Madeira News Blog » regional finance law

Writers & artists exhibit united ; Mosquito control tips ; Police operation in Funchal

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Rita … Banana wash production line at the co-operative in Madalena do Mar.

"I had always heard of Madeira as an island that was out there off the African coast but only old people went there and the weather might be dodgy. But I got the opportunity to visit it at the end of January this year and how wrong was my perception. It is a beautiful island with varied and magnificent scenery – mountains, valleys, tropical gardens, golf courses, wind surfing. There is plenty to do even at night time with a huge selection of restaurants and plenty of bars with music and night clubs. So I found out that it is not just for the over 70s". MORE

I have no idea where this photo was taken, it was on a website unrelated to Madeira, but the tug boat is called ‘Funchal’. Is it here, or can anyone shed any light on the vessel?

Many thanks to Pete who emailed me with this creative and very sensible suggestion :

Mosquitoes in your garden? Try planting these! Marigolds, Ageratum, Catnip, Rosemary, Geraniums, Basil, Lemon Balm, Garlic and onion. I have also seen on eBay Mosquito Dunks that you drop in water. I personally like to try plants rather than chemicals because they are safer for pets and the environment. You can also help by emptying water containers regularly that plants stand in, including anything that stores water. You can find other plants and ways of getting rid of Mosquitoes by searching the internet. If they fail, you still have a colourful garden, which everyone can admire.

Also many thanks to Elaine (out West) … from yesterday’s Diário de Notícias :

Exhibition unites painting, literature and music – The works of six artists and the texts of six writers, inspired by various musical pieces, are part of ‘Third Bank’, an exhibition opened yesterday which will be open to the public until February 26 at the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias. Sofia Moniz Alves is the coordinator for the ‘Third Bank’, which includes contributions by Ana Luísa Amaral, Pedro Proenca, Teresa Gonçalves Lobo, Fernando Pinto Amaral, Nuno Júdice, Regina Chula, Avelino Rocha, Helga Moreira, Isabel Mendes Ferreira, Agostinho Santos, Lucia David and Porfirio Al Brandão. "The objective was to unite the art of bisexuality. Each writer was paired with each of the artists, making writing, visual art and music one work," Sofia Moniz Alves explained. To this end, next to each table is a text and an MP3 player with music that inspired the works. Also available to the public until 26 February is a catalogue of CDs, whose content is the basis of the exhibition. Entry is 7 Euros.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

For any nautical bloggers, RTP is following the Sagres Portuguese Navy training ship: SAGRES. The Portuguese Navy site has an English version

Diário online poll : How do you rate the debt of the region?

Alarming 79% ; Normal 8% ; Understandable 10% ; Negligible 3% ;

DIÁRIO 06/02/2010 – FRONT PAGE NEWS

Lagoa do Santo wastes two thirds of water captured. Built in the early 1980s with the purpose of irrigating Santo da Serra golf course and providing water for the municipality of Santa Cruz, the Lagoa do Santo da Serra has never been fully operational. This reservoir has a capacity of 1 million cubic metres of water but takes no more than a third of this amount. It was the first artificial lake in the region, costing the equivalent of 4 million Euros. The problem is the asphalt lining the reservoir so it was drained in mid-2009 but found to be in a worse state than expected. The reservoir has been redesigned and work will begin in May and is expected to be finished by mid-2011, when it should have a capacity of 700,000 cubic metres of water. Originally, the reservoir took water only from the Levada da Serra Faial which is currently being restored. New work means that it should be able to receive water from other sources, water from Ribeira de Boaventura via the Lagoa das Águas Mansas. To help irrigation of agricultural land in the area and provide water for the municipalities of Machico and Santa Cruz, there will be two additional new reservoirs: Lagoa da Portela and Lagoa da Ponta do Pargo.

MADEIRA

Ten places for foreigners. If approved in Lisbon, Madeiran employers will be able to hire only 10 workers from outside the EU this year. This proposal is by the Regional Executive. Last year, they wanted a quota of 20 and despite the Portuguese Government raising it to 58, only 22 were employed. Extra bureaucracy is needed and employment opportunities are dwindling as unemployment presently stands at 13,000. The large public works are over and there are no new investments. This is a national trend as last year only 25% of the quota for immigrants was used, filled by Venezuelans, Brazilians, Africans and Ukrainians.

Four robbers arrested by PSP. They are responsible for crimes committed in Funchal. A 34 year old Mozambican national was sentenced to nine months in prison. He was in possession of several items including computer equipment and perfumes, and was responsible for a dozen thefts from cars parked in public car parks. The police caught him in the act while he was inside a car after having forced open the door. Three suspects from Nazaré were arrested, aged between 18 and 27 years. They had violently robbed an 80 year old woman and most of the stolen item have been recovered.

PSP threaten Carnival floats. Eight days before the Carnival parade, the Regional Commander of the Police has met with the Regional Secretariat of Tourism and Transport concerning security arrangements. One of the changes brought forward is that floats are obliged to be covered by liability insurance in case of accidents which cause damage to third parties; spectators and those taking part. In a previous event a float slid for a few metres down the Avenida Zarco, causing a scare. There is confusion about whether the safety standards will be identical to last year or if additional checks will have to be made to the floats, which could mean significant changes to the bodywork and mechanics.

CARNIVAL PROGRAM

13 February, Saturday
Festivities in the Lower Town
10:00 – 13:30 – Carnival Party Band
10:00 – 15:00 – Marching Band
15:00 – 20:00 – Marching Band
19:30 – 23:00 - Puppet Theatre Group on the route of the Float Parade
20:50 – 21:00 – Fireworks
21:00 - Carnival Float Parade

Route: Departing from Praça da Autonomia (south side), Avenida do Mar e das Comunidades Madeirenses (southbound lane), crossing to the northbound lane (opposite the Marina Shopping Centre) and going up Rua Dias Leite, Infante Roundabout, Avenida Arriaga (northbound lane – as far as Banco de Portugal), Avenida Zarco (northbound lane), Rua Câmara Pestana and Praça do Município.

Themes of the groups taking part in the Float Parade

- "Treasure Island" - Veteranos da Folia
- "Divinities of the Sea" – Os Cariocas Samba School
- "Nymph Fantasies" – Associação de Animação Geringonça
- "The Portuguese Sea" – Associação Fura Samba
- "The Sea and Piracy" – Caneca Furada Samba School
- "The Revelry of the Ocean" – Turma do Funil
- "The Delights of the Sea" – João Egídio Andrade Rodrigues
- "Secrets of the Sea" – Fábrica de Sonhos

22:00 – Carnival Music Show, at Praça do Município

ECONOMY

Blue Merlin fishing tournament. The third edition of Madeira Blue Merlin competition is to be held during the 11 – 13 June in the sea around Calheta. Last year, there were 15 teams and this year, 25 will take part. They arise from Madeira, Azores, Portugal, United Kingdom, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the Canary Islands, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA. Caught fish have to be released alive back to the sea. The winner will represent Portugal in the Hawaiian International Tournament in 2011. Teams consist of three to six members with another one to film for validation purposes. Registration fee is 600 Euros per boat. This tournament is intended to honour the surgeon António Ribeiro who at 96 years old was probably the oldest participant for this type of fishing.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE HEADLINES – Finance Law passed. Finance Law must be met.

Diário highlights a constitutional challenge but Jornal da Madeira have only one paragraph about this possibility. Two long articles about the battle, giving their reasons and financial figures for the law since they say the public are confused. (Not surprising!) According to the Diário, there are eight days for the PS socialists to ask the Constitutional Court to judge the law and the Court has up to 25 days to rule, by which date it is too late to enact the law in time to focus on the State Budget of 2010. If unconstitutional, Cavaco Silva has the difficult decision to pass the law (political instability) or veto it and face the consequences of turning against Jardim. If he vetoes the law, it must return to Parliament and be approved by two thirds of the deputies. Later today in Diário, it was reported that Jardim said that the law is "not unconstitutional" but the PS request for a constitutional challenge is a "serious threat". He said the passing of the law shows the possibility of a "historic compromise" and might "liberate" Portugal from a "party that has no ideology or value". Jardim also says a coalition should be formed to govern Portugal.

Alcohol prevention. There will be a proactive prevention of substance misuse in a joint initiative by the police, Regional Service of Drug Prevention and the Alcoholics Association, Mão Amiga. It will last from 0.00 to 03.00 on Sunday morning in the main centres of nightlife in Funchal. Information leaflets on the harmful consequences of drug and alcohol abuse and other substances will be handed out by the police. Those interested will be allowed to try the ‘test balloon’, independently of whether they intend to drive, to allow them to determine their fitness to be behind a wheel. The drug prevention, rehabilitation and therapy teams will be available. This is to be followed by a police surveillance operation on the main roads of Funchal from 03.00 to 08.00, focusing on driving under the influence of alcohol. The representative from Mão Amiga says they want to inform young people on how to enjoy themselves without having to consume harmful substances. They are there to educate, provide information, answer questions, so people can meet them and see they are helpful and friendly, and to help those with an alcohol problem. It is more appropriate for young people to go out and meet real friends than ‘virtual friends’ through computers. The first harmful substance imbibed tends to be alcohol before some graduate onto drugs which are more difficult to abandon.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Martins Júnior is a beloved priest – He has been suspended since 1977, but continues to celebrate in Ribeira Seca. There are those faithful in the community, some with 50 years, waiting for the bishop, the confirmation and a canonical solution to the priest that they held in such high regard. "The crime of Padre Amado". Suspended nearly 33 years, Martins Júnior continues faithful to the community of Ribeira Seca. In July 1997 the then Bishop of Funchal suspended Martins from his post, and performing any acts associated with his former role. The charge was disobedience, and the first element of that was political activity, still in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution in 1974. It’s a long story, full of religious terminology that I don’t understand in any language, and I now wish that I hadn’t chosen this story at all. But anyway, Martins, now aged 72, never accepted the suspension order (or be tried by ecclesiastical court) and continued his priestlike activity until the present, undertaking Mass, baptisms and funeral duties in the parish of Ribeira Seca. The current Bishop of Funchal, D. António Carrilho, has said that he is hopeful of resolving the situation (but that was back in 2007).

In politics : Law of Finances agitates the Socialist Party – Bernardo Trindade and Miguel França deny conflict. Carlos César [Azores] doesn’t believe in the presidential veto. The socialists are now looking for the resignation of President Albert João Jardim following the episode with the Regional Finance Law. Madeira’s representative in the Lisbon assembly, Bernardo Trindade, says that Jardim is now a problem for Madeira now that he doesn’t have a weapon against Lisbon. The socialists of Madeira do admit that the new law is fairer for Madeira than the one passed in 2007, as it has reduced the ‘positive discrimination’ that favoured the Azores. França was the only socialist MP to vote against the government, but any talk of a rift as a result in local politics is being played down.

Diabetes costs a packet – The costs have risen. On Madeira there is expenditure of €4 million per year on medicines. That cost is just for the regular medicine, the more expensive stuff is not included in that figure. There are around 26,000 diabetics on Madeira, and estimates suggest that there are another 50,000 that may already be pre-diabetic. The responsible director in Hospital Central do Funchal said that the cost in the last year had escalated around half a million Euros. This was in part down to the use of more effective medicines, that were more expensive.

Today’s main news headline : Societies ask for €100 million more – The loan aims to avoid bankruptcy of the Development Societies and of Madeira Parks. The loss is €98.5 million, and the businesses pay just 18% of the costs.

The main sport / football headline today : Expectations boosted – With the defeat of Sporting, Marítimo and Nacional have a new incentive in the fight for a European placing. Huge surprise to know that Sporting lost at home against Académica last night. The action with our local teams starts at 3 pm, but only on the radio TSF-M / RTP.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

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The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

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Regional Finance Law approved ; €50k for Haiti ; Festa dos Compadres ; Flour Revolt

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elaine out West … Dried herbs and chillies on sale in Funchal Market

"Toward the end of last year, a delegation of top producers from Madeira – Blandy’s, Henriques & Henriques, Justino’s, Barbeito and Borges – paid a visit to Prague. … Vintage Madeira is a seemingly ageless creation, very much a case of "the older, the better," as attested to by such connoisseurs as the legendary Madeira Club in Savannah, Georgia. ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE MADEIRA WINE ARTICLES

"The Isaiah Davenport House Museum will uncork an affable taste of early Americana this month as it hosts "Potable Gold: Savannah’s Madeira Tradition" during a special series of programs. Offered to the public only on Friday and Saturday evenings in February, "Potable Gold" involves sampling two types of Madeira wine and allows participants to experience the circa-1820 house at dusk, after the usual visiting hours, said museum Director Jamie Credle". AND ANOTHER

There’s a free album download offer on this website, but it’s limited to 15,000 so don’t hang about : OFFER

We’re back to the minnows in this weekends football fixtures. On Sunday Nacional goes to Olhanense for a 3 pm kick-off. An hour later Marítimo host União. Neither game is televised.

If one could go around not knowing having seen the latest news, the Regional Finance Law amendments were approved in Lisbon yesterday, even with the Socialist government voting against it … "Portuguese lawmakers approved a regional finance law Friday that could add to the budget deficit at a time when investors are growing increasingly concerned about the state of Portuguese public finances. Opposition lawmakers pushed through the legislation against the votes of the ruling Socialist Party, which currently form a minority government". EVEN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COVERED IT

And on the same subject, this article evaluates the impact of the decision MARKETWATCH

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 05/02/2010

Residence at risk of falling down the hillside. A house in Larano in Porto da Cruz is at risk of falling down the slope on which it was built due to landslides caused by recent rains. The foundations are now visible and the cement has cracked so part of a small wall has collapsed. The owners are unaware of the situation as the house is only inhabited at weekends and there is still furniture left outside. Neither the local council or fire department were aware of this situation.

More than 50,000 Euros for Haiti. Between 18 January and 4 February, the Diocese of Funchal collected over 50,000 Euros to help the earthquake victims. A Mass in Cabo Girão received 10,264 Euros, Caritas collected 680 Euros, the Igreja do Colégio collected 2,000 Euros and the School at Curral das Freiras raised 1,150 Euros.

TAP extends its network to destinations in Africa. TAP will have three flights a week from Lisbon to Morocco. Its passenger numbers in the African sector have increased 129% since 2001. It is the only sector in 2009 where there was growth. With this new route in June, there will be connections to eight countries in Africa from Portugal.

Jet2.com begins regular flights to Madeira on May 3rd. Low-cost company sells Manchester – Madeira flights for 260 Euros round trip. Jet2.com already flies from Faro to two cities in the United Kingdom. According to the British press last week, this new route might benefit the British who have accommodation on the island (second home or timeshare). Trips are sold on the website at base prices of around 100 Euros. The return price reaches around 300 Euros because in addition to fees, Jet2.com charge separately for the carriage of luggage, check-in, choice of seating, meals and insurance. jet2 website

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

Three houses in danger. At least three dwellings are at risk of being swept away by slippage of earth at Serra Velha de Baixo in Curral das Freiras, near the Ribeira dos Socorridos. The families have been advised to leave their homes. The council agree that a wall is needed to support the earth which cannot hold the amount of water flooding onto it.

Car and warehouse destroyed. In Corujeira de Dentro in Monte. Both the car and warehouse were destroyed by debris swept down onto the road by flooding. The car owner has difficulties feeding his animals (dogs, chickens and rabbits) as road access is blocked by the landslide. Initially, residents at the other end of the road were isolated until the council made the road minimally passable. The land that collapsed is privately owned so the council have refused to help the residents.

Festa dos Compadres. This is a tradition specific to Santana. It is patently ironic, sarcastic and has a lot of social criticism. The compadres are made in secret and are effigies of social figures. On Saturday 6 February at 17.00, there is the cortejo folião with nearly a dozen groups from schools, followed by music starting at 18.30 on a stage erected in front of the council building. Next to this building, a tent has been set up where there will be a ball of ‘Comadre e do Compadre’ at 22.00, 3 Euros entrance fee. The main parade is on Sunday 7 February, starting at 16.00. The public judgement of the compradres occurs at 17.45, ‘sentencing of the compradres’. Awards presented at 19.00 for the best floats and troupes followed by musical entertainment from 19.30 to 22.00. The final day of the festa is Thursday February 11th, starting with fireworks at 12.00 and the traditional event ‘Os compadres passeiam a camadre’ occurs at 20.00. The council hope the festa will help the economy of Santana by bringing in tourists and raise the spirits of the population, needed after the area has been battered by storms. Program on Santana Council website

‘Revolt of the Flour’ was 79 years ago. On February 4 1931, the islanders rebelled in a movement that became known as the ‘Revolt of the Flour’. On 26 January 1931, a law was passed that monopolized milling and was known as the ‘Decree of Hunger’. This ended free wheat and flour imports, handing the monopoly to a group of millers. The riots spread and lasted until the 9th February. The Companhia Insular de Moinhos was targeted and on the 6 February, an assault on the firm left five dead and many injured. The law was repealed but the island suffered reprisals by the central government sending armed forces to make arrests and deportations. The climate of terror and instability lasted until the ‘Revolt of Madeira’ on April 4th against the dictator Oliviera Salazar. On April 11th, the ‘Revolting Movement’ installed a democratic government in Madeira but this succumbed to the dictatorship’s military offensive on 2 May.

CARNIVAL 2010

Fábrica dos Sonhos [Dream Factory] reveal secrets of the sea. There are about 150 members in this troupe which is known for originality. They will represent marine animals; jellyfish, mermaids, starfish and crabs. The mermaids and jellyfish are the leading figures. The Veterans are dressed as fish and the procession will be a sea of colour incorporating silver and blue. A group of Hot Dancers open their parade and a group of ‘fish’ close it. The dancers rehearse at the Rua das Pretas, no 16.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

25 years of gastronomy – Machico brings Mariza. The silver jubilee of the Machico Gastronomy Fair this year will be graced by top (living) fado singer Mariza, on 4th August. The visit will form part of her tour ‘Terra’, which is the title of her new album, and includes performances in Egypt and the Royal Albert Hall in London. So it looks like Machico has all the money then! It’s definitely a great idea to pull in the punters to the fair, but whether they will be spending their money on ‘gastronomy’ or not we will have to wait and see.

Law approved yesterday doesn’t bring any money – The alterations to the controversial Regional Finance Law were passed. Without dividends. The defeated socialist government will do everything in it’s power to stop the application of the law, starting with a constitutional challenge. The defeat was substantial, with 87 socialists voting against, and all the opposition and one socialist (França of Madeira) voting in favour, 126 in total. You would have thought that this was the big story of the day, the week, and even the year, but the Diário editor thought not, giving it just a corner of the front page. Surely nothing to do the fact that Uncle Bertie actually succeeded in his quest to change the LFR. I wonder what the other ~~loopaper~~ newspaper, the Jornal da Madeira, has plastered all over it’s front page?

Today’s main news headline : 2008 bill : bad debts cost €23 million just in interest. The problem arose from the delays in payments of debts by the Regional Government, the majority of which were to contractors that had responsibility for the execution of public works.

Lagoon continues not to generate earnings – The reservoir of Santo da Serra never reciprocated to the €4 million investment, 30 years ago. But there are new works in May. With a reduction in capacity.

The main sport / football headline today : Final effort of Madeira in order to bring World Cup teams – Covilhã chosen, it remains to hope that Portugal undertakes training here in the last few days. And only if the the political environment were to help. The series points also to other squads. Not sure I got that last bit 100% correct, but anyway the main picture of the day shows a nice overhead view of the Sports Stadium of Madeira, at the back end of Ribeira Brava. If it is being suggested that that is the venue to attract national teams to warm up for the World Cup in South Africa in June, then it’s a good choice. But they will need to get the cleaners in first I would imagine, as it has hardly been used since it was completed, and must be full of cobwebs by now. A study group, made up anonymous Madeiran citizens with various backgrounds, has concluded that our island is the perfect place for preparation for teams competing in the competition. That group has persuaded an otherwise apathetic Regional Government to support a project called ‘Mundial 2010, pré-estágios das selecções apuradas para a Fase Final – Opção Ilha da Madeira’, which forgetting the first part is putting forward Madeira as an ideal training option. One interesting selling angle, is that Madeira has the identical climate and humidity as South Africa, and is geographically actually a part of Africa, but has the safety aspects of being European. The locations put forward are in Ribeira Brava and Camacha, as well as the two football stadium complexes of Marítimo and Nacional. I reckon the teams that qualified some months ago will have probably already booked up long ago their preparatory destinations, but we might pull something off with a bit of luck, and maybe even have the chance to ‘knobble’ the opposition before June.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Totting up the damage ; Gardens earn €3.5m ; Gripe A centres close ; Carnival 2010 news

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … "For the butterfly lovers. taken Friday 29 January at Funchal Municipal Gardens".

Madeira’s favourite son (no not Rúben Micael) celebrates his quarter century today. Happy 25th birthday Cristiano Ronaldo.

On a December afternoon in 2007, billionaire Jose Berardo walked into the attorney general’s 18th-century headquarters in Lisbon to rat out executives at the Portuguese bank on which he had staked his fortune. Berardo, whose 7 percent share in Banco Comercial Portugues SA was worth about $1 billion at the time, says he met with Attorney General Fernando Pinto Monteiro for two hours. The investor handed Portugal’s top prosecutor several folders of evidence showing that executives at Portugal’s largest publicly traded bank had allegedly used offshore companies to try to boost the share price and their own bonuses. Berardo says he hoped his disclosure would spur the prosecution of the Oporto- based bank’s chairman, with whom the investor had clashed over governance issues, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its March issue. BLOOMBERG ARTICLE about one of Madeira’s more colourful characters, though I doubt that he is (or was) a billionaire (ah, just noticed, a dollar billionaire … that’s different!).

Joe Berardo Wikipedia page : HERE

"Parliament’s budget and finance commission will vote on the law in what may test the minority government’s ability to control spending at a time when Portugal faces pressure to reduce its debts. The dispute revolves around a proposal to grant the semi-autonomous island of Madeira payments worth 82 million Euros — a proposal supported by the main opposition, the centre-right Social Democrats. The government said passing the bill could send the wrong message to markets as the country struggles to convince credit rating agencies that it can reduce its budget gap to 3 percent of gross domestic product in 2013 from 9.3 percent in 2009. "The country won’t understand that, in the current budget situation, it has to make extra payments to Madeira," said Cabinet Minister Pedro Silva Perreira, adding that Madeira has higher income per capita than the rest of Portugal". For those who have been reading so much about the Regional Finance law in recent weeks and months, this may be the article that helps to explain to them and the international community the implications of what is going on. The daft thing is that the Social Democrat support was originally just a pre-election bargaining element of mutual benefit from last year, and that seemingly rather trivial commitment (at the time) could now bring down the Portuguese socialist government, not to mention sending negative ripples through the European economy. RFL

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 04/02/2010 – FRONT PAGE HEADLINES

The fault was not just the bad weather. "When you buy land to build, you should not be concerned only with the view." That is the advice from a University geologist when he analyzed the storm damage in Madeira, stating that rain and landslides are natural situations in Madeira. Losses could be minimized if the land was properly surveyed for suitability before construction work began, for example if it is near a stream that is likely to flood or at the base of an embankment. He also criticized public authorities for licensing buildings in perilous places. The quality of construction can also make a difference. Councillors and mayors also admit that the councils were partially to blame.

BALANCE IN FUNCHAL

Millions – Just to repair pavements damaged by rain, the Council will spend a million Euros and the final amount will rise above this figure, ensures Albuquerque.

Homeless – The landslides left six families homeless because of the storm. In Funchal, five people were housed temporarily in a pensão.

Closed – 30 roads were closed in Funchal. The situation was more complicated in Curral dos Romeiras. Yesterday morning, it still could not reached by bus.

Waterless – Several areas in Santana yesterday were without drinking water due to difficulties in accessing the sources.

Works – Miguel Albuquerque says it is urgent to solve the problem of Ribeiro da Nora and is willing to work with the Department of Infrastructure.

The coast – The Barreirinha, Praia de São Tiago, Ponta Gorda and especially the Lido were damaged. The Lido pool will close for work between Easter and the beginning of the season.

Half a million visit gardens and spent 3.5 million Euros. Garden Tourism is more competitive and diversified and is a specialist tourism niche. In 2008, there were 583,583 visits to the three main gardens in Funchal which have an entrance fee: Jardim Botânico Eng.º Rui Vieira, Quinta do Palheiro Ferreiro, and Jardim Tropical Monte Palace. The importance of this type of tourism to Madeira is the British market and throughout Europe, gardens are enjoying a significant boom period. 60% of visitors to the Quinta do Palheiro Ferreiro were independent visitors and the other 40% in organized groups. Whereas in Jardim Tropical Monte Palace, 90% of the visitors were independent. The tourists who visit gardens during the spring are mostly from Western and Northern Europe and during the summer months, are from Southern Europe. It is estimated that 41.4% of all tourists visit one or more gardens. The writer and environmentalist, Raimundo Quintal, also highlighted the importance of the concept of Botanical Hotels, for example: Hotel Casa Velha, Quinta do Arco, Hotel Quinta Splendida, Quinta Jardins do Lago and the Resort Vila Porto Mare. Despite this, Madeira does not have a strategy for promoting garden tourism. He advises strategies are needed to accommodate family visits, links to the Flower Festival and more websites created to convince garden lovers that you can visit all year round.

PND protest in Belém. "Dr. Alberto João Jardim saw us and got angry." This assurance was given by Gil Canha, one of the four self-styled "horsemen of the apocalypse". Four members of the PND protested yesterday with a banner asking "Help Madeira but do not give any money to Bokassa", an allusion to the African dictator with whom Jaime Gama compares Jardim. José Manuel Coelho shouted slogans stating that Jardim wants money to support his political propaganda machine and to maintain the Regional Assembly which costs €17 million a year but does not function. Spending on football and Jornal da Madeira were also criticized. He also stated that Jardim only goes to Lisbon to ‘extend his hand’ (ask for money).

MADEIRA

Influenza support services close tomorrow. Special Influenza A Clinics (SAG) will shut at the end of tomorrow. They are at health centres in Santo António (Funchal), Câmara de Lobos and Machico. With the closure of these clinics, people living in Funchal and Curral das Freiras, at the onset of symptoms, should use the Emergency Department at the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital in Funchal. Residents at Calheta should go to the Health Centre at Calheta, Machico and Santa Cruz residents to the Health Centre at Machico, Porto Moniz residents to the Health Centre at Port Moniz, Ribeira Brava and Ponta do Sol residents to the Health Centre at Ribeira Brava, Santana and São Vicente residents to local health centres. All these centres are open 24 hours a day. In Câmara de Lobos (except Curral das Freiras), residents can attend the local health centre between 16.00 – 24.00 on weekdays and 08.00 – 24.00 at weekends and holidays.

25 drug traffickers caught in 4 months. Between October and January, the PJ (Judicial Police) have caught 25 drug traffickers possessing enough illegal drugs for 74,000 doses. This figure was revealed yesterday with the news that a 33 year old African was arrested at the weekend at the airport with 2 kilos of heroin in his suitcase – 20,280 doses. The drug was destined for the regional market. The police spokesman stresses again that the increased quantities of drugs seized are due to the police adapting to the changing habits of traffickers and not do not indicate an increased number of users. During this period, 60,000 doses of heroin were seized, the main drug smuggled into the region. 9 of the arrests were made in January.

ECONOMY

Embroidery promoted in Italy. The traditional Madeiran embroidery (Bordado Madeira) will be promoted at the ‘Immagine Italia & Co.’ fair in Florence. The Italian market is the second most important for regional embroidery. The fair is aimed at professionals of the renowned Italian textile sector and international textile firms. Madeira will be represented by the Head of the Promotion Department at IVBAM and representatives of two regional embroidery firms: João Eduardo de Sousa, Lda and Soebol-Exportador de Bordado Madeira, Lda. The luxury market is targeted and known buyers and new customers sought.

Climber-Stirling will continue flying to Copenhagen this summer. It is thought the Nordic market will recover later this year. Of the three Scandinavian countries and Finland, Sweden is the only one showing no signs of economic recovery. The link to Copenhagen by Climber-Stirling will continue during the summer season and a tour operator has increased the number of seats bought on their planes and SATA flights. Travel groups with outlets in Nordic countries, Thomas Cook and Primera Travel, are also optimistic. There is competition with Southern European resorts offering sea and sand and the Azores, which is marketing more aggressively this year.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

CARNIVAL 2010 – OCM leads the Carnival procession. The group Caneca Furada will involve the Orchestra of Madeira with the conductor Rui Massena. This will be the first time an orchestra has taken part in a Carnival parade in Portugal. Caneca Furada presents the theme ‘The Sea and Piracy’. The group consists of 50 people with two floats representing galleons. The musicians will be dressed in gold and silver costumes representing pirates from the 16th Century. In 1556, pirates came to Madeira and raided chapels and monasteries and also stole cereals and women. The youngest women were the most valuable and often become pregnant. In local residents in Caniçal and Porto Santo, there are still noticeable traces in skin colour and blonde hair. The nuns fled with some valuable religious pieces, hiding in an area now called Curral das Freiras. Dancers will represent pirates (brightly coloured costumes), naúfragos (castaways) dressed and painted white, nobles, nuns and settlers to the island.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Convicts from ‘Cancela’ in basement in poor conditions – The ‘special’ prisoners who were transferred a year ago from Viveiros were put in a female wing. The women passed to the ‘punishment zone’.

Today’s main news headline : Cavaco makes opposition back-off in order to secure the government – Yesterday, after the message of the Council of State, the President of the Republic returned to pressure the opposition in the direction needed to avoid a crisis that Teixeira dos Santos [Finance Minister] last night made a point of showing was imminent. Everything down to the calculations of the finances of Madeira. Today is D-Day. All the indications are that today the opposition parties in the Portugal Parliament will support the amendments to the Regional Finance Law, put forward by Madeira, and the socialist government will lose the vote to try and stop it. You can watch it live on ARtv Parliament Channel.

Recovery under pressure in order to save the fountain of the saint. The fountain of Santo António da Serra is in a poor state, and the local council has been forced to act. It is the oldest and an important historical feature in the parish of Santo da Serra, but the condition is deteriorating year after year. The plan is to restore it and reposition it at road level, where it will be less exposed to water erosion.

A lot of rain doesn’t give one permission to waste water – The excess of rainfall doesn’t signify an increase in the groundwater levels. Sometimes it even can reduce the uptake. Despite the huge Winter rainfall, the IGA warns that there may not be sufficient water for the Summer. The warning was issued by the Regional Secretary for the Environment, and backed by the organisation responsible for water management, saying that a Winter with intense rainfall can be as bad as a dry one. It gets a bit technical after that.

The main sport / football headline today : UD Santana suffers a new blow – The club is prevented from signing players. Football club União Desportiva de Santana, currently bottom of the league table, was sentenced by the disciplinary panel of the Portugal Football Federation, for failing to pay an ex-player Luís Pedro Ferreira da Gama, who was sacked without just cause. The club has been prohibited from signing new players, and renewing contracts with existing players, and making other financial commitments.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

"Portuguese finance bill threatens political crisis. Portugal moved towards a political crisis last night as its finance minister appealed to opposition parties not to defeat the minority Socialist government over a regional finance bill that he said would undermine the country’s international credibility". UK FINANCIAL TIMES

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Animal ill-treatment sickens tourists ; Madeira Wine party ; Bryde’s Whales

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elaine out West … Aboboras out to ripen in Lombada da Ponta do Sol.

Many thanks to Beck for this video link of stormy seas in Lugar de Baixo on 28^th December.

