Madeira’s first boxing bout ? Organic farming initiative ; Jardim denies upsetting Police
Today’s Photo : Thanks to Vic … a Caniço sunset
"Funchal on the Portuguese Island of Madeira is the site for Vitor Sa vs Kiatchai Singwancha January 14 with the TWBA super middleweight title at stake. This could be the first ever professional boxing match there". BOXING NEWS You heard it here first! Funny name that, Vitor Sa, as that is the same name as the Madeira rally driver and son of Jorge Sã, owner of the Hiper Sã supermarket chain here.
Don’s website has a new video showing Funchal at Christmas. It’s about 10 minutes long. XMAS ON MADEIRA Lets hope it gets us a few extra tourists for the festive season, as I think we need them.
Tour operator Holiday Options has shut down after entering administration. The company, which specialised in holidays to destinations such as Croatia, Corsica, Sicily, Cape Verde, Madeira and the Azores, shut down on Tuesday after 16 years in operation. A spokesman for the company said no passengers had been left stranded and all forward bookings, thought to been around 1,100, would be taken over by Cambridge-based Light Blue Travel.
Many thanks to Elaine for this huge contribution from yesterday’s news :
Return of Marcelino Andrade shakes HCF. More turmoil at the hospital between the staff and the managers of the health service (SESARAM). This time it is related to the return of Marcelino Andrade to the hospital. For five years he was the president of Santo António, after a friendly invitation by president Jardim. In the recent elections, the PSD selected another president and he is free to return to the health service. The turmoil is due to the rumour among staff that he is to be employed on the Board of Directors of SESARAM. Some Directors of Services would resign if that happened and there was to be a protest mass resignation which was cancelled by SMS last night. The opposition is based on credibility and technical issues. Andrade explained that he wishes to return to working in the orthopaedic services. SESARAM said they will keep the present Board of Directors and such rumours are designed to destabilize the services.
Bio Madeira week in the Largo da Restauração. In the region, 5% of agricultural land is devoted to organic farming and is increasing. The week is to "sensitize the community to the economic, social and environmental aspects of organic farming." Bio Week runs from the 23 – 29 November. Initiatives will also occur around the island. In 2008, there were 240 tons produced and an additional 130 tons of bananas. The theme of the week this year is ‘Growing Sustainably’. There have already been training initiatives held in people’s homes, schools, town halls and hotels involving about 9,000 people spread between farmers, students, teachers, parents and the general public. The activities next week will include an organic food fair, culinary demonstrations by hotel chefs, presentation of books for children and adults about the various perspectives of organic agriculture, and theatrical and musical competitions for children, promoted by the schools. On the 29th at Jardim da Serra, endemic species will be planted to offset carbon dioxide emissions. Full program on the website: www.sra.pt
Presidency rejects blame for the transfer requests by the police officers. The Government rejected accusations that Jardim’s comments are the cause of the requests for transfers out of the region. The statement clarifies that the people responsible for what happened are the current command and not the officers and agents. The statement also refers to the Madeiran police officers on the continent who have been unsuccessful with transfer requests to the region.
Exercise in Rabaçal involves more than one hundred people and various media. Exercise ‘Missing 09′ begins early tomorrow morning. The training exercise in Rabaçal will be coordinated by the Regional Service for Civil Protection and involve the armed forces. Two different scenarios; the disappearance of a group of 15 tourists in the area and an accident involving a passenger bus in the section towards the Casa do Rabaçal. There will be observers from the National Authority for Civil Protection, National Institute of Emergency Medicine and observers from the Azores and the Canary Islands.
Waiting 13 years for an asphalt road in Santa Cruz. ‘Impassable’ is the adjective used to describe Caminho da Fonte which is used every day by 30 people. This road is about a kilometre long and is in the rural ‘zonas altas’ of Santa Cruz. The area is believed by many to belong to the ‘Madeira Velha’, even though it is a five minute road journey into the centre of Santa Cruz. The road was originally only a short path then 13 years ago, it was widened to facilitate access to houses and agricultural land. For the past 13 years, every mayor has promised to asphalt it. There is a beautiful view over the bay and city of Santa Cruz. As the road is not asphalted, the land is purchased at a price lower than the normal market value, so in recent years there have been several new houses built there. They are licensed and have water and electricity services connected. A petition was delivered to the council in 2005 and another with 300 signatures three years later. The poor state of the road causes damage to vehicles and prevents access to agricultural land, as lamented by a 73 year old man who cultivates sweet potato, onions, beans and some fruit trees such as papaya and tangerine. The municipality said they would make it "passable in the meantime" while searching for an inexpensive solution.
Câmara de Lobos unable to close cow farm. The farm in Vereda da Ribeira da Caixa remains active as sanitary rules have been met, despite previous pollution into a stream and the Praia do Vigário. There are now a few dozen cows and bulls in poor living conditions in a shed with a corrugated iron roof. The people living locally complain about the smell and noise at night. There have been disputes with the farmer and staff which involved the police at one stage. The local mayor admits that the situation is not pleasing to the neighbourhood but he has no power to license or cease operations.
