‘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.

‘Quotas: Inequality Or Justice? – After the elections, the country will see if the parity was a sham or the beginning of a new era’. Whether you agree or not with the mandatory requirement that a third of electoral lists are women, the law of parity has at least achieved one purpose : preventing the masculine status quo continuing to clash with the entry of women in politics. Invited to ‘give a face to a party’, the women mastered the opportunity to prove their abilities. So say some of the candidates heard by the Diário. No one says it openly, but there are those that suspect that once the elections are over, that one will come to see the ‘distancing’ of the ‘imposed candidates’ in the favour of male candidates more desirable for the party structures. There is nothing in law, once the elections are over, that forces the top politicians to show equality in the allocation of portfolios and the top jobs in politics. The election rules themselves require that there cannot be more than two consecutive male candidates on the lists. In a country where female participation in political office is very low, and gender discrimination of women continues at many levels, the past few months have brought ‘to light’ complaints within political parties on the difficulty of finding enough women. Never before has it been seen in Portugal, so much interest in the inclusion of  ‘ladies’ on the electoral lists, and at the time of submitting the official lists, some parties are keen to shout publicly about their pride in fulfilling the law of parity. A female candidate in Santa Cruz said "The law is good in a society that still discriminates, because in some cases it could guarantee women an opportunity to prove their capabilities".  In contrast, the number three candidate for the PSD in Machico (also a woman) disagrees with the imposition of seats for women on electoral lists, but admits that it is an effective way to ‘open the political doors’ to the female sex. It’s a really interesting long article on the subject, which left me a little surprised that women in politics didn’t especially support the law of parity, and a controversial comment was made was that women candidates would be more attractive on the posters and political propaganda, and that might make a party more attractive to a voter. Well I will be voting in the local elections, and although I am open minded at present (particularly as my vote will be a waste of time anyway), I will be looking out for the parties that have women placed at exactly number 3, 6, 9 etc. on their lists, and not casting my votes in those directions.

‘JPP want everything in Santa Cruz’. Rework the policies, support investment and reset priorities. These are some objectives that a Group of Citizens ‘Juntos pelo Povo’ (Together for the People) delineate for Caniço. Carlos Costa is the political representative of the JPP, and stresses that the movement is banking on "getting everything" in Santa Cruz. "Our intent is to win all the parish elections together with the municipal council (câmara) and the municipal assembly", he said yesterday. The candidates led by Filipe Sousa were outside of the church in Caniço to present some of the proposals of the movement, when it challenged the delay in implementation of some urbanization plans in the area. I wish you all luck, I really do, but the snag of course is if successful on the scale outlined, where will you turn for money and government support … the social democrats in regional government of course. That means Santa Cruz will probably be number 11 on a priority list of 11 regions, and the reality is you will have less and achieve less than with the status quo. I love to see democracy at work … thanks Uncle Bertie.

In another sort of related article : ‘Independents In Santa Cruz ‘Seen’ As Socialists – Two years after leaving the PS, they continue as socialists on the câmara website’. Filipe Sousa (mentioned above, and now in the JPP) abandoned the PS-M socialists two years ago, along with two other PS councillors, but the câmara (mostly PSD) left them as socialists on the official website, with photographs and all. Those concerned were appalled by the situation but nothing changed. The Diário contacted the President of Santa Cruz last week on the subject, but he refused to make a statement on the matter. However, the inside whisper was that "there were more important things to be done". Miraculously the website has now just been changed.

"In The Truth The People Don’t Know" – Fransisco Dias Challenges Jardim to clarify the future of the marina of Lugar do Baixo’. The socialist candidate to the council of Ponta do Sol takes up the theme, challenging Jardim to "clarify exactly" the future of that undertaking. "When Dr. Alberto João Jardim came to Ponta do Sol last week he said that the people knew what was going on in the marina of Lugar do Baixo, but in the truth the people don’t know, but they want the matter clarified". He recalls that when the matter was raised by his party PS-M in the legislative assembly about why there were discussions going on in private, without a public tender, the question was ‘flunked’ by the socialist democrats.