Madeira’s Bryde’s Whales. "A variety of cetaceans are present in Madeiran waters, including Bottlenose Dolphins, Short-finned Pilot Whales, Common Dolphins and Sperm Whales. However, one species that is attracting scientific interest, and which is present around Madeira each year, is the Bryde’s (pronounced ‘brood-ess’) Whale". MORE

"We know that you have heard of the Boston Tea Party, but have you ever heard of the Madeira Wine Party? The Madeira Wine Party, which occurred several years before the Boston Tea Party, was also a demonstration against British domination over the colonies. On that occasion, it was against the rationing of Madeira, the favorite wine of the colonists. The sloop Liberty had tried to land at Boston Harbor with a cargo of Madeira wines consigned to John Hancock, the first signer of our Declaration of Independence. The British seized the shipment, which set the colonists into action. A conflict took place and, as the story goes, Hancock won out and finally received his wine". From news-leader.com, but is it serious?

I timed it, and I spent an hour and a half on Tuesday going through the list of websites that I go through every day to find the ‘snippets’ and had to abandon the task through lack of time, and I just can’t keep it up in future. I did ask a few days ago if someone could take this on, even on a best endeavours basis, and didn’t get any responses, although Becky independently came up with two batches of really good links under her own steam. Much appreciated Becky.

As I said at the time, it doesn’t need any Portuguese translation skills, just reviewing the websites listed (which would be sent to you daily), and then choosing the best and most relevant sites, and formatting something to post on the blog. I will hang on another day or two, and then I will discontinue this feature if no one comes forward to help. Sorry, but I just have too much else to do, and I cannot spend the rest of my life still working at 10 pm at night.

Sheila very kindly translated and sent in this article :

Here is another example of the way some Madeirans are giving foreign tourists a bad impression of this beautiful but flawed Island. The story is from yesterday’s Diário de Notícias.

Many foreign tourists are vowing never to return to Madeira because of the ill-treatment of animals which they have seen on the Island.

Jutta Heinemann and her husband are examples of this growing trend. The German couple came to Madeira for the first time a few years ago when their cruise ship made a stop-over in Funchal. They liked the City so much that they decided to come back and spend more time on the Island. This year, they came for 10 days. With the help of guidebooks, they took trips to the interior of the Island where they found many mistreated animals. Dogs in particular came to their attention when they noticed that many were kept on chains that were too short, had no shelter and were forced to lie in their own excrement.

The Heinemann’s also saw starving cats and a goat kept in a small shack, without drinking water, and attached to a chain so short that it could not even lie down. These sights affected Jutta and her husband so much that they now say that they will not return to the Region. "Madeira is such a beautiful Island but, having seen how animals are treated here, we have no desire to come back" Jutta explains. She adds that the images of abused and neglected animals have prevented her from sleeping during her stay. "When people choose to keep an animal, they should realise that they are taking in another member of the family for some years and that the animal needs to be fed, treated well and to be given care and affection. Many people in Madeira are unaware of the real needs of a domesticated animal", she believes.

Jutta, who is a member of Deutscher Tierschutzbund, an animal protection organisation, could not remain indifferent to the plight of animals in Madeira so she has adopted three dogs from SPAD (Madeira’s Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals). In a few weeks, she will adopt another dog, rescued by the couple during their stay in Madeira and placed by them in the care of SPAD. The delay is caused by the fourth dog needing a course of vaccinations before it is permitted to travel.

The help given by people like the Heinemann’s is not enough to overcome an animal welfare problem in Madeira, similar to that which also exists in mainland Portugal, Spain, Southern France and Italy. Tourists are asking why the authorities in all these areas cannot intervene to organise campaigns for the sterilisation of stray animals and to impose fines on people, who abandon and mistreat animals. Until then, at least four dogs will soon be starting a new life in Germany.

This is one of the luckier Husky dogs, well kept and fed, and full of confidence

This one is less happy with life, and wishes to make that known to his owner

Sorry Sheila, not to make light of a very serious problem, but it’s my way of coping with such unpleasant matters. Der

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 03/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Court suggests that the Ports Authority charges more fees. The Court of Auditors suggests that APRAM amends irregularities in licenses and concessions that it has granted to private enterprises. Examples of such cases are the Restaurante Vagrant and the Terminal Marítimo da Cimentos Madeira. The OPM, Beer House, Vagrant and Cimentos would have to pay more for their licences and concessions. The Court wants APRAM to rewrite the regulations to conform with the Water Act so there is transparency, equality and proportionality in setting the rates. The port operation (OPM) is legal and Cimentos Madeira does not pay taxes as there is no evidence of its use. Companhia Logística de Combustíveis da Madeira in Caniçal has chosen not to pay user fees as it disagrees with the bill issued. New licensing would add another 6.5% to present revenue. The Vagrant restaurant has been unlicensed since 2002 and the Beer House is also illegal. The Court also criticized the Council of Funchal for holding a competition for tenders before having a licence to occupy the space.

PS want special taxes for concessionaires. Via Litoral, Via Expresso, OPM and SDM may have to pay 2.5% more on their assets. The Socialist Party want to increase revenue as income tax receipts are down. They state that only taxpayers with significant income who have been immune to the economic crisis will be affected by their tax proposals. This week in the Legislative Assembly, the PS will present three draft legislations. They suggest: a tax on companies supplying public services; a special tax on aggregate extraction, and an alteration of the use of taxes from the Estradas da Madeira. New revenues should help the poorest sections of the population, for their education and health services, and for road safety and to help victims of road accidents. Large companies will have to pay 2.5% on their mobile assets, for example OPM (Operation of Ports of Madeira) and SDM (operate the Free Zone – International Business Centre). They suggest that for every ton of extracted inert material – rock, gravel, sand etc.- 5 Euros is paid to the region.

MADEIRA

BAD WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

Stream overflowed into workshop. The water in the Ribeiro Fernando in Camacha overflowed and debris blocked the E.R. 205. The local population used spades, shovels and farming implements to clear the road rather than wait for the council to bring in machinery. An aluminium workshop was flooded despite their efforts and two houses were at risk. A section of the road was closed off and some cars became stuck in the mud. Family displaced in the Lombo da Quinta. (Photo). Four people were evicted from a residence in São Gonçalo after a supporting garden wall collapsed. The family were awakened at 4 am by the noise and were later instructed to leave for safety reasons. The house is still under the five year guarantee and there have been construction faults for which the owners are having to take the builder to court. They have worked in South Africa for 32 years and have invested their income in this house. Roads turned into rivers. In Machico and Funchal. In Moinho da Serra in Machico, several cars parked overnight on a road were swept away by water and debris which had clogged a swollen stream. Residents had previously warned the council that this might happen. Porto da Cruz awakes unrecognizable. Roads flooded and cars dislodged by the force of the water. Two homes flooded with significant losses and will take a lot of cleaning. Trail of destruction in the north. In Santana, houses and schools flooded, landslides, roads impassable and overflowing streams. A family had some of their belongings destroyed when their house was flooded. They live on 540 Euros a month and there are eight members in the family. High seas did no damage to the port or marinas. Despite high waves, no damage reported to the Port of Funchal or marinas at Funchal, Quinta do Lorde, Calheta, Machico and Porto Santo. The City Council of Funchal triggers the emergency fund. Work on the pavements alone will cost more than 1 million Euros. Three families have been displaced and 30 roads damaged. A record level of rainfall was recorded in Funchal: 111 millimetres per square metre.

ECONOMY

Sales of new cars falls 45% in nine years. Sales of new ‘light’ vehicles (passenger and commercial) has fallen from 6,199 vehicles in 2001 to 3,412 in 2009. In 2009, there were 23.9% fewer vehicles sold than the previous year despite increases in 2004 and 2008. The data is encouraging as sales rose in the last four months of 2009. The sale of commercial vehicles fell 36.8% in 2009 which could be the worst year ever. Firms will have to reorganize and restructure, cutting the number of vendors and improving customer service.

POLITICS

Who hurt Socrates? Since 2005, Jardim has been offensive to the Prime Minister of Portugal – "The great enemy of Madeira" -but they must sit together today at the State Council meeting. Jardim has stated that Socrates has an "obsession" against Madeira and he is "concerned" about "Who in Madeira has hurt the man?" In a television interview, Jardim questioned the reasons why Socrates "looses his temper" with Madeira. Is it because of different political parties? Is it because of political autonomy in Madeira? Is it because Madeira can progress with different policies than Lisbon? Is the answer to these questions the fact that since 2005, there have been controversial statements from Jardim about Portugal.

CULTURE

Funchal has a new window on the past. Agulha e o Dedal (Needle and Thimble) recreates a sewing room from 50 years ago. This one-room house-museum opened yesterday at Rua Câmara Pestana No 6, 1 º A. The project is an idea of Manuela Castro who also created the house ‘Velhos Encantos’ and the grocery store ‘Venda do André’.

Rosa Lobato Faria died yesterday in Lisbon. The 77 year old Rosa Lobato Faria died in a Lisbon Hospital yesterday after post-surgical complications and anaemia. This poet, novelist and actress was born in Lisbon in 1932. She was an announcer for RTP in the 1960s and acted in the Portuguese soap opera, Vila Faia, and in several films. Her writing started later on in life, from 1995 to 2001, writing novels, poetry and award-winning songs. The loss of her husband in 2008 was a hard blow and she tried to overcome this through work.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

RSI beneficiaries will be able to carry out voluntary work. The PSD will arrange a legislative amendment to the RSI (Social Integration Income) that will allow beneficiaries who have the capacity to work, to be able to do voluntary work. This was after a meeting with representatives of Caritas, a charity that provides support to families in need. The charity wants more cross-checking between institutions for better coordination of support to households. They want to combat dependence on support. Such voluntary activities will benefit the community, for example: help the bombeiros clean the serras, clean neighbourhood gardens, care for children in nursery schools and work in centres for the elderly. Caritas is receiving an increasing number of requests for support by parents, especially when the husband has been made unemployed.

Good photo on yesterday’s Funchal Daily Photo, ‘Stop Waves’.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Museums lose visitors – The trend of rising visitor numbers recorded from 2001, was interrupted in the last two years.

Dangerous carelessness – The weather couldn’t explain all the damage done. At the time of building, more rigor is needed.

Today’s main news headline, and also the main photo. A picture of a semi-smiling Prime Minister José Sócrates sat at the same table as a glaring President Alberto João Jardim. Deputy of the Socialist Party of Madeira disobeys Sócrates – If the PS intransigence continues, Luís Miguel França will today help facilitate the amendment to the Regional Finance Law. Hmm, dangerous ground crossing party boundaries, and a career ending opportunity for França perhaps. In another article Jardim says the the country "lives in a carnival", and that the resignation of the prime minister would be "the best for the country".

The controversial [Regional Finance] Law was addressed in the Council of State, that sees no reason for Sócrates to resign, but the President of Madeira opted for silence. Not like you Uncle Bertie. Bit out of your depth with the heavyweights perhaps?

Leaders of the PND Madeira protested in Belém. That would be the Rabbit and his colleagues then, of the New Democratic Party creating yet another spectacle, this time at the parliament in Lisbon.

Pay-to-view gardens yield 3.5 million Euros – ‘Garden Tourism’ is a competitive and differentiating niche, but it is not promoted in the best way by the Region.

The main sport / football headline today : More errors – The scandals and suspect refereeing occur in the football matches of the young people of Madeira. Rui Marote, president of the Football Association of Madeira recognizes that not everything is as it should be, but he ensures that everything is being done so that the referees can do a good job. "Nobody makes mistakes on purpose" he says. But club officials from various directions disagree, criticising the quality of refereeing at youth level, weak technical resources, and little propensity for teaching. the Diário decided to pick the story of the training coordinator of Boaventura to illustrate the complaints, following a match from two weeks ago. "Our team of youngsters was at the ground of Andorinha and ended up with 7 players sent off!", he complains. The article finishes with statements from 10 officials from regional clubs, all saying pretty much the same thing.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

Tobi has very kindly sent in some video ‘snippets’ for you perusal. Many thanks.

This is a nice video – Madeira 1951, no sound though. MADEIRA 1951

More of the bad weather - Funchal

More of the bad weather - Santa Cruz

This is a great one from the hotel at Santa Cruz – OUTDOOR POOL WITH WAVES

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Porto thrash Nacional ; Funchal buses technically bankrupt ; Egg self sufficiency for the future

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Becky … "Some beautiful shimmery sea taken from Cabo Girão at the beginning of January".

And also the last two web links that Becky sent me are below. Many thanks Becky, there has been some really interesting stuff.

Great collection of old photographs of Funchal

Travel journal of Kezia Payne DePelchin 1881-1882

A 2 and a half minute diving video filmed in Funchal :

I recall a short while ago we had a discussion about bandolins, ukuleles and such musical instruments, and I came across this article that mentions Madeira being responsible for the ukulele coming to Hawaii … "Coleman says the biggest surprise was the wealth of ukulele music created in Hawaii in the late 19th century. Many of the instrument’s signature tunes were written by members of the Hawaiian royal family, who embraced the uke after an earlier version of the instrument was introduced to the islands by Portuguese sailors from Madeira". FULL ARTICLE

Nacional took a bit of a home thrashing yesterday afternoon, losing 0 – 4 at home to FC Porto. Even worse than the 3 – 0 defeat they suffered in the Dragão earlier in the season. Despite being in a European position, our lads have the leakiest defence in the Liga Sagres, having conceded 33 goals in 17 matches.

Anyone else watch that Futsal (5-a-side court football) match on RTP last night. It was the final of the European Championship in Hungary. Spain had it all wrapped up with a 3 goal advantage with just a few minutes to go. Then Portugal scored twice, and missed another chance to tie the game. It finished 4 – 2. Shame about the result but a fantastic ending.

Vanessa Swesnik very kindly sent in this article (an exact translation of the original HERE for any Portuguese language students) :

Vila Porto Mare Distinguished among the Nation’s Resorts

Hotel complex received the highest certification of food security and management

The hotel complex, Vila Porto Mare, received the Foresee Gold Certificate of Excellent Food Hygiene Standards from LusoCristal Consulting, a prestigious international consulting firm, for its food security systems.

This is the first time a Portuguese resort has received the Gold Certificate which is rewarded to units that score above 80% in three consecutive surprise reviews to assess four key concepts of food hygiene and best practices: cross-contamination, preparation, storage, and proper cleaning.

The Vila Porto Mare, owned by Madeira’s Porto Bay Hotels and Resorts, consists of three hotels (The Eden Mar, The Porto Mare, and The Residence), four restaurants, five bars, various pools, sports fields, and a spa.

“This recognition reflects the excellent levels of food safety control, for both food and drink, in all of its restaurants, kitchens, and bars,” emphasizes a press release distributed yesterday by the hotel group.

Located in the Lido region, Vila Porto Mare houses a lush 13,400 square meter botanical garden with a collection of 43 palm species- a very significant diversity.

The parent company announced yesterday that, “Vila Porto Mare Resort has finished an initiative to identify and tag at least 365 unique species that reside in its gardens which places it among the Exceptional Class of the Floral Diversity Index.”

Sugarcane, grapevines, and banana trees, the three most important plants of the Madeira landscape, combine harmoniously with ornamentals to evoke the economic history of the Island.

To carry out the ecologically sustainable management style adopted, water is used from the Levada dos Piornais to drastically reduce consumption and equipment was installed to compost leaves, coffee grounds, eggshells, and leftover produce to reduce the need for chemical fertilizer.

They recently added flower beds with vegetables, aromatic plants, and medicinal plants to provide guests with new smells and flavours. Endemic species were also added to the property’s vegetation.

Tours are given to explain this botanical abundance of Vila Porto Mare as part of the resort’s entertainment offerings.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

DIÁRIO 30/01/2010 – FRONT PAGE NEWS

Horários do Funchal is technically bankrupt. At the end of 2008, the firm that runs the local buses in Funchal (yellow buses) had a negative equity of 1.6 million Euros and liabilities of 30.3 million Euros, 32.8% more than the previous year. This is despite 3.5 million Euros from the Regional Government. The company generated 24.5 million Euros in business but this did not cover the 28.1 million Euros operating costs, an operating loss 36% worse than the previous year. 21.6% of the expenses were for fuel and 41.1% for labour costs. The company has short, medium and long term debts to banks and debts to suppliers. During the year, an investment of 4.8 million Euros purchased 20 new buses.

INDICATORS

The firm had 277 vehicles and 621 employees (375 drivers);
The average fleet age was 14.9 years;
The company had 1.3 drivers per vehicle;
This year the company transported 27 million passengers …
… in 66 routes in a network of 189 kilometres;
1,009,909 trips were carried out and covered 7.4 million kilometres;
The occupancy rate stood at 18% and the average capacity was 80 passengers;
The average speed was 18 kilometres per hour;
The cost per km was 3.81 and the gain only 3.33 Euros;
The buses consumed an average of 64.22 litres per 100 km
Each bus has consumed 26,550 Euros per year;
The company acquired 4.773 million litres of diesel
The cost per km with fuel was 0.63 and 0.17 per passenger
GVA per employee (19,327 Euros) in 2008 was 2.4% lower;
The personnel costs represent an annual cost of 18,518 Euros per employee.

Opposition parties want an investigation into the Regional debt. The parliamentary group of the PS (socialists) will be supported by the PCP (communists) and CDS-PP (Christian democrats) if they want an inquiry into the size of the Regional debt. This would be sufficient support required for an investigation; a minimum of ten signatures. A previous proposal was rejected by the PSD. The PCP want a clarification of the extent and consequences of the debt of the region, including both direct and indirect debt. A bank study pointed to a debt of 4.6 billion Euros or 92% GDP. The socialists estimate the debt as 6 billion Euros. Interest charges and expenses on the debt are over 250 million Euros annually.

MADEIRA

20% suffer from anxiety disorders. Today is the final day of a two-day conference at Pestana Casino Park bringing together 800 mental health specialists, a meeting held every two years. Results from a survey of the prevalence of mental illness in the region will be published soon, indicating that 20% Madeirans suffer from anxiety disorders which can occur more frequently at times of crisis. Psychotic illnesses are less prevalent and 5% of regional mental illness result from the consumption of alcohol. A bipolar disorder specialist stated that recent surveys showed this disorder occurs in four times more patients than diagnosed if the usual criteria for the manic phase are used.

Association of Casas do Povo da Madeira without money leads to resignations. Five officials resigned last month because they have five months of salaries in arrears. The company ACAPORAMA has a liability of 265,000 Euros. The financial difficulties make the association ineligible for future Regional Government subsidies as they cannot fulfil the present contract. Last year, the subsidy was 57,000 Euros to cover the cost of different activities. 36 of the 40 Casas do Povo in the region are in this association.

Exotic species in the wild. Although Madeira is an island and there is close monitoring at the airport and animals for sale, it is difficult to prevent the illegal entry of exotic animals or plants into the region. The biggest problem is the maritime link, species entering from a yacht or a car travelling from Europe on the ferry. The import of exotic species has been regulated since 1999, especially for those endangering the ecosystem or dangerous to humans. The major threat is from species accidentally introduced through imported materials, like sand or wood. Such materials, for example the Moroccan sand for the beaches, is subject to a quarantine period. The photo shows a 2 metre long python found recently in the area of Pináculo in São Gonçalo. It was dead, presumably after a road accident, and was either abandoned in the region or had escaped from the owner.

Youth assaulted outside a bar. A 20 year old went to a bar at 11 am on Sunday morning, in the area of Palheiro Ferreiro, to buy tobacco. The establishment was closed but seeing a light on and hearing voices inside, he knocked at the door. He was told the bar was closed but explained he just wanted to buy tobacco. Suddenly, the owner emerged and attacked the man, punching and kicking him, but he managed to escape to his house. His brother took him for medical attention and he has a broken arm, cuts and bruises. The police are investigating his allegations.

Bombeiros had to help two elderly tourists. On the levada do Curral dos Romeiros, two British tourists aged 79 and 87, had to be helped to the end of the levada. They had mobility difficulties associated with old age and were found by locals at 7 pm.

ECONOMY

An unusual ship. Next week, this unusual ship named the Monge, will visit the Port of Funchal to allow the crew a rest period. The A 601- Monge belongs to the French Navy and carries 232 crew members. The ship is the only one operating in Europe with the role of supporting combat missions involving missiles. There are two Super Hornet helicopters on deck. The ship arrives at 9 am on 3 February and departs at 9 am on 6 February.

Madeira self-sufficient in eggs. The Girão Group opened a new poultry centre yesterday, enabling Madeira to be self-sufficient in egg production for domestic and industrial use. The investment was one million Euros, 50% from institutional funds. This company accounts for 60% of the regional distribution and presently only imports 20% of its eggs. The new centre in Campanário in Ribeira Brava has a capacity of 90,000 birds. Each year, 25 million eggs are produced earning the firm 4 million Euros. The company started 35 years ago in Quinta Grande in Câmara de Lobos.

POLITICS

Madeira Wine interests South Korea. The Ambassador of South Korea, Kang Dae-Hyun, visited the region and was impressed by Madeira in general and in particular by Madeira Wine. He thought the 50 million South Koreans would also enjoy the wine. Promotion of the wine would have to be studied and the free trade agreement between the EU and South Korea, which comes into force this year, will make this traditional product a tax-free import.

PND accuse construction company. In Caniço, Edifício Assomada Park has various building flaws and failures. José Manuel Coelho blames the firm responsible for constructing the building, ‘Só Trabalho’. Faults listed were: leaking roof, poor quality painting, many cracks on the lower floor, and pumps for the sewerage tanks not functioning so the tanks are overflowing. The residents have complained to the company as the building is under guarantee but have had no reply. Coelho also criticized Santa Cruz Council and government departments.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

New cities continue as towns – The fever of changing to city status didn’t bring more people or business. Accompanied by a nice photo of the ‘A Frame’ houses in Santana, with a few tourists milling around. A phenomenon over the last few decades saw several towns (or even villages in my opinion!) apply for and obtain city status, because they (the politicians) thought the grass would grow greener. Silly! Just because you have a shoe-shine booth and a fresh water drinking fountain doesn’t make you any better than anywhere else, and does not improve the quality of life or bring trade flooding in. Caniço, Machico and Santana are such examples of Madeira’s ‘cities’. Silly cities!

Today’s main news headline : Majority of the deputies [MPs] amass jobs – The case is blatant on the benches of the majority party : almost all of the 33 Social Democrat deputies in the Regional Assembly work on a part-time basis. On the side of the opposition, few have other such extra activities. The teachers dominate. So what. It’s not against the law, and all over the world politicians supplement their miserly political salaries, using their status to get top part-time jobs, and short change the voters who put their faith in them. Of course the ruling party politicians can attract the best paid jobs, as they are the ones with power and influence that their employers need, and not their powerless political opponents. To suggest that Madeira is any different to anywhere else is not the case, and Madeira’s PSD politicians deserve a pat on the back for being as morally corrupt as many other politicians worldwide without being seen to break any laws or ethical obligations. Silly story!

Doctors slow the addiction of turning to plastic surgery – There are already two thousand surgical procedures of reconstruction and for cosmetic reasons per year. There are already cases of Madeirans addicted to plastic surgery. The situation is not very common, but the specialist in Cosmetic Surgery and Reconstruction, Manuel Figueiroa, admits that some people who fall into this group have passed through his office. He says that he has refused surgery several times because there was no necessity, a decision that doesn’t normally go down well with the patients, who often go elsewhere, sometimes abroad, to get what they want. Silly people!

Estêvão Neves studies a new investment in Brazil. I don’t really care what this bloke is doing in Brazil, but how dare he have two accents on his first name. I have only ever come across this before with the name Cristóvão, and vowed to never have nothing to do with any person with this name, nor the parents. If life isn’t tough enough already, putting stress on a word in two places needs a skill in linguistic gymnastics that I just don’t possess. Silly name!

Another main story, off the front page : Carlos César thinks they are "completely ridiculous" the justifications of Alberto João Jardim – The president of the Azores government advises Jardim to save on the current expenditure. Referring of course to the alterations to the Regional Finance Law proposed by President Jardim and his Social Democrat Party on Madeira, and the attempt to squeeze out more funding from the state budget. "I don’t want to offend AJJ, but some of the arguments are completely ridiculous" said César in comments to journalists in the Azores. Referring in particular to the justification that Madeira needs more money because of the geographical features of the archipelago, because Jardim has already bored through mountains and made tunnels all over the place. In the Azores, the problem is quite different with many ports and airports on the islands that cost a huge amount to maintain. "Also nothing is comparable between the current expenditure in Madeira and the Azores" he said. Quite right Sr. César, and why one archipelago has to use the other to justify its own financial needs is totally absurd, and any justifications should be made on the merits of the case in question. Silly Bertie!

The main sport / football headline today, as mentioned above, has the lions share of the limited space : Referee ‘pushes’ FC Porto for the goal feast – The return of Rúben Micael to the Choupana was notable by the controversial refereeing of Carlos Xistra. [Nacional Coach] Machado didn’t hold back his refereeing criticisms. Jesualdo Ferreira [Porto Coach] praised the Madeiran reinforcement [Micael] : "He is a top notch player". Silly referee!

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Surfing at Paul do Mar ; Marco Polo 50th visit ; Funchal kennel contract renewed

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Martin … D’Oliveira’s wine lodge, Funchal … "ever so old"

More titbits (2) from Becky … many thanks. "In 1420, a genuinely epochal event took place on a small, isolated, previously uninhabited island in the Atlantic, some 360 miles west of Morocco. That year, the Portuguese fleet – the most advanced in the world at the time, thanks to Prince Henry the Navigator – located Madeira. Within two years they had established an agricultural colony there. It was the first great stride in European imperialism, the first of the west’s extra-European, extra-Mediterranean possessions, the first overseas colony to be settled and developed for the benefit of the motherland … "Madeira is a quirk, a lovely quirk". A SHORT HISTORY OF MADEIRA I don’t know if it is all factual, but definitely an interesting short read. Der

"The slave, in many societies, apart from the economic function, also affirmed itself by the sumptuary value, being, in some of them, a way of social distinction. In Madeira, just like in some European areas, this is evident, as it can be observed in the works of Gaspar Frutuoso. In relation to Machico, he says: "there were many coloured females and very well treated and of rich voices, which is a sign of the old nobility of its residents, as in all the big and rich houses there is this multiplication of the servers". However, in the Lombada of Arco da Calheta, lived Dona Isabel de Abreu, the widower of Joao Rodrigues de Noronha, son of Funchal’s captain, with two farms "very thick", having at her service a female moor as "her private". Slavery in Madeira in the 15th and 16th centuries

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"I think I found heaven in Funchal. It is this small, beautiful island owned by Portugal. I even asked the car rental place if they were hiring, but since I don’t speak Portuguese, they had no idea what I was saying!! The city was really beautiful and clean, the mountain villages were so romantic, and the cliffs by the ocean … oh the cliffs!! I lovered it!" An extract from a cruisers blog, but not much else said, but there are a few photos HERE. We lovered having you here too Hayley, on the island of Funchal.

Paul (Paul do Mar) kindly sent in this next contribution :

Surfing in Madeira: Paul do Mar, Calheta

link copyright free

“Paul do Mar is the most consistent spot on the Island”. “Paul do Mar is the most consistent spot on the Island” writes a Brit here in Madeira last year 2009 surfing and on his honeymoon!

“Madeira is basically a huge rock sticking out the sea, about 1 hr wide and 30 minutes top to bottom by car.” So let’s talk about the surf in Madeira first. Madeira is basically a huge rock sticking out the sea, about 1 hr wide and 30 minutes top to bottom by car. There’s 18 known spots and ALL of them are pretty tricky to surf.

"here’s the bad news..". 5 of the spots are very rarely surfed due to being difficult to access. 4 have been severely compromised by sea walls or swimming pools (which is heartbreaking … truly). 2 are highly dangerous (which around here means don’t even think about it!). 3 are just not that good wave wise.

"And the good news..". The remaining spots are all pretty much sick! There’s no kooks! by that I mean everyone is super friendly and courteous and knows how to take their turn -very refreshing.

"I think the gnarlyness will always keep the numbers down". I’m really not sure I should be writing this, I’d hate the place to change, but I think the gnarlyness will always keep the numbers down. These pics were all taken with surf in the 2 – 4 ft barely breaking range, I’m not sure I’d fly over on a big forecast!!

The blog and great photos of surfing in Madeira: HERE Thanks a lot Paul, not sure I understand all the surfing terminology, but great photos including mid-air dolphins! Der

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories & other things :

You might have had this link before when the book was first published but it relates to the present exhibition in Funchal, and nostalgia seems popular. The text is in Portuguese but it is well worth a look for the numerous coloured illustrations of this artist’s work, especially from page 58 through to the final page (p 202). ‘O Funchal na Obra de Max Romer 1922/1960′.

This has 3D panoramic images of Madeira website (beta version). visitmadeira

DIÁRIO 27/01/2010

MADEIRA NEWS

More alleged victims of sexual crimes. In 2007, there were 38 alleged victims of sexual crime, in 2008, there were 23 and 29 last year. Most were under 16 years old and nine (7 girls, 2 boys) were under the age of 14 and 11 (10 girls, 1 boy) were aged between 14 and 16 years. Those over 16 were females aged 17, 24, 30, 32, 46, 59 and 65 years old and males aged 35 and 50 years old. It is known that depending on the country, only 50 – 90% of sexual crimes are reported, usually due to social reasons, embarrassment, fear, slow justice system and dependence on the offender. Only 8% of abusers are total strangers (paedophiles) as the crimes are usually a result of family behaviours associated with alcoholism and social factors (incest or aggression).

Funchal kennel receives 10,000 Euros a month from the council. This is the amount SPAD receives from Funchal City Council and presently houses 124 stray animals in 53 cages. Money is required to manage the kennel, animal feed, vet consultations and medical treatment. The previous five year contract with the council has just been renewed for another five years. The main option for the animals is adoption and they are only destroyed if clinically necessary. There are stray dogs on the streets fed by private individuals and do not come to the attention of SPAD and some of these dogs are too aggressive to be domesticated. The kennel is situated in Vasco Gil, Santo António. — Costs around 80 Euros per dog per month.

Funchal has 106 square metres of gardens per inhabitant. Funchal is the city with the highest number of square metres of green areas per inhabitant. It contains 500 hectares of green areas (14.9% of the county) and the numbers of both public and private gardens are increasing. Local schools have educational activities to promote awareness of urban agriculture, the care and diversity of botanical species and the need to preserve urban gardens and trees. Presently, there are 159 allotments distributed in S. Martinho, S. Pedro and Santa Maria Maior. The Mayor of Funchal opened an exhibition which is the first initiative by the council in the International Year of Diversity. As well as endemic species, the climate allows the cultivation of species from Latin America, Africa and Australia. Work will begin on the Jardim do Amparo at the end of March.

Nurses on strike hits all services. The Nurses Union asks people not to attend health centres today and tomorrow (Wednesday and Thursday). This regional strike is in support of the national strike and to show how angry nurses are with the way they have been treated by the governments. Only minimum services will be guaranteed. Some health centres do not employ nurses and the president of the union asks people not to seek out these centres. Nurses are dissatisfied with salary issues, workload/overtime and changes in the regional health service. UPDATE: 91% on strike today.

