Regional finance law up for debate ; New duck species living on Madeira ; Cancer on the up
TODAY’S PHOTOS : Thanks to Sue … Quinta do Lorde
"Took advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday and we went to do a check up on the status of Ponta de São Lourenço Peninsula where they are recreating a small typical coastal village that is called Quinta do Lorde Resort. Things have moved in a year but cannot believe it will be finished in June 2010, which is their prediction date. The initial start was made with the Marina (which does have one bar/restaurant) and some initial housing. This development will include various bars and restaurants, plazas, incredibly a chapel, a gourmet shop, also, I was informed it will have its own supermarket and pharmacy. Anyone interested in reading more able it should go to their web page www.quintadolorde.pt ".
You sound quite upbeat about it Sue, but it is an ecological and visual nightmare in the situation where it was built. Not only that, the planning consent process was a farce, and the development is even bigger and higher than the consent that was ‘granted’ allowed. The PSD social democrats have managed to quash various attempts to uncover what really went on, through the Regional Assembly, including a forced public enquiry, and god only knows how many fat brown envelopes were involved. From a personal perspective I would say don’t visit, don’t buy, and tell anyone thinking of buying that they will be condoning ‘naughtiness’ on a breathtaking scale. (I didn’t use the word I really wanted to).
On the 1st of November 2009 3 American species of ducks were recorded in Madeira Island. Wood Ducks, the Green-winged Teal, and American Wigeons were spotted, with one species sighted for the first time. MADEIRA WIND BIRDS for more information and great photos, and a video.
"Nailed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the paradisiac archipelago of Madeira offers a different trip, to a wild corner which principal element is the Forest of Laurisilva, forest relic classified by the UNESCO like Natural World Patrimony. It is one of the few ones in the world that there preserves the purity that existed millions of years ago". I guess the author of this article meant well, but the writing style is just a bit weird. NEW WAYS TO USE THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
José Sócrates presents government programme for the next four years – MPs of the PSD and PS don’t assume for now any firm position. Thursday and Friday have been scheduled for debating the document. Rather than speculate about what the proposals will do for Madeira in terms of the revision of the regional finance law, Madeira’s MPs will wait to see the conclusions of the various parliamentary groups that will meet to discuss the issues. With a reduced majority, Sócrates may have to negotiate with other parties both to the left and right, to get the programme accepted. As president Jardim already had the commitment of the PSD nationally to accept changes to the regional finance law (a pre-election deal), then it may stand a good chance of going through. Exactly what it will do for us the people in €€€s and our economy I can’t really tell you, as I can’t remember everything, but we will know fairly soon I would imagine.
Many thanks again to Elaine for a summary of yesterday’s main news article :
Portuguese consuming less. Following on from the report about fewer imports /exports in Madeira. Portuguese consumers are taking advantage of falls in interest rates on housing loans to pay off debt and increase savings, but do not seem to consume more, preferring to defer purchases of higher value. This is typical behaviour in times of recession and crisis, and savings rates have risen. They have not started to buy for Christmas yet.
522 new cancer patients already this year. The numbers of cancers detected are increasing each year, as they are worldwide. 453 in 2005 and 614 last year. Increases are mainly in colon cancer and breast cancer which are thought to be due to less healthy lifestyles. Survival rates are improving due to early diagnosis and more effective treatment. Malignancy is still the second cause of death in Madeira, exceeded by cardiovascular diseases. In 2006, there were 462 deaths from cancers, breast cancer leading. About a thousand patients use the Day Hospital facilities, mainly for oncological diseases as well as others.
Airport security guards want more recognition. Since May 2007, the access controls at the airport of Madeira are no longer the responsibility of the police but ‘Securitas’ security guards. These workers have minimal training and are not certified. They are regularly trained with bogus bomb threats without much knowledge of weapons or explosives. Despite the increased responsibility, they are in the same category as other security staff, e.g. supermarket employees. The responsibilities are not proportional to the category. They want a recognized professional career. They are responsible for passenger screening, staff screening and luggage security checks, e.g.. using x-ray machines and other detectors. The task of the police is to maintain public order and prevention of incidents. The National Association of Wardens wants the airport authorities and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to establish a new professional category for airport security staff that would create better conditions, wages and training. This was promised in March but has not been implemented. A ‘Securitas’ spokesman says it is up to the union and the authorities to resolve labour issues. The training is the same as for those working in other situations with an additional 71 hours of specific training for airport employment.