Court annuls trial. The Court of Appeal in Lisbon annulled the judgement of the Court in Funchal which sentenced a 31 year old mother to 16 years in prison for murdering her daughter with poisoned biscuits and juice when institutionalized at the Cecilia Zino Foundation. It was alleged to be ‘an act of selfishness’, ‘cold and ruthless’ and not ‘true love’ although the defence argued it was due to mental incapacity. The original trial was in November 2007, and in response to new evidence about the defendant’s liability, the Court of Appeal in November 2008 requested a new trial. The woman was interned at the Casa da Saúde Câmara Pestana but failed to abide by the rules so was sent to prison, where she is at present. The two psychiatrists are arguing that she suffers from a mental illness caused by previous relationship problems, preventing her from discerning good from evil and that you cannot fake a mental illness when you only try to kill your children when mentally disturbed. Their evidence is "strong and credible enough to raise serious doubts about the liability of the defendant."
Banana growers versus GESBA. Another allegation and counter-allegation saga, this time the banana producers versus the management board GESBA. The growers have a petition challenging the action of the management, but GESBA give an assurance that the sector is "calm". The management said that in October there occurred an exceptional situation due to climatic conditions, when the production levels were equivalent to those in August, when the production is higher. This, coupled with the fact that it rained some days, meant that there was some delay in cutting the banana. When it was dry enough to use the machinery, they normalized the situation. The management explained that of the 2,800 producers, only a relatively few had complaints. They say their essential role is to manage the collection and distribution of the larger quantity of fruit produced in the summer and the lower amounts during winter months.
Tivoli Madeira celebrates 10 years. Jardim highlighted the good quality Tivoli hotels, the excellence of service, particularly with regard to the five-star hotel in Funchal which yesterday marked 10 years of activity. There was a cocktail event for travel agents, tour operators and local hotel managers. —-Thought you’d enjoy the photo, has Jardim any liver left?
Praia Formosa without sand and Toco waits. Both projects suspended. The document first presented to the public in 2004, for the period 2007/2011 stated, ‘Improvement of the entire seafront of Praia Formosa and leisure areas, contracting a study for the installation of an artificial beach and its construction, if technically and financially possible.’ Another project in the ‘banho-maria’ is Toco. The Government and the CMF are considering pursuing a public-private partnership to overcome legal impediments encountered. If this is legally possible, then interested private parties will have to be found.
‘Caso da mala’. ‘Case of the suitcase’. The defendants in this trial in Lisbon are António Preto, Jorge Silverio and Sobral de Sousa. António Preto is a PSD member suspended from the Assembly of the Republic, accused of tax evasion. Silverio and Sobral de Sousa were on the Board of the property firm Serbro. Sebro attempted to avoid paying 347,000 Euros IRC claiming wrong address. Instead of ‘Rua do Castanheiro nos 1 a 3, 8 – Funchal ‘ the tax offices used the address ‘Rua do Castanheiro nos 1 a 38′ and the claim is that the postman attempted to deliver a registered letter to the wrong address. The Court of Funchal have not yet decided on this case but if they decide to cancel the debt, it will weaken the prosecution’s ‘caso da mala’. António Preto was a lawyer to companies of Virgilio Sobral de Sousa. Sobral de Sousa was a PS councillor in Amadora. He was a partner of a firm accused of fraud in the issue of driving licences, selling ‘packages’ to candidates in Madeira who went to the continent, with accommodation, for a guaranteed licence, for 4,000 Euros. During the investigation, telephone conversations were recorded between Preto and the leader of the PSD-Lisbon, detailing delivery of 39,956 Euros packed in suitcases to pay for his campaign. During this investigation in 2002, Preto was caught receiving a suitcase containing 25,000 Euros. This opened a second criminal proceedings and in 2005, Preto was accused of tax fraud and document forgery with suspicions of corruption. During a famous eavesdropping phone call, Preto was heard to say to Sobral de Sousa, "I’m here to receive money, pal, as I have never seen in my life." Corrupt lawyers … whatever next … you’ll be telling me next Elaine that there are corrupt politicians as well … well I’ll be darned Preto is both … why bother with a trial! Der
Air disaster occurred 32 years ago on the 19 November 1977. The Diário has a video interview with one of the survivors of the disaster when the flight TP425, a Boeing 727-200, plunged into the sea at Santa Catarina Airport with 164 people on board. The biggest disaster in the history of TAP caused 131 deaths. There were 33 survivors.
Madeira classified as a destination of excellence. The World Tourism Organization has an institute, the CED, which has distinguished Madeira in 13 of the 15 parameters under evaluation for classification as a tourism destination of excellence. In all 15 parameters, the performance was above average. Six had a level of excellence, 6 a level of high performance and 3 had reached average.