ECONOMY

Marco Polo in port for 50th time. The first visit was on the 25 December 1966. This cruise ship arrives from St Lucia in the Caribbean and after a 12 hour stay, goes to Lisbon. 600 passengers on board. The ship was built in 1965 in Germany and named the Alexander Pushkin. She was used for scheduled services between Montreal and Leningrad. From 1975 – 1979, the ship started to be used for cruise itineraries and was owned by Transocean Tours until 1990. The ship was renovated and Orient Lines renamed it the Marco Polo in 1991. The first stop in Funchal under this name was on 22 November 2000. The ship can accommodate 848 tourists and 450 crew. She is in Madeira five times this year; 8 and 21 March, April 7 and 25 October.

99,000 passengers less. Madeira International Airport received 2,336,114 passengers in 2009. This was 99,616 passengers less than during 2008. This represents a decrease of 4.09%. In the country, Lisbon airport had the most passengers. There were 0.81% fewer passengers through Madeira Airport between October – December 2009 than during the same period in 2008. The most used airports were Lisbon, Porto and Faro and overall in all four airports, there was a 2% increase in passenger numbers over the last quarter of 2008. As for movements at Madeira Airport, during the last quarter of 2009, there was a decrease of 3.2%. Overall, there was a 8.74% decrease in flights in 2009 than 2008. —Flights must have had an increased occupancy rate.

POLITICS

Members give a day’s pay to the Haiti appeal. The Legislative Assembly will send a day’s pay to the Haiti earthquake victims fund. The day’s pay of 47 MPs is 3,600 Euros. This was proposed by Leonel Nunes (PCP) and approved unanimously. — Salary must be about 3 times the minimum wage.

UPDATES

Diocese gathers 32,830 Euros for Haiti appeal. Donations sent to Caritas and any further ones can be made via the Diocese of Funchal website.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

Funchal Pharmacy has fast robot. From the 15th February, the pharmacy in Dolce Vita will have a robot for storage and dispensing of medicines. The investment is 200,000 Euros. The employee enters the request in the computer and the robot dispenses the medicine in 18 seconds. The storage capacity is 14,000 boxes and it takes 18 seconds to dispense 3 packages, which are sent to the counter. This gives a more personalized service as the medicine is dispensed quicker. This is the first pharmacy in Madeira to use this equipment and there are only nine such robots in Portugal.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Nurses : Some on strike and others coveting – International company recruits graduates in Madeira University. Strike adherence yesterday was 92%. Hospitals and health centres were very affected on the first day of the nurses strike. Vaccines against Gripe A swine flu were suspended, and also no tests were undertaken in most of Madeira’s health centres. The hospitals were pretty much closed, with just enough cover for emergencies and inpatients. In the health centre in Santo António for example there were just two nurses working the morning shift, but none in the afternoon. Those patients or customers with appointments are forced to reschedule their visits for another day. The strike finishes today says the Diário, although on the radio just now they said it was tomorrow?

Today’s main news headline : Cavaco orders understanding – President of the Republic intervenes in the negotiation process that returned to delay the voting on the Regional Finance Law. Several lead stories on the proposed amendments of the Regional Finance Law yesterday, which was delayed yet again. A working group was then set up to negotiate an agreement with the government, on the suggestion of a PSD deputy, after the socialist government indicated that it was willing to discuss the matter [rather than face a defeat in the vote]. The vote is seemingly rescheduled for today, giving the working group just 24 hours to reach an agreement. President Jardim of Madeira said that the setting up of the working group is proof of "goodwill" by his PSD party, although in his opinion the deadline for voting is now Friday. What Madeira wants is "0.05% of public expenditure", he added. Finance Minister, Teixeira dos Santos, who threatened to resign if Madeira got its way, said he believes that the working group will take his appeal for responsibility and common sense seriously.

Budget penalizes Madeira by four million Euros.

Controversial proposal in dispute in the Naval Club – Allowing a new mandate to the current administration is the controversial issue that the members of the CNF reassess today.

Funchal Council authorizes urbanization in green zone – The plan for the valley of Socorridos was proposed by Tâmega and will be approved today in the Câmara Municipal of Funchal. There are elements of the Social Democrat Party of Madeira with interests in the zone. Also today’s main photograph, showing an unsightly builders yard full of plant and machinery

SATA is going to connect the Azores to Madeira every day. Using one of it’s new aircraft, SATA has announced that aviation history will be made in terms of regular connections between the two archipelagos. The changes, that will come in from the end of March using a Q400, will bring in daily connections between Madeira and São Miguel (Ponta Delgada) in July and August, and allow connections with the Algarve and Canary Islands. One extra advantage of the additional flights will be the transfer of tourists from Ponta Delgada who started their journeys in Canada (Toronto) and Boston in the USA with SATA International, with just very short transfer delays. This will allow Madeira tourism to better directly promote Madeira in and around the two cities. No mention of any new prices, but the new timetables are already in the process of being delivered to travel agents.

The main sport / football headline today : Can you believe it … there isn’t one!!

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Madeira 80 years ago ; Great Northern Loon ; Socialists regroup ; New buses in Funchal

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Pete … "Pleasant day in the Madeira sun".

Pete says (by email) : "May I add a comment for the blog. Has anyone suggested a column where people who been looking for items in shops, and can’t find them, a suggestion from readers giving advice on how to find them?" Suggestions always welcome, but in this case a question about the item in the comments would probably do the trick Pete. The truth is that I have implemented a number of reader suggestions over the years, but the reality is that the ones that rely on reader involvement or contributions just die a death because there are insufficient people willing to get involved. Der.

This is a blog of a lady called Kim who lives on Madeira, and although the blog article link provided isn’t itself very relevant to Madeira (about a ferry trip from Funchal to the Canary islands on holiday in 2008), who knows if some interesting articles may appear later. She has already written some ‘interesting’ and varied pieces, that you can see on the right hand menu under RECENT ARTICLES

If you like poetry this is cute, with a nice picture of some men indulging in the famous ‘Vinho Seco’. “Madeira Under The Vine” by Mitch Hicks

… and one for the birdwatchers too, with a video of the Great Northern Loon in Madeira I am not quite sure where the ‘great’ bit originated though.

Becky kindly sent in this video link … I am sure I saw Uncle Bertie in there somewhere eating an empanada

Also from Becky, a blog from a ‘mysterious person’ who was here in the early 1970′s : "There was a small, exclusive restaurant located in a basement below a small supermarket (an oddity in itself in those days !). This was up one of these little winding roads on a hill. And in this little restaurant, we would have tornado rossini steaks that were probably 2" thick and served on a 2" thick matching piece of delicious fresh bread, with the juices soaking into it. And all around this steak would be small, delicate servings of various vegetables. And there was a different waiter for every item — one for the water, one for the wine, one for the bread, one for the meal … the service was incredible. The entire meal ran about $2". JOJO ZAWAWI’S BLOG

See if you can figure out what these words have in common :
1 Banana, 2 Dresser, 3 Grammar, 4 Potato, 5 Revive, 6 Uneven, 7 Assess.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

FRONT PAGE NEWS – Diário 26/01/2010

PS regroup. The president of the Socialist Party, Jacinto Serrão, wants to recover lost votes and activists (party members). Among them, of course, the so-called independents of Gaula and when specifically asked about them, he said he has an "open mind". At the last election, the socialists lost in all counties, particularly Santa Cruz and Câmara de Lobos where they lost to the smaller political parties. Jacinto Serrão views "hopeful signs" with "tens" of new activists and the party needs restructuring and new bodies should be operational in three weeks time. He insists the internal dispute ended on January 9th (election of new leader) and there is room for supporters of the other main candidate for leadership, Victor Freitas.

Machico increases money for sport but not culture. The Municipality of Machico has frozen money transferred to cultural associations regardless of an increase or decrease in the number of planned activities. This decision was taken on January 15 at the last council meeting. As in previous years, the socialist councillors abstained from approval of this vote. The socialists maintain that over the past five years, funding for sport has increased by 28% (60,000 Euros) but not a penny more for cultural associations. The amount transferred to the football clubs themselves is more than the total for cultural associations. The socialists recommend a 20% increase in funding for culture. The mayor, Emanuel Gomes said the crisis justifies the assignments. The council is having liquidity problems with no prospect of an increase in revenue from the State and a large loss in revenue from construction works and licensing of works. 43,250 Euros has been allocated to 13 cultural associations. Only three receive more council funding, 7,500 Euros each: Banda Municipal de Machico, Prestige Dance and the Cultural Group ‘Flores de Maio’.

MADEIRA

Dolce Vita teaches energy conservation and road safety. A roadshow aiming to increase awareness and publicize the best solutions for tackling climate change and the rational use of energy, runs from 29 January to 1 February. It is accompanied by an exhibition, ‘The Future of Our Climate: Man and the Atmosphere’, highlighting greenhouse gases and climate change and what people can do to combat them. Between now and February 5, the police are raising awareness of road safety and accidents. In the session, there will be a simulation of a traffic accident between a motorbike and a car, accompanied by a photographic exhibition showing accidents that have occurred in Madeira.

Copyright ends up in court. Six Madeiran owners of restaurants and nightclubs have refused to pay the licence fee for playing music in their establishments. This has forced the Society of Portuguese Authors (SPA) to proceed with litigation. The fee is 300 Euros per year per establishment. For the last eighteen months, members of SPA have visited shops, bars and restaurants with background music and asked them for their licence. Most have no licence and some have chosen to turn off the music, many rebelled with verbal abuse. The ones that do apply for a licence before opening a bar are the few older immigrants form the UK, who are used to having to apply for a licence. The members are used to answering questions about copyright of intellectual property as there is confusion over the rules and this Saturday at 9.30 pm, they are holding a free-entry information session at the Municipal Theatre. There will be an interval with a live music session.

Bothersome bad smell in Santo da Serra. The transport and disposal of debris from the Lagoa do Santo da Serra caused an outcry at the end of last week. The owner of the site is cleaning up the lagoa (pond) and the smell comes from the foliage, branches and tree trunks removed. The president of the Parish Council would not visit the area, saying it is the responsibility of Santa Cruz Council and the council’s environment office have ordered that the intensity of the smell is reduced.

Dispute over land leaves three injured. An alleged dispute over land was the source of shots fired on Sunday night in the parish of Boaventura. A 55 year old father and 48 year old mother are in the Department of Surgery at Funchal Hospital and the 22 year old daughter received emergency treatment for a minor hand injury. The mother has a serious abdominal wound. The alleged perpetrator is a person in their sixties and has been arrested and an application for coercive measures will be made today at the District Court at São Vicente. The crime occurred at 19.00 at Fajã do Penedo where the alleged perpetrator owns land close to the injured family.

Death of a construction worker on trial. The death occurred on the 28 February 2008, when the construction worker was installing water pipes at the Estrada Nova da Marinheira, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. A traditional stone wall collapsed and buried the 40 year old man who was working in a ditch. At yesterday’s court hearing, evidence was heard from witnesses including relatives, co-workers and security experts. No-one can explain why the wall collapsed and the accident could not have been predicted. A photographic survey before the work was undertaken did not reveal any signs of instability. The plaintiffs want the case to be considered an accident at work so the widow can receive a pension and compensation from the insurer and company responsible for the work.

Lived for a century. Bernadette Maria Correia de Menezes Telo was born on January 26, 1910. Reaching 100 years is a gift, but to reach this age with lucidity and reasonable mobility is a luxury that few reach. Bernadette was born in Santana and lived there for most of her life and also resided in Funchal. Two siblings have died and her husband, who was 10 years older, died 30 years ago. She has had four children but the youngest died. There are six living grandchildren after one died in an accident in South Africa, and three great-grandchildren. She was born in the year of the war and news in the early twentieth century was transmitted through the radio. When Bernadette was young, Santana came alive during holidays with families from Funchal spending their summer holidays there. At such times, they danced the foxtrot and waltzes. With her siblings, she entertained by playing the guitar, viola and bandolin. She does not know what has been planned for today’s celebrations but they include the whole family as it is such an important date. — Looks well in the photo – no information about how many reach this age. Does she receive a telegram and if so, from which president?

CULTURE

Work of Max Römer helps UNICEF – Haiti. The exhibition running at the Mouraria Gallery until 20 February is to celebrate 20 years of the company Dima. Dima have launched a collection of seven postcards, inspired by this artist’s work and reproduced by an English artist, Alex Jawdakímov (watercolours). Each set costs five Euros which goes to the UNICEF – Haiti appeal. According to one of the private collectors who have loaned pieces for the exhibition, Römer was a versatile artist and the most important aspect of his work was in the design. He introduced the first machine to produce postcards to Madeira.

Fadista honours Madeira. Concert by Salvador Taborda at the Municipal Theatre in Funchal on Friday 29 January at 21.30. He will present themes from his most recent album ‘A Cor do Fado’ and from previous recordings. He will sing a previously unheard piece which is a tribute to Madeira. Salvador is accompanied by three musicians who are also of the new generation of fado. It is the first time that he has sung in the region and this Portuguese artist was invited by Miguel Albuquerque [Funchal Council President]. Tickets cost 10 Euros with discounts for young people and senior citizens.

ECONOMY

FNC Excursões have a new branch. Located in the Quinta Bela de São Tiago. Their tourist activities are sought after by young people and they take advantage of low-cost airlines in the region. New programs called ‘Stress Out’ and ‘Life is Beautiful’ and they have official walking guides and use Springcar coaches. Also have a website for booking.

Le Grand Bleu mega-yacht in port. This private yacht is in port today for refuelling and to give the crew a rest period. The yacht arrives from Philipsburg at 19.00 and leaves on Friday at 7 am. This is the third visit and the yacht occupies the 16th position in the list of the largest motor yachts in the world. The mega-yacht was commissioned in 2000 by the billionaire John McCaw and was acquired in 2002 by Roman Abramovich and since 2008, has been owned by Eugene Shvidler. The Lobo Marinho ferry returns to port today after a 15 day break for the annual maintenance work and should resume the maritime link to Porto Santo tomorrow at 8 am.

10 new Funchal buses capable of carrying wheelchairs and pushchairs. 10 new buses for the company Horários do Funchal after an investment of 2 million Euros. The central door has a hydraulic ramp for wheelchairs and pushchairs / prams. These new buses mean that ten old buses, more than 23 years old, can be withdrawn from service. There will also be environmental gains. Two banks finance 50% of the cost of the buses which is 945,000 Euros plus IVA for each bus. There is a problem of obtaining buses with a centrally placed engine as Volvo are the only firm presently manufacturing them. The buses entering service in 2008 have a rear engine and can only be used on 42% of the routes whereas the new buses can be used on 80% of the routes. Example of a difficult route is the intersection between Caminho de Ferro and Rua da Levada de Santa Luzia.

POLITICS

PCP against ‘backdoor’ privatization. The Regional Government wants to transfer the Professional School of Hospitality and Tourism to the private sector, to free the Regional Budget of €4.5 million annually. The deadline for tenders is Thursday and the application period was only 37 days. The communists say the transfer for a period of 15 years is a matter of public interest and should be subject to clarification. If quality of training worsens, then the regional economy will be harmed.

Levada in Calheta costs a fortune. Members of the PSD were in the area of Maloeira in Calheta to inspect part of the upgrading work between Funchal and Ponta do Pargo, a total investment of 4.2 million Euros. The first phase, between Salão and Prazeres was completed last summer (13 km/1.3 million Euros) and this second phase extends to Ponta do Pargo (26 km/2.9 million Euros). 85% is co-funded by the EU and the remaining cost is from the Regional Budget. This irrigation channel will be upgraded by 2011 and serves 4,900 farmers and four water treatment stations. The cost is justified as the levada is 60 years old and looses 30 litres per second.

Gaula discuss postponement of works. The Parish of Gaula want a discussion with the local population in the next few days, about the postponement of the work on the Caminho do Porto Novo – Achada Rocha. The postponement was decided last November after a meeting of the Regional Government (Jardim?) and the Municipal Council of Santa Cruz. Élvio Sousa (JPP), the President of Gaula Parish Council, says the precise timing of the meeting will depend on the supply of documents by Santa Cruz Council, needed to analyze the contract. The parish council want to know what the local population want them to do next.

Finance Minister appeals to parties. Teixeira dos Santos said that the Regional Finance Law is "spending at a time when there must be rigour, discipline and budget constraints". He said it will have an impact on the State Budget. Manuela Ferreira Leite, the national PSD leader, said the law is not a budget issue and should be debated separately. The PS are pressurizing the PSD, insisting that they cannot say the fundamental problem is Portugal’s debt and put forward a proposal that increases the debt by financial transfers to an autonomous region. The CDS-PP are trying to reach a consensus as they are important intermediaries but their position is not clear.

Jardim is not intimidated by Teixeira dos Santos. The Finance Minister has threatened to resign if the Regional Finance Law is passed and Jardim has reacted swiftly, "The exit of Teixeira dos Santos from Government is the biggest favour he could do for the country." Jardim states "the Portuguese are being cheated" as Madeira does not want anymore money but "a replacement of the conditions created by a socialist law". The Regional Government has calculated that the revision of the law would account for 0.05% of the 2010 State Budget. Jardim said that for the Finance Minister to threaten to resign over this small percentage was either irresponsible or blackmail. This amount is less than the amount transferred to TAP and the international community would think that the Portuguese are crazy. The Portuguese would realize that to threaten to resign over a law representing 0.04% of GDP is a plot. In reference to the leader of the Azores, Jardim said that his declarations were serious but the Azores would not be jeopardized by the revision of the law.

LATE NEWS

Benefit concert for Haiti. The students of the Conservatório-Escola das Artes will hold a concert to raise funds for the victims. 21.00 on Thursday at the Municipal Theatre in Funchal.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

Porto Santo Line will review subsidized airline tickets. The company will review next year, the policy that Porto Santo residents can buy subsidized flight tickets during the time when the Lobo Marinho is in dry dock for annual maintenance. Many abuses were recorded, with cases of people buying five tickets at prices much cheaper than normal (28.60 Euros) and will use them in April and May. Such people have never travelled on the ferry during 2009 and disadvantage residents who need to travel for essential reasons. The normal cost of the trip for residents is 80 Euros and there were 50 subsidized places per day. This is the first year that they have detected this exploitation.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Finances of Madeira confuse until the end – Sócrates today wants to postpone the Regional Finance Law again. The Social Democrat Party already dropped the retroactive payment [arrears], and the Christian Democrats carry on doing the sums. Madeira could receive only half of what it wanted. There are several lead stories in the Diário today on this subject, with a big day ahead for Madeira, and an even bigger day ahead for the Socialist Government, who risk losing the vote with their minority holding, something that could have bigger repercussions for Portugal as a whole. If the matter of arrears has been dropped, and the financial benefit for Madeira is now as low as quoted above, then aside from some constitutional type issues included, the RFL has become nothing more really than a political football and we will see how many players each team has later today.

Tunnel with emergency exit in the backyard earns a slating – Residents threaten to resort to the European Court because the emergency exit of the new road branch to Madalena comes out at the access of the garage of the building. The government says it is cutting costs. The owners of the apartments in the building in Madalena do Mar are upset that the government is making a compulsory purchase of land that will serve as an exit from an emergency escape tunnel from the new main road tunnel being constructed. The access road will then become part of the public highway. The 309 square meter area being targeted not only takes the access road to the building garage, but also some ‘out front’ parking spaces for the apartments and shops. I didn’t know that Madalena had any shops?

Islands and Centenary of the Republic are being debated this year – The Study Centre of Atlântico has a cultural and scientific programme.

Rupture in the water mains leaves Santo António without water. These were commonplace when I first moved to Madeira, with a lot of digging and building work going on, and a loss of water supply every few months, but I have to say I don’t think we have lost our water supply for several years now. With my monthly bill still at around €4 a month, even though it has probably doubled in 3 years, I think that with service like that it is pretty good value for money.

The main sport / football headline today : Rúben Micael ignites war Porto – Benfica. The Madeiran player, now in FC Porto, exposes the intimidation of Jorge Jesus and Rui Costa in the game Benfica v Nacional. With just a week after joining Porto from Nacional, the lad from Câmara de Lobos has gone in with two feet, not that that fire needed reigniting. This all goes back to the match in Lisbon last October when there were a number of unpleasant incidents, and Micael accuses the Benfica coach of trying to provoke trouble and making a two fingered gesture at him. He said in the radio interview that it was the first time he had been asked for his version of events.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Ruben Micael goes to Porto ; €2 billion more for the Azores ; Cabbage stumps Seixal feast

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Martin … A Bentley Derby 1923, that competed in the 2009 ‘Volta da Madeira’.

OLD CASKS (PIPAS) NEVER DIE

Well I certainly missed some notable news stories whilst ‘off line’, and the transfer of Câmara de Lobos hero Rúben Micael from Nacional to Porto must take the tastiest biscuit. Rúben Micael Freitas Ressureição player profile Anyone know how much Porto paid for the lad?

Another one of those travel / destination guides for Madeira … but I don’t mind the extra effort if it persuades a few more tourists to take a holiday here and spend their luverly dosh EVERY LITTLE HELPS

Becky wrote in about helping out with material for the blog : “Once you’ve had a chance to read all the various suggestions re. the blog and submissions, maybe you can let us know what you think is best – I’m happy to contribute the best I can but maybe need pointing in the right direction as to when and where and what”.

It seems that we may have some extra contributors after the blog ‘time out’, and many thanks for the offers and half-offers. We will never have enough helpers I guess, so please help us balance the workload and share information. If you are thinking of sending in a news story, I guess the only way to ensure there is no duplication is if you put something in the blog comments to say what you are going to work on so other helpers don’t do the same thing. Any other ideas on how to manage this gratefully received, but people should really do what they want to do, as it is not right for me to dictate.

What would be ideal of course would be to have a number of regular contributors with either particular areas (like Vanessa has) or days of ‘duty’, but we are probably far from that at the moment. If someone would like to ‘specialise’ please let me know, but it does mean a regular commitment.

Another thing someone could help me with is the ‘snippets’ or ‘titbits’ like those above. As there is no translation involved, then it might be quite easy for someone to do. I could arrange for the alerts to be sent once a day, not necessarily every day for just one person, and then someone could check them out and if they are worth a mention it’s just a question of formatting them to be ‘cut ‘n pasted’ ready to go into the next blog (that would be explained) and emailing me. That alone would save me up to an hour a day to do something else. Or perhaps someone would like to a be a YouTube monitor (or any similar website) and just check every few days to see if there is are any new interesting and relevant videos posted.

Many thanks to Elaine for this huge contribution.

Ribeira Brava Philharmonic Band travels to Venezuela. The Banda Municipal da Ribeira Brava will tour Venezuela this year to perform to the large immigrant community. It will probably be during the summer, including the Day of the Region. 30 to 40 band members will stay for a week. The Mayor of Ribeira Brava promised to support the trip although it is the result of an invitation by a group of Luso-Venezuelan emigrants. The council supports such projects because they promote culture, represent the country and allow closer ties with the immigrant community. It benefits the emigrants as they meet together at such functions and many migrated decades ago but they never forget their roots.

Communists suspect the CDS will no longer back the Regional Finance Law / PS maintain their position. The regional directorate of the PCP-Madeira suspect that the CDS-PP will approve the State Budget of the Socialist Government and not the Regional Finance Law, as wanted by the Prime Minister José Sócrates. The PCP leader Jorge Cordeiro said, “The signs are worrying for Madeira.” “Everything indicates that the Regional Finance Law and the interests of Madeira have been transformed into a bargaining chip, particularly by the CDS.” The communist leader said the vote on the law was postponed twice then the PS and CDS approved another postponement. If the law is not passed, it is likely that poverty and unemployment will increase in Madeira. The PS-M maintain the position on the Regional Finance Law that they held in the 2007 elections, when they only received 15% of the vote. They insist there is an error as the GDP is inflated by the effect of the Free Trade Zone which has resulted in a loss of transfer of 500 million Euros from community funds. PS leader, Jacinto Serrão, says the relationship between Lisbon and Funchal leads to insults and attacks on the Government of the Republic and asks the Minister of Finance, Teixeira dos Santos, not to be so stubborn so both parties can negotiate.

Panelo with lack of cabbage. Today, Chão da Ribeira in Seixal hosts a festa for the traditional free panelo. The problem this year for residents is to obtain enough cabbage or grelos (similar to spinach). The wild pombos (pigeons) have devastated the local crops. The panelo is usually cooked using cabbage and semilhas (Madeiran potatoes) grown in Seixal and salted pork from the tradition of ‘killing the pig’ in December. This traditional panelo started around forty years ago when families decided to gather on the last Sunday in January at the Chão da Ribeira to consume the remains from Christmas. Pork, chicken or beef are cooked in a Portuguese manner then served with wine from Seixal. Tradition dictates that the panelo is served on a tablecloth on the ground and the afternoon spent with family and friends.

Diocese collects 18,000 Euros for Haiti. The Diocese of Funchal has received 18,000 Euros in donations and the charity Caritas will forward it to Caritas in Portugal which in turn will deliver the money to Caritas in Haiti. Both the headquarters and warehouse in Port-aux-Prince are still standing. Caritas always helps areas where reconstruction and rehabilitation are needed, for example after the December 2004 tsunami and more recently, in Peru. One or two years after the money has been sent, a commission goes to the area to see how the funds have been used.

‘Park and Ride’ this year in Funchal. Funchal City Council want a single fare to cover using the car parks situated outside the city and transport into Funchal on buses run by Horários do Funchal. ‘Park and Ride’ has been attempted before but failed due to a lack of adherence. Car parks with spare capacity are located at Clube Naval and Rua Bela de São Tiago, near Largo da Força. The council are in talks with the companies managing the car parks as they want to make the price attractive to users so they gain financially. The service will benefit people who commute daily from Câmara de Lobos and Caniço. The council want to reduce the number of cars travelling into the city centre to reduce pollution and petrol consumption. Economists talk of an increase in the price of petrol in the near future. The cheapest monthly cost for a car park in Funchal is 90 Euros and the council want the new scheme to reduce this to 55 Euros.

Romeira closes municipal company. The Mayor of São Vicente, Jorge Romeira, will close a municipal company created four years ago by his predecessor Humberto Vasconcelos. The company Promovicente was created with the approval of the PSD councillors and the PS have always been against this decision. This company was created to promote the municipality and they were almost exclusively paid to promote cultural, social and sports activities. Jorge Romeira insists the activities of the company are only suspended. His motto is ‘clean’ and he has a tendency to cancel projects of his predecessor.

37 accidents in a month and a half at Porto Novo. The majority of accidents occurred on a 26.8 km stretch of the Via Rápida 1 in the direction Funchal/Santa Cruz, after the end of the bridge at Porto Novo. Some drivers blame the maintenance of the road by Vialitoral but the area has road signs that indicate danger in unfavourable weather conditions, as experienced between this period of 1/12/2009 and 17/01/2010. The firm’s statistics taken from speeds measured by 54 counters indicate that the majority of accidents were due to excessive speed.

Azores receive two billion Euros more than Madeira. Plenty of numbers in this article which are summarised in the diagrams shown. A study by the Regional Government condemns the State and Europe for guaranteeing in the past 12 years, 28% more for the Azores. The Regional Government is considering a full-scale campaign in national newspapers to publicise the amount the State has allocated to each region, especially the disparity between the Azores and Madeira. Declarations by the leader of the Azores have led to a break in the relationship with Alberto Jardim. Carlos César has said that the revision of the law would undermine the Azores. Under the present law, the Azores receive 60.5% of the money transferred from the State and Madeira receives 39.5%. With the revised law, the Azores would receive 52% and Madeira the other 48%. At present, the Azores receive 20% of the Cohesion Fund and Madeira receives 4%. The Regional Government say that the GDP (PIB) of Madeira is more than that generated by the Azores, due to high public investment and it should not be penalized for this. Since the 1998 Regional Finance Law, the GDP of Madeira grew 97% whereas that of the Azores grew 73%. Accused of spending, Jardim says that the Regional Government has spent 26.6% GDP whereas the Azores has spent 31% GDP. The State has spent 45.8% GDP which rose at the end of last year to 51.3% GDP.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Socialist Party of Madeira criticizes the “stubborn ones” affecting finances – The congress closes with some stick given to President Jardim and [Finance Minister] Teixeira dos Santos.

Minister ‘buries’ the Finance Law. Finance Minister Teixeira dos Santos is sticking to his guns with a ‘no’ to the Regional Finance law amendments, put together and submitted by President Alberto João Jardim of Madeira. “Why is it that one would give several tens of millions more Euros to Madeira in this conjuncture?” he asks. He says that both the Assembly of the Republic, and his own Socialist Party, are not available to do the revision requested, and that no one would understand why a government would approve the amendments of the Social Democrats of Madeira at a time when the county needed to keep a tight reign on public expenditure. It looks like Uncle Bertie will have a tough end to his dictatorship long period of rule then, with some tough choices ahead. What will he do … stop lining politicians pockets … cancel the €45 m redevelopment of the Marítimo stadium … flog off a few more publically owned assets. No I don’t think so, they would be easy solutions. Look out for cut-backs in job-rich community projects I reckon, especially in those areas where the PSD-M didn’t fare so well in the recent elections.

Today’s main news headline : GARBAGE CONSUMES 31.5% OF BUSINESS SUPPORT – The Regional Government has committed almost a third of the support destined for extra help given to company operations. And it did it to the benefit of the public body that manages the waste, the ‘Valor Ambiente’ [Environmental Value].

Scrap collections reduce to a half. Less scrap metal in the streets, with just 8 abandoned cars towed away per month during the last year. The considerable reduction comes after concerted efforts by local councils and police to do something to stop the problem. Making people aware of the importance of protecting the environment and the image of this tourist destination has been a key facet of the actions taken. Abandoned vehicles have been a problem for a long time, especially in areas distanced from population centres and main roads, and that problem still remains. Anyway, the figures in 2006 were 20 a month, and that last year was down to 8 a month. Owners traced as having abandoned cars face a fine of between €250 and €750, with the upper limit rising to €2,500 if the car is in a state of scrap. I don’t suppose it could be anything to do with the fact that people don’t have the money to replace their cars these days? The Diário mentions several such zones, popular for car-dumpers, but fails to mention Boa Morte [Good Death] which last time I went through was littered with decaying vehicles, but nether-the-less I was tickled that the place was perhaps named as such as it was the final resting place for old cars.

Crisis obliges working in unfamiliar areas – Not even the marketplace for work can offer opportunities that match university qualifications. Find out about some examples.

The main sport / football headline today, and also the main picture : Rúben makes an almost perfect debut – The Madeiran debuted for FC Porto in the League Cup and deserved praise. Saturday he plays in the Choupana [Nacional, Madeira ... the club he has just left].

Victory of Nacional was insufficient. Nacional beat Guimarães 1 – 0 yesterday in the league cup, but it wasn’t enough to move from the group to the next stage of the competition.

Manuel Machado retakes his place tomorrow. The manager of Nacional, who was critically ill in hospital with a post-operation infection before Xmas, is back at work tomorrow, some months sooner than originally expected.

There are still 3 more sports headlines to go, but that’s enough for me, save to say that my lads of Ribeira Brava beat Porto Moniz 2 – 0 yesterday, leaving them clear at the top of the Madeira Series league table.

