Madeira News Blog

(13th September). ‘With Fish Market, Without Pier – Lack of services is the main shortcoming of Madalena do Mar. Residents of the Neighbourhood of Fishermen say they are forgotten, and ask for beach facilities to be provided and complain about the the lack of a pier´. The Diário’s featured parish this week. The tranquillity, coupled with the good weather, are the major attractions of Madalena do Mar. The village is very popular in summer for its beach, but loses movement in the Winter. Who lives there complains about the lack of services. Public transport, post office, ATM cashpoint, pharmacy, and a supermarket are some of the shortcomings identified by the population. Fishermen say they have a fish market, but complain that there is no pier, that had been promised, or beach support facilities.

‘Plagiarism On The Loose In The University Of Madeira – Copying text from the internet and presenting it as ones own is common practice’. It happens in all the courses. Teachers admit that the phenomenon has grown in recent years because of the internet, and welcome the decision of the UMa Dean to install anti-plagiarism software. That enthusiasm is not shared by the students representative, Luis Eduardo Nicolau, who says this is "a very delicate matter". The fight against plagiarism, as is happening in UMa, is just one of the functions of the Office of Student Aid, a new body that will mediate in the relationships between students and teachers. This Office will receive from now on all academic work, ensuring that deadlines are met. The work must be submitted in electronic format, so it can then be checked for authenticity, using the new anti-plagiarism software. If the work ‘passes’ the originality test then it goes to the teacher or lecturer who set the assignment for marking, but if it fails the test it’s another story.

The football headline is back today : ‘Four Games Without Winning – Nacional lost yesterday in Vila do Conde. The team attacked a lot, but couldn’t score. Today, after the sermon, the big game in Barreiros’. Nacional lost 2 – 0 at Rio Ave, leaving them with just two point out of a possible 12. Marítimo play Braga today. Yesterday’s game was also today’s main front page photo.

Hot off the press : Marítimo 1 Braga 2, leaving Braga top of the league with a 100% record. 

‘PSP called to restore order in Nogueira – A fight between neighbours, joined by dozens of people, yesterday forced the intervention of the police in the neighbourhood of Nogueira’. One neighbour complained to another about the noise from a party that went late into the night, but the complaint was not well received, and resulted in a slanging match. The lady complainant returned home, but the noisy neighbours followed and kicked her front door in, only to see her husband there armed with a baseball bat. At least one person was taken to hospital during the dispute, which probably woke up much of the neighbourhood. Some interesting readers comments with this article, including "It seems like one of those parts of Iraq, always in an uproar!"

On our roads last week, 49 accidents were reported, resulting in 20 injuries, 5 of which were serious. 28 drivers were detained for driving with excess alcohol. A case of a 19 year old man caught twice driving stolen cars, and without a driving licence, was mentioned on the blog a couple of weeks ago. He has since been caught twice more driving stolen cars. He went to court yesterday morning, and was released again, perplexing the 7 drink drivers forced to appear that same morning, and who were judged and convicted for their misdemeanours.

‘Aedes Aegypti Mosquito May Be Developing – The Institute of Health Administration returns to the land to see if the larvae have proliferated’. IASAÚDE is to undertake a new field study of the insect at the end of this month based on suspicions that the mosquito is again actively breeding. A spokesman for IASAÚDE said he is concerned that the high humidity levels have been helping provide good conditions for the mosquito.

Car Inspections went up in price yesterday as a result of an annual review. An extra 27 cêntimos for light vehicles (cars), and 41c. for heavier vehicles. Getting your car inspected will now cost €22.91 plus 14% VAT / IVA.

UPDATES (Politics) :

Today’s main news headline : ‘Let’s get the Job Done! – On the return of Jardim from his holiday, the Madeira government approved 43 resolutions in two hours’. The workload included 17 special contracts and eight land expropriations. It may not be a record, but it must be coming close. The governing council, led by president Jardim, sat on the 4th of this month and renamed Funchal Central Hospital and the Botanical Gardens, decided an award for a politician in Tabua, made a number of agreements with different sporting organisations, and approved a number of payments to banks. They even reviewed an updated report about how much tourists spend on Madeira. When the documents arrive for the consideration of the government, all the analysis work is already done. All that remains then is the political decision, which is done by resolution. The government refuses access to the minutes of meetings to journalists. No wonder we get so many white elephants on Madeira, if they are taking an average of less than 3 minutes to consider each resolution.