‘PSD-M Asks 54 to Zero To Thank Jardim – "Thank and repay" all that Jardim did for Madeira with absolute victory’. The achievement of one more historic result would make a great parting gift for Alberto João Jardim, by winning in all of Madeira’s 54 Freguesias (parishes), according to Rui Coelho of the social democrats. The party wants to achieve the result with humility and not send Madeira into euphoria. In the previous local elections the PSD-M won 50 of the 54 majorities, with just Gaula, Água de Pena, Achadas da Cruz and Prazeres bucking the trend.

In anticipation of the visit of president Jardim to the expansion zone in Ponta do Sol town, the PS-M socialist party had a large sarcastic poster made and displayed, that one couldn’t fail to see. It headlined "€42.5 million thrown overboard – what happened to the 80 jobs promised", with other highlights of the government flagship disaster project … Lugar de Baixo marina. That was in the Diário.

The ‘response’ was in the Jornal da Madeira : "The People Know What They Have To Do" – The president of Madeira referred to the embargos placed on works’. President Jardim yesterday pointed the finger at those who suspend works, accusing them of preventing development and the creation of jobs. At the inauguration of the road in Ponta do Sol and other new infrastructures, Alberto João Jardim mentioned the project in the area of Lugar de Baixo. "As you know, there is a great work that someone has stopped because of an embargo", continuing "the people know who embargoed that work", and "who caused that years ago …  not creating the jobs that should have been created, and the lack of economic activity that should already exist. "The people know who did it, and therefore, the people also know what they have to do" said the president. By this time I was feeling a little unwell, so I set the Jornal on fire and threw it off the balcony (metaphorically speaking of course). Uncle Bertie passing the buck is of course not a novel phenomenon for most of us, but in this case his arrogance is breathcurdling. Rumour has it that it was him who commanded the building of marina in the somewhat rougher seas of Lugar de Baixo, when it was all set to safely go in the more sheltered waters of Ribeira Brava. On another subject, where is António Lobo, the ex-president of Ponta do Sol these days?

Enough of politics …

‘Port Taxes Could Rise After Completion Of The New ‘Port Structures’ – Conceição Estudante believes that services and costs should be covered’. The Government may consider an increase in port fees charged in the port of Funchal after the completion of the works. The issue was raised by the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport yesterday morning during a visit to the works in the port of Funchal. She said that the prices update will reflect economic developments, in order not to jeopardize the level of use by making the port too expensive. She added that the current rates in the port of Funchal are among the lowest on the Atlantic circuit. The new infrastructure is costing €12.8 million, and should be completed in December.

’8 Visits In August – Pacific Dream, Aurora, Costa Europa And Black Prince Are Expected’. Eight cruise ship visits are expected this month, in line with previous years, but 4 of those are from ‘Pacific Dream’.

(4th August). This is another one from the dark side : ‘More Hotels Are Likely To Close During The Winter – A meeting to be held between hotels this week could be conclusive’. With the Summer peak still flowing, some hotels on Porto Santo are already thinking ahead to the coming Winter. The strategy adopted last year is certain to last, with hotels that include the Praia Dourada and Pestana Dunas, again closing for 4 months to cope with the high running costs and strong seasonality of tourism. Rumours are that in addition the Hotel Vila Baleira and Torre Praia are considering the same solution. This would be a great challenge for a great marketing mind, to overcome the stupid notion that Winter is not beach time, when you have a beautiful island, a 9km golden beach, cheap top hotels, and great weather nearly all year around. Porto Santo is a ready made success story, that continues to fail, probably because it is just too small to survive alone and too under sourced to market itself. I stayed there at the beginning of February a couple of years ago, and the beach and sea were great, and it was plenty warm enough when the sun was out … but when it is not, there is little to do for the average holiday maker, so you do need to have plan for that eventuality.

(3rd August). This from the Norwich Evening News (UK) : ‘New Destination For Norwich Airport Passengers’. Holidaymakers can now enjoy the destination of Madeira from Norwich airport on two special dates next year. The flights will depart on Wednesday, April 14 2010 and April 21, 2010, courtesy of Newmarket Holidays, with following departures likely to be announced at a later date. Elliott Summers, managing director of Norwich Airport said: “Newmarket Holidays has long been offering our passengers a selection of destinations to the local population and we are very pleased they have picked up on the local demand for Madeira”.