Many thanks to Elaine out West for this from the Jornal da Madeira :

New link to Madeira. In early summer the Azorean airline SATA will start a new route between Ponta Delgada, Funchal and Faro, using the new Bombardier Q400 Dash, the first of which will be delivered today in Toronto. “This new service, which will be held twice a week, will depart from and arrive the same day in Ponta Delgada, allowing the connection between the Azores, Madeira and the Algarve,” said one SATA source, speaking to journalists in the Canadian city. In a ceremony at the Bombardier plant in Toronto on Monday SATA received the first of four Q400 NextGen Dash, acquired by an investment of 74 million Euros. The aircraft will arrive at Ponta Delgada at the end of the month, allowing SATA to begin the certification process to enable them to start operations in late February. The four planes purchased by SATA should all be flying by the end of the first half of this year, replacing the existing ATP aircraft. The new Dash Q400 NextGen will operate routes between the islands of the archipelago on routes between the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands and the link between the two islands and the Algarve which starts operating at the beginning of Summer. Fleet renewal SATA Air Azores began last year with the arrival of two Bombardier Q200, which replaced the Dornier that the company used for links to the smaller islands. The two Q200 will ensure links between Funchal and Porto Santo and the routes to the islands with lower demand in the Azores archipelago, in particular Corvo, the smallest island of the Azores.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Just 11 to see the circus ; Limpet poaching rife ; SATA to fly between Madeira and Faro

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elaine out West … two basking lizards

This is Dorrie’s private video diary taken on Madeira, when on hols I guess. Hear about the bad side of her stay as she struggled with our weather problems.

A short private blog of a cruiser : WE’LL BE BACK WHEN IT’S SUNNY

"The pebbled beaches of Madeira such as the Praia Formosa beach at the western end of Funchal with its palm tress and splendid botanical gardens bordering it make for a delightful attraction for tourists. Calheto and Machico are important tourist beaches where the golden sand has been imported. The golden beach that stretches to about 9 kilometers in neighbouring Porto Santo is of course, magnificent and cannot be missed out". QUITE A NICE REVIEW OF OUR ARCHIPELAGO

I see that the GUINESS BOOK OF RECORDS is still showing 2006 as the world firework display record – "Largest firework display : The record for the largest firework display consisted of 66,326 fireworks and was achieved by Macedo’S Pirotecnia Lda. in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, on 31 December 2006". Has anyone seen any official confirmation that the 2010 display reset the record for Madeira?

This from Elaine out West … many thanks

Only eleven flocked to the “cut price” circus – Bad weather and small audiences forced the cancellation of the session, but there were the complaints … On Tuesday night some people who wanted to see the 21.30 Circus Aquatic Show, which was in Ponta do Sol until yesterday, saw their hopes dashed because of the cancellation of the show.

A situation which caused dissatisfaction and even prompted some complaints from those who felt aggrieved by making the trip to Ponta do Sol to watch a circus show that ultimately did not materialize. Moreover this was not the first time this has happened during the circus’s fateful stay in Madeira, mostly because of bad weather that has been fairly relentless.
Antonela Gouveia was one of those present for what would be the penultimate session of the show in the Region. She told the DIÁRIO that while she was waiting in expectation of the opening of the show a young man appeared who said he was the owner’s brother (Jorge Cardinali), trying to justify the cancellation of the show as "it was not worth opening the circus, with tickets at only five euros”. Antonela criticized the lack of information determining a minimum number of spectators to allow the show to take place.

João Azevedo, who is responsible for the show, confirmed the cancellation of that session "because in total there were only 11 people". Faced with such a small number of spectators, he said there was no justification for holding the show and regretted the resulting inconvenience.

"We are here to work. We did not come here for holidays," he added, pointing to the effects of bad weather, which yesterday also made itself felt at the time of the show. He felt that had been responsible for poor attendances and called for understanding and even tolerance in the circumstances.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Jardim cancels test period promised to successor. At the last political meeting at Quinta Vigia, Alberto João Jardim changed the deadline so the new leader will now be announced at the Easter 2011 congress. For a long time, he has guaranteed his successor will be chosen in 2010 and have a year to prepare for the October 2011 regional elections. He will resign during the summer, leaving the new leader two months to prepare, which is considered not enough time. Another scenario is that Jardim will stay on but this seems unlikely after his recent speeches.

Recording failure requires new statements. A public complaint has been made against the Police Commissioner Roberto Fernandes. In 2004, when he was sub-commissioner at Câmara de Lobos, a traffic accident occurred involving one of his family. There were discrepancies over times, dates and alcohol test results, which were investigated after an anonymous letter. He was investigated for abuse of power, falsification, denial of justice and malfeasance. He was then promoted to Commissioner of the Police of Funchal. For his defence, he submitted audio recordings of the witnesses statements but the judicial authorities now realize these are inaudible, so if the case goes to trial, new statements will be needed.

Vandalism – revenge attacks. On farmland in Campanário, vandals have destroyed banana plants. Some had been deliberately cut, sometimes only the bunches targeted. This act occurred during the first week of this year and was only discovered last weekend by the owner. The land owner has no doubts as to the perpetrator as he has been previously threatened by the owner of neighbouring land. It is not the first time this has happened and this time, he has reported the case to the police. It is bad enough with some of the crop destroyed by the bad weather.

Increases in illegal limpet harvesting, amongst other crimes. Statistics of crimes detected last year by the GNR (National Republic Guard – part of the police force). Increased limpet harvesting was due to bad weather and fewer preventive measures. In 2009, 26 illegal harvesting of limpets were detected by the GNR and Service for Protection of Nature (SEPNA). The maximum catch permissible is 2 kg/day/person. 16 offences occurred in Garajau Reserve and one in Rocha do Navio Reserve (Santana). 10 cases of caça submarina (underwater spear fishing) but no instances of using explosives. 5 cases of illegal sport fishing. 747.45 kilos of fish were seized, worth 4.067,22 euros. Other offences detected were mainly: 458 tax offences, 657 breaches of the Highway Code, 7 cases of illegal gambling and 5 breaches of the street trading laws. Both at Santo da Serra and Funchal, counterfeit goods were confiscated, worth 14,960.30 euros – clothing, CDs, DVDs. The GNR consists of 194 individuals and now have a new commander. There are also 28 officers based at Caniçal (commercial port), 20 at the airport and 15 at Porto Santo. They have maritime powers, up to a range of 12 miles. — A quick calculation, overall crime has decreased.

Flights from Moscow bring more to the region. The five weekly flights from Lisbon to Moscow have had a good occupancy rate, a service that began last June. Several Russian travel agents now have packages to Madeira especially with the ease of flying between Lisbon and Madeira. 50% of the Russians arriving in Lisbon come to Madeira and the rest either stay in the Portuguese capital or go to the Algarve.

SATA confirms flight to Faro. SATA will have two weekly flights between Madeira and Faro in the Algarve in the coming summer season, using the new Q400 NextGen aircraft which have 80 seats. At present, passengers must go to Lisbon and this discourages holidaymakers. In future, these new aircraft will be used on the Madeira – Ponta Delgada link and in summer, for the Canary Islands and the Algarve. The increased number of passengers carried over the last quarter was not enough to counteract the global economic crisis in which SATA Internacional had 1.5% fewer passengers than 2008.

Regional Government allow GESBA to borrow 7 million. The public owned management company of the banana sector, GESBA, has authorization from the Regional Government to obtain a banking loan of 7 million euros. This is to pay the liabilities of two cooperatives. These cooperatives have severe financial problems despite the strong community support they have received over several years. There is a history of guarantees at high cost to the government as the banana business cannot exist without public subsidies.

Jardim accuses Teixeira dos Santos of using the review of the Finance Law for tax rises. Alberto Jardim today accused the Minister of Finance of using the fair review of the Regional Finance Law as a pretext to threaten the Portuguese with tax rises. The review, according to Jardim, seeks only to restore justice under the law legislated by the Gutterres Government/Sousa Franco. The socialist government has for political purposes destroyed a law that was agreed by the Socialist Party itself. José Sócrates said, "The Government of the Republic will not give more money to the Government of Madeira and the PS does not accept the Law on Regional Finances defended by PSD-M." The changes introduced by his government were "fair". This was in reply to the national PSD leader, Manuela Ferreira Leite accusing the Government of the Republic of pursuing a discriminatory policy in relation to Madeira for political revenge. Guilherma Silva, a PSD member of the Assembly of the Republic said, "The money is not for the Portuguese Government, it is for the Portuguese."

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Sócrates says "enough!" – "Enough! With this government my lady deputy cannot count on the alteration of the Regional Finance law and giving more money to Madeira". The warning of [Prime Minister] Sócrates to Manuela Ferreira Leite [leader of the Social Democrat Party] was given yesterday in São Bento. It’s bad news for Jardim and is even surprising to the politicians in his own Socialist Party. Already one is talking about new national elections. I was thinking this the other day, that the Socialists without an overall majority in the Lisbon Parliament, are finding it a real struggle to govern either with or without the support of the opposition parties. It was always going to be a tall order, and of course as always the politics and monkey business take priority over the needs of a floundering economy and it’s people. Even with another election, I don’t see how it will necessarily resolve matters, and if it is still possible then the PS should first look again at the possibility of a coalition. Uncle Bertie will be hopping mad no doubt, and after Marítimo get thumped by Benfica tomorrow, it will be a weekend he would rather forget.

Horários do Funchal opts for the ecology but changes don’t please – The issue is in the West zone : the [bus] passengers are obliged to flow onto the Estrada Monumental.

Accidents force the stopping of dumping – Only after 5 accidents in the area muddied due to the movement of mud laden lorries, in São Vicente, the Regional Government suspends the clean up operation. The 5 road accidents occurred in the space of just 3 days, with one person receiving facial injuries, and the Regional Secretary, responsible for the big mud clean up after recent storms, has given the order to suspend the clean up works in the area of Paço da Areia. The accidents have been happening where cars are skidding out of control near to the mud dumping site at the coast (in the sea).

Rock fall in Madalena flattens banana crop.

‘City Council of Culture’ remains for Santa Cruz.

The main sport / football headlines today : 5 thousand places in the ‘Cauldron’ sold out in the last 4 days – Mitchell can’t count on Marcinho for the coming of Benfica. How on earth Marítimo’s stadium ever got the nickname of the ‘Cauldron’ is still one of life’s great mysteries for me. You would be lucky to see two men and a dog there during some games.

Nacional fight for fourth place in Alvalade today. That’s the home of Sporting in Lisbon of course. G’luck!

A sea of colour. The first mention I have seen this year I think of next months Carnival. The article mentions an organisation that is preparing it’s piece for the parade (Cortejo) on 13th February, that has the theme ‘Fantasias de Ninfa’ [Nymph] which sounds intriguing. Preparation for some of the participants started in last October.

and just a few more snippets to finish up …

This is a nice blog, and account of somebody’s visit here, with lots of photos. A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY

Biggest IT retailer expanding to Africa, Madeira and Azores (from Portugal News Online). Chip7, Portugal’s largest computer retail chain, is expanding its business this year to Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde in Africa and Portugal’s autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores, the company’s founder said. Miguel Monteiro, also Chip7’s majority shareholder, told Lusa he expected to conclude master franchise contracts in the three African Lusophone states and the two Portuguese Atlantic archipelago by the end of this year. Good news for us computer buffs!

Hundreds of different locations from north to south of mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores, have been nominated as candidates to become one of Portugal’s ‘Seven Natural Wonders’. The official list of places that can be voted upon was made public last Thursday in Lisbon. Organisers of the project New 7 Wonders of Portugal, have dodged giving the specific number of valid applications, but confirmed the number was in “the hundreds”. MORE

Have a great weekend!

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Portugal economy slipping ; Library costs an extra €400,000 ; Prison terms after tunnel blasts

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Sheila … "Rough seas meant ideal conditions for these fishing enthusiasts at Ponta Delgada on Boxing Day" (December 26th)

Malmsey in Madeira : Owain John, Assistant Manager at Majestic Aylesbury (UK), visited Madeira in September ’09, funded by the Vintners’ Bursary which he won following the WSET Advanced exam. Here, he reports on his trip. "Touching down at Funchal airport is one of the more hair-raising landings I’ve experienced. The Madeirans are very proud of their smart, new, but rather short runway on stilts over the ocean, which features on many of the postcards available for sale on the island. This was just about the last flat piece of land we were to see for a whole week. Our hire car may not have been the most powerful around, but it is still disconcerting to find yourself having to change down into second gear on a dual-carriageway". FULL REPORT

A really good photo I found on Flickr, with a nice write up too. WINDING ROAD

From Becky (in the UK?) … seems to be prevalent in the news over here today. I think the poses could be worthy of a caption competition as he looks like he’s just missed the Porto Santo ferry in the first one. (Yes, I know he’d never actually have to travel via means of the ferry, but I won’t let fact stand in the way!) CRISTIANOS NEW CACS

"Fancy pan-fried frogs legs with chervil sauce or steamed wild sea bass with oyster tartar? These are just two of the creations Chef Antoine Westermann spoils his guests with at The Vine, Design Hotels™’ newest member hotel in Madeira. At UVA, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, the award-winning chef creates fusion cuisine at its best. Locals have also discovered this gem – for its culinary delights as well as the spectacular views". CREATIVE PUBLICITY I have not seen this ‘Madeira’ theme website before, but if it attracts tourists, then I am happy to give it a bit of free publicity. All the pages I looked at were empty, but give it time …

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Nina has been found and returned to the circus. The circus dog Nina, reported missing yesterday will return to the show tonight. A woman found the dog wandering the streets, not knowing who it belonged to until she read yesterday’s article in Jornal da Madeira.

Portugal’s economy not doing very well. Two reports in Jornal da Madeira. The economies of Portugal and Greece are at risk of a "slow death", according to an alert issued yesterday by the rating agency Moody’s. The view of the experts at Moody’s is that there is no risk of a "sudden death" but that "the probability of a slow death" is high unless there are improvements in economic competitiveness and ability to raise taxes. The Minister of Economy admits the situation is "difficult" with 0.7% growth predicted this year and 1.4% in 2011. Unemployment level is 10.3% compared to the European average of 8.8%. —Indirectly affects the economy of Madeira, especially as at present the ministers are trying to alter the Regional Finance Law so the State will have to transfer more money and also pay for a new hospital in Funchal etc.

Golf should be seen as a long-term project. (Again, Jornal da Madeira). The vice president of the Regional Government believes that golf has helped combat the seasonality of tourism on Porto Santo. This year, the Madeira Island Open returns to Porto Santo between the 8 – 11 April. More than 100 professional golfers are expected to attend and the prize money is 700,000 Euros, the initiative is supported by Turismo de Portugal. The golf course is ranked ninth amongst the 100 best courses in Europe. Construction work has begun for the new course at Ponta do Pargo with a completion date for the end of 2011. The course was designed by Nick Faldo and is financed by private investment, including the British group Morgan Forbes. An area has been designed for professional golfers and another area for amateur golfers. An 18 hole championship course and a 9 hole pitch and putt course. The Club House will feature a restaurant, bar, shop, reception, changing rooms and other facilities. The natural beauty of the surrounding area can be appreciated whilst playing a round. Local jobs will be generated and it is hoped this course will help put the region on the world championship circuit.

Employee stole, was filmed but it was the employer who was fined 940 Euros. In a bakery in Machico, the management suspected a 46 year old employee of theft. They installed video surveillance cameras and recorded the employee stealing from the till and taking bread, cheese, ham, butter and whisky from the bakery, with her husband as an accomplice. She already had a history of similar crimes when employed in a restaurant and a day care centre. The woman resigned rather than face criminal proceedings. She then appealed to the Employment Tribunal of Funchal and sued the employer. The case was found against the employer who were ordered to pay 940 Euros for Christmas and holiday pay. The law states that video surveillance is allowed only when it is intended for the protection and safety of persons and goods, depending on the nature of the business and is subject to authorization by the National Commission for Data Protection. The right of privacy is constitutionally protected. It cannot be used to evaluate the professional competence of an employee, their performance or (in this case) if they steal. This evidence is an improper invasion of privacy and violation of the right to make images of the employee. A similar case occurred in 2008 when a supermarket manager was caught stealing but the case annulled. The management can apply to the Court of Appeal of Lisbon.

Arcadia visits today during a 94 night cruise. Two cruise ships visit today, the Costa Serena with 4,900 Italians and the Arcadia with 1,900 British. It is of interest to note that the present Arcadia cruise is for 94 nights, visiting 34 ports in 23 countries. The ship left Southampton 10 days ago and returns on April 15th, via the Suez Canal. The Arcadia visits Madeira several more times this year. At the BTL in Lisbon (Tourism Fair), the State Secretary for Tourism, Bernardo Trinidade admits positive signs in the British tourist market this year but despite this, Madeira is still relying on the increased domestic market.

Câmara de Lobos Library costs an additional 426,000 Euros. The Court of Auditors has published a report stating that the work exceeded 11.7% of the value of the award to the three construction companies and the authorization for "additional works" was given by the mayor Arlindo Gomes although he had "no competence" (legal) to do so. The project exceeded the period of the contracted term by 92 days. The expenditure of 426,000 Euros was granted with no budget to support it, a further violation of the law. The original award was 3,640,692 Euros and the final payment was 4,067,365 Euros. Days before the publication of this report, Arlindo Gomes stated that the State should pay the Council 900,000 Euros for the construction work. The Court of Auditors can charge a fine ranging from a minimum 510 Euros to a maximum 4,080 Euros and all charges are directed at Arlindo Gomes.

BE want regional products in public dining rooms. The Left Block want a law drafted that gives preference to local products in public workplace cafeterias in Madeira. They recognize that it is often cheaper to buy goods produced elsewhere but, "The preferential consumption of products from abroad affects the regional economy, does not help to dispose of agricultural products produced in Madeira – with a clear loss to our farmers – and devalues the effort to produce high quality products which, fortunately, are abundant in the islands." The draft legislation is for a preference of regional products in all canteens and cafeterias in public establishments in the region. These are schools, hospitals, nursing homes, social centres, children’s institutions, etc. Imported products would only be used if there was a proven absence of supply in quantity and quality in the region.

Finance Law postponed. The proposed Regional Finance Act will not be discussed and voted on by the Commission on the Budget and Finances of the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon, as timetabled. There is technical support showing that Madeira has lost 157 million Euros to the Law of Sócrates. The PSD has failed to secure parliamentary support needed to pass the law. They might not get a favourable vote by the CDS-PP, communists and BE needed to pass the law. The PS have argued for a delay and are preparing an alternative solution.

Cases of the day. A short circuit in a refrigerator/chest freezer badly damaged a kitchen and other rooms in a residence in Campanário. The owners had left for work and a neighbour saw the fire and alerted the firefighters. They had problems accessing the house due to the distance from the road. The couple and their daughter have been temporarily housed with relatives while the house is cleaned up and the damage repaired. Gold articles have been stolen from two homes on the same day. At Pilar in Santo António, the thieves broke in through a bedroom window and stole two gold necklaces and a laptop. That afternoon, in Fundoa in São Roque, thieves entered a house by forcing a door and stole gold jewellery valued over a thousand Euros as well as an air pistol. Last weekend, a 30 year old man was approached by a group of individuals while by the entrance of the Vespas nightclub. They suddenly attacked, punched and kicked him then the group fled in two cars. In São Martinho, at 19.00 on Monday, two teenage girls were approached by an unknown man. He grabbed one of them, a 14 year old, and started to sexually molest her but due to her cries and resistance, he fled then one of them phoned for help. The police are gathering evidence as they suspect an attempted rape. At the Port of Funchal, a 44 year old foreigner travelling on the ferry from Portimão was arrested having 7,152 doses of heroin inside his body. Several landslides and falling trees kept the fire fighters busy in Funchal and Ribeira Brava to clear the roads and keep them passable.

Tunnel at Curral das Freiras, only 1 of 4 defendants acquitted. In March 2003, four workers died and four others were injured when an explosive charge was detonated during the construction of the tunnel. Miguel Ângelo, the engineer responsible for the safety of the work was acquitted. Already, Flório Quintal in charge of the work, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison and considered the person responsible for the accident. He was the only person licensed to handle explosives and at the time of the explosion, he was outside the tunnel. Luís Miguel Freire, a geological engineer and Raimundo Calhau, the general contractor, were sentenced to four and a half years in prison. There was also a lack of supervision and training. The three intend to appeal.

‘Help Haiti Now’. Cruz Vermelha Portuguese (CVP) – the Portuguese Red Cross – have launched an appeal. The campaign has set up accounts at Milenium, CGD, BPI, Totta, BES, Montepio, Banif and BPN.

Santo Amaro tonight. One of the major religious celebrations takes place in Santa Cruz tonight when at 20.00, thousands of faithful are expected to take part in the procession from the Chapel of Santo Amaro to the Church of Santa Cruz. They will carry candles and images in wax. This saint, according to legend, prevented a young man from drowning and is revered by the faithful in times of crisis. Despite the high number of unemployed, the Canon does not see an increase in the number of devotees, instead the opposite. On Sunday, the Festa de Santa Amaro will continue with 40 stalls selling food and drink adjacent to Santa Cruz market. Program on WEBSITE (click onto Guia de eventos):

… and yet more from Elaine, with a special feature from the Jornal da Madeira :

The new document will allow, for two and a half Euros, access to all landscaped areas, children’s parks, as well as access to restaurants.

Theme Park launches card for residents. The Theme Park of Madeira, a work of the Society of Northern Development, a body subordinate to the Vice-Presidency of the Regional Government, has just launched the "resident card". According to the director of this facility, it is a product with two versions, one for women and another for men. He explained, this is a document that will cost 2.5 Euros and will allow people to come and visit throughout the year; the gardens, children’s parks, access to the restaurants of the park and Craft Workshops. To obtain this card, as mentioned by the Director of the Theme Park, those resident in the region, which is easily verifiable by the identity card (Bilhete de Identidade) or another document with a photograph, fill out a form which is available from the services. Until now, there have been three annual passes; normal, which costs 30 Euros and the junior and senior, both 24 Euros. These are the documents that, according to Tiago Feitas, allow the visitor to visit the Theme Park as many times as they want, entering the pavilions and attractions. The new arrangement that started this year does not give access to the attractions.

In the new attractions planned for this year, Tiago Feitas says the desire is to promote an exhibition within the water mill, explaining to tourists how the water mill works. Please note that the Theme Park, "Has a water mill that, especially at weekends is put into operation, grinding cereals that are then taken to the ‘Casa de Santana’ where they are made into bread which is offered to visitors on Saturday and Sunday." According to him, this exhibition is already being prepared. Several photos of the craftsman who use these water mills have been made in order to show to visitors, in a very simple way, how they work and the authentic utensils. Another concern for this year relates to the gardens. According to Tiago Feitas, in the Theme Park they will select and plant throughout the year, plants that embellish and give a different colour and are more appealing in the enclosure.

‘Monte train’ will have a station. The Theme Park already has a ‘Monte train’. According to the director of this institution, "The ‘Monte train’ is a vehicle that is designed to make journeys for visitors. But it did not have a station consistent with the value of the attraction. Not only to shelter passengers from the weather, but also to create a picturesque area." Therefore, "We will build a replica of the Monte train station where people can have a lot of fun, taking pictures and enjoying that area while queuing for a trip through the enclosure." The head of the Theme Park said they have created a space in the area of the artificial lake, where there are rowing boats, reserved for small remote-controlled crafts. Here as mentioned, the visitor is likely to stretch their talents to the "rudder" of the ship and carry out the steps which are required, for about three minutes. According to Tiago Feitas, this attraction for about three months, and despite not being included in the ticket – costing 50 cents, has already been a big hit with younger visitors and also among the older ones who accept this challenge of skill and adventure.

New pavilion comes from the history of the port
The pavilion "Roots of Madeira" is at present, according to the Director of the Theme Park, "The only virtual theatre that the region has and perhaps even the only virtual theatre that exists in our country." This space is in the auditorium of the natural park. According to Tiago Feitas, "Basically this is an area which explains the history of the port of Madeira." "This history" he said, "is from the period of discovery to the present day, explaining in an intelligent and fun way the development of the port, showing the evolution of the port and the importance it had for the various economic cycles of the region, and also explaining the importance of a port to an island." According to Tiago Feitas, "There are created, during about seven minutes, a set of scenarios that allow you to see the whole evolution of the port and the whole evolution of the city and the island through its maritime port." "The history of Madeira can also be told through the eyes of its port." The Director of the Theme Park says he is excited about this new product which was released in late November. It has been in great demand and has met the expectations of visitors who leave that space satisfied. It is noted that the end of the show in the pavilion "Roots of Madeira" is marked with fireworks which, according to Tiago Feitas, "Have left people very satisfied by the degree of realism and involvement that is provided. It is a very emotional end and people have left very satisfied."

Several improvements in 2009
The Theme Park was the target of several interventions in 2009. One of the improvements occurred in the pavilion "A world of islands – the islands of the world", which is considered one of the spaces that best illustrates the history of Madeira and its culture. As pointed out by the park director, "It has an improved set design that onto two large screens projects a light that defines each county, explaining each county and its respective parishes. This goes a little to meet our audience who can now understand a little better the division of counties and parishes in the Region."

The pavilion "Future of the Earth", as Tiago Feitas said, "Was previously a film that was called ‘There was a day’. It is a movie that calls for park visitors to be more sensitive to environmental issues. In 2009, we decided to create ‘a time machine where the visitor is invited to make a trip to the island of Madeira in the year 2419, exactly a thousand years after the island was discovered by Gonçalves Zarco.’ Entering this space gives the feeling that you are entering a ship of ‘Star Wars’. It is in fact extremely well done in terms of scenery." Website: parquetematicodamadeira

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Magazines disturb the family of Carlos. This is about Carlos Costa, the contestant from Porto Moniz in the Portuguese Pop Idol competition. His family say that some of the stuff being said about him is just not true.

And while we are on the subject of entertainment, the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias has its premier of the long awaited showing of ‘The Lesbian Vampires of Sodom’. 9.30 tonight and tomorrow night (tickets €20), and the last performance is on Sunday at 6 pm (€18). The mind boggles!

Today’s main news headline : Regional Government sustains a new guarantee of €7 million – Who benefits now from the fatherly approach of the government, that pledges government money, are now the banana cooperatives. Little notice is taken of the warnings by the Court of Auditors to the dangers of the [financial] guarantees.

Madeira wins Russian tourism.

SATA confirms Algarve in the Summer.

Portugal’s Minister for Finance acknowledges tax increases – If Parliament approves proposals for the changes to the Regional Finance Law, Finance Minister [Teixeira dos Santos] cannot see any alternative to reduce the deficit. Santos said yesterday that approval of the changes, that will result in extra money being allocated to Madeira, will need to be covered by tax increases, or will signal the end of the Special Payment on Account scheme (PEC). He then clarifies that if "some of the proposals on the table" go forward, that will be the situation, so it’s won’t be just on account of Madeira if taxes increase. He was responding to a question from a journalist who asked him if a tax rise could be totally ruled out.

World in state of shock seeks to help Haiti – Nations and international organisations combine efforts to send assistance to a decimated country. Portugal is in the territory, and Madeira is collecting money to help. That story also provides the main front page photo again.

Extractions in need of a study – The lorries continue to take away inerts [sand, stone, etc.] in Ribeira do Faial. The Regional Government says that there is a permit. But the geologist João Baptista warns : "Mother nature responds to the mistakes of man". [John the Baptist] reckons that nature will be back to rebalance the damage caused by the human extractions, "this is one of the great laws of nature" he says. His warning comes just a few days after massive amounts of mud and inert material were shifted along Madeira’s water courses. He says that the issue is more complex than anybody can imagine, and could not be explained in a short conversation. I for one believe him, and I certainly can’t imagine that the extraction company(s) have carried out impact analyses of the damage they are doing and the long term dangers that are posed. Of course these ‘inerts’ are used in the construction industry, and who are the main beneficiaries of the profits I wonder? Couldn’t be the politicians who granted the permit surely? I noticed a couple of comments a few days ago along the lines of what harm could dumping thousands of tons of mud and debris into the sea do. I bit my tongue, thinking it was just a wind up, but as J the B says you upset the balance of nature on such a huge scale, it will have consequences, whether on land or at sea.

The main sport / football headline today : Only the rain threatens the turf at Barreiros – The maintenance company guarantees the ground is in good condition for the Marítimo – Benfica game, on Sunday. Marítimo will take on Benfica at 8.15 pm, and it’s on SportTV1.

Nacional play away at Sporting in a super-duper football weekend for Madeira. You can watch this game on RTP tomorrow night at 9.15 pm on RTP.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated, but there will have to be a cut off time of 9 pm today.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Airport users down 4.1% in 2009 ; Giga park to stay longer ; PSD mayor Baeta gives wife top job

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … flowers of the Brazilian kapok tree – photo taken September 2009

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago in the mid Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the Autonomous regions of Portugal, with Madeira Island, visible in this orthorectified image, and Porto Santo Island being the only inhabited islands.

Madeira is an archipelago with volcanic origins from a Hot Spot, so is not geographically part of a specific continent, but Madeira belongs and has belonged ethnically, culturally, economically and politically to Europe for 600 years despite being geographically closer to Africa. Thanks to Earth Snapshot.

"Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago located in the mid Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago consists of 2 populated islands, Madeira Island and Porto Santo Island as well as 2 groups of unpopulated islands, Desertas and Selvagens Islands. Madeira is formed from a massive volcano eruption on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean over 5 million years ago. How much do you know about Madeira? Prior to writing this post, I only know that Cristiano Ronaldo is born and raised in Madeira!" Beautiful Places On Earth Includes a video.

"If you tell friends you are going to Madeira Islands, they would probably say, “Wow!” and then give you a quizzical look even before they finish the interjection. Madeira? Where is that? Well, a lot of people would ask the same question especially if you are from the other part of the world. Besides, even if you have a map, it would probably not come easy for you to find where these little jewels are. Who could locate dots in the Atlantic anyway?" FAMOUS WONDERS – Top 100 wonders

Do we have any readers in Cornwall in the UK I wonder? If so, this might be of interest, with flights being offered from Newquay Airport this year : March 24 – Madeira from £499 for flight and hotel. There may be more? : FULL ARTICLE

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is delighted to start 2010 by welcoming Tivoli Hotels & Resorts as their latest member, as the rapidly-growing alliance now extends its reach to include two important new markets, Portugal & Brazil, with one of the regions’ most respected brands. Founded in 1933, Tivoli owns and operates some of Portugal’s most reputed hotels in locations such as Lisbon, Sintra, Coimbra, the Algarve and Madeira. In 2006 they have expanded into Brazil, with a luxury resort in Praia do Forte in Bahia and more recently with a landmark hotel in Sao Paulo. GLOBAL HOTEL ALLIANCE … anyone know anything about it, as apparently it is about to launch a loyalty programme?

A brief guide to the Madeira Banana Tree … but is it a tree?

Here are a couple of articles from the Jornal da Madeira kindly translated and sent in by Vanessa Swesnik :

Fewer Passengers in Madeira’s Airport : According to statistics released by ANAM – Airports of Madeira – traffic through Madeira’s airport fell 4.1% from 2008 to 2009. Last year Madeira’s airport received a total of 2,348,040 passengers, 100,534 less than in 2008.

In regards to the movement of aircraft, the airport infrastructure agency also reported a fall of 3.1% from 2008, with a total of 25,162 aircraft movements.

The fall in the number of passengers is due to the reduction in international air traffic, which had a cut of 16.6% from 2008. Madeira’s airport received 1,145,736 passengers originating from international flights last year, 227,910 less than in 2008.

Domestic air traffic up 11.9% : Conversely, the number of passengers from domestic flights rose 11.9% in 2009. A total of 1,190,075 passengers on domestic flights passed through Madeira’s airport, 126,154 more than in the same period of 2008.

It’s easy to conclude that Madeira’s airport managed to limit its loss of passengers in 2009 thanks to the increase in passengers originating from the domestic market. The year was marked by the consequences of the international financial crisis which caused a decrease in passenger traffic in airports at the national and international levels.

As for Porto Santo airport, information from ANAM shows a cut of 8.4% of passengers in 2009, a total of 121,034.