The big debate was on TV last night, between the two main party leaders for this month’s election for the assembly of the Republic. I sat through the whole 70 minutes, and I have to say that José Sócrates, leader of the socialist party, and Manuela Ferreira Leite, leader of the social democrats, were remarkably well composed and polite throughout. The debate started off with Madeira and president Jardim mentioned several times, on the issue of ‘stifling democracy’, Jardim’s false candidature for the Assembly of the Republic (he gets elected, but never attends), and also about the ‘offshore’ financial benefits of our island.  She is a decent very clever lady, but no match for golden boy Sócrates when it comes to stage presence, and he was so much better prepared, with a small stack of essential documents to hand, to prove his points. I have no real preference about who wins the elections this month, aside from continuity issues, but I wouldn’t be surprised as a result of last nights debate if the vote swings to the left a little, but there again how many sad people stay in on a Saturday night a Saturday night to watch a political debate.

‘Election Campaign Begins Officially Today And Finishes On The 25th’. The campaign for the Assembly of the Republic is now officially underway, even though political parties and candidates have been in pre-campaign several weeks already. Madeira has six places available, and at present they are shared equally between the PSD-M socialists and the PS socialists.

I am afraid its a lot of political headlines today, because of the visit of the leader of the social democrats to Madeira yesterday. Starting with Madeira headlines though:

(8th September). ‘Illegal Fishing With Nets Spreads In Various Zones – The commander of Zona Marítima da Madeira reveals that this year already 9 prosecutions have been instigated because of illegal fishing’. Illegal fishing with nets is "regular practice" in the Region he says. In Porto Moniz this particularly happens, however, Cândido Coelho, commander of ZMM says there are more areas where this is going on. At Porto Moniz the fishing takes place at night to avoid detection, and huge nets are used to maximise the catch. One man who came forward to expose the situation, is a diver in the waters around Porto Moniz, and says that he and his fellow divers have noticed a reduction in the number of fish, causing resentment amongst the local fishermen, but they don’t denounce the activity for fear of reprisals. Cândido Coelho explains that fishing with nets is prohibited along the coast and when done by small boats, and considers this kind of practice "very worrying", because it is a "type of fishing that is quite devastating for some species". Anyone aware of such activity is requested to notify the Maritime Police. 11 cases were prosecuted last year, with 9 more so far this year.

‘Constitutional Tribunal Devastates São Vicente’. I can’t find the story behind this headline at present, but will fill in the gaps when / if I do.

‘Quay of Santa Cruz without rules – Boats block access while the cars abuse the parking’. Users of the quay complain about the behaviour of others who block access, and drivers who use the pier as a permanent parking place. It is impossible to embark or disembark by boat says one complainant. The council were unable to offer any explanation for the situation.

‘Theatre United In The Art Centre – A group of youths from the cast of ‘The Burning City’ – play premieres on Friday’. The show in the Centro das Artes Casa das Mudas will have 5 showings until Monday. The project involves a group of young people who follow an interest in the art of Talma(?). A percentage of the money raised goes to research in medicine, sponsored by the Portuguese League Against Cancer.

An infant school in Câmara de Lobos was the only school in Portugal recognised in a European competition which attracted 1,600 entries. The school was amongst the 10 winners for producing a film about a Spring day in Europe. It’s more of a short slideshow actually, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two adults had a hand in the production. I liked it. RIBEIRO DE ALFORRA You need to select Portugal in the country list, and then the picture 4th along on the second row.

‘Columbus ‘lands’ Again On Porto Santo – The Columbus festival runs from 10th to 12th September’. The three day festival promises to liven up Porto Santo, starting on Thursday. The ‘coming ashore’ of Christopher Columbus and the parade are the high points of the festival, with a medieval fair, and a stand with typical cakes of the island for the first time. The Regional Secretary for Tourism invests around €108,000 in the event in the hope of attracting many tourists to Porto Santo. The hotel occupancy rate is hoped to exceed 50%. Can you believe €108,000 is spent, but I suppose it’s loose change up to what is spent in Funchal. Anyway if they have to revive Chris every year, that can’t be cheap.

A police search in Bairro da Palmeira, in Câmara de Lobos at the weekend resulted in 4 arrests and 1,200 heroin fixes being seized. Also over the period, there were 33 road accidents causing 7 serious injuries, and 16 arrests for drink driving.