Residents do not want funeral directors in their apartment block. Originally a cafe was promised in the commercial area on the ground floor of the apartment block in Porto Santo. The residents now realize a funeral parlour is being installed. The conversion work has started without any notification, or authorization by the apartment owners, as established by law. Following their complaints, the council have stopped the building works as they are unauthorized by either the council or the residents. Any other types of trade will also need approval.
Rockfall threatened access to Nun’s Valley just before festivities. About 4.10 am, there was a landslide from the back garden of a house onto the Estrada da Eira do Serrado blocking the only access to Nun’s Valley, where they expected thousands of sightseers to the Chestnut Festival. The 72 year old owner immediately hired men and a lorry to clear the debris although it was still dark. The firemen visited later on Sunday and just put red tape across the area where there should have been a support wall to prevent the collapse but did not recommend that the owner moves out. The owner built the house 30 years ago and the council queried its legality. He has recently noticed cracks in the walls of the house which he blames on the increased traffic, especially lorries on the nearby road. He is hoping the council will start securing the area on Monday.
Councillors safeguard their own interests (receive more money). The later they leave, the more money they receive. The inauguration ceremonies for new councillors and mayors are on November 2nd instead of being in October. If the outgoing staff left in October, they would receive 10 months salary. By delaying to November, they receive an additional month’s salary and full Christmas bonus.
Constitutionalist Jorge Miranda believes that the Lisbon Treaty "is a mistake". "For better or worse, the Lisbon Treaty, which is almost a carbon copy of the former called the European Constitution severely limits the powers of state sovereignty and therefore it will also affect the relationship between States and Autonomous Regions." Jorge Miranda says the important thing is "to strengthen the participation of the Autonomous Regions in the European construction." He is pro-Europe but against the new agreement. "I am an advocate of European integration but not in this sense of very centralized and federalist." —- From yesterday’s rant, Bertie for EU President?
New exhibition about whales and dolphins of Madeira in Ponta do Pargo. 4 December to 4 January in the Civic Centre. The exhibition is organized by the Whaling Museum in Caniçal and will display images taken between 2004 and 2006 of dolphins and whales that inhabit the seas of the Madeira archipelago. (The permanent exhibition at the Whale Museum is presently closed)
Porto Bay wants to open two more hotels in Brazil. The economic crisis in Europe has made the group rethink its strategy and take advantage of the good indications for the Brazilian market, with extraordinary economic growth and a series of events scheduled for the coming years. Three of their hotels have 500 beds in Rio de Janeiro, Buzios and São Paulo. In the future Olympic city of Rio, in Copacabana, the Porto Bay International hotel has 117 rooms and is also well placed for two airports and exploring the historic town, shops, museums, park and night life. They want to adapt or build a beach hotel in the northeast.
Naviera Armas and Ports Institute on a collision course. The Spanish owner ensures that they comply with the rules imposed by the licence to load and unload at the port. The regulator ruled the operation illegal. The company is working with their lawyers to provide their defence. The case could go to both the Portuguese and Spanish Governments.
Some of today’s news headlines :
There have been 4 new cases of Gripe A swine flu detected on Madeira this last week. Three of the cases came from Venezuela and Belgium. The big relief is that there have still not been any cases in our schools.
Madeira’s newest airline FlyMI made it’s inaugural flight today. The plane is on the TV as I type, already landed at Madeira airport, so I assume it has delivered it’s first cargo inbound from Lisbon.