For the month of December, Madeira’s airport had 4.4% less passengers than the same month in 2008. In total, 161,749 passengers passed through the airport.

The cut in that month is also due to the decrease in passengers from international flights (-15.7%) and the number of passengers from domestic flights rose 6.5%.

Uruguay will be the 4^th South American Country in which the hotel group will be present; Pestana announces a new hotel in Montevideo. The future Pestana Montevideo Hotel results from the reconstruction and renovation of a building from the beginning of the 20^th century which housed one of the most famous and aristocratic clubs of Uruguay – the Jockey Club. The building is considered emblematic of the city and has been classified as a Historic National Monument since 1975. Its Art Deco architecture is evident from its façade as well as its numerous decorative stained glass windows, marble, wood panelled walls, and large bronze doors.

The building is located on the most important street of the city- June 18^th Avenue, and only a few meters from the “Old City”, the historic district which houses the Presidency of the Republic, theatres, art centres and a commercial zone.

Brazilian architect, Jaime Morais, will be in charge of the interior and exterior. He is responsible for various other projects of Grupo Pestana in Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela. Morais was also responsible for the extraordinary decoration of the recently inaugurated Pousada do Porto. The reconstruction work will begin in March 2010 with hopes to end in the first quarter of 2012.

The Pestana Montevideo Hotel with be a luxurious 5 star hotel with 100 rooms, a spa, an indoor pool, and many meeting and event rooms. It will have two restaurants, one of which will be located on the top floor with an excellent view of Montevideo. This property will be especially desirable for the corporate and event worlds, but it will also be an excellent option for those who travel for leisure in Montevideo. Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Spain will be the principal markets for the property. The Uruguayan locale has been studied by Grupo Pestana for years. For Dionisio Pestana, President of the Group, “the entrance into a new country in South America is part of our growth strategy for the continent. It’s very important that we are present in the major cities of South America and are promoting cross-selling among the different properties and countries. This building is exactly what we were looking for.”

This from Elaine out West, many thanks:

‘Gigapark’ prolongs stay to recover losses : The visit of the amusement park in Ponta do Sol has been extended until the end of next weekend. During this period, the cost of the entertainment will be just one euro. The Aquatic Show is continuing, but only until Thursday, and on these last three days its ticket price will be five Euros.

Initially scheduled to end yesterday, Gigapark will remain open until Sunday 17^th to try to mitigate the losses suffered due to the bad weather, especially the almost constant rain. During these last six days in Madeira, the amusement park will work in a similar way to the so-called ‘day of the Euro’. That is, every day all the many diversions available to children and adults will cost just one euro. Also, the Aquatic Show will continue until next Thursday with its three white sharks and two seals performing open sessions at 21:30 for only five Euros.

Marcos Vaz, head of Gigapark, says that this is an exceptional measure, which comes not only from the consequences of unusual weather, which affected the park nearly every day, particularly in December, but also the difficulty in getting space for the trailers and equipment on the next trip of the Armas ferry bound for Portimão. He also stressed that this extension is intended to allow the opportunity for Madeirans to further enjoy the fun of the largest Christmas market set up in the region.

T’other Elaine of the East, also covered the same article, with the comment : I think this is right but check beforehand if you are planning to go (you both had the same figures Elaines, so good enough for me. Der). Judging by the present weather, they might not recoup the losses. It is also the beginning of the Festival de Passeios a Pé today until 16 January, the guided walking tours along levadas and veredas. There are 60 people signed up this year, mainly British, and you can join until the day before the scheduled walk. (Two page article outlining the walks in Diário Cidade, Monday January 11, available online).

Many thanks to Elaine once again for a whopping summary of yesterday’s top news stories :

PT participates in a consortium to reduce energy consumption. Portugal Telecom is participating in a consortium launched yesterday in London that aims to reduce by 1,000 times the energy consumption of communication networks. The consortium, called Green Touch, is led by Bell Labs and PT joins the ‘telecoms’ AT&T, China Mobile, Swisscom and Telefonica, university research laboratories, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, French Government laboratories and Samsung.

Arm wrestling between the PSD and PS on the Law of Finance. The Commission of Budget and Finance will discuss 16 proposals to amend the Regional Finance Law. The tug of war continues between the two main parties about funding for the autonomous regions. The PS want to delay the debate, as explained by Vítor Baptista, "What we think is that this law is framed in the State Budget for 2010 and to postpone the debate will raise awareness among political parties." This matter should be negotiated within the Budget. Guilherme Silva for the PSD replied that according to the mandate there has to be a meeting and a postponement is only possibly by consensus. If the PS win more time, they can seek advice on each of the initiatives. The PSD ask where were the parliamentary negotiations? Vítor Baptista explains, "So far no negotiations." Guilherme Silva adds, "Thursday is the day for the parties to meet about their proposals or absence of them."

Baeta keeps his wife as head of office. The Mayor of Calheta, Manuel Baeta Castro, reappointed three members that were already included in the previous term, for his office of support staff, led by his wife Conceição Castro as the head of the office. Francisco Gouveia and Fátima Câmara are respectively, assistant and personal secretary. The opposition, although they both show some suspicion about the usefulness of these positions, have different views, the CDS (Communists) are more critical than the PS (Socialists). The CDS complain that these offices of support staff to the Council are not important. The new PS councillor, Sofia Canha, admits that it "may be overstated" the decision to occupy the three positions of political trust, "but may be justified for reasons unknown." Hence the benefit of the doubt. "Let’s see if future action by the Council justifies these employees." The appointment of the mayor’s wife leads to more distrust, the CDS-PP say it is a "controversial issue" and ethically it leaves "many doubts". Sofia Canha prefers, "to believe in the good faith of the people" about the legitimacy of family choice expressed by Manuel Baeta. She believes the mayor has employed his wife for political and professional reasons rather than for personal reasons and favouritism. The Mayor of Calheta justifies the position for better coordination of administrative, financial, social and cultural activities of the Town Council.

São Vicente will provide support to 1,800 elderly. The Municipality of São Vicente has 1,800 residents over the age of 65, more than 30% of the inhabitants. A communication system will be installed in their homes so they can alert the civil protection and fire authorities. Other support will be provided, for example help with mobility difficulties and meals. Social workers will assess individual needs in collaboration with the churches and Vicentians. The aim is to ensure a more dignified life.

Construction of Caniçal Cemetery begins. The construction of this cemetery has been controversial. It was initially approved by the PSD councillors on 14 February 2009 and work was to proceed immediately by a contract between the Regional Government and the Council. The PS said this was electioneering work. Two months later, a petition with 1,100 signatures was presented to the Council for the cemetery to be installed north of the site proposed by the Council. In September, the work had to stop due to lack of payment to the owner of the land for the expropriation. Four months later, an agreement was reached that the payment of 24,000 Euros would be made in instalments. The owner wanted three requirements: payment for the land, payment of a debt of 30,000 Euros for the construction of the Estrada da Banda d’ Além which was finished in the 1980s, and the road named after a previous owner of the road that links the new cemetery to Feiteirinhas. Emanuel Gomes accuses the previous mayor, the Socialist Father Martins Júnior, of not paying for the work. He denies responsibility and said it should have been paid by previous PSD mayors who authorized the work. He added that the Council could not pay because the Regional Government had a financial stranglehold on the Council and they were forced to pay a debt of 1 million and 800,000 contos. Currently, this value corresponds to 9 million Euros. —1 conto = 1000 escudos = 5 Euros.

Cases of the day. At the end of Rua das Hortas, in the vicinity of the old offices of ‘Peugeot’, there is a manhole cover which often lifts up and endangers the safety of vehicles and pedestrians. The Council of Funchal have the usual red tape around the area but this situation has existed for some time and needs to be resolved before an accident occurs, as the street becomes crowded at times.

Bus stuck between cars. Passengers on a ‘Horários do Funchal’ bus were forced to leave and continue their journey by foot after the vehicle became stuck in the middle of several cars parked illegally in Rua José Pedro de Ornelas. The bus, yesterday afternoon, was on the route Levada de Santa Luzia – Centro and the police were called. This is a frequent occurrence in the area. — Sorry, no photo of the bus.

Companies purchase bananas without going through the Government. From today, bananas can be bought and sold without going through GESBA, the body that the Government created to manage banana production. The company Frutas Douradas guarantees to purchase from producers. This company is also recruiting a team of banana pickers. There are no fixed prices, unlike GESBA, but the company guarantees that it will pay the same amount as GESBA. If demand is high, a higher price might be set and the producers need higher rates in winter to offset lower production rates. Until now, the company could not get EU subsidies but it has recently been recognized by the Government which allows it to apply. It will export 26 – 30 pallets of bananas a week whereas currently, only 1 pallet a week is exported which does not satisfy the demands on the Continent. In the returning containers, normally empty, the firm will import goods. The Volcán de Tijarafe ferry will be used and costs will be reduced by the firm investing in automated processing. This firm is beginning to deal in bananas as it has had requests from some producers, dissatisfied with GESBA, and requests from the Continent but it complains of not receiving enough bananas from GESBA to meet the demands. GESBA currently has the following rates in euro per kg. Winter (November to April): extra – 0.67; category I – 0.58 and category II – 0.476. During the summer months: extra – 0.65; category I – 0.56 and category II – 0.456. If the producers deliver the bananas to the warehouse, they are paid 10 cents per kg. On Friday, the CDU are meeting visiting MEPs to ask that the EU compensate regional producers of bananas who might have difficulties due to the Geneva Accord. The tariff for bananas imported from Latin American countries is to be reduced from 176 Euros / ton to 114 Euros / ton by 2017 and the regional banana producers might not be able to compete with U.S. multinationals operating in Latin American countries.

Eviction ends in arrest. A man about 60 years old, was arrested yesterday morning for being in possession of an arma de alarme (replica gun) and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition. The arrest was not for possession of the gun but for the extra ammunition which passed the legal limit. He was occupying an office in a building in Rua 31 de Janeiro and stressed that the weapon had never been used. The President of the Clube Desportivo Nacional had heard about the sale of the building in 2007, bought it and legalized the purchase in 2009. Last month, a court official and three police officers went to the building as there was a court order to evict this tenant. The man said it was cruel and inhumane as he had asked Rui Alves if he could remain there until the end of next month while he could find an alternative residence. He added, "I was sleeping on a sofa in the office."

Criminal cases. The Coram company’s offices were broken into early on Saturday morning and 750 Euros and several cheques were stolen from the safe. A 24 year old man was arrested Sunday morning for stealing a purse from a 56 year old woman. This occurred in Azinhaga in Nazaré and the woman’s screams alerted a local person and the police, who were nearby and tracked down the suspect. The man, a drug addict lives in Curral das Freiras. A man was arrested on Sunday at the airport on suspicion of drug trafficking. More than 2 kilos of heroin were seized by Customs officials. It was hidden in a false bottom in his suitcase. This is enough for 27,000 individual doses with a street value of 540,000 Euros. The man is a 30 year old Portuguese resident of Lisbon, from where he was flying. A woman was attacked on Sunday by her husband with a machado (type of axe) in a case of domestic violence. This caused a deep wound in her hand and bruises to the face and happened in the presence of the four children, aged 7 to 11 years old. This violence has frequently occurred and has been brought to the attention of the court and the husband has been given a caution. The bombeiros of Ribeira Brava rescued the woman and took her to the Health Centre. The police are to proceed with a charge of domestic violence.

TAP has the second best year ever but increases surcharges. The airline carried more than 8.7 million passengers in 2009, a 3.4% fall since 2008. In December, there were 674,000 passengers, an increase of 3.3% more than the previous year, an occupancy rate of 72%. On 3 January 2010, TAP achieved an occupancy rate of 88.6%, a figure never reached before. There were 36,004 passengers, the record for a single day. In 2010, TAP will restructure sales and reduce the supply to reduce costs. The fuel surcharge on routes between Madeira and the Continent increases from 9 to 12 Euros from January 20 2010. These charges are lower than those made on European routes and are in response to an automatic mechanism defined by the National Institute of Civil Aviation.

Dentist Convention resumes. The Dental Association are still pushing for residents to be reimbursed for dental services, similar to those for the rest of medicine. This has been negotiated since 2007 and they hope this agreement can become a reality by the end of this year. A protocol has already been signed with the Health Service but details need to be finalized. There is already Dentistry at the Health Centres of Porto Santo, Bom Jesus and Porto Moniz. There will be another dentist at Bom Jesus where there are already two dentists and a hygienist, after restructuring of the building. In Porto Moniz, dentistry is for 3 – 13 year olds and in Porto Santo, for 3 – 12 year olds. The Health Authority want to have dentistry at Machico Health Centre after construction works on the new building. Services are provided in the Emergency Room at the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça and they are awaiting new equipment to allow more complex dental surgery.

São Vicente Council distinguish German tourists. The German couple have been visiting two to three times a year over the past fifteen years, bringing with them a group of more than 20 tourists. Hans and Petruta Schawarz first came in 1995 and are fans of walking, especially through the Laurissilva forest. Hans Schawarz said he enjoyed the cable car from Monte to Funchal and keeps returning as he is struck by the beauty of the island, enjoying the ‘adventure’ of the old roads. The Festa do Flor, Festa do Vinho and the New Year’s Eve fireworks display are highlights, especially as he comes to celebrate his birthday on the 31 December.

Pico do Areeiro: Without snow, but with poncha. Headline of Monday’s Diário Cidade. Last weekend, both Madeirans and tourists went to this area because of the forecast of snow. No snow but strong wind and rain. They stopped at the Abrigo do Poiso for a drink of poncha or a café de ceveda (barley coffee) to warm the body and soul. Pico de Areeiro is said to be extremely beautiful and charming when ‘painted’ white. — Sounds a great ~~excuse~~ idea.

Today’s news headlines mainly from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Tourism of Portugal awards ‘The Vine’ – The honourable mention will be announced today in the opening of BTL. Hmmm, I think it already has.

Ships brought 30 thousand more in 2009.

The main photo on today’s front page shows a corner of a Zimmer frame, along with an ageing hand. The Regional Government clogs homes with hospital releases - The government will juggle the waiting lists for the homes, to put at the front of the queue 51 elderly people that were released, but stayed in the hospital. 79 cases remain unsolved.

Today’s main news headline : Madeira loses €157 million in 3 years – The cost of the financial noose of the Regional Finance Law has been calculated. If Lisbon approves the alterations proposed, Madeira will receive an extra €74.6 million just in this year. But the Azores could be tied.

And another along the same lines : Amendments to the Regional Finance Law would cost the state 82 million Euros – A report from the Technical Unit for Budgetary support shows that the changes would give Madeira more than 74.6 million Euros. Enough for another football stadium refurbishment, with a bit of change left over, or a new marina at Lugar do Baixo perhaps. Do you ever wonder about the priorities of this government?

TAP raises fuel surcharges on the Madeira route – an increase of €9 to €12 comes into force from 20th January.

Rigo shows in China and already prepares America. I presume this is the artist that Paul wrote about on the blog yesterday.

Luís Sotero Gomes dies – The medical specialist in Otorhinolaryngology passed away a victim of a prolonged illness.

The main sport / football headline today : Stadium that cost €11.5 million sinks in Câmara de Lobos – The facility was inaugurated recently, but is already losing ‘altitude’. The Regional Government say that it is normal. Looks like our politicians opted for the cheap cement again, still what’s eleven million these days!

BTW, the stars of Benfica will be in Ribeira Brava for a 10 am training session on Sunday morning. They will be at the Centro Desportivo da Madeira, out by Modelo, preparing for the 8.15 pm game against Marítimo.

That’s all I can get for now, as the Diário website has gone down yet again, and they are obviously having a problematic week. Still with a blog today with almost 4,500 words already, is probably more than enough for a normal news appetite.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

EIB approve loan for SATA turboprops ; December rain breaks records ; Maritimo sink at home

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Elaine (west) … presépio in Santana

EIB loan for air transport within Azores and Madeira – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €37 million loan to SATA Air Acores for the acquisition of four turboprop aircraft to provide inter-island transport services within the Azores archipelago, replacing the same number of older aircraft. The aircraft will be operated by SATA from its home base at Ponta Delgada (Azores) on essential public services within the Azores and Madeira islands as well as on services to the Canary Islands in Spain. The new aircraft will replace less fuel efficient aircraft. Source Europolitics : Are the new aircraft operating yet on the Madeira – Porto Santo domestic route?

"Dear Friends, walking on Madeira is a spectacular experience. You have the oppertunity to walk a " thousand miles" track on the levada’s around the island and in the mountains. Funchal is the best starting point for walks for the east side. Ribereira da Brava, app. 10 miles from Funchal a very good starting point for the west side of the island. We have been here to celebrate the "Reveillion 2009/2010" with fireworks not seen before in the world". A short explanation of the "levada" walks

Ribereira da Brava eh, that rings a bell somewhere.

Not really what I was expecting at all, but worth a quick visit for something a little different : A Walk thru Funchal’s Dark Side

Dear Madam or Sir, I am sending you an article or letter about Madeira and sustainable mobility, which I hope will be interesting for you to publish. Kind regards. (Marta).

BETTER ISLAND FOR LOCALS AND TOURISTS – Yesterday, my husband and I came back from our wonderful holidays on this island, thinking about a couple of improvements for locals and tourists.

Firstly, there should be more road security especially for pedestrians. Non-expensive traffic calming measures, which would reduce excessive car speed, would certainly favour all citizens. No tourist wants to be almost run over by a car and no local citizen wants his or her child involved in a serious accident either.

Secondly, considering the effects of climate change and also the increasing overweight problems of some locals and tourists, a basic environmental traffic plan should be carried out. That would include car sharing, car pooling and electric vehicles including electrobikes. If traffic calming on small roads and streets were to be achieved, electric bikes should only need some bike lanes in places where the road could easily be widened. Of course electrobikes have a limit and could not be used in all the steepiest places but in some places they would prove efficient.

Finally, the implementation of all mentioned would be a major benefit for everybody in terms of general health and economic growth.

MARTA POMBO SALLÉS, SANT BOI DE LLOBREGAT (BARCELONA)

Thank you Marta, and I can assure you that I cannot be of the least assistance, but I do hope that somebody super-important will read your comments and suggestions. Der

This is from Elaine (west) from yesterday’s Diário … many thanks.

December rain breaks records - The city of Funchal had its highest amount since 1931. In December 2009 Funchal had its highest rainfall since 1931, when records began. According to Mafalda Mitchell, a meteorologist at the Meteorological Observatory in Funchal, there has not been a day in the month in which rainfall was not higher. The amount of precipitation for December in Funchal reached 286.1 millimetres. In terms of daily precipitation it was lower than usual. The maximum stood at 38.8 millimetres. What was crucial, according to Mafalda, was the fact that it rained heavily for several days during the last month of 2009.

In Pico do Areeiro, the figures go up much higher. The amount of monthly rainfall was 1102.9 millimetres, whereas the average between 1971 and 2000 was 447.7 millimetres. In terms of temperature, there were no major changes. In Funchal, the maximum temperature in December was 23.6° on the 14th, and the minimum of 13.5 on the 30th and 31st. These figures reflect a rise of a degree in the norm for the month of December. In Pico do Areeiro the maximum temperature was around 14.1°, also on the 14^th and a minimum of 1.2 on the last day of the year.

The Institute of Meteorology (IM) yesterday announced the data for December, reporting the month as having the most rain of the 21st century in continental Portugal. The IM also observed high winds associated with low pressure systems that affected the whole of the continent, particularly in the west (23 December), when there were exceptionally strong winds. "In Madeira there was an extreme situation in terms of intensity of winds, with gusts registering above 100 km / h for more than 20% of the month“, the report states.

In the Azores, the rainfall was also much higher than normal, being the second largest amount recorded since 1931. In terms of temperature in Portugal in December, the trend of recent years was confirmed. This was the seventh consecutive December to have temperatures below normal, with an anomaly of -0.6 °, -0.4 ° and -0.5 ° for maximum temperatures, minimum and average, respectively. The heavy rain ended Portugal’s 10 month drought and means that the Water Institute can confirm that there will be no restrictions on water use.

Marítimo blew it at home yesterday against Guimarães, losing 0 – 1.

Many thanks to Elaine for yesterday’s top news headlines :

Fuel prices increase on Monday Price of fuel will rise two cêntimos.

Agricultural Cooperative teaches gardening Workshops are free, begin today and take place every Saturday between 10 – 11 am, until the end of the first quarter of 2010. Promoted by the Agricultural Cooperative of Funchal to provide basic knowledge of gardening to the general public. The events are limited to the first 20 arrivals and occur at the premises of the Cooperative in Sao Martinho.

Contingency plans to be updated Next week, the Civil Defence has meetings with the Councils. The municipal emergency plans require updating and new plans are being prepared to include recent legislative changes in 2008/9. These plans identify critical areas and measures to deal with different situations. Rather than just the municipal assembly approving plans, they must now also be approved by the Regional Service for Civil Protection and the Bombeiros of Madeira.

Two elderly ladies gagged and bound at home Two sisters, one 79 and the other 81, with mobility problems, were gagged and bound inside their house in Amoreiras in Arco da Calheta. This was around 1.30 am on Wednesday morning when two individuals, wearing gloves and with their faces obscured, forced an entry and threatened to murder them if they did not say where their savings were. The two aggressors stole cash and gold articles, then later one of the women managed to free herself and ask the neighbours for help. The local population are worried, especially elderly residents living alone because the two robbers have not yet been identified or caught. The women were frightened and shocked, suffered bruising from the tape wound around their face and were taken by the police to Calheta Health Centre. Maria da Conceição Teixeira continued to explain what happened. "They began by locking the dog in the kennel. They broke down the door of the residence with an iron crowbar (pe-de-cabra). They burst in with lanterns, to prevent using the lights so as not to draw the attention of the neighbourhood. They said, "We are not aggressors" but the first thing they did was to put tape on our mouths to keep us from screaming. Then they tied our hands so we could not do anything and asked us with threats where the money was. I said that the retirement money was in the post but they would not know that. They searched everywhere, emptied drawers, looked under beds and took all the money we had left for expenses. They stole the valuable pieces we had, including a two metre gold chain, two rings and a necklace, all made of gold. We experienced moments of terror inside the house. When the individuals left us in those conditions, I manage to free, with difficulty, the adhesive tape around my mouth and phoned the neighbours for help. – who were celebrating the Dia de Reis – and they almost immediately came to our aid." Yesterday morning, scattered around the floor of the access to the house, were cigarette butts and a cigarette packet of a particular brand that is not known locally. This indicates that the attackers spent time hiding near the house before engaging in the crime, smoking cigarettes.

Lobo acquitted with the four defendants The former mayor of Ponta do Sol, António Lobo, who was accused of serious crimes of fraud and bribery and four other defendants in this case, charged with bribery, were all acquitted due to lack of evidence. António Lobo was accused of receiving three cheques from a developer to facilitate the licensing of an apartment block in Ponta do Sol. The four other defendants were a contractor, financial advisor, and ex-deputy and ex-councillor, both PSD. All three cheques from the promoter of the apartment block had been deposited into the personal account of António Lobo but the court could not establish any resulting benefit to the contractor. The same decision was made for the alleged corruption by Lobo since it was the Council which approved the project. António Lobo is still serving six years in prison in Lisbon. All defendants said that justice had been done and criticized the media interest but the public present thought it was a controversial decision.

Madeira present five alterations to the law Five proposed amendments to the Regional Finance Law which are discussed next week in Lisbon. The changes are aimed to receive the recovery of money owed to the Region due to the Regional Finance Law being enforced. Madeira wants to recover the money which the Region should be entitled to under the previous law of 1998, without prejudicing the Azores. The Madeiran Government wants to recover the 111.56 million Euros in budget transfers from the Portuguese Government which it failed to receive between 2007 – 2009. The second major change relates to existing penalties to the Region for exceeding the debt limit. This money should be retained by the State to pay the Regional debt or support projects of common interest. Projects of common interest should be included in the State budget (e.g. new Hospital of Funchal). The final changes are that adjustments should be made in the budget transfers.

Department of Infrastructure guarantees that aggregates are the property of the Region Reply to yesterday’s article in Diário about the dredging of more than 700 truckloads of stone from storm damaged regions. The methods taken are deemed necessary and urgent to restore the normality of physical spaces and the lives of people affected by the unusual recent storms. "It is necessary to act immediately, assessing the costs and benefits of decisions and above all, setting priorities for intervention, which are weighted by various factors in the present circumstances." "In Madalena do Mar, the immediate dredging of the stream was identified as a priority because the weather is unstable, to prevent or minimize the impact of possible storms that may occur again." "Faced with this emergency, the SRES, acting within its powers contacted the two companies for this purpose, and all the material that is removed and deposited in their yards will be quantitatively controlled by monitoring." "Staff of the Secretariat will also identify and evaluate the areas adjacent to increased erosion, followed by the removal of selected materials by the process of dredging to strengthen these areas where it is technically justified." "The material taken from the mouth of the stream by the purpose of dredging is the property of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and only in the case of leftover material, can be purchased by businesses. Should this occur, the value as may be determined is, yes, minus the total cost of dredging."

PS denounce illegal firms in Ribeira de São Vicente The Socialist Party call for an end to all industrial activity in the Ribeira de São Vicente. The activity is not licensed and the parish council, municipal council and Regional Government do not receive any contribution. The Socialist Party leader, João Gouveia, condemns not only the exploitation of the geological wealth of Madeira, mud and stones are deposited in the stream, threatening the flow of water and the town of São Vicente.

Passenger traffic drops 4.3% The number of passengers recorded in December passing through Madeira Airport fell 4.3% compared to 2008. In December 2009, there were 160,858 entries and exits against 168,065 in December 2008. Therefore, 7,207 fewer passengers. The decline reflects a drop of passengers on international flights (-15.7%), which is mitigated by the growth of domestic routes (6.5%). In 2009, the number passing through the airport totalled 2,335,811 which is 101,756 less than 2008.

12% more patients treated in 2009 than 2008 in the Hospital of Funchal Data from the Office of Internal Medicine. Of the 10,756 patients treated, 5,735 were high problematic. The average length of hospitalization was 8 days with 12 days for those high problematic. Positive changes have come from the unification of the three previous departments: Medicine I, Medicine II and Medicine III. The areas of Internal Medicine are Internal Medicine, Hypertension, Prevention of Atherosclerosis and Dyslipidaemias, Prevention of Vascular Diseases, Metabolic Diseases, and Pulmonary Hypertension (in collaboration with Cardiology). Included are blood coagulation disorders / thromboembolic events in collaboration with Obstetrics.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : It is illegal to dump earth [mud] in the sea – Domingos Abreu, biologist and ex-regional director for the environment [DRA], is against the view of the current holder of that post : There is no exception to the law and authorized dumping at the coastline of São Vicente should be prohibited. Abreu says that one "cannot combat evil with another evil, even though it may be lesser". Correia, the current DRA post holder says however that he has no official knowledge of dumping on the coast of São Vicente, and that the law allows exceptions for these sorts of cases. "It is a situation of public interest" he says, refusing to brand the dumping operation as illegal. One thing that is clear is that this island should have contingency plans for dealing with such matters, and despite of having had several years of similar weather problems and the consequences, still nothing seems coordinated or organised in coping with the aftermath.

Carlos Costa shakes ‘idols’ – Fátima Marques is anxious. In each show, the mother of the contestant rings 20 to 30 times to 760300508. I guess that is the number to vote for her, and the Diário has no shame in publishing that number on it’s front page. Just like I always say, it’s a big farce, but it seems that big farces are as popular as ever.

Jacinto Serrão reconquers PS-M – Serrão is the new leader – Victor Freitas lost the contest by 52 votes. At 8 pm Jacinto Serrão breathed a sigh of relief. The ‘blogs’ are singing victory, but the competition was fierce and the result did not become official until shortly after 10 pm. Overall Serrão won 665 votes, for leadership of the Socialist Party of Madeira, against the 623 of Freitas (and I have noticed that the difference is only 42, not 52). Funny thing that yesterday his name was spelt Vítor, so losers get a name change perhaps, or more likely an overworked Diário reporter with maths difficulties? COMPLETE RESULTS

APRAM [Port Authority] fosters unfair competition – The accusation is made in the action of the shipping companies in the scope of the operation ‘Armas’ Saturday. Naviera Armas has assured the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Lisbon that will comply with the law of Portugal, including the terms under which the operation in Funchal is licensed. The judge in the case had warned Armas that it was not operating within the law last Thursday. The port authority APRAM have also taken measures to ensure that the operations are legitimate, in which the ferry will use tractors carried on board to move freight from ship to land. The accusation of unfair competition is undeniably true of course. The Armas passenger ferry between Madeira and Portugal and the Canary Islands has an exclusive licence to carry freight as well as passengers in and out of Funchal, whilst the other shipowners have to load and offload freight elsewhere. The Armas operation needs the freight to make the ferry financially viable, so if it were to be stopped you can imagine the impact on this island … less tourists … and higher transportation costs, being two of the more obvious. I can’t see any way out of this except by giving the other ship owners a ‘sweetener’ to keep them quiet, and then at some time in the future go out to tender for a mainland ferry service for fright and passengers, when every one can compete (theoretically at least).

The front page headlines in sport / football : Marítimo continue leaky – The Verde-rubros register a third consecutive defeat at home to Guimarães in game played on a waterlogged pitch. That is also the main photo today, and it does look very wet. Marítimo lost 0 – 1, which also put their opponents in spitting distance of local rivals Nacional.

Footballers of Pontassolense threaten to boycott the derby game today, with União, if they don’t receive part of their wages in arrears.

F. Vieira confirmed in the ‘Dinner of the Supporters of Benfica’ on Saturday

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Atlantic Holidays return to Porto Santo ; Santo Amaro today ; Seven Wonders of Portugal

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … MSC cruise ship leaving port early evening, taken from our terrace

"The cathedral is designed in a Gothic style and has three naves. The roof of the cathedral features a Moorish-inspired design and is of cedar wood. The exterior walls are made of stone from Cabo Girão. The cathedral contains a silver processional cross, donated by Manuel I, considered one of the masterpieces of precious metalworking of Manueline Portugal. A statue of Pope John Paul II is located outside the cathedral, which was moved to its current position after formerly being installed in the city closer to the waterfront". WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE ON SÉ CATHEDRAL FUNCHAL

"Atlantic Holidays has reintroduced its direct flight from London Gatwick to the small Portuguese island of Porto Santo. The Viking Airlines flight will operate between 31st May – 19th July and from the 6th September – 25th October 2010". MORE INFORMATION

"Why is there no LP Madeira guide? – Maybe I missed something, but AFAIK Madeira (and the Azores, for that matter) are not covered in any LP guide. Why is that? I mean, even Iraq, Central African Republic and Afghanistan have at least their own chapter in a regional guide. I’ve always been loyal to LP guides, but this way I’m driven straight into the arms of Rough Guide for my next vacation". LONELY PLANET LACKS MADEIRA GUIDE Perhaps someone can help to put this right, you never know it might bring in some more tourists?

From Elaine : [again] "not strictly Madeira-related but noted in the Jornal da Madeira Economy section" … TAKE 2

TAP and ANA Christmas flash mob celebrations at Lisbon Airport are a success on YouTube These videos were recorded on December 23 at 06.45 and December 30 at Lisbon Airport and placed on YouTube by the companies themselves. The dancing was choreographed by the marketing department of TAP and the repeat on December 30 involved far more people. The first has been seen over 840,000 times and the second over 64,000 times. TAKE 1 was on yesterday’s blog in case you missed it! Der

I mentioned back in September probably that I had made a complaint about a bank, using the official complaint book ‘Livro de Reclamaçoes’. Although the specific matter was resolved at the time, the complaint was about the banks procedures and the way they handled that particular matter. I heard nothing more until yesterday, when I received a letter from the Bank of Portugal, saying that the complaint had now been closed! No mention of whether there had been an investigation, or any outcome whatsoever. The complaint book seems to work well with small businesses, but when it comes to large corporations perhaps they have some way of manipulating the process.

