Madeira News Blog

(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.

(10th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘GR Has To ‘Invent’ New Funding – The development societies did 16 projects, counting on the contracts that the audit court did not authorise. The government of Madeira will have to find another solution to pay around €80 million’. The 16 projects, which include the new seafronts at Ribeira Brava (€9.7m), Porto Moniz (€15.8m), Porto Cruz (€3.2m), and Madelena do Mar (€6.8m), and various other works, pools, parks and leisure facilities, have all been rejected by the court and the transfer of public money has been refused, leaving Jardim and his government to find €79.5 million from elsewhere. The development societies that managed and executed the projects, used bank loans to finance the projects. The regional government was to liable to pay the costs starting in 2007, through to 2021, by paying the costs through the service contracts. The courts had already refused the projects, and the government appealed unsuccessfully. There are possible solutions, by restructuring the share capital, or selling off some of the assets (as was the plan in the case of the marina at Lugar do Baixo to the Pestana Group) where the projects are not considered improvements to existing public spaces. Another more drastic solution would be for the government to act as guarantors on the bank loans, and any repayments that become overdue. Many of the works, especially the sea front improvements, do not directly generate any revenue, and these may be particular problems. Wow! What a backward system that allows the development and completion of a project, which then goes for final approval after everything is complete at the risk of rejection. However, I assume that between now and 2021 there will be €80 million in the regional coffers allocated for these repayments, but now available for other purposes. Uncle Bertie always manages to squirm out of these tricky situations he creates, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we never hear about this again. FULL PROJECT LIST

Today’s main picture shows a pair of hands in handcuffs : ‘Police Went To Bring 200 From Home By Order Of Justice – It is what the law requires : Those who fail to attend hearings or fail to fulfil the measures required get a visit from the police. It happened to 200 people in the last 6 months’. The police served 200 arrest warrants in the last six months, but the number is not official, as the Diário has counted up the numbers from the daily press releases over that period. There were 4 served, just on Wednesday. A police spokesman, unable to confirm the numbers, said in most cases the warrants were issued by the judicial authorities because people failed to meet the requirements imposed on them. After that the most common reason was failure to appear at a hearing. Sometimes it is needed to ask around to trace people he said, as some try to avoid arrest by moving home without notifying the authorities, as required by law. Sometimes they run he said, citing one recent case of a man who ran from Santo Amaro and Pico dos Barcelos, chased by dozens of officers. I think we must be officially in Summer news time, as the serious news normally gets a bit thin on the ground this time of year, and the Diário team start digging around to try and fill up the pages.

‘Drain In Laranjal Pours Out Into The Stream For The Last Two Weeks’. The waste water polluting the Ribeiro do Laranjal in Santo António has turned the water brown and unbearably smelly with sewerage discharge. One resident said it started two weeks ago, and a break in a sewerage pipe is suspected of being the cause. But according to a spokesman yesterday at Funchal Council, no one complained, and so the problem wasn’t known about and dealt with. But the matter will now be resolved after officers were sent to inspect the problem yesterday afternoon, leaving with suspicions that someone has been illegally emptying a sceptic tank. That rates at number ten on my disgustingometer, the maximum possible, and if it is true then they would be classed as a true neighbour from hell.

‘Ceremony Reveals ‘Zarco Award 2009′ – Francis  Zino and José Cousa Câmara win. Zino, whose work is in ornithology, and Câmara in food and medical chemistry, were both distinguished on Friday, with the biennial award worth €150,000, after an unanimous decision by the adjudicators. The ‘Zarco Award’ exists to recognize the work, in artistic and literary fields, and in scientific research, of Madeirans born in the region, although the accomplishments can take place both inside and outside the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Câmara was recognised principally for his work on ‘Madeira wine’, whilst Zino concentrated on the preservation of bird species, purely as an unpaid ambition.

The sporting headline : ‘Controls In The Rally ‘Madeira Wine’ Are Going To Tighten – The organiser is going to monitor using GPS’. I don’t understand rally rules and terminology, so I will have to pass on this one. The rally ‘legs’ for the 27th and 28th July, are listed though, but I guess they will also be on the official website at www.rallyvm.com

‘Cinema In The Gardens of Santa Luzia – 8 films are to be shown in the Summer months’. Open air cinema is to be on Friday night’s, always at 9.30pm, starting tonight with ‘In Defence of Honour’. The event is organised by the Junta da Freguesia (Parish Council) of Imaculado Coração de Maria, who hope to attract more that the 1,000+ who attended in 2008.

’90 Exhibitors In The Agricultural Fair – The 54th edition of the exhibition take place this weekend’. 90 livestock exhibitors are expected in Porto Moniz, but also there are exhibitors of arts and crafts and other products present, as well as the organic market. Culinary activities and musical events are also arranged throughout the weekend.