Police rescued a Madeiran trader kidnapped in Caracas for a week. The 41 year old was riding a motorcycle in Caracas when he was forced into a vehicle by armed men and kept in captivity for a ransom of about 160,000 Euros. The ransom demand was made to his wife. On rescuing him, three men were killed who the police claimed were the kidnappers but in a radio program, a woman claimed one of them was her son. The suspects are thought to have been involved in 28 kidnapping cases.
Man attempts to rob a man leaving a pharmacy. In Nazaré yesterday morning, a man was leaving a pharmacy after collecting prescribed medications. A thief attempted to grab the bag of drugs but because he was ill, he just went away with the handles of the bag in his hand. There is a climate of insecurity in the area.
From today’s Diário newspaper front page :
Members of the Madeira government put relatives at the top of the vaccine waiting list – In the Health Centre of Santo António they say that the orders come from above. It was through this that at least vice president Cunha e Silva and his family were there for their vaccinations. Also there are doctors putting their children and friends at the front of the queue before they set off for holidays abroad. That’s today’s main news headline, but why? Did anyone really expect any different in the race for a limited supply of Gripe A swine flu medication. And this story is just the cases that have been discovered. The story already has 7 readers comments, and nothing very complementary I can assure you. Clear guidelines have been issued as to who the ‘at risk’ groups are and the priorities for administering the vaccine, but who would ever stop to think that by jumping the queue because you know somebody important, that a real ‘at risk’ person will be leapfrogged and maybe have to go without. Just human nature I suppose. No doubt Uncle Bertie has issued secret order for foreigners like me to be left until last, which of course would be totally expected, and I am certainly not complaining, as I still have adequate supplies of © Toranja Poncha ©.
Portugal may be top-of-the list – FIFA updates it’s rankings today and decides the ‘pots’ on day 2. So having scraped through with a string of close but favourable results, the desire is now that Portuguese football team gets seeded and avoids any particularly difficult games in the group stages of the actual 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
Santos Costa had a construction company when he was already regional secretary – The leader was a partner, with relatives, of a company of construction consultancy. But he says he has already left the company. The company offered services in the areas that Costa himself works, particularly in construction, promotion and marketing of real estate, tourism, hotel hospitality, and consultancy. Costa himself and his wife both held 40% of the shares, and the two children 10% each. The firm was created in April 2007, with a starting capital of just €5,000. In December 2008, company assets were stated as being around €300,000. Politicians in construction consultancy … stinks of a conflict of interest, especially for one that holds the very senior post of Regional Secretary responsible for ‘social assets’. But it is not illegal! It seems that now the company belongs just to the wife and two sons, which makes me feel so much better. It’s only just after midday as I write this, and the article already has 13 readers responses on the Diário website., and I have read them all and found nothing but scorn and contempt for Costa.
Why is it I feel guilty hogging all the top stories of the day? … I will leave these other two in case someone else wants a go …
Traffic continues in chaos around the schools – One of the reasons is the fact that only one quarter of the children take the bus to school. The winner is pollution.
Theatre celebrates 20 years of inclusive art.
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Infamous development in Porto Novo. A controversial development built on top of a steep cliff. This area contains 48 apartments spread over three blocks and was built by the company JSP Franca. It was subject to court action in 2000 and since then, the complex for public housing has been vandalized while the case has been going through court. The problem is that the land is part of the public maritime domain belonging to the Government and therefore the private properties along the coastline are illegal. The other interpretation of the law, favoured by the Government, is that the land has been recognized by them as private for more than 100 years and therefore detached from the public domain and the development is legal. 
Retired police commissioner might be subject to disciplinary action. Continuation of the saga about the pre-election violence. On the 2 October during the opening of the expressway to the port, clashes between the populares and the PND required the presence of the BIR. Jardim disputes the inaction of the PSP and accuses the Regional Commissioner of being under "the control of Lisbon" and not adequately protecting the opening. On the 14 October, the Diário learnt that a police officer requested a transfer out of the Region because he believes there are no conditions for performing police functions in the Region where the Government offends the honour, dignity and impartiality of men and women who are in the service of the Regional Command of the PSP. There are now two more similar requests for transfers. The retired commissioner Manuel Felix is said to be in "clear conscience". He has not yet been asked to give evidence to the PSP or Public Ministry. Although he is retired, he might face disciplinary action for neglect of duties. The penalty could be a fine or loss of pension rights.
África Nossa (our Africa) – Portugal beat Bosnia and qualified for the World Cup Finals 2010. The draw takes place on 4th December. Portugal won 0 – 1 on Bosnia’s home soil, with a very fine goal early in the second half by Raul Meireles. Tricky game, but Portugal reverted to their more natural attacking game and it paid off. I thought the match was going to be called off after some trouble with the crowd in the second half with objects being thrown at players and officials, with a linesman getting hit, but it just prolonged the game another 5 minutes. What a relief, and a what a tonic for the Portuguese sanity. 
Government unties knot in Campanário. The photograph shows that rather awkward junction of the via rápida in Campanário. The government is to put the problems right to ease traffic flow and to improve safety in the problem area. Work to correct the problem area should start early next year, and is being progressed with some haste, even though it has been like that since construction 12 years ago. 