Also many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Jacinto Rodrigues and Miguel Angelo exposed in Funchal Two artists from Madeira, Jacinto Rodrigues Abreu and Miguel Angelo Freitas, will present an exhibition entitled, ‘Black and White’ on the central section of Avenida Arriaga, between the Golden Gate cafe and the Municipal Theatre. There will be nine sculptures, two by Miguel Angelo. The exhibition runs from 15 January to February 14. These are stone structures (marble, basalt and limestone). Miguel Angelo’s sculptures are more figurative whereas the other sculptor prefers a more abstract approach. Jacinto Rodrigues has had solo exhibitions, for example in Lisbon and several of his sculptures are in public spaces in Madeira. Miguel Angelo has sculptures on the Continent, Madeira and Porto Santo. (Photo is one of the exhibits by Miguel Angelo)

Santo Amaro festival begins tomorrow This is a main festival in Santa Cruz and finishes on January 17, the ending of the Christmas and New Year celebrations in this municipality. It is the time for ‘sweeping the cupboards’, ie consume the remaining festive food and drink. The festival begins in the centre of Santa Cruz at 20.00 with dancing beginning at 20.45, 21.15 and 21.45 and ends with karaoke with DJ Joe Silva. On Sunday, the Municipal Band performs at 17.00 and the Band of Sao Lourenco at 18.00.

CDU want the Madeiran authorities to control high voltage power lines The communists are worried about the effect of electromagnetic fields on health – the risk of leukaemia. There is conflicting scientific evidence but the EU recommends that precautionary steps are taken. The CDU want the Electricity Company to monitor populated areas located near power lines and inform residents about any risks. They also question the rights of owners whose land is devalued by the placement of such equipment. Their proposals will be submitted to the Councils of Funchal, Câmara de Lobos and Santa Cruz.

Rocheira clean up dangerous slopes Two days ago, the Rocheira team along with human and technical resources from the firm Estradas da Madeira, cleaned up the slopes above the ER 103 in between Cobouco and Fajã do Cedro Gordo in São Roque do Faial. There have recently been two landslides in this area, the last one on Sunday. On Wednesday, the Rocheira cut trees which had lost surrounding anchoring stones and rocks, and threatened to fall onto the road. Yesterday, the work focused on rocks which also threatened the road. The road and footpath were closed during this operation and this will also be the case today. The workers will return next Monday and Tuesday to finish the clean up operation. The Rocheira team work by two men suspended by ropes with three anchor men. The falling rocks and logs which they displace can also cause damage, for example a fibre optic cable had to be replaced yesterday.

Nine candidates for the ‘Seven Wonders of Portugal’ competition Of the 323 chosen applicants, nine are from Madeira and Porto Santo. This is the first round of the contest and originally, the region had entered 55 candidates. The next selection will be revealed on the 7 February when the list will be down to 77 winners and the final 31 announced on March 7. The nine candidates are: Ilhas Desertas and Selvagens, Cabo Girão, Fajã das Padres, laurissilva forest in São Vicente, Pico de Ana Ferreira in Porto Santo (photo), Porto Santo beach, Cabeco das Laranjas (Ilheu da Cima) and the coral fossils and galleries of the Ilheu da Cal.

PSD-M in Lisbon for marathon talks Members of the Social Democrats from Madeira are in Lisbon to try to get the amendments to the Regional Finance Act passed in favour of the region. The associated State Budget 2010 is under discussion and the PSD need to convince the BE and CDS-PP to pass the Finance Law, as support of the PCP is not enough to guarantee that it will be passed. The CDS and BE are against discrimination of Madeira but they are not happy about parts of the Finance Law. The deadline for submissions of proposals for amendments is Monday.

Court recommends better management The Court of Auditors revealed that the Regional Government granted 1.1743 million Euros of guarantees to cover loans in 2008. This was a 0.9% increase since 2007. The Government needs to fix limits to cover the amount of loan guarantees. There has also been a loss of four million Euros in the last five years due to breaches of the beneficiaries of the guarantees, so the Government needs to exercise its powers in the situation of non-compliance.

Island Escape cruises begins here next Monday These are weekly cruises from Funchal to Morocco and the Canary Islands, then back to Funchal a week later. There are still 100 places left each week which means demand is higher than previously. It is the British company Thomson Cruises who are running the cruises this year. The cruise is ‘relaxed, friendly and informal’ and the ship calls at Agadir, Lanzarote, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas of Grand Canaria and La Palma. The final cruise is on the 19 April.

Even toilet doors do not escape the thieves Five doors, one an outside door, were stolen one night from the Parque de Merendas, Moreno in the serras of Santa Cruz.

Rescued dog bites rescuing fireman The dog had to be rescued on the Caminho das Virtudes in São Marinho. The fireman was wearing protective gloves but was still bitten in the hand which required hospital attention. The dog then disappeared after the fireman released him. There was better luck when rescuing a dog in difficulties with a strong current in the stream at Santa Luzia, when the dog was safely rescued.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Video [computer] games knock books off top spot during Christmas – The purchases of music and films also lost ground to the football simulators and other [consol] games. Sales of everything were low over the Christmas period. FIFA 2010 and PES 2010 were two of the most popular of the selections, both football games for consoles.

Vítor in front in the first votes of the PS Socialists – Serrão won Funchal in the closely disputed elections. The battle for the new leadership of the only serious opposition party to the PSD social democrats is underway, and it is up to the Madeiran socialists to choose. Jacinto Serrão and Vítor Freitas are the choices, and yesterday and today more than three thousand of them will get their say on who takes over from ~~waste-of-space~~ João Carlos Gouveia. The Funchal votes gave Freitas a victory locally by 66 votes. The process will be concluded after a regional congress to be held on 23rd & 24th of January. It will now be the votes in Machico, Câmara de Lobos and São Vicente that will carry the most weight. Serrão’s punchline is ‘Trust in the future’, but as far as political affairs are going here, it might as well be ‘Trust in Mickey Mouse’, ‘cos what we have been reading in the headlines this last few weeks and months about the state of the economy here and our finances, there is not one politician or party on this island that is either able or capable of making a difference. It seems that we need a huge recovery in the tourism market to kick-start the beginning of a recovery, and that all depends on people over whom our politicians have absolutely no influence.

Today’s main news headline : Drastic fall in the consumption of cement – The volume of cement for works fell in 2009 by nothing less than 16.5%, and that fall equates to the levels of usage registered 14 years ago. The economic ‘health’ becomes more and more fragile.

The main front page photo today shows something that looks like earthquake damage to a beach facility : Weather demolishes new works of Madeira – The storms have highlighted the fragility of the more recent constructions compared to the old works. Engineers point out the rush-jobs and remind that "the cheap comes out expensive". Engineers are saying that quality of materials, and orders to complete public works in record times, are showing the new monoliths of Madeira to be inferior than the older constructions using traditional materials, when it comes to standing up to weather such as that in December. The science is the same, whether the work has to withstand the sea or the air. These works all have to go through the political machinery to get approval and funding of course, and obviously the quality of materials, the required life of the construction, and the timescales of construction, are all issues that our politicians consider of course. Issues like when are the next elections coming up, and who in politics has stakes in the cement and construction companies wouldn’t be a factor in the equation of course.

The main headline in sport / football : Early goal ruins strategy and judgement. Accompanied by a picture of the rather dejected looking goalkeeper of Nacional, whose team lost 2 – 0 last night away to league leaders Braga. So much for my prediction then, but that result pales into insignificance with the news the Nacional manager Manuel Machado can return to a normal life, after his release from hospital yesterday after a very serious illness. If anyone is interested, the Rio Ave v Benfica game is on RTP 1 at 9.15 pm tonight.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

I realize now that this article isn’t from the Diário local to Madeira – my apologies. Hopefully it is still of interest to your readers … Vanessa Swesnik

Portuguese company forms partnership with Brazilian owned Quieroz Galvão and Carioca Christiani-Nielsen.

Somangue, controlled by Spanish Sacyr, formed a partnership to present a proposal for the construction of Dunes Arena stadium in Brazil’s northeast city, Natal. The partnership consists of Brazilian companies Queiroz Galvão and Carioca Christiani-Neilsen and the proposal has to be presented by February 22, reports Negócios Online.

Aside from Somangue, which constructed the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, the Spanish group, OHL, will also enter a bid on the construction of the stadium in Brazil. But there are still other businesses interested in the project like the Spanish Acciona, French Bouygues, and the British Salamanca Management.

The stadium will have the capacity of 45 thousand people. A shopping center as well as commercial buildings, hotels, an amphitheatre and even an artificial forest and lake will constructed around the stadium, along with renovations of the neighboring administrative centers.

There will also be a contract up with proposals due by February 5^th for another stadium to be constructed in Pernambuco. Work will begin during March.

However, the construction of the other stadium has already been awarded to a partnership comprised of Odebrechet and OAS. According to the Spanish newspaper, Cinco Dias, the contract is valued at 240 million Euros and has an expected duration of 35 years with the possibility of being prolonged for up to another 35 years.

In time for the World Cup in 2014, Brazil should have constructed 5 new stadiums- among those the one in Natal- and have performed work on some of the already existing ones. In total, there are 12 locations that will host games for the World Cup in 2014.

During this month, the Brazilian Ministry of Cities will launch a million dollar funding package to improve communications and transportation in the cities that will host World Cup games.

Two years after the World Cup, Brazil will host the Olympics. This is the first time that a South American country will organize the Olympic Games. The city of Rio de Janeiro won amongst candidates Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo. Diário de Notícias Portugal

I am sure some will find it of interest, thanks Vanessa. Der

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NO MORE PHOTOS PLEASE, AS I HAVE LOADS TO SEE ME OUT
If you can, please contribute something Madeira related. A funny story or good or bad experience, a news item, or a story from a Madeira newspaper, a photo or video, a teaser, news of a bargain flight or item in a supermarket. Please help keep this blog going … without user contributions it won’t survive. Please don’t send in automatic translations (like Google translator) without checking them through and correcting them first, thanks.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

MSC Splendida debut ; Porto Santo ferry grounded ; 55 swine flu cases last week

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Becky … 2010 Funchal fireworks from Rua do Lazareto

No ‘bonus items’ for today, so no other websites to visit, videos to watch, just Becky’s photo above, so that’s allowed me a little time to have a ramble, and reflect on the weekend just passed.

Saturday morning started off with a trip to the local Modelo. There and back in less than an hour, so I was quite please with myself … for a while at least. A new sale 50% had started, although according to the flyer I received afterwards, it wasn’t actually supposed to start until Sunday, but nether-the-less there it was, so I managed to stock up on many things I didn’t really need with a 50% discount (on the Modelo loyalty card, as usual). Most of the ‘sale’ items’ were also unusually all located together, so that was really handy to stock up all from one aisle. 18 litres of milk were acquired, but it wasn’t until I returned home that I noticed that the b*****ds hadn’t discounted the 73c price by 50%, so I had paid an extra €4 and something. Most annoying! And then to make matters even worse, I opened a carton of Continente ‘tuna chunks’ on Sunday night, to find one chunk missing. What’s the matter with these people, can’t they count. I don’t think I have ever been to Modelo without some mistake being made in 6 years, but I usually manage to sniff out more of the ones in my favour.

I didn’t really get time to browse the newspapers this weekend, but somebody did give me copy of MAIS, the weekend magazine that comes with the Diário newspaper. That put me off my beer when I saw a very unexpected mug peering out at me … enough said!

I mentioned on Sunday morning the appearance of a new sandy beach at Ribeira Brava, and forget to thank the people of Calheta for donating it. By Sunday afternoon it had gone again, so I figured that it is just a low tide beach for now, as it was back again on Sunday night. Yesterday morning the sand was even deeper. I had figured this would happen one day, but expected a gradual build up of sand, not for it all to happen overnight. Fishermen in hoards have taken over the beaches and the quay, mostly fishing in areas they shouldn’t be, but the council don’t care it seems. I said before that I thought that one of the giant nets at the offshore Campanário fish farm had broken in the stormy seas, and looking at the tiddlers these fisherman were catching, I think that must be the case. Some of them were bagging skinny little fish as small as 7 or 8 cm long, a mouthful at most, and I am guessing that they are Dourada, but am not certain. If they all held back on the catch for a few months these fish would have grown significantly and been worthwhile fishing for, but whether that’s a fisherman or human mentality or not, I don’t know.

The receipt of a ‘Golden Buda’ email (from two sources) one Sunday afternoon, told me that I was going to get some luck in the next few hours. I can’t get lucky stuck indoors I thought, so I ventured off into town at night Then Nacional lost to Benfica, so the luck obviously wasn’t coming from all angles … persistence was obviously needed. I went with a pal to a bar I hadn’t been in since 2008, and it is now under new management. I got the new customer treatment, which was nice, even though a medium beer was a pricey €1.20. I was given a free liquor, or something like that, but didn’t like it much. The Polvo (Octopus, or even squid perhaps) turned up in a small bowl. I knew I shouldn’t have indulged, but it did taste nice even though pretty tough as usual, and so I am still picking out chunks stuck in my teeth two days later. Then another beer later came along with a dish of piping hot spicy chips. That was a little bit of my promised luck I thought, but at €1.20 for a beer a free complete meal was what I really deserved.

Then it was back to school yesterday … it’s beginning to seem that the start of a new term for us Portuguese students is doomed to fail, and yesterday was no exception. 20 minutes into the lesson, and still no teacher. A quick trip down to the office, and it materialized that the dozen of us who had turned up were on our way out again without so much as lifting a pen. Teacher was off on doctors orders, and no one had told us, and no substitute was arranged, and it seems we have two more weeks of the same. As a kid I would have whooped with joy, but at a slightly less tender age now, I just want to get on with it and see the course out.

The vaccination of under 18 year olds against Gripe A is underway – Maurício Melim admits limitations in the health centres. Starting yesterday the health centres of Madeira are vaccinating against H1N1 swine flu in the age group 6 months to 18 years, and also the parents of babies under 6 months old. The president of the Institute of Health Administration IASAÚDE predicts a natural increase in the influx to the health centres. The target priority group will be widened as more vaccine supplies arrive. It will probably be about 5 years before my turn then, what with being an ageing foreigner and all that. We will probably have moved onto Halibut flu (aka Gripe ZX2) by then, and just be entering the phase of Banana flu that is forecast worldwide. In the meantime, I will just have to continue to protect myself with © Toranja Poncha ©, so that’s a bit of a bind now as Toranjas are out of season. Pimpinela poncha for sure wont be very palatable to fill the gap, but the research will go on.

55 new cases of gripe A were diagnosed on Madeira last week.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Cancelled Porto Santo ferry. The Lobo Marinho ferry did not sail for Porto Santo this morning due to rough seas and strong winds forecasted. The Captain of the Port of Funchal has advised all vessels to stay in safe harbour today with improvements expected this afternoon and tomorrow. 100 reservations had been made. Yesterday, the ferry left Porto Santo at 16.00 instead of 19.00, warning all passengers in advance, due to strong winds forecasted which caused the captain to fear berthing at Funchal in a strong swell. Despite previous announcements to the contrary, the boat will not sail tomorrow as Tuesday is the usual day for maintenance. It’s nice to think that somewhat is enjoying the bad weather, namely the ships crew. Der

MSC Splendida visits Funchal for the first time. Photo of the ship this morning. This new cruise ship accompanied two others, bringing a total of around 7,000 tourists. The Splendida has 3,300 tourists on board but can accommodate up to 3,887 passengers. Arriving form Tenerife at 7 am, she sails for Malaga at 17.00. Traditional arrival ceremony hosted by the Ship Enthusiasts Club and the port authorities but she will not be seen here again until 21 January 2011.

TAP overbooked flight. Yesterday morning at Madeira Airport, nearly two dozen passengers were left behind due to a TAP flight to Porto being overbooked by the airline company. The flight TAP3574 should have left at 11.40 but finally took off at 12.26 due to the confusion. The passengers were left behind despite arriving early, having booked months in advance and some paying more than 300 Euros. Some are University of Porto students who have examinations soon and they thought they had been bypassed in the queue as they were single travellers. The majority were able to fly at midnight yesterday but one student contacted knew of a colleague who could not get a flight until 7am this morning. TAP will pay 250 Euros compensation.

Rampa de Carros de Pau in Água de Pena. (These are home-made wooden go-karts). 28 ‘cars’ and 40 participants in the fourth edition of the race which is organized by the Parish Council. There were more participants yesterday afternoon than previously. Some ‘cars’ are conspicuous in their originality, one decorated with the ‘colours of Ferrari’. The competition is open to all ages and there are prizes for all present, especially the winners of the two categories: individuals and pairs. As they went between the Caminho Florestal and the Queimada de Cima, there were a few minor scratches and bruises from falling off or to poor driving ability, especially around corners, but all the participants were satisfied and happy to complete the course. — I watched them on the news this morning and they were able to accurately steer when they had to weave in between tyres placed in the centre of the road, and quite reasonable speeds were achieved. Some were wearing the requisite helmets and elbow and knee pads but not all. I remember that the race had to be rescheduled to yesterday due to previous bad weather. Fathers and children had combined forces, really enjoying themselves and proud of their efforts – great to see.

JPP accuse PSD of voting against the interests of Gaula. PSD members of the Parish Council of Gaula voted against the 2010 Budget and Plan for the Council. Élvio Sousa (JPP) is the leader of the Parish Council and fails to understand how the PSD can vote against a budget that provides 7,500 Euros for the purchase of medicines and 3,500 Euros for the support of impoverished families. Despite this, the proposals were passed due to the support of the JPP councillors and will be put into practice, an announcement that was received with great enthusiasm from the local people who filled the auditorium of the Civic Centre. Élvio Sousa accused the PSD members of obeying the directives of their party in Funchal. "A true gaules would not vote against the interests of the People of Gaula." Regulations are now being drafted and will be sent for judicial review at the end of January. Élvio Sousa does not know what will be the main criteria for reimbursement of the cost of medicines. Humberto Bettencourt explained that the PSD had voted against the budget because it was a 26% increase relative to last year’s budget and this has not yet been voted for by the County Council. "We never questioned the social measures that the new president presented. We did not vote against it because of these measures."

Right to a view in Avista Navios recognized by the courts. A widow in her 70s living in Caminho do Avista Navios in Nazaré, Funchal has had a long standing dispute with a neighbour over construction work which obstructed her view of the bay of Funchal. She owns a building of 762 square metres and a neighbour built a wall that caused the dispute. The neighbour bought the property in 2003 and in 2004 built a wall which was 2.35 metres high rather than the legal 1.5 metres, and a chimney for a barbecue which also obscured the view. The widow complained that her house has an aluminium and glass porch with a 80 cm high balcony, from which there had been a fantastic view over the city. She has had this right to a view for over 20 years and in addition, the building works caused water damage to her property. In 2005, the defendant was ordered to lower the wall to 1.80 metres and replace the adjacent roof and gutter that had been removed. The neighbour refused and in 2008, another court case ruled that the widow had a right to a view, the offending part of the wall would have to be demolished and compensation paid. The case then went to the Appeal Court in Lisbon and without any reasons given, the court ruled the first decision was correct. The neighbour, still not satisfied, went back to the Appeal Court and on the 10 December, the court again ruled the widow had a right to a view and part of the wall had to be demolished. The defendant has no right to further appeal and will have to comply with the court order.

Cultural events in various areas this month. Cantar dos Reis on Tuesday January 5 at Funchal, Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol and other localities. Sunday 10 January, Romarias de Boaventura – São Vicente at the Casa do Povo da Boaventura at 15.00 At 16.00 on the 18 January, the third Canticos da Festa in the Parish Hall at Raposeira, Fajã da Ovelha – Christmas songs from the various parishes. 30 – 31 January at the Praça da Serra de Água, during the afternoon and evening there will be an Exhibition of Crafts and Local Traditions, including recipes for ponchas. On Saturday January 16, a walking tour of Paul da Mar integrated into the festa de Santo Amaro, patron saint of the parish. There are various organizations involved and it recalls the times when local people went down the vereda dos Zimbreiros to go to Paul da Mar. People are invited to take a bordão (walking stick), musical instrument and their friends and be very joyful and it starts at Sítio do Lombo, Ponta do Pargo at 14.00. Alternatively, you can travel by bus from Fajã da Ovelha to Paul and meet the group at Ribeira das Galinhas. Return bus to the Sítio do Lombo leaves at 19.00, run by the County Council. Water, cakes and fruit juices will be distributed during the tour.

Two hundred watched the Cantar os Reis. The rain did not stop attendance at this initiative yesterday afternoon, organized by the Casa do Povo da Camacha. It is the first time a tent has had to be used due to heavy rain, erected in the Largo da Achada by Santa Cruz Council. Folklore groups from Camacha and Santo da Serra took part. They will still keep the tradition of singing at people’s homes during the night of the 5 – 6 January.

And from the Jornal da Madeira – North of the island revives the tradition. Last Saturday night, the Youth Group of the Parish along with the Casa do Povo de São Roque do Faial maintained the tradition of "Cantar os Reis" (Singing of the Kings) at houses in the parish. This tradition has resumed after for almost a decade, it was in danger of being lost forever in that area and had practically not occurred in the northern parishes. Since then, several parishes have heard the sound of the "Cantar dos Reis". This initiative is nurtured by the people of the parish who welcome young people and offer sweet confectionery left over from Christmas, like bolo or broas de mel accompanied by local wine or liqueur, abundant during the holiday festivities. The visits began in the late afternoon. The group sang the Romagem de Natal and then went to the residence of Father João Mendonça, situated in the village of Porto da Cruz. The music and songs sung were retained in the parish collectively by the older people.

It is recalled that each year there are more houses visited. The "Kings" are received with great joy and are always invited to visit the Lapinha and have a liqueur and sample the traditional broas and cakes of this season. This activity has always been held on the Saturday before the Epifania do Senhor (Epiphany of the Lord), (the day the Church celebrates the Dia de Reis, second Sunday after Christmas). The fact that this initiative falls on a Saturday makes it possible for young people, mostly students, to participate since the visits last into the night.

This year despite the weather, the group of players and singers took a tour of the parish covering homes from the lower part up to higher sites. "A curiosity of our region is that one of the ‘Kings can carry’ the Menino Jesus to people for kissing," said Heliodoro Dória from the local Casa do Povo, stating that "the visits ended only at two in the morning despite uncertain weather with some rain." After that hour the bells stopped ringing. Note that in addition to singing and music, the group was accompanied by bells in order to be heard in the distance so that people could prepare for the visit. For the president of the Casa do Povo, the main reason for this activity to continue is to "keep alive the traditions of this region and provide moments of conviviality and fellowship among the dozens of people involved."

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Tradition of ‘Cantar os Reis’ livens Madeira – In Curral das Freiras, Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol, Funchal, and out there somewhere, the coming night is going to warm. I think we have probably covered these stories several times here, so no more from me to be said. But it does seem to me that what I understood was mainly a sort of house-to-house tradition is moving more outdoors into organised events more recently. Am I mistaken?

Today’s main news headline : Lisbon without any pressure delay the Regional Finance Law – The successive resort to technical advice about the various alterations to the LFRA is surely going to ‘red tape’ the conclusion of the process, and the release of funds for which the Regional Government has been campaigning. The PS Socialists say they are not dithering on purpose, but that also they do not exist to serve the requests of the PSD Social Democrats.

The main front page photo today shows a rural / agricultural scene littered with debris resulting from the recent bad weather : 200 farmers have already requested assistance – The Environment Agency has 16 technicians to inspect damage from the bad weather. Up until yesterday afternoon, around 200 farmers had already applied for financial support from the Regional Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources, from a resource set up to assist citizens with land damaged resulting from the bad weather suffered in the last two weeks of December. Regional Secretary, Manuel António Correia, says that inspections are already underway, so that the farms can be restored, and even improved, as soon as possible. The 16 technicians have not only to evaluate the damage claim, but also verify that it was caused during the most recent bad weather. The funding has been ring-fenced from both Regional and European sources, and can cover between 85 and 100% of eligible expenses.

Wind and waves continue to hinder navigation. The Lobo Marinho did not make the trip and the tanker ‘Madeiro’ unloads its fuel with an ‘eye dropper’.

150 thousand litres of water ‘bail out’ Ponta do Sol. Over 150,000 litres of drinking water have been distributed in just 4 days. The tankers used to provide the water will not result in any additional costs for Ponta do Sol council. Normality is returning to domestic users in Ponta do Sol, as drinking water now flows through household taps. A week ago around 5,000 people in the district were still without drinking water, due to storm damage to the supply network in Rabaças on 22nd December. The council used it’s own tanker, and one from the fire brigade from Ribeira Brava, to meet demand for drinking water, but as it pays €100,000 a year to the ‘bombeiros’ in support, the service provided will not cost the taxpayers in Ponta do Sol anything extra.

Difficulties of companies in 2009 take a record 89 insolvency cases. The last three months of 2009 confirmed what was already a certainty, that in both the cases of individuals and collectives, all records for Madeira were demolished with 89 insolvency cases through the courts. The last three months were in fact quieter, with just 15 cases, but the year overall saw an increase of 150%.

In sport / football, after what seems a long absence, Marítimo are back on the front page : Marcinho prohibited of entering the club – The Brazilian player has already arrived, but not yet trained. It is claimed that Marcinho has had a virus and he wants to explain that to the president.

Rain and strong winds are remaining in the forecasts, from this afternoon. Tomorrow a slight drop in temperature may result in snow on the highest peaks.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link. All contributions much appreciated.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Ponta do Pargo development ; Underwater Xmas tree video ; Manuel Machado on the mend

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Tobi … a sunset from his balcony

"Today we were exploring some of Madiera’s fertile and mountainous interior, passing by steep slopes of banana plantations, and roadsides of the colourful flowers that the island’s famous for. Madeira is renowned for being locked in an "eternal spring", with consistently warm weather that rarely deviates from 20 degrees centigrade, and almost-constantly blooming flowers". PRIVATE TRAVELOGUE

For those who like silly things, here is the video of the ‘planting’ of the underwater Christmas tree as mentioned the other day, by the Madeira Diving School.

A 200º panoramic view of Ponta de São Lourenço, made up of 8 shots stitched together and then some tone mapping. PHOTO

Six days after being placed in an induced coma after contracting an infection following surgery, Manuel Machado, Nacional da Madeira’s coach, is on the road to recovery as he was brought out of it earlier this week. Doctors at the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital have said the highest risk period has passed and they are optimistic the manager will make a full recovery. Manuel Machado became ill after abdominal surgery in a clinic in Oporto around two weeks ago. After suffering terrible pains for four days, the Nacional da Madeira coach was put in an induced coma for just under a week. On Monday, doctors announced “The highest risk period is over. He has woken up and is in a good mood. Things are evolving in a positive manner and, if things continue as they are, hopefully we can turn off his assisted ventilation next week, keeping him only on medication to control some of the pain he is still feeling.” The cause of the infection is still not know, with the manager’s wife saying he was operated on a hernia, despite several sources claiming it was due to a liposuction. Thanks to PORTUGAL NEWS ONLINE for that story.

One for the diary : 8-11 April 2010 – Men’s golf, European PGA, Madeira Island Open.

Many thanks to Paul in Paul do Mar for the following articles :

The first two are from an article on the Ministry of Economy & Innovation Site: 26 Nov 2009

1. ‘Paul do Mar’. Quote: "The ISA World Surf championships have been hosted on the islands which are better known to be held in areas such as Hawaii. Paul do Mar region of the island is respected throughout the surf community as it offers eight metre high waves and fantastic tubular tunnels."

2. Ponta do Pargo five-star Hotel. Michael Nascimento, the Director of Morgan Forbes is developing a five-star Hotel in the Ponto do Pargo region of the Island. Morgan Forbes, a low risk commissionable broker ship that specialises in asset backed investments, has already been given permission to build a high-end apart-hotel scheme, with off-plan units, available on a share certificate basis, offered for a deposit of as little as £5,750, with a low total investment of just £15,620. These prices will increase on the Monday the 30^th of November 09 with the official Launch of Phase 3, locking in now would be a shrewd move.

Morgan Forbes five-star project could offer the perfect mix, with a forecasted return on investment of 142.7%, taking advantage of the Islands buoyant tourism trade and stable property market. Official Government statistics reported that in 2008 the average occupancy for five-star hotel developments across the island was 91.1% and in some parts as high as 99%.

Following on from the success of the recently constructed Palheiro Golf resort on the island, planning consent has been award for the construction of a new Nick Faldo designed 27-hole golf resort in the Ponta do Pargo Construction of the golf course, which will be built to PGA standards, will commence in just two weeks time.

Dr. Paulo Sousa who is the minister of Madeira has indicated that there are no plans in the near future for any other hotel or apartment projects around the golf course other than the Morgan Forbes project making this a highly attractable investment.

Madeira is also supported by the extension of its airport to allow more flights and larger planes to land on a daily basis. Easy Jet land a minimum of three flights a day and other airlines are extending their routes to cater for the ever growing demand for the island.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Mega Park now not open until Wednesday. Delays in signing the contract meant that the equipment could not begin to be assembled until yesterday, the day when it was advertised to open. It should now open on Wednesday December 16 and on that day, as other Wednesdays, the 14 entertainments will cost 1 euro each.

Public Prosecutor calls for 3 years in prison for Lobo. The Public Prosecutor asked for three years in prison for the former mayor of Ponta do Sol, António Lobo. He called for the acquittal of the four co-defendants, all accused of bribery. António Lobo was accused of serious fraud and bribery but the prosecutor decided the facts fit the crime of malfeasance (2 to 8 years in prison) due to violation of official duties. The defence called for the acquittal of the former mayor because he was tried and convicted of malfeasance in the previous proceedings. In the Constitution and law, no one can be tried and convicted twice for ‘factos contemporaneous’ (non bis in idem). Besides, no prevarication can be associated with António Lobo but with the ‘schoolboy government institution’ that approved the project. In terms of prevarication, 52 of the 271 urban development projects were approved by the Council of Ponta do Sol in 2001 (52 when the PDM was suspended). The prosecutor said the ‘smell of corruption’ came from the fact that the land for the controversial construction of 29 apartments was co-owned by a council valuer familiar to António Lobo. The links political, construction and football complement the ‘odour’. Minimum standards have not been met; the defendants had not entered any initial investment, there was no technical input to the draft amendments and the PDM (public discussion) was suspended at the time of project approval. The Public Prosecutor also asked for the Directorate of Finance to investigate the suspicion of tax evasion by the property promoters by ‘skilled’ accounting. The defence lawyer said that the property had been approved in the average time span so it could not be viewed as favouritism. The verdict will be known on January 8 2010.

GPS mapping of the seabed around the Selvagens. The structure of an extensive area (70 x 70 km) of the seabed around the Ilhas Selvagens is to be mapped via the GPS system. This area is the real link between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo. The contract between the Government and the Navy was signed aboard the Navy’s NRP Almirante Gago Coutinho, berthed on the north quay of the Port of Funchal. The most significant act of the protocol is the placing of a GPS antenna on Salvagem Grande, allowing the territory to be geo-referenced accurately. Using the Navy ship, eight GPS stations will be placed at sea, (5 at Selvagem Grande, 3 at Salvagem Pequena, Madeira and Porto Santo, respectively). The seabed elevations and submerged rocks can then be located, some known from old charts. There have been an accumulation of 888 days at sea for scientific research projects and an area of 1,700,000 square kilometres probed. The Gago Coutinho has a crew of 34 sailors and can accommodate 15 researchers at sea for up to 60 days.