Iran’s table tennis champ Noshad Alamiyan has won the men’s individual title at the 13th Madeira International Open MADEIRA OPEN

Politics

‘Funchal can ask for more than €43 million – The debt capacity of the local authority was confirmed by the Directorate-General’. The Directorate-General of the local authorities informed Funchal Council that its borrowing capacity for 2009 amounts to €43.5 million. The decision has confirmed the authority as a good credit risk in good financial shape, according to a social democrat counsellor. Funchal is one of the few câmaras in Portugal that has managed to maintain a significant credit rating.

Today’s main news headline : ‘PSD Stifles Opposition – Yesterday, in various gatherings on Madeira, some parties of opposition were prevented from participating in meetings of delegates for the appointment of staff for the voting tables used in the elections. The police were called to intervene in Calheta’. The social democrats were under fire again, when they left opposition politicians shut outside of various parish councils (Juntas de Freguesia), as they then chose the staff who would man the voting tables during the national elections later this month. The meetings had been scheduled for 7 pm yesterday, and in many cases took just a few minutes, catching opposition delegates by surprise. In one case a socialist delegate says he arrived 3 minutes late to find the selection process all over. That delegate in Estreito da Calheta called the police, and the matter will be reported to the National Elections Commission (CNE).

The main front page photo today is a rather bland view of President Jardim and the national leader of the PSD getting into a car : ‘Lifts’ And Insult Embarrass Leader Of The PSD – She came on a party campaign but left in a vehicle of the regional government. She denied the lift, as she did with the ‘asphyxiation’, and even went to an inauguration that wasn’t on the schedule’. President Jardim is accused of misleading his political boss, by taking her to two inaugurations in tiny Furna (Ribeira Brava), when her plan was to spend her time out on the streets. She knew she was going to Tabua to honour a counsellor with over 60 years of party service, but was unaware of Jardim’s other plans after that. That situation was confirmed by a party spokesman, who referred to the agenda that had been sent by email. As regarding the ‘lift’ in an official government vehicle, Ferreira Leite strongly denied this earlier in the day, but Jardim insisted in taking her back to the airport, and almost forced her to enter the official presidency car.

‘Manuela Ferreira Leite Guarantees To Change The Regional Finance Law If Her Party Wins The Elections Of 27th September – Leader of the PSD says that she didn’t find democratic asphyxiation on Madeira’. At the side of Alberto João Jardim yesterday morning she wandered through the streets of Funchal. In a time of pre-election campaign Manuela Ferreira Leite stressed that she could not miss a visit to Madeira, a region she says is "a bastion of unmovable PSD". It is her first visit to Madeira  since becoming leader of the social democrats. She also said that she did not feel that there is a choking democracy, contrary to what happens on the mainland. A view shared by president Jardim, who accused journalists and some politicians of not respecting the rights of local people. Of course they are both right, as democracy only happens on election day here. so how can it be choked on the other days. I did nip out late afternoon, hoping to have a word with Manuela on her visit to Ribeira Brava, and I waited an hour and a half for an exclusive interview, but she didn’t turn up. I gave up when I heard on the radio that she was unexpectedly visiting the high zones of Ribeira Brava. The democratic ‘asphyxiation’ issue was created by the socialist party, after president Jardim refused to take part in pre-election cross party political debates.

In yet another headline story related to the visit of the PSD leader, the Diário again made a big deal out of the fact that an official car of the Presidency of the Government of Madeira was used to give Ferreira Leite a lift to the airport, when her visit was for party political matters, as well as her involvement in two inaugurations which should of course be politically unbiased. It says that opposition parties see the matters as a scandal, and accuse her of double standards, and the matters have even attracted national attention. Comments are reproduced from several party spokesmen on the matter, and none very complementary. How anyone can still be shocked by the behaviour of Uncle Bertie, who it seems was the instigator of both matters of complaint? If he hadn’t done those things I would have been more surprised. I think she must be embarrassed by the matters though, as on the continent, rules such as those broken, are expected to be followed.

‘PS Lead But Without Absolute Majority’. A poll carried out by the Morning Post newspaper in Portugal, gives the PS socialists a lead in the race for power, in the national elections due to be held on 27th September. The results are PS 34.5%, PSD 28.9%, BE Left Block 10%, and CDU communists 7.8%.

UPDATE :

(In desperation, trying to get away from politics) From today’s Jornal da Madeira :

‘Porto Santo will have €7.2 million for water – Government will improve the irrigation for agriculture’. The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources said yesterday that up until the end of the current political mandate, there is €7.3m destined for Porto Santo, aimed in the main at improving agricultural water supplies, but also to include drinking water supply and waste water management. The response capacity for water needs will be for 30,000 people, far far more than the resident population.