On the front page of today’s Diário :
Support for ‘Flor do Mar’ refused by Tribunal de Contas (Audit Office) – In dispute is the contract of accommodation for the professionals that shoot the film. Flor do Mar is the national soap opera filmed on Madeira by TVI. Putting up 50 people for three weeks every month between September 2008 and last May, was too much said the tribunal. The arrangements were made through the secretary for Tourism and Transport, and have set Madeira back €423,040. The issue was that the cast and crew were accommodated in the ‘CS’ hotel, and the contract for accommodation should have gone out to tender. The tourism secretary has argued that it was all arranged as a matter or urgency to safeguard the public interest, and appealed the decision, but the appeal has been rejected.
The main headline today : Complaints in the hotel sector – The trade union talks of over one hundred cases of unpaid staff. The Chamber of Commerce of Funchal says that the numbers are worrying, but requires confirmation of the numbers. The TU spokesman says the salary arrears also extend to restaurants and other hotel establishments. The numbers relate to trade union members, when in fact between 50 and 60% of hotel workers are not in the trade union, saving themselves 1% of their salaries.
Madeira wants to widen the the timescales for applying for community funds of QREN.
Most of today’s front page is taken up with a photo of our two football teams, Nacional and Marítimo, pictured in a joint team pose : Derby game in Caracas – IV Banif Trophy to be played in Venezuela. The game will take place in may 2010, at the end of the premier league.
‘Night of the witches’ brought bad luck for 5 youths from Porto Santo – Inappropriate adventure suppressed by the police. That’s the name given to Halloween night in Portugal, although it is noticeable that ‘Halloween’, the actual name is becoming more popular. The 5 youths, who gathered together to play some pranks on Friday night, tried to rob an elderly woman wearing masks, and also raided an empty holiday home as a ‘haunted house’. It seems the police at the arrest were not happy with the situation, and gave the gang a good kicking, and that will be the subject of a counter complaint against the police.
Individual detained in Santa Catarina with 5 thousand doses in his body. The 25 year old Portuguese man was detained at the airport and taken to hospital where the drugs (cocaine) were removed through surgery. The drugs have a street value of €125,000. The man is being held in custody, and was under surveillance by police prior to his arrest.
Maiata : People insist on using dangerous road. Maiata is in Porta da Cruz, and the road in question is closed through danger of rockfall, a fact that does not worry the local population, who seemingly use it as they always have.
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Funchal Tuning Club accompany the Virgin. These are people who modify their vehicles, although illegal here but legal in some parts of the EU. This will be on November 4th when the statue goes from Acadas da Cruz to Ponta do Pargo. It will be in the Diocese of Calheta until the 26th November when it goes to Ribeira Brava and Ponta do Sol. —– An illegal convoy? Will police be in attendance? A bit different from the Popemobile, which was the first vehicle, then bikers, now tuners….next?
Between 2 – 8 November, the Science Centre in Porto Moniz will have the photographic exhibition of the first visit of the Pilgrim Statue to Madeira in 1948. The exhibition has hundreds of photos from the Vicentes Museum and is touring the country.
Quinta do Lorde development within the law. The Legislative Assembly of Madeira approved a 30-page report stating there was no illegality in the construction of the private enterprise in Caniçal. Illegalities had been raised on grounds of the areas of construction and environmental impact. There had been a previous 10,000 page report compiled by prosecutors, mainly 4 political parties and environmental group Quercus. The licensing was approved by all authorities, but there were particular problems with intrusion into the public maritime area. The resort was designed by an American company and will have 740 beds and 370 rooms spread between the hotel and tourist villas and apartments. It will employ 200 and indirectly employ another 100.
Expropriation in São Vicente with police and gunshot into the air – Owners contest the moving in of construction machinery without explanations on the part of the council. Sounds like another bungled compulsory land purchase. The photo shows a JCB diggers with it’s shovel raised, ready to attack a cultivated allotment or garden, but it stopped in it’s tracks when it heard gunfire. 
Mega-yacht in Caniçal. A 52-metre yacht, the ‘Meteor’ stopped yesterday for refuelling, and to replace the crew. It came from Gibraltar and left for Palm Beach, California. It is the largest yacht to visit the Marina Quinta do Lorde since opening in November 2002. This marina was recommended to the ‘Meteor’ commander by his counterpart of the ‘Never Enough’ which stopped twice there in 2008.