Attempted murder – 10 years in prison. A young man accused of trying to stab his wife to death in Caniço. The Court of Santa Cruz sentenced a 25 year old man, J. M. Santos, to 10 years in prison for attempted homicide (a crime punishable by between 28 months and 16.5 years). On 13 March 2009, he attempted to kill his 22 year old wife by stabbing her, in front of their 5 year old son. They had lived in Caniço for five years. The cause was a bad relationship and the wife intended to divorce him. She suffered more than a dozen cuts and due to the amount of anger the man felt, he kept picking up different knives and it is unknown how many were used or how many times he stabbed her. His intention was, "If you’re not for me, are also not for anyone." The woman’s life was saved only by prompt intervention of a social worker and hospital doctors. The defendant was also ordered to pay the Health Service 10,460 Euros and the Social Security Centre 2,111 Euros for services rendered that night. The defence council may consider an appeal. On the night of the crime, the wife informed her husband that she was leaving with the son to live with her mother and intended to proceed with a divorce. They were in the kitchen at the time and he rejected the separation and refused to allow the wife to leave with the son. She then went to the computer to ask a friend for help when he stabbed her in the back, she began to faint and fell to the floor where he continued to stab her. A neighbour entered the house, faced with a ‘Dantesque scenario’ in the presence of the boy. The assailant was arrested the following morning and taken to Ribeira Brava police station. At the trial, the defendant declared repentance and despite no criminal record, the Court did not believe he was truly sorry but had a possessive personality. Justified by the high probability of guilt and that the crime was so treacherous, especially in the presence of the child, it required a prison sentence. In 2009, there were 26 deaths in Portugal resulting from disputes between men and women, and 42 attempted murders.

Division in PS gives €79 million to Madeira. The PS gave the authorization of a loan in order to postpone the ultimate test of the Regional Finance Law. The PS offered yesterday, contradictorily, the possibility of Madeira having a loan of 79 million Euros to pay debts to suppliers in exchange for the Law of Regional Finances going down to the Committee of Budget and Finance of the Assembly of the Republic without a general vote. With this, the PS managed to avoid the embarrassment of the approval of the Law of Madeira, which yesterday was challenged by the Minister of Finance, with the deciding vote by the socialist deputy, the Madeiran Luis Miguel França. There was a ‘tug-of-war’ between the leader of the socialist parliamentary group, Francisco Assis, and the Madeiran socialist deputy Luis Miguel Franca. Assis did not want to give the vote to a Madeiran and França did not want to abdicate a vote that would differ from the election manifesto of the PS-M. In view of this opposition, the leader of the socialist parliamentary group was forced to give a ‘gift’ to the PSD, to hide the fact that he could not control the dissent which would be difficult to explain to José Sócrates and the general public. The PSD-M Guilherme Silva made a victory speech although he could not have the original 129 million Euros loan the Regional Government needed to pay suppliers. He said this method was a redistribution of resources. The socialists risked this scenario. The proposed Madeiran revision to the Finance Law has 20 days to be scrutinized by the members of the Budget and Finance Committee. One of the issues that Alberto João Jardim is not going to get the green light for is to increase the indebtedness of Madeira as he wanted. CDS-PP, PCP and BE emphasized the injustice of the law and criticized the expenditure of the Regional Government. They did not want to give a blank cheque to Jardim and the communist said the law was against the people of Madeira. The CDS-PP defended the law saying it was necessary to prevent even more imbalances in public finances. The Madeirans dominated this debate and it left them in a strong position. The Finance Minister Texeira dos Santos strongly criticized the revision of the law and noted that Madeira had been authorized to incur debts in 2008 amounting to 256.7 million Euros under the plan Pay on Time and €50 million in 2009. He accused the Regional Government of expenditure and being irresponsible in the management of public accounts. "There are clear signs of indiscipline and lack of control." The Madeiran deputy Hugo Velosa countered saying that the Government of Madeira has less expenditure as a proportion of gross domestic product than on the mainland. Teixeira dos Santos said that, "The Continent has to pay for the folly of the Government of Madeira." The approved €79 million loan will only pay a few suppliers to the Regional Government. The leader of the regional CDS-PP estimates the debt already amounts to 200 million Euros. The figure of €79 million instead of €129 million was because the Regional Government had already taken out a €50 million loan, however this was used for projects co-financed by the EU. The authorization for borrowing €79 million will be discussed on Monday by the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, the eve of the discussion of the Budget for 2010.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Today’s main news headline : Region produces a thousand million tons of CO2 – Energy billing on Madeira already costs €500 million per annum. A value that will climb in 2013 if there is no reduction in current emissions. Also the main front page photo, with a very large and smokey industrial chimney in full action. Theoretically the word ‘billion’ in continental Portuguese means a million million, but for English speakers, a billion tons of carbon dioxide gas are created on Madeira (yearly?), the main culprits being transport, waste management, and electricity production. Their emission licences are going to cost more than €20 million. Madeira has 3 years in which to reduce it’s dependence on fossil fuels. For the sake of the environment and public accounts, as from 2013 the permits to emit CO2 will be paid in full by the companies that produce electricity, while the industrial units will have to pay a third of their value. Electricity production (59%) and the 130,000 vehicles that are active on the streets (35.4%) are by far the greatest polluters, with garbage treatment responsible for 5%. The average emission per inhabitant of the island is 4,337 kilograms. If Madeira is obliged to pay the carbon emission licences, they would add up to €25.8 million per annum. A long and interesting article on the cause and effects of CO2 emissions, and the bottom line is that domestic consumers will have to pay pollution taxes somewhere along the line. Personally, I find the figures staggering and unbelievable, and reckon that an extra zero at least has crept into the figures.

Funchal council requires €250,000 – Marítimo has to pay €250,000 to CMF to obtain the license for the works in Barreiros. The redevelopment of the stadium in Funchal is currently stuck on account of this issue. The club has also reacted to a statement made by one Funchal counsellor (PND – New democrats) claiming that there are possible illegalities in the construction of the new stadium. Marítimo have denied the accusations, saying that all the development works meet current legislation and the requirements of the licences issued, and it has nothing to fear. However the Diário was able to confirm that the club does not in fact have in its possession the required construction license, because it is in dispute with Funchal council on the matter. The club refused to pay the amount asked, claiming that the sum of €600,000 was exorbitant, and that other sporting clubs were exempt from such charges. Last week at a council meeting the sum was reduced to €250,000, and that amount has not yet been paid, and so the redevelopment work is as such still unlicensed. The matter could be resolved tomorrow if Marítimo agree to the new lower charge. The PND counsellor claims that the club are also doing works that are not included on the licence(s) in question. Of course Marítimo hold the trump card in the situation … their number one fan ‘Uncle Bertie’, and no doubt with the current president of Funchal council being a key contender to Uncle Bertie’s throne in 2011 … well, anything is possible. Marítimo football club at one time may have been a sports club of the people, but these days it is first and foremost a business … a very fortunate business that has been given a prime land stadium that belonged to the people of Madeira, and €45 million of taxpayers money to develop it. Yet it complains about paying a relatively small fee for a redevelopment licence, and continues with the work regardless. Disgraceful attitude and behaviour!

Water more expensive – New tax law dictates the size of price increases in monthly bills. The ‘Law of taxes’ requires a revision of taxes applied on water supply, waste water, rubbish, and markets / fair permits. Until now the councils (câmaras) of Madeira haven’t yet increased prices charged in their areas, but the new law means they will have to update them in the short term. The reason there have been no increases so far is down to uncertainty surrounding the subject, as the law was adopted in 2006 but has faced repeated delays, and the lack of price increases was not to protect household economies. Water prices for one will rise in 2010, but even though the law is effective on 1st January, the effects are unlikely to be felt until mid-year. There will also be reductions for some, where they are found to paying over the correct rates.

Refuse collection in Funchal stops between 25th and 27th of December. Nice Xmas party for the rats then!

Government treats the PSP police badly – The Regional Command is the only one in the country without access to the funds from the fines ; Council helps the police in Ponta do Sol.

30% less – Not even the traditional Christmas dinners allow restaurants to recover in a year of crisis.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link Thank you in anticipation.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

Please send any topical or Madeira related photos or videos to blog@madeira4u.com to appear on this blog. Photos may take a while to appear, depending on the number waiting. Please don’t send copyrighted material.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Christmas events ; Airport help for disabled passengers ; Extortion attempt thwarted

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Elaine of the West … Oleander

Have a great weekend, and be cheered by the forecast that tomorrow the weather will be better (already is here).

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Christmas events opening today, Friday. Mega Park opens under the runway at the airport in Água de Pena, until January 17. Circus Brazil opens today until 10 January, located near the stadium of UD Machico. Expo Christmas starts in Santana. Until December 18, in the lobby of the Câmara Municipal de Santana. At 19.30 today in Funchal, the official opening of the decorations and entertainment, including an ethnographic village and a nativity scene.

CMF budget – less for social housing and more to the Parish Councils. Funchal Council discussed the budget and Plan of Activities for 2010. They will continue the policy of investment in sanitation and the environment, more efficient management of the ports, money for renovation of social housing but finance only for buildings already built, and extra support for the Parish Councils. The Parish Councils will receive an extra 6.7%, nearly 1.6 million, when the State increases revenue by 2% but this is only in theory so far, not guaranteed. The Council believe this is one of the best budgets, particularly in the social area which receives 46% of the investment, a 6% reduction in current expenditure (€5 million) and a reduction in bank debt in 2010 by nine million. "It contemplates a reduction in revenue and in view of this, a decrease in the amount we have for expenditure." The budget drops from 114 million to 108 million Euros, a realistic loss of 6 million Euros. The Socialist Party voted against the budget and the investment plan as they do not respond to the actual crisis the Funchalenses feel. The CDS-PP (Christian Democrats) abstained as although it is a realistic budget, it does not address the Council’s social responsibilities, especially the high unemployment levels in Funchal. The PND (New Democrats) voted against both times as they said it is a fairy tale budget with unrealistic direct tax revenue expectations. The CDU (Communists) also voted against as they thought the parishes should receive a larger share.

Ambilift now available at the airport. The new system helps air passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility and came into use last Wednesday. Consisting of a mobile lifting device for loading and unloading wheelchairs, with or without occupants. It cost 160,000 Euros and is being deployed in all EU airports if they have an annual turnover exceeding 150,000 passengers. It is a requirement of a 2006 EU law on the rights of people with disabilities and with reduced mobility, and air transport. There must also be fully qualified staff at the airport to help people with such disabilities. The equipment was purchased last month but has only become operational this month due to staff training on safe usage. To fund it, the airport is adding a charge of 0.61 Euros to passenger tax.

Man arrested for attempted extortion. A man was arrested in Funchal while trying to extort money for the return of stolen goods from a car. The goods were stolen earlier this month from a car parked in the street. After being contacted by the suspect, aiming to exchange some of the stolen goods (gold objects and two mobile phones), the victim contacted the police who posted two patrol men at the meeting place for the delivery of goods in exchange for an unspecified amount of money. The arrest of the suspect was successful and allowed the recovery of the gold objects which were in his possession. The police managed to unravel the fate of the two mobile phones. A Guinean was charged with receiving stolen goods and another of the same nationality was identified for purchasing the mobile phones. They are now also under investigation by the SEF (Immigration Authorities).

Kissing the ‘Menino’ under the discretion of each individual. The continuity of some Christmas religious traditions may be compromised by influenza A. Placing kisses on the Child Jesus has been discouraged by some parishes of the continent. In the Region, Father Marcos Goncalves, head of the Information Office of the Diocese of Funchal, says the way to fulfil the tradition of greeting the Menino should be left to each person. "The tradition will continue to happen with a kiss, a gesture, a nod, in view of the traditions of each place and site and the desire of the faithful." It is important that the Church takes its role as a public health informant but, "We cannot fall into alarmism and exaggeration for only some gestures and traditions." "Every day we greet, kiss and touch everything and everyone, and just remember prevention in relation to the Church and its traditions." In some parishes in Portugal, the advice is not to kiss the foot or forehead of the Baby Jesus, to prevent the spread of influenza A. Priests think the tradition will not be lost because some people will still carry it out. The tradition of blessing the Child Jesus occurs tomorrow at 17.00 Mass and Sunday Mass in the Igreja do Colegio. The images taken by the faithful will be blessed in a celebration of joy and preparing for Christmas.

Chocolate Festival promises to surprise. The Chocolate Island festival will be held this weekend at the Congress Centre. The organization say that, "Whoever is used to consume chocolate mainly in sweets and tablet form will be surprised by the wide variety of applications that the leaders at this festival of chocolate will present." "The preparation of meat, soups, beverages and delicious desserts, these professionals will, above all, show the different uses that can give chocolate delicious and original applications." In the festival, visitors can take away recipes and the best products. Children, as they appreciate the product more, have their own area called Hands On. Groups of children from the ages of 5 to 12 years, up to maximum of 15 per session, can be helped to prepare lunch, including of course, much chocolate! Charge is 5 Euros. Chocolate sculptures on display will be another visitor attraction. The organizers have challenged individuals and companies to purchase the sculptures and 50% of proceeds will go to the Gil Foundation to support the creation of the Casa do Gil in Madeira. The minimum value of each sculpture is 300 Euros. Entry to the festival costs 2.5 Euros and children up to 12, accompanied by an adult, have free entry.

Special Operation Crime Prevention in Nogueira. Police surrounded the area and within a few hours had made several arrests and seized narcotics and prohibited weapons, including a dagger. About 40 police from the Machico Division made a ‘sudden’ approach with the support of the BIR as a preventive measure in case of turmoil within the district. The local population are divided as to whether they welcomed such an operation. This housing area in Camacha was targeted by the operation because of social unrest, insecurity and deviant behaviour due to drug consumption and trafficking. Cars on the main road connecting to the centre of Camacha were also stopped and drivers investigated.

Concession expired a year ago for Penteada Market. After the fire, the market traders are housed in military tents. They are now worried about new competition for the concession to allow them to continue trading. The former concession, for 20 years, expired in 2008 and Funchal Council have not issued a new one. There are 29 spaces in the market and each lease is individually considered. The Council have decided to waver payment of three months rent for vendors of fruit, vegetables and flowers and a month to dealers using shops which were not affected by the smoke. The Council is insured against third party liability and the fire has been reported to the insurer. It is now up to the insurance firms to assess the claims and it could take months or years for traders to receive any insurance money.

New Year in the Wine Institute inspired by Hollywood. Hollywood and Wine Movies is an event planned by the Institute of Wine, Embroidery and Handicrafts for the night December 31 to January 1. This is a themed party with all the ambiance, charm and glamour that Hollywood cinema evokes. There will be a red carpet at the entrance to IVBAM and around it an area created for the media, recreating an atmosphere of a premiere. Inside, the area will be divided into three distinct areas with different musical approaches and decorations, to accommodate a wide range of attenders. The areas Noir, Hollywood Disco and Icon are inspired by three different decades of movie history and will show excerpts of films from the selected times. The Hollywood Disco area will be the largest, with pop and rock music and the decor inspired by Studio 54 will include projection of images from Saturday Night Fever and Grease and others. The Icon area will have electronic music and house and deep house chill-out music. The area is formed for dancing and socializing with a rest area. The base colour for the decoration is white and images of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and James Bond and other icons will be shown. The Film Noir area will be a relaxation zone, dressed in black and white with a chill-out sound and images of the time. Doors open at 1 am and tickets cost 20 Euros.

Madeira now has a mosque. From Monday, the mosque will be open in Santo Amaro in Funchal. Facilities were provided by the Regional Government and the cost of the renovation work borne by the Islamic community.

Council will build community centres. The first two will be in Fajã da Ovelha and Paul do Mar and will be built next year. Others will be built in Arco da Calheta, Calheta, Florencas and Cova do Arco. At Jardim do Mar, the Quinta da Piedade will be renovated to function as a day care centre.

Parliament approves €79 million loan for Madeira. The revision of the Regional Finance Law will not be voted on today, (€129 million loan was to be part of this amendment), in exchange for the loan being allowed in the State budget. This was to avoid embarrassment of the social democrats and socialists, the only parties voting for / against the law, all other parties abstaining, and there would be a ‘close call’ whether or not the law would be passed. The PSD-M provided this solution for fear of the law not being approved therefore Madeira not being allowed a loan. The Parliament in Lisbon voted to amend the State budget for 2009 to allow Madeira to borrow up to 79 million Euros, but not the 129 million Euros initially wanted. Jamie Filipe Ramos (PSD-M), the chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for the Single Economy, Finance and Tourism is pleased with this result, "79 is better than zero." The proposal of the PSD was approved with the votes of the Social Democrats and the CDS-PP member elected by Madeira. The PS, CDS-PP, BE, PCP and PEV abstained. — I presume the State transfer of 111 million Euros for loss from the Cohesion Fund will not occur?

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Madeira only manages loan approval for €79 million – França was going to abstain if the LFR were voting. In order to avoid divides, the PS socialists postpone the final decision and concede on the loan.

Water and garbage swamp the Câmaras – Arlindo Gomes condemns the costs as intolerable. The president of Câmara do Lobos says that rubbish, water supply and waste water management are swallowing up 25% of the councils receipts. The problem is due to the delay in setting up and getting operational the new company (Sistema Integrado de Gestão de Águas, Resíduos e Saneamento) that takes on the management of all these services from 10 of the regions of Portugal (Funchal is excluded for now). Gomes says that the situation is leaving the council on ‘the edge of a nervous attack’.

Today’s main news headline : State obliges aquarium to return money – ‘Tourism of Portugal’ requires the municipal company that manages the aquarium of Porto Moniz to hand back the €1.1 million. Everything due to the lack of documentation required for justification of the co-financing of the project. The notification was received by the outgoing president, but the new president of Porto Moniz and the aquarium administrator are avoiding commenting on the matter. It is one more ‘bomb’ to fall on the aquarium of Porto Moniz. The bomb was dropped by the organisation that manages the funding from Europe, Tourism of Portugal, that the aquarium that opened in September 2005, has to return the money provided. The setback is all due to the fact that the correct justification paperwork was not raised and submitted for the joint financing provided to carry out the work. With this news combined with the financial problems in running the aquarium, the ´black hole’ created is now approaching €5 million. The management of the project had until the end of 2008 to submit what was required, but the instruction was ignored. It was then given a second chance to comply by June 2009, but again failed to comply. The money has to be returned within 60 days. It seems unlikely that the aquarium will now survive this latest blow, and nor should the person(s) responsible for such a blunder. I can’t even begin to imagine how a small region like Porto Moniz could find €1.1 million out of it’s budgets, and the impacts it will have on public services and projects, although the normal route for any PSD politician is to borrow money to make the problem go away. Porto Moniz had one or two surprises for the social democrats in the last elections, and one wonders if this news had broken earlier whether it could have been worse. Silly idea building an aquarium in Porto Moniz when there is no real tourism infrastructure there anyway. It can only rely on the tourists that visit there anyway, as nobody is going to travel that far especially to see a fairly small attraction when there is not much else there, especially out of season.

‘Quarrel’ on the the beach of Socorridos – The extraction gives rise to doubts, but the Metropolitana Society guarantees that it is removing materials that it deposited there in order to make the public walkway. Quercus disagrees with the action. The development company ‘Sociedade Metropolitana de Desenvolvimento’ (SMD) is raiding the beach to obtain building materials (rocks), in front of the cement plant at the beach of Socorridos. SMD is already awaiting a court appearance after Funchal council took an action for dumping by the company in the same area. On Thursday afternoon a Diário reporter watched 3 lorry loads of rocks leaving the beach, all belonging to SMD, and loaded by an excavator situated on the beach. Enquiries thereafter with the relevant authorities revealed that there was no illegal activity, despite it being against the law to remove materials from the beaches, and so nothing will be done to stop the action. The environmental organisation ‘Quercus’ however is not convinced that all is in order, and that more is being taken away that was ever put there. The result he thinks will be more of the beach being washed away when the sea gets rough, and the water turning brown.

In today’s football headline : Nacional fail in duel with Paços de Ferreira. Our lads lost away 2 –1 last night against a team that had failed to win a single home game so far this season.

Many thanks to Elaine (West) for providing this translation from today’s Diário :

Judgement on book by Gonçalo Amaral postponed till January Kate and Gerry McCann were present at the start of the session. The trial of proceedings between Mr and Mrs McCann and the former Inspector of Judicial Police, Gonçalo Amaral, was postponed to January because the lawyer of the former inspector was unable to attend today due to illness. The trial of the injunction on the prohibition of the sale of Gonçalo Amaral‘s book "Maddie – The Truth about the Lies" should have started today.

After receiving the document from the lawyer Antonio Cabrita communicating his absence, the judge in the case ordered the sessions of the trial to be held on 12, 13 and 14 January in the Civil Court of Lisbon, in the Palace of Justice. Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing British child who disappeared in 2007 in the Algarve, and Gonçalo Amaral had been present earlier in the session, although they were not obliged to do so because it is a civil action.

Also present was one of the six witnesses listed by Gonçalo Amaral, the PJ inspector Tavares de Almeida. The remaining five witnesses, including Moita Flores, Luis Neves and Guilhermino Incarnation, did not respond to the call.

Before entering the court, Gonçalo Amaral told reporters that "Portugal is a country with freedom of expression. I cannot be prosecuted for writing a book. There were other people who wrote other books," he stressed, adding that he expects the collaboration of researchers who are his witnesses in the case. Around ten members of the Gonçalo Amaral Justice Project wearing t-shirts which read "Freedom of Expression" are distributing symbolic red carnations. The parents of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared on 03 May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Algarve, argue that the book and video marketed after a documentary broadcast on TVI promote the theory of Gonçalo Amaral, which they consider unsustainable, that they were involved in the disappearance of their daughter. Therefore, in an application filed by attorney Elizabeth Duarte, the British couple asked the court to withdraw from the market, albeit provisionally, both book and video, and this was carried out on 9 September. There is also another action against Gonçalo Amaral, accusing him of claims deemed defamatory, in which the British couple seeks damages of at least 1.2 million Euros. The book "Maddie – The Truth about the Lies" was published in 2008 and cast suspicion on the parents having participated in the concealment of the child’s body. As coordinator of the Criminal Investigation Department of the PJ of Portimão, Gonçalo Amaral joined the team of researchers trying to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann.

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link Thank you.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Regional Finance Law in the balance ; Underwater Xmas tree ; SWAT on Madeira

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Derek … Monte Palace

This weekends football : Nacional visit Paços de Ferreira tonight. 8.15 pm on SportTV1. Marítimo host Rio Ave on Sunday. 4 pm, but not televised.

Parliament: Law regulating financing of autonomous regions under national scrutiny. The Azorean Parliament’s Economy Committee is studying the legislation that regulates the financing of the autonomous regions to determine whether the new proposal put forward by Madeira may cause the Azorean archipelago to lose the positive discrimination it currently enjoys. Madeira president Alberto João Jardim never accepted the changes to the calculations of State revenues apportioned to the Autonomous Regions, despite those being passed by the Assembly of the Republic in 2007. Until these changes were made, Madeira had always received more money than the Azores, a situation that Prime Minister José Sócrates rectified in order to redress uneven development in the nine island of the Azores. Now that the PS has lost its absolute majority at national level, the Madeira PSD brought out an old proposal which could restore the pre-2007 legislation setting out financing for the autonomous regions. MORE ON RTP AZORES

The new Regional Finance Law is due to be voted on in Lisbon tomorrow, and it is going to be very tight, with the governing socialists voting against, the social democrats voting for, and various smaller parties sitting on the fence because of the situation in the Azores. It may even be a 97 – 97 tie.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterdays top news stories :

A classic in port. The Port of Funchal hosts since the beginning of yesterday afternoon, one of the most emblematic mega yachts ever on a routine visit and allowing medical treatment of a member of the crew. The Talitha G sailed from Gibraltar and is bound for Antigua. It will moor until 12.00 on Friday. The mega yacht was built in 1927 and named Reveler until 1937 when it was renamed Chalen. It served with the USA Navy during the second world war under the title USS Beaumont. After the war, the boat was privately owned and renamed Elpetal and was a favourite of Winston Churchill. In 1983, due to a change of owner, it became the Zezebel. There was a serious breakdown in the main engine during a crossing from the USA to Europe in 1993 and it had to be towed to Lisbon where it was repaired and refurbished and renamed the Talitha G. It has a crew of 18 and can host up to 20 people.

Santa Cruz will have a ‘low-cost’ petrol station. A new petrol filling station will open at Tendeira in Caniço next year. It will be the third low-cost station in the country and the first in the region. The group of companies (AECCP) who run these stations want to try to combat rising fuel prices. The station is placed in Santa Cruz as "The county offers strategic conditions so they can offer Madeiran businessmen fuel at a lower price than they currently have." The proposals will only benefit members of ACIF (Association of Commerce and Industry) who must be associated with AECCP whose membership costs ten Euros. The Mayor of Santa Cruz is pleased with this project as the Council is a strategic partner and will benefit from more competitive prices.

Wild globalization responsible for crisis. Conference at Machico yesterday, The Wild Invasion of the Commercial Area of Madeira by Trade of the ‘Rising Sun’. The President of the Union of Businessmen of Small and Medium Businesses in Portugal, Pedro Fernandes, made the accusation that globalization and public policy makers are responsible for the current global crisis. These two are responsible for widespread unemployment, the debt of the country, ruin and poverty, family imbalances, social exclusion, desertification and imbalance of public accounts. He discussed the unfair competition of the Chinese market and the impact it may have on Machico. The conference was attended by some of the top businessmen who have invested in the city, including Jorge de Sã. The speaker had been a textile firm manager for 50 years and said his factory closed due to lack of government support. Machico does not require the installation of a large area of Asian trade and the opening of the Chinese store will ruin traditional trade. The Chinese stores are exempt from taxes for 5 years.

Arrested alleged drug dealer was attempting to escape justice. A 20 year old man was arrested on Monday at the airport while attempting to fly to England. He was trying to escape the Autonomous Region and Portuguese Justice. He was involved in several cases under investigation relating to seizures of hashish this year, amounting to 7,000 doses. That was why the police were at the airport to prevent him leaving. He is now on remand in prison.

Police seize more than 1 kg of heroin. 900 grams or enough for 10.500 doses if left unprepared, was seized last weekend in Livramento in Funchal. A 35 year old man from Guinea-Bissau was arrested. The police action was after over two months of investigative work which had led to two other arrests for drug trafficking. These two were also of Guinean nationality and had in their possession 2,100 doses of heroin. The third man was a cousin of the first two arrested and the heroin was found in the carcass of a television set in the house which the other two had previously rented. He initially argued that the television did not belong to him but was eventually charged. The drug has a high state of purity and the number of doses could be increased by cutting and processing to increase profits but make it less harmful to the consumer. The police think the heroin was destined for consumption over the holiday season at several locations in Madeira.

Pinheiro adorns the sea. Since last Saturday, the divers near the Hotel Pestana Palms have been surprised by an underwater Christmas tree. The new initiative came from the Madeira Diving School, ‘Tubarão Madeira Mergulho’. The manager said, "Funchal is already decorated and we wanted to do something fun for all customers when they come to dive." They placed the tree on the sea bed then decorated it, not a long or difficult operation because the tree was already prepared and the Christmas balls filled with water so they do not drift off. To secure the tree, they took a wooden ladder down and braced the tree until the decorating was finished. In the past few days, the tree has remained unaltered and until the fish became accustomed to the decoration, they tried to eat the balls. They will keep the tree on the sea bed until the New Year and if still in good condition, it will be put back in the same site next year. —- Plenty of photos and a video on Diário site. (The type of story I love to read).

SWAT training in Madeira. Eight elements of the Marine Police Force, 4 from the Azores and 4 from Madeira, are this week attending a Special Weapons and Tactics training course. Yesterday’s training at Caniçal was successful; they approached a suspected vessel at speed to test entry into the vessel, the control of suspects, searching and seizure of materials. The course also involves weapons training, situations and risk assessment and decision making. The Marine Police are responsible for maritime safety, preservation of the marine eco-system and the fight against crime at sea, especially trafficking.

PS unhappy about ‘fantasy’ budget figures. The Socialist Party have criticized the budget planned for 2010. The budget is unrealistic with inflated revenues and excess indebtedness, direct and indirect. They say 40% of the budget revenue comes from unproven sources and only 60% can be accounted for, leading to more debt. Their figures indicate 1,200 million Euros of direct debt and 1,500 million Euros of indirect debt (not the stated 1,100 million) and with other debt, the total will reach 5,000 million Euros which exceeds the GDP of 4,700 million Euros, (125% GDP). It is difficult to see how Madeira can pay these debts without jeopardizing quality of life. —- There is at present political panic in Madeira over the vote on the budget amendment to the Law of Regional Finances in Lisbon tomorrow, which will allow a 129 million loan needed to pay suppliers. If only the PSD and PCP vote in favour, the PS vote against and the CDS-PP and BE refrain, there will be a tie with 97 against and 97 in favour.

Christmas news. From today until January 6 in the streets of Funchal, there will be 8 people dressed as Santa Claus selling balloons and 8 food / drink vendors. Between 14 – 24 December, 3 toy sellers and 15 vendors of seasonal foliage. Christmas Market opened yesterday at the Regional Directorate of Youth, Rua 31 de Janeiro in Funchal. 15 youth associations have combined forces and there will be on sale until December 11, cribs, liqueurs, bolos de mel, handicrafts and embroidery. An exhibition of ‘ecological cribs’ opened today in the lobby of Funchal Town Hall and will be there until 7 January. The cribs are made from recyclable materials by members of 26 institutions, from schools to community centres and homes. SATA announced today that it will increase flights from Madeira between December 29 – January 4. More than 28 flights corresponding to over 5,300 seats. TAP has already announced an increase in flights to Lisbon (96 flights, 14,248 seats) and 54 flights between Madeira and Porto (7,318 seats). SATA will operate another 120 flights (10,500 seats) to the Azores. TAP increases flights to the island of Horta, Pico and Terceira.

Radical Laurissilva plan. The Municipality of Porto Moniz is to promote the Laurissilva in relation to tourism. To promote walking activities, tourist paths will be recovered and signposted. Areas for canyoning, paragliding and surfing, waterfalls, ponds, viewpoints and levadas will be indicated on a comprehensive route map.

Casa d’Avo Beatriz. Jardim inaugurated the new unit for Rural Tourism in Gaula yesterday. The Casa d’Avo Beatriz resulted from an investment by one of Beatriz’s grandchildren, António Rodrigues, with additional funding. The house has seven double rooms and will open on January 1 2010. It is a traditional country house adapted for tourism, including a swimming pool, while keeping the original features. The house is situated in Rua D. Felicidade, no 12, in Achada de Gaula de Cima.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

PSD social democrats try to avoid two failures in São Bento – Luís Miguel França could be decisive in the approving of the Regional Finances Law. The negotiations continue today itself. The story has already been covered in part above, and no doubt later today we will know how the voting went.

