some weeks ago, as it seems to be microwave weather pretty much every day now. The advice is as always keep covered or out of the sun between 11am and 5pm. Did you know that even in the south of Portugal, the general rule is to avoid the hours from midday until 4pm, giving them two more beach hours than us on Madeira. Who said that a great all year round climate was such a great thing?

(28th June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Gold Pays Debts And Medicines – The crisis obliges the sale of objects of value. This business brings foreign companies to Madeira’. The few jewellers who buy second hand gold have registered an increase in demand for their services in recent months. The customers are usually older people, affected by financial problems, that are forced to dispose of valuables to pay debts and even for medicines. On the other hand, these same jewellers are selling less and less items to the public, and what they do sell is more silver, and smaller items, and they rely more on repair work to generate their income. The law prevents them buying gold from those aged under 18 years, and what they do buy has to be recorded and reported to the police, along with the identification details of the seller. The gold items by law cannot be resold, and they have to be sent away where they are used to create new pieces. Recently the Madeira market has been attracting attention from businesses in London, who come here especially to buy valuable jewellery items, paying cash on the spot. Jewellers here have suspicions about these dealers, and whether they report their purchases to the police, pay their taxes, and there are fears expressed about whether these companies are buying stolen jewellery.

In a related news story : ‘Police Catch Jewellery Thief’. Police enquiries after a burglary in Camacha led to the interception of an individual, who eventually admitted to stealing items of gold. He confessed to selling some to one such British company ‘Road Show EU’. The police visited the hotel where the company had set up, and managed to identify and retrieve the stolen jewellery. The recovered items are now with the court whilst ownership is being confirmed. The burglar, as well as facing charges for the break in and theft, is also now subject to a criminal complaint by the British company for selling them the items for €4,000.

It was on the front page, but I am surprised that this one didn’t get the the lead story : ‘Government And Bank Cover-up Bankruptcy of JM – Despite of the subsidies and loans, the Jornal has negative equity of €32.6 million’. Talking about the government owned newspaper Journal da Madeira of course, under the spotlight recently for receiving subsidies from public money and government favours. Anyway the government owned company is bankrupt. It reports losses every year, and in 2008 reported another €3.9 million loss. A company is technically insolvent when the equity is worth equal to or less than half of the company capital, to put it in breach of article 35 of the Code of Commercial Companies, but it needs a creditor to take action to progress this, something the lending bank didn’t do. I have mixed feelings on the matter, as two newspapers are better than one for sure, whatever the circumstances of its ownership and management, and I don’t think the other freebie newspaper offers very much. It is not clear whether the JM is still trading, I will see if there is a newspaper published tomorrow. The website is still there with today’s news, but funnily enough I didn’t see this story amongst the headlines.

Germany won the Atlantic Festival fireworks display, that finished last night. This photo comes from the JM website, the first time I have ever used one. So, if this photo disappears from this blog page, we will know the JM website is no more.

"The folks try everything to flee from the weight of the hoe" – The youngsters in Faial run off to avoid unemployment and agriculture. The Diário’s featured village this week. A familiar story, in an agricultural location, with hardly any young people left. Many people have moved out, either to Funchal, or emigrated. However, unlike other parts of Madeira, Faial has no need to debate issues such as drug abuse and insecurity, with peace and long seasons. Full of untapped potential, the items of discussion at the moment are the construction of a cable car to connect the river and Penha d’Águia, and the construction of a fishing port.

‘Works Of 40 Artists In The Fort Of São Tiago’. The exhibition in Funchal called ‘Preâmbulo’ opens on the 10th of July. It brings together works of sculpture, painting, drawing, engraving, and photography.

(27th June). ‘Pregnancy As A Means Of Escape – In the first 3 months of this year 39 youngsters gave birth in the hospital’. Social and economic difficulties, disinformation, unstructured families and abandonment. These are some of the problems that affect many young women who become pregnant. Madeira continues to have the highest rate of adolescent parents in Portugal. In Funchal hospital, from 2006 to 2007 the increase was around 100%, levelling off in 2008 (85,168,156) in young mothers aged between 13 and 19. Reports of the professionals suggest that in some cases ‘accidents’ happen, where the mother doesn’t take precautions, wanting to become pregnant to obtain government handouts and get away from other commitments.

Also front page yesterday but in the entertainment section : ‘Myths : The dead that bring business to life’. With a picture showing James Dean, John Lennon, and yes you’ve already guessed … Michael Jackson … looking very pale I must point out. I can’t be bothered to even check, but for sure there has been a massive surge in purchases of all things Michael Jackson in the last days or so. Poor old Farrah Fawcett hardly gets a mention these days.

If you are a customer of the restaurant ‘Summertime’ on the Estrada Monumental in Funchal, next time you go there  be sure to leave a nice tip. According to one employee who works there, the 15 staff have not been paid properly for a year.