(9th July). ’1,400 Students Don’t Want The ‘Magalhães’ – Schools stop accepting applications today, but it is possible to register online until Sunday’. 11,950 children applied for the small laptop computers in the government sponsored programme, that’s 86% of those eligible. The computers were given to the children free, or at a maximum cost of €50 (depending on family means), and the Diário says that some children did not apply as they already had computers, and for other ‘diverse reasons’. A bit tricky in schools then as this is intended to be a teaching aid, so how will they be able to use them if at least one in ten kids doesn’t have one?

‘Crisis Obliges Cut In Glasses And Trips To The Dentist’. The number of Portuguese that don’t buy new glasses, or no longer go to the dentist, has doubled in the last 7 years, a study has revealed about the state of health in the country. The study, to commemorate 30 years of the national health service assessed the economic access of citizens to health services in five areas.

‘Visit of King Juan Carlos is a "historic" event – The Ambassador for Spain in Portugal stresses that relations between Spain and Madeira are growing , especially in tourism’. The ambassador, Alberto Navarro, yesterday said that he considered the official visit of the King of Spain to Madeira as a "historic opportunity" to deepen economic relations between the two countries. Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia make a private visit here at the invitation of President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, 30-31st July and 1st August, which includes a visit to the island of Porto Santo. And I thought the King of Spain was called Cristiano Ronaldo … where on earth did I get that idea?

‘Navy Gathers Debris On The Coast’. This is the headline story I couldn’t find online yesterday, but eventually I got hold of a printed copy of the Diário and got the story from there. This is about a navy vessel, that found off the coast of Ribeira Brava debris that might have come from a plane, including a huge signalling buoy, that looked like a bomb. It also mentions that something was found nearer to Ponta do Sol. Inquiries to identify the source have not had any results yet.

(6th June). ‘Cavaco Brings King Of Spain To Madeira – The president is coming to show the autonomy of the islands to Juan Carlos and Sofia, but the visit coincides with the Rally’. President of the Republic of Portugal, Cavaco Silva, is to tour the autonomous regions with his wife and the king of Spain in a three day visit that starts in the Azores at the end of July. The royal family are to visit various institutions and make contacts with the regional and local authorities, but no precise details are given on the president’s website. I am not sure what the Madeira Wine Rally has to do with it, but no doubt D. Juan will be wondering why there is tobacco advertising all over the place during his visit here, and asking our president a few awkward questions on the matter.

Main news headline of today : ‘Demolition Of Hotels Hinders Câmara – The project to knock down the Savoy and the Santa Isabel is already with the council. The complexity of the demolition, due to unknown material in the structure, forces the council to obtain appropriate reports’. Already Funchal Council have requested advice from the Regional Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, in particular they want to know, among other things, what kind of material they will find when the hotel is demolished, what materials can be recycled, and what will be the final destination of the debris and objects removed. This information is required by law when a building is destroyed, and applies to both the hotels being demolished to make way for the new Savoy project. The president of the council said he is also concerned about the impact of the demolition itself and the movement of heavy vehicles, in such a sensitive tourism area. And I rather naively thought all that had already been done. I must admit I hadn’t really considered the impact of the demolition and building the new hotel on tourism, but that must be a huge concern. Perhaps they could use it as a marketing angle called ‘Savoy demolition weekend breaks’. I think anyone else thinking of visiting Funchal on holiday, who knows about this, will be looking to reschedule or relocate to an area well away from the Savoy zone.

The front page main photo shows a road accident with police and an ambulance in attendance. ‘On The Road Inaugurated The Day Before Yesterday, Already There Is An Mess – In Pilar, the new road of alternative access to S. António, there is confusion. Less than 24 hours after the inauguration, there was a worrying accident’. It seems that the new via rápida exit in Pilar is causing some confusion (and looking at the photo I can see why). The accident resulted in a woman and child being taken to hospital. Locals say that the junction is ‘badly signed so no one understands’. Details of the accident are given, but what the Diário concludes is that the driver at fault didn’t take notice of the triangle that indicates loss of priority. The report says that the steep incline is also causing problems for cars and buses, that are having to stop and then do a hill start. The report indicates that there were complaints about the safety of the €29m project, even before the opening and inauguration on Thursday. The regional secretary responsible refused to comment about the accident or the safety concerns.

The president of Funchal Council has admitted that the attempt to introduce ‘Park & Ride’ (a car park on the edge of the city with quick easy access thereafter to the city centre by bus) was an experience, and a failure. He also said that consideration was being given to constructing a new cable car, that will follow the route of the river ‘Ribeira de São João’ to ‘Infant’ in São António.

A very thin newspaper today, and it is easy to see why. It seems that even the Diário has respected today as an official day of rest from electioneering, with not a single story on the subject. I am enjoying listening to the radio as I type this, after two weeks filled with political debates, and party propaganda broadcasts … what a relief!