Today’s main news headline : Bad debt triples – The debts to the banks grew in the last year. On Madeira they already represent €180 million and confirm that individuals and companies are living in stressful situations. They are the more prominent numbers during the crisis. In September the bad debt situation hit the highest level on Madeira in recent years, hitting 3.7%. A year ago the percentage of bad debt was 1.25%. The disturbing figure remains below the figure nationally of 4.4%, but in the last two quarters alone the figures have galloped on by 0.9 and 0.8%. According to statistics from the Bank of Portugal, loans granted on Madeira amounted to €8.06 billion, but applications are slowing. That final figure seems to be just for company and individual loans, but it is not made absolutely clear that regional and local government borrowings are excluded.

The main photo on today’s front page shows children and teachers looking through a high fence at a sports court : It has been ready four years but was never used – A disagreement between the Madeira government and Metropolitana impeded the use of the enclosed court in Porto da Cruz. The children in the adjoining schools (pre-school and basic) were never given the all-clear to use the sports facility built by the Sociedade Metropolitana de Desenvolvimento (SMD), and in fact no one has ever used it. The SMD says that it is now trying to negotiate with the Secretary for Education to change that, so the school children can use it, and it can stop being a ‘deposit’ for various types of rubbish. A spokesman for SMD wouldn’t go into reasons for the long delay, but no doubt someone somewhere will add this to the long and growing list of Uncle Bertie’s ‘white elephants’.

‘Market Night’ expanded into more streets - Requirements to accommodate street sellers soar. The base area for ‘Night Market’ in Funchal will be extended this year. The news was announced by counsellor, Rubina Leal, who justified the council decision with the growing number of applications for trading spaces on the night of 23rd December. Details are not all available yet, but as well as the usual streets and locations (the area surrounding the farmers’ market, and also Rua Dr. Fernão de Ornelas, Rua de Oudinot and Anadia, Pelourinho, Praça da Autonomy, Rua D. Carlos I, etc.) the area around the EEM / Electricity Museum will also be utilised. Discussions also have to be completed with the emergency services to ensure the safety of the expanded event.

In the market of Penteada there are licenses that expired a year ago. The council decides to exempt payment of rent for three months.

Cinema inspires ”New Year ‘ in the IVM.

Platini wants more referees on the pitch – The president of UEFA football dined in the Quinta Vigia. Platini’s comments come prompted by the famous handball that saw his nation France qualify for the world Cup at the expense of Ireland. Platini says he was embarrassed by the referee, who didn’t see the deliberate handball by the French attacker Thierry Henry. "I am doing my best to put more eyes to assess the game", he said, referring to some new measures of UEFA, like the placing of more officials to improve the work of the refereeing team. There will be more refs than players soon! I used to cope years ago with just one referee on the pitch, no linesmen, and the honesty of the players. No doubt Uncle Bertie was giving football’s top man some advice on how the game should be run, from his immense experience as Marítimo’s number one fan and benefactor (with taxpayers money of course). No doubt we will be hearing soon that Marítimo have qualified automatically for next year’s Champions League, but that will be after Platini will have been spotted leaving at Madeira airport, with several crates of Madeira Wine and boxes of bolo de mel … just gifts of course

If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link . On a wet and windy day like today, surely someone has some time on their hands?

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Wheelchair fund hits €2,200 ; Cruise ships bring €46 million ; Shopping Centre finalists

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Debs … Pet garden butterfly, he’s getting a little old now hence the holes in his starboard wing – must have been in a dog fight!

From the Norwich Evening News : More holidaymakers can fly to Madeira from Norwich International Airport next year with Atlantic Holidays offering six direct flights from the airport on Mondays from July 26 to August 30.

Fátima arrived in Ribeira Brava last night with a huge entourage of cars and motorbikes, all honking their horns, as well as a police escort. The convey must have taken 10 minutes to pass my house. The statue is supposed to be going around the churches over several months, but checking back on earlier blogs it should have already been and gone from Ribeira Brava, so perhaps it was just ‘passing through’. UPDATE: Apparently it was on the way from the high zones of Ribeira Brava bound for Serra da Água, where it will leave again today for the Igreja de São Bento in Ribeira Brava, where it will stay until Sunday.

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Solidarity campaign has collected 2.200 Euros. The campaign to raise funds to donate an electric wheelchair to Ilda Maria Andrade has brought together around 2,200 Euros. The appeal began with a reader’s letter in the Diário and donations exceeded 700 Euros. This week this has more than doubled with a businessman linked to the company Modas Jacinto’s contributing 1,500 Euros. Even so, funds raised are still less than half the amount needed to purchase the equipment, estimated at 5,959 Euros plus VAT. The 59 year old meningitis and osteoporosis sufferer also needs a ramp built to access her home, and Ribeira Brava Council is studying the possibility of providing one, estimated at 25,000 Euros.

Parishes adhere to the banners of baby Jesus. All over Portugal and Madeira this Christmas you will be able to see on balconies and in windows, cloth banners with the image of baby Jesus. In order to bring the true traditional spirit of a Christian Christmas, in which the symbol is baby Jesus, several parishes across the region – Nazaré, Monte and Câmara de Lobos for example - will sell such banners. From next week, they will be on sale for 15 Euros and the profits will provide baskets for needy families, support for the homeless and payment for works of the parish. The project ‘Flags for Christmas 2009′ was created on the continent by a group of families who wanted to share the joy of Christmas with others but noticed a void of Christian symbols in the decorations for Christmas. On the mainland there are about 20,000 banners and the object is to reach 30,000.

Integration of toxicodependents and police on the football field at Andorinha. The football match ended 8 – 4 in favour of the police. Social integration and promotion of healthy lifestyles mattered more than the result. A group of young people, mainly recovering drug addicts, Rua do Bairro de Santo Amaro Team, and the local police involved in the program Policing in Proximity were playing. The trophy won by the police was offered as a gesture of ‘fair play’ to the losing team and a joint lunch followed.

€46 million revenue from cruise ships. The Port of Funchal has higher taxes than the Canary Islands, justified by the fact that passengers and companies are pleased with the destination. The higher taxes are necessary to maintain the quality of the port. The new passenger terminal should improve tourist satisfaction. This year, six ships could not moor due to lack of space. The answer might be an extension of the south jetty or north pier. In comparison, the hotel business generates more than €300 million per year.

Two shopping centres among Europe’s finalists. Forum Madeira and MadeiraShopping are among the finalists for ESCA 2009 award. The International Committee of Shopping Centres announced the finalists last week and the winners will be known on 18 June 2010 in Vienna. MadeiraShopping is nominated in the category ‘Public Relations’ for the fashion event ‘Pop-Up’, together with ArrabidaShopping, CascaisShopping and two Spanish centres. Forum Madeira is nominated in two categories. In ‘Community Relations’ it is nominated along with 10 other centres of the same chain, for the project ‘Will’s Book – The Magic Library’ and the project ‘RecyclART’. In the category ‘Sales, Promotions and Events’ for the project ‘Christmas Competition’. MadeiraShopping has already won European Awards 2002 in the category ‘New Shopping Centres’ and Madeira Forum won in the category ‘Christmas Present’ in 2008.

‘Miguel Angelo’. Enigmatic work in Gaula. An enigmatic work in Gaula has led to fears that public funds have been misapplied. The project which was completed in record time (5 days) was the elongation of Rua de São João Castelejo by a little more than one kilometre. According to the Regional Secretary of Social Infrastructure, the work was to repair deficiencies that occurred in the construction of the fast route Funchal -Airport. But reports and photos show that when the contractor Construtura do Tamega tore up the tarmac to lay infrastructure, there have been left 5 cm longitudinal tears in the asphalt. Strangely, company officials and the population say that nothing had been placed underneath the tarmac, no infrastructure laid, just the trench opened and then closed. The members of the Parish Council of Gaula say they do not know anything about the work. They are puzzled why the road was subject to total resurfacing when the tarmac was in good condition and there are worse roads needing repair in the area. Both Tamega and the Regional Secretary say that the repair of defects in the construction work was written in the contract and the firm paid for the repair work. They both explain that the opening of the trench was to repair a longitudinal fissure that had occurred in the road surface.

Support for travel benefits half of the residents. Since the social mobility allowance was introduced by the State, 49.3% less trips (104,000 passages) made by residents have been claimed after liberalization of air routes. Before liberalization of the air traffic, companies charged the State a fee of 118 Euros for 232,000 tickets sold to Lisbon and Porto. After liberalization, resident’s support is 60 Euros each trip or 30 Euros each way. Compared to trips made before liberalization, the State support to passengers fell 49.3%. So the State wins in two ways; the amount of support and the amount spent. The cost of air fare to and from Lisbon has fallen but it is not clear why the number of Madeirans claiming social mobility support has halved. Before liberalization, 22.9% of passengers were entitled to subsidy and since then, it has fallen to 11.4%. Some claims are outside the time limit and the Post Office still has 125 cases unresolved. The movement at the airports fell by 2.6% at Porto and 4.4% at Madeira, and has increased 18.5% at Lisbon. Before liberalization, the State spent 23 million Euros on support, an average of 103 Euros although the companies were entitled to receive 118 Euros per resident. This year, the full year of liberalization, the State spent only 7.5 million Euros for 117,513 tickets sold, ie a saving of 15.5 million Euros. The Government now wants an allowance equivalent to half the value of the ticket, which would be 73 Euros (13 Euros more than the current 60 Euros).

Driver without a licence and insurance arrested twice in a few hours. A 26 year old man was arrested twice on Friday and Saturday for driving without a licence and without insurance. He was arrested on Friday evening in Funchal and again, hours later, in the early hours of Saturday in Santa Cruz. The second time, he was arrested for these two offences and also for driving a seized vehicle and driving under the influence of alcohol (1.5 g/l). He went to Santa Cruz to "forget his grief". The police stopped him after his car broke down and he made a dangerous manoeuvre in the opposite direction to which he was travelling, between Santa Cruz and Funchal.

Today’s news headlines from the front page of the Diário de Notícias :

Madeira hosts Christmas party of UEFA – Platini avoids touching on controversial matters. Besides the meeting of the top European Football executive committee, Madeira is to be the venue for the annual UEFA Xmas bash. The party will be tomorrow night in Reid’s Palace Hotel, the same hotel where all the committee members are staying. Some of the members of the reunion are known to be staying on after ‘official business’ to enjoy the delights of Madeira. UEFA boss Michel Platini had already made enquiries. "He asked me if there is good weather. It is very satisfying to finally have an Executive Committee scheduled for Madeira, which was not easy, because other countries had already been asking (to host?) for much longer than Portugal. There is curiosity to know Madeira and I hope the good weather continues", said the president of the Portuguese Football Federation. the main items on the agenda include the Euro 2012, where some important final decisions will be made about the stadiums to be used, and some issues related to regulations, and some discussions about the internal organisation of UEFA itself. I knew it, and said some weeks ago that it was a Christmas jolly in disguise. Life is tough for football’s top bosses, and an expensive bash in Reid’s is probably just the remedy (warning : Der sarcasm in use).

New president of U.D. Santana criticises previous management.

Today’s main news headline : Government delays payments – There are 55 cases of ‘burden sharing’ on Madeira and works have already been inaugurated that will only be paid in 2011. It’s not an uncommon practice when the treasury is stretched, with public and private institutions sharing the financial burden, with their due payments delayed until better times. The list of 55 such cases has already been decided. The ‘Construction of the connection tunnel to the central and northern parts of the town of Ribeira Brava’ is the first example given of the postponement of payments. The work was finished and inaugurated long ago, but last October, by order of Ventura Garcês the payment terms were amended from those that provided for payment of the work in three years (€205,000 in 2006, €1.9 million in 2007 and €1.9 in 2008). The first two years were paid, but in the final one nothing was paid, and just €500,000 this year. The final €1.4 million will be delayed until next year. It’s no wonder public works contracts are so darn expensive, with companies involved in the tender processes having to factor in the costs of vastly delayed payments, as well as the back-handers needed to win the business. Still, several senior politicians have fingers in the pies, so when it comes down to it, arms can be twisted and contract terms amended without too much reaction from some of the companies affected.

Azoreans reject the amendment to the Madeira Regional Finance Law. The Regional Parliament’s Economy Committee is opposing Madeira’s proposal to amend the law on regional financing. According to the Committee, the Azores would stand to lose 32 million Euros if Madeira’s amendment to the law is passed by the Assembly of the Republic. The amendment was proposed by the Madeira PSD. In the Azores, both the Socialist Party and the CDS are against any changes in the legislation. The only party in the archipelago to support the amendment is the PSD, providing the introduction of a clause ensuring that the Azores would not lose out. (Courtesy of the RTP Azores website / Kitty Bale).

The main photo on the front page shows an elderly lady, sat in her dressing gown, and looking rather perturbed. One year of waiting for an urgent operation – Isabel Rodrigues, aged 84, is desperate for the promised cataract operations. SESARAM hide the number of patients waiting and the waiting time for consultations and surgery. Isabel Margarida Rodrigues lives in Travessa do Pomar, and says that she doesn’t want to die without being able to see again. She cannot see anything through her left eye, and she no longer has the courage to go out of her house alone. With the problem worsening day by day, she waited and waited for an appointment at the hospital, that eventually came this Summer, when the consultant recommended cataract surgery for both eyes. At the same time it was reported that there were already 800 people on the waiting list for that type of surgery. The rest of the article looks at the long waiting lists for that type and many other types of surgery and procedures. The information provided by the health service is criticised by the auditors, who say that "The information system associated with the management of waiting lists (surgical and consultation) has a limited reliability and does not represent a true and fair global view of the patients and potential patients who are awaiting the provision of specialist services by Funchal Central Hospital.

2010 has three less days of rest. Workers will only get 147 rest days in 2010, three less than in 2009. 2010 will provide opportunities for six ‘tolerance’ days, and 5 ‘bridge’ days, and those workers who know how to work the system can maximise their breaks from the 104 weekend days by another 43, using holiday leave (25) and weekday public holidays (10) and the goodwill of employers.

Recordings of ‘Until Tomorrow My Love’ start on the 14th – The mini-series of TVI gets underway here next Monday and brings familiar faces. The new anticipated TV series from the good people of Channel 4 is actually titled ‘Até Amanhã Meu Amor’ in Portuguese.

… and that’s when the Diário website crashed! If anyone else can oblige with the translation of any of the ‘blank’ or sparsely filled headlines, or other news stories, here is the link

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Lisbon pressured on new hospital ; Azores think on Madeira proposals ; 75th visit award

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Karen … View from Pico dos Barcelos

It looks very familiar to me Karen, perhaps someone sent in a similar one? Lovely view.

"Funchal is by far among one of the prettiest places we’ve been so far on this cruise. We we docked, we look out over our balcony to see that the sun was shining and all the white buildings with the red roofs were sparkling in the sunlight". Lots of photos, and a bit of mickey taking too. CRUISERS PRIVATE BLOG

The Madeira specialists have updated or revised their website ATLANTIC HOLIDAYS

"The World Centre of Excellence for Destinations (CED), a World Tourism Organisation (WTO) institution, has assessed the Madeira Islands as a tourist destination based on 15 parameters". I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT’S ALL ABOUT?

This weekend’s football : Marítimo host Olhanense tomorrow at 4 pm. Nacional make the trip to Leiria on Monday with the kick-off at 8.15 pm. Neither game is televised. The game between Benfica and Académica on Sunday is on RTP at 8.15 pm.

Have a jolly good weekend!

Many thanks to Elaine once again for yesterday’s top news stories :

Lisbon almost forced to give money for the new hospital. The possibility of the State providing capital for the construction of the new Hospital of Madeira is nearer. All because the CDS-PP delivered a draft resolution urging the Government of the Republic to regulate what the Regional Finance Law provides: "The establishment of projects of common interest between the Republic and the Regions." In the document the centrists recall that 30 months after the law is in force, the decree on these projects, which are promoted for strategic or national interest, was not elaborated and approved and impedes the Autonomous Regions to nominate projects and works for this important financial instrument. Following these rules, the Assembly of the Republic asked the opinion of the Regional Government and the Legislative Assembly. Jardim has already decided in favour of a move to proceed with these rules as soon as possible. Apart from having a view applicable to the new Central Hospital of Funchal, the reason behind this initiative of the centrists, the type of project the Regional Government would like to see the State finance is the access to the maritime station at the port of Funchal and the fishing port at Câmara de Lobos. The Regional Government asks for haste in approving the law, so that it enters into force in time for the Regions to obtain funding for projects in the next State Budget. With this political will in Madeira and the support of the opposition in Lisbon, applications for projects of common interest could soon be a reality. The classification of a project as being of community interest is subject to approval by the Government of the Republic and the Regional Government, so the final decision is down to Jose Socrates. Even if the decision is positive, little is known about the conditions of financing by State funding.

Seismic activity of magnitude 3.7 on the Richter scale felt in Madeira and Porto Santo. The Institute of Meteorology noted at 12.05 yesterday, an earthquake of magnitude 3.7 (Richter) with epicentre about 16 kilometres North of the island Deserta Grande. The intensity reached III on the Mercalli scale (from I to XII) and was felt in Machico, Santa Cruz, Caniço, Funchal and Porto Santo. There was no record of any damage and some people asked the authorities for assistance. It was the second episode in less than two months in the same area; on 23 October 2009, 2 km away, activity of magnitude 2.8 Richter or grade II/III Mercalli.

Santa Cruz launches a program for the Christmas period to promote local trade. The Municipality is launching a program from December 9 to January 13, called ‘What is ours is good!’ In an effort to boost local businesses, customers are to be rewarded for buying in the county. For every 10 Euros of purchases, the customer receives a voucher that can be entered in a tombola. The draw will take place on January 16 but the value of the prizes will not be determined until the number of traders taking part is known.

Industrial parks are full. The Business Park in Câmara de Lobos is to build 11 new units due to the high demand from regional businesses. 12 units have just opened and there are 5 in Funchal and 5 in Ponta do Sol opening early next year. By 2011, there will be a total of 50 units. The Government’s strategy has been to create infrastructure and incentives for the regional economy to maintain levels of production and income. The park has been built so that industrial units are not in urban and residential areas, and to provide better technical and working environments.

‘Casa Pretoria’ fraud in Catalonia linked to Madeira. The Casa Pretoria fraud case has its epicentre in Catalonia and is being investigated by a top Spanish judge, Baltazar Garzon. There are links with various tax havens in Andorra, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Portugal and Madeira. The case relates to crimes of conspiracy, money laundering, corruption and falsification of documents to illegally divert European Cohesion Funds. 21 people have been indicted, of which 5 are in custody. Most are businessmen or hold senior positions in Municipalities in Catalonia. Results from investigations into real estate transactions have so far detected crimes in three municipalities to the sum of 44.4 million Euros. A member of the Socialist Party of Catalonia, Luis Garcia, was the instigator of the fraud. A business close to him was awarded a development project by municipalities involved in the fraud. The money received for favours was laundered through tax havens. Money invested in tax havens was used to purchase land which was subsequently reclassified through a network of middlemen and commissioning agents.

Promoting tourism occurs without any money. Promoting tourism affected by default of 2 million. Turismo de Portugal has not transferred 800,000 Euros and 1.2 million has not been transferred from the Regional Budget to the Association of Promotion of Madeira. Out of a budget of 5 million, this is a shortfall of 40% with less than 25 days until the end of the year, resulting in defaulting. With the 4 + 1 + 1 rule: for every 1 euro private funding, add 1 euro from the regional budget and 4 Euros from Turismo de Portugal. Turismo de Portugal refused to transfer money without regional authorities doing so, and is in the process of settling the payment of the remaining 30%. This is causing distrust and contracts amended by some operators. There is unease because the Regional Government has ended the extraordinary boost in funding and although the Regional Secretary of Tourism has an increase in budget, the Promotional Association will have a 2.3% cut in funding. In addition, there is uncertainty about the Government investing in emerging markets rather than the tradition markets of the United Kingdom, Germany and France which represent 47.8% of the tourists.

Carlos César says the Azores have not yet decided to support the proposal of Madeira. The President of the Regional Government of the Azores declined today to reveal its position on the proposed revision of the Regional Finance Law presented by Madeira, as they are still evaluating the document. During the election campaign for parliamentary elections, Carlos César repeatedly supported the Azores being positively discriminated against in relation to Madeira, arguing that it is an archipelago of nine islands, which have different needs than one that has only two islands in close proximity. The president of the regional executive, who is also the leader of the PS – Azores, criticized the actions of the opposition parties on the continent as they are not in government. "The opposition says the Government has not realized that it does not have an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic, but the truth is that the opposition does not yet understand that it is not in government."

Tourism honours German couple. The German couple, Egon and Astrid Roes have visited 75 times. They received a certificate, bouquet of flowers and a toast of Madeira Wine. Astrid Roes said he liked much of the island and when people asked why they favoured the island, he said they liked to experiment, and the island had always something to find, even after dozen of trips.

VII Meeting of the Africans People. 7 December in the Municipal Gardens, Funchal at 20.00. Music, dancing and food. There is a small African community in the region, only about 300 Africans.

Madeira reaches EU target for education. Madeira has managed to achieve some of the goals set by the EU for the level of education for 2010, others are still being achieved. 100% of children under 5 years are in pre-school education, 87.2% attendance at school and 100% at Basic Education are learning English. The drop-out rate of 12% still needs working on. Portuguese and Mathematics results are good at year 4 but decrease at year 6 and again at year 9.

Corruption in the police? Commissioner Roberto Fernandes is the commander of the police in Funchal and also leads the Public Relations Department of the Regional Command. But his past is overshadowing his career. When sub-commissioner of Câmara de Lobos in 2004, there were two incidents involving members of his family where there are allegations of falsification of the evidence. Based on an anonymous letter, alleging abuse of power, falsification and denial of justice, the Public Ministry began an investigation. This is awaiting a court hearing. His name is not ratified in the Official Gazette, possibly due to the pending court case.

The news headlines from today’s front page of the Diário de Notícias :

‘Over the top’ operation at the arrival of Lobo Marinho – PSP, GNR, SEF and public prosecutors (?) searched cars and seized drugs yesterday evening on Porto Santo. The police, national guard, border and immigration control (amongst others) got wind that something was up, and were waiting for the Porto Santo ferry as it landed at the golden island yesterday. Searches were carried out, focused on the 37 cars that were being transported, and drugs were seized. The Diário says that it was waiting for an official statement on the matter and had no more details when going to press.

Funchal Council want the Madeira Government to pay ‘freebies’ of the hotels – Touristic usefulness in question. Under regional laws new constructions (particularly hotels in Funchal) can be exempted from paying council tax, at the decision of the local authority, that being the Câmara Municipal of Funchal (CMF). A great incentive for attracting investments in tourism, and great business for those investors, but of course it all leaves a gaping hole in the CMF coffers, a hole that has to be filled with local taxes from other IMI payers in Funchal. So some bright spark in CMF proposed that these losses should be paid for by the government of Madeira, and this was voted on and accepted in a council meeting. So now CMF will be the ones who approve all plans for new ‘touristic’ investments, and the ones who give the discretionary exemption of IMI taxes, and then ask the government for reimbursement from public funds, at the cost of all the taxpayers of Madeira. Good business for Funchal for sure.

Riu ‘chain’ starts in Brazil through the hand of the Madeiran Estêvão Neves. This is a hotel chain that has decided to enter the Brazilian market, thanks to a Madeiran businessman. A bit out of scope for this blog me thinks.

Today’s top news story : Jardim switches budget of Sócrates for €100 million – The PSD national is in tune with the strategy of the president of Madeira : The ‘orange benches’ guarantee the approval of the redistributive budget if there is a guarantee that the document contemplates increased debt capacity for the region. No time for me today to do this top story today, but if someone else is willing to translate, here is the LINK

Rubbish piles degrade the roads of Porto Moniz – cans, paper, plastic, iron and even mattresses thrown on the public highways, a damaging scenario for the landscape in the district. The ‘population’ is breaking the law by dumping rubbish in areas where they shouldn’t be. An action that prejudices the attempts to attract more tourists to the area. As well as the rubbish already mentioned, there are washing machines and chairs, just dumped on the roadsides. The president of the council of Porto Moniz said he had no knowledge of such ‘tips’, but said that as soon as he was made aware he would have the areas cleaned up, and try and identify the offenders. What a disgrace! There are several photos, one even worse than this one. Some tourists will find this all quite attractive of course, more specifically the four legged disease carrying hairy kind.

… and of course the big football story : Draw pretty unfriendly for the World Cup – Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea. These teams will be the opponents of Portugal in the 2010 World Cup, that starts in June in South Africa. The draw, full of stars, decided that we play in Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Durban. You heard it first on yesterday’s blog comments, with live coverage of Portugal’s fate, probably first on the internet worldwide. But what a contrived lottery it was, they might as well of picked out the four semi-finalists and not bother with the rest. And yes it was full of stars, if you can count that idiot Beckham. This is what a reporter for the UK Daily Telegraph said :

"Seriously, what is it about David Beckham? Not only did he steal the show before the 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town, he got a ticket onto the main stage, a kiss from Charlize Theron, and then stood there smirking … they clearly love him more than ever. Becks may look like a lesbian barmaid with his new half-mowed haircut, but put him in a room with suits and cameras and strange things happen".

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

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Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’

Sao Martinho festa ; New book about Madeira ; Health & schools for loan security

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Jaquine … Nesting birds

"I got this shot of a pair of strange looking birds nesting above the cliffs at Porta da Cruz in October & wondered if it might interest anyone – & if someone might know what they are?" Jaquine.

Many thanks to Elaine for yesterday’s top news stories :

Festa de São Martinho. The centre of São Martinho is getting ready for the traditional festival on the eve of São Martinho but with fewer stalls than usual. Traditional fare is roasted bacalhau, nuts and regional wine. There will be five stalls but there has been criticism of their placing, the lack of sanitary facilities and the way the licences were issued. One of the bars in the centre of São Martinho is not participating and one stall owner said he would be serving beer and frango and espetada instead. Another area where they celebrate the feast of São Martinho, also called Magusto, is São Roque de Faial and they will have musical entertainment. As well as these public celebrations, some associations and organisations have private traditional meals. Some restaurants in other areas are participating and many families prefer to celebrate at home.

Interpret the Finance Law as you wish. Each political party interprets as they wish the amount that Madeira loses in State funding. The Finance Minister said that Madeira now receives more than when the old law was in force. He just considered the amounts transferred from Portugal before the act in 2004 and after the act in 2008, an increase of €10.224 million. He ignored the cost of insularity and the Development and the Cohesion Fund and other funding, which would mean a total loss of €7 million in 2008 compared to 2004. The Socialists looked at three year periods and concluded that the loss was 6 million Euros. The Social Democrats cited the law stating that the Region should not receive less than the previous year, meaning a 200 million Euros loss. Because the Finance Minister called the Finance Law "fair" and beneficial to Madeira, the PSD-M retorted that these words are "obviously offensive" and that he has a "hatred" for Madeira, as the law leads to a cut in funding. They cannot understand how the Government of the Republic accuses the Regional Government of "financial meltdown" when the Regional debt is 38% GDP and the debt in Portugal is 85% GDP and expected to reach 91% by 2010.

95% of admissions to the Gastroenterology Department are due to alcoholism. Complications such as liver cirrhosis, cancer and hepatitis. Due to high rates of alcoholism in the region. Complications are usually diagnosed in 40 – 50 year old males, but also as young as 30 as it depends on the age of starting consumption. There are only 15 beds, the length of time occupied is prolonged and complications are irreversible once fibrosis occurs. The only effective treatment to prevent progression is alcohol abstention and/or a liver transplant. The situation is aggravated by many alcoholics hiding their dependency so it is not detected until the signs of jaundice occur.

Justice "at a snail’s pace". Many (at least 12) reasons/excuses given why it is so slow to obtain a court hearing. It was even worse 15/20 years ago.

Police seized a mobile phone loaded with heroin. In The Old Zone of Funchal last night, a man apprehended by police officers was found to be carrying two mobile phones, one of which was switched off. This raised the suspicions of the officers and when they removed the battery compartment cover, they found 30 packets of heroin. He also had a few hundred Euros in notes from narcotics dealing.

Day of aggression ended with nine people in hospital. Nine people were treated in hospital yesterday following attacks, mainly in public. The most serious case was a 20 year old woman in Nazaré, requiring the assistance of the Emergency Medical Team and unlike the others, was detained in hospital.

Naviera Armas disputes IPTM and maintains operation. The deadline is today for the ferry owners to deliver their defence against the allegation that they are not fulfilling the terms of their operating licence. They state they are complying with the terms as they are moving freight in the minimum time possible, as required in the licensing terms. The Portuguese regulator is studying the evidence for a few more days before making a decision. A court case might ensue depending on the decision.

32.7% less British visited in the first half of this year. Madeira had 40,000 fewer tourists from the UK than last year. There were 27.5% fewer overnight hotel stays or 1,354 beds per day, which represents 6% of total hotel beds. This is approximately the equivalent of two hotels the size of the Madeira Carlton. Porto Santo had worse occupancy rates for UK visitors, falling 50.7% in just six months.

Images of Madeira on London cabs. The Regional Secretary of Tourism and Transport is confident that next year the British market will steadily recover. She is leading a huge delegation at the World Travel Market in London. The purchasing power of the British public has decreased by 30% but she believes that when conditions for this loss have recovered then people will travel again. As well as tourism firms, public entities are at this major tourism fair, i.e. Government bodies, ANAM, and the Association for the Promotion of Harbours. Promotional campaigns are through newspapers, magazines and taxis. The stands at the fair are trying to attract younger tourists and are promoting Madeira for quality hotels, cuisine, as a natural spa and for relaxation through walking and other activities.

Schools and health centres used as security for a Government loan. A total of 41 buildings owned by the Region were pledged as security in 2007 for the 150 million euro loan from the State under the Ownership and Management of State Assets Fund. These properties, ranging from schools to health centres and museums, have a total value of 165 million and were licensed to the fund and then leased back to the Government. Rents have been given as collateral for the bank loan. The debt will cost two million a month and by the end, 450 million will have been repaid. The mortgage of these properties was made without the knowledge of the Assembly and it is hoped that the money has been used for investment as opposed to current expenses. The CDS-PP Lino Abreu recalled, "The middle class has already mortgaged the house and car and now the Government has mortgaged schools and health centres." To try to reduce the debt the CMF has reduced the budget for 2010 and the amount transferred from Funchal to other councils will be a 6.7% increase this year. 50% of the CMF budget will be for investment in infrastructure. —- What happens if the rents of these buildings to service the debt cannot be paid?

Casa do Sardinha is being transformed into an information centre and reception area for visitors. This building is near the Ponta de Sao Lourenco in the National Park. Today the Park celebrates 27 years of existence.

ALM approves a new model of support to residents on flights between Madeira and the Continent. Aid for air transport fares would be equivalent to the road cost between Lisbon and the county most distant from the capital. The amendment has to be approved by the Assembly of the Republic.

João Carlos Abreu launches a new tourist book on Madeira. On 17th November. ‘Madeira. Monumental e Turistica’ is a tribute to the archipelago and includes photography by the renowned photographer Roberto Santandreu. Joao Carlos Abreu was the Regional Director of Tourism for over 23 years and is associated with the Universe of Memories Museum. The book has details about architecture, festivals, cuisine and traditional costumes and provides a detailed view of the natural environment. Also includes articles about tourism and the people of Porto Santo.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions and photos / videos.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Please use the comments here for general chit-chat, or feel free to ask any questions … someone usually has an answer.

The headline news & other snippets reviewed here on the blog are mainly from the Diário de Notícias of Madeira, although news from any source is used and welcome.

The blogs in the ‘uncategorised’ category come from the old madeira4u blog.

IF YOU NEED HELP WITH ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE, TRY THE MENU ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE ‘USEFUL LINKS’ & ‘TIPS & HELP’