Madeira News Blog

(11th September). Today’s main news headline : ‘Schools Unprepared – They lack products of hygiene for the prevention of Gripe A in the pre-school and 1st cycle. They will only be delivered in October, after the start of the school year, owing to a lack of stock’. Five thousand youngsters in Funchal will start school in the next few days without the protection planned against swine flu. Paper towels, disinfectants, and masks were ordered at a cost of €60,000, but the national supplier has a ‘rupture’ in stocks, and won’t be able to deliver until mid-October. Funchal council say they are not at fault, but the demand for such supplies has caused shortages with suppliers in Portugal and abroad. Parents are being asked to bring alcohol based disinfectants to their children’s schools as a contingency measure. Supplies of the required products are being ordered through the secretary for education for most schools, but it was left to local authorities to provide for pre-school and 1st cycle schools. Alcohol based disinfectants eh! … "here José, son, take this bottle of diluted alcohol to school for me will you" … "sure Dad". Might as well just give the kid a good dose of Poncha, renowned for flu prevention and cure, not that I condone underage drinking (doing my politically correct bit of course, before one of the snipers get to me).

The main sport headline, in football : ‘Hugo Almeida Warns Nacional : "We Are Strong" – The Portuguese International that plays for Werder Bremen praises the first opponent in the Europa League’. The player praises our local team, but has no doubts about Werder Bremen, saying "we are favourites".

‘Bandolins Seek Big Venues – The orchestra wants to perform in the Centro Cultural de Belém and in the Casa da Música (Porto)’. The new season 2009 – 2010, that starts today, brings new ambitions including the conquest of new audiences, and the chance to play in renowned venues in Portugal and abroad. The first concert is tonight at 9 pm in the English Church in Rua do Quebra Costas, in Funchal, which I believe will be a regular event on Friday’s. Another tour is planned in the UK next year, and the artistic director of the orchestra says that they must focus their work on venues abroad to promote Madeira and win new audiences. Special performances are also scheduled at the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias. I didn’t know that mandolins or music have seasons, but anyway, this is one of the few sources of local entertainment that anyone who reads this blog has ever shown any enthusiasm for*. Not had the privilege of seeing a performance myself yet, but maybe a trip out to Ribeira Brava is a bit beneath them now they are established internationally. (*aside from me and Vânia of course, who happened to be performing in Gaula this weekend).

Another 61 allotment plots for vegetable gardens will be provided in Bairro de João Gomes by the river. The plots which will be ready in November will take the total for Funchal to 170.

‘CMF Gives 3 Months To Update Meter Records’. Funchal council is owed €320,000 in unpaid water bills. They estimate that 11 thousand out of 50 thousand water meters are not registered to the correct user. During the period, water users can update their water meter details free, apart from a small stamp duty charge. If the deadline is missed, there will be a charge of €14.60 to change the details, and the council will move to collect outstanding water charges, regardless of the name on the account.

‘Madeira Government To Reinforce Cliff Face In Calheta Village – The work continues on what was already completed in 2003, and will cost around €7 million’. The plan is now to reinforce the complete escarpment, around 370 meters long, to prevent falling rocks and debris. Up until now just the central part has been dealt with, using barriers and wire mesh. The project, which is in the programme of works for 2007 – 2011, was agreed by the Governing Council yesterday and will now go out to tender. A spokesman for the government said that the "natural evolution" and "erosion" of the escarpment overlooking the sea front of Calheta, has over the years, resulted in "several detachments of blocks and fragments of rock and earth".  

At the same meeting yesterday, amongst a number of projects and grants approved, €700,000 was allocated for the construction of a central (town) square in Caniçal, and €3 million for a new connecting street for Sta. Quitéria-Três Paus and Viana, in Funchal.

‘Conceição Estudante Criticises The Secretary of State for Tourism For "lack of ethics and opportunism" – Madeira’s Tourism Secretary accuses Bernardo Trindade of "assuming leadership" in announcing a new air route to Madeira’. She is upset because he  anticipated the announcement of a new air route for this region, and took the credit. "I dislike having to make this comment at a time when the Secretary of State, Bernardo Trindade, is campaigning (head-of-list for the PS-M to the Assembly of the Republic), but the Secretary of State is taking a leadership role that he doesn’t have in this case", she said. She was speaking about the new route of the British company Jet2, that will carry passengers between Manchester and Madeira, from February(?) 2010, which was announced Wednesday by the Secretary of State for Tourism. She says he was not ‘in the chair’ during the negotiations, and that Trindade’s announcement "was an unpleasant exploitation, opportunism, and it was not ethical by the secretary of state to pre-empt the announcement". She then got a little more upbeat by saying "But what’s really important is that Madeira will have one more link in a market that is very important to this region, the United Kingdom".

Today’s main photo shows a picture of the president of Funchal Council in a bookshop : ‘Court Fines CMF For Bad Faith And President’s Threat – The "shocking" illegalities in the ‘VIP residences’ and the disrespect for judicial decisions lead to criticism from TACF. Miguel Albuquerque incurs a ‘crime of disobedience’ if he doesn’t repeal the licence and cut off the water’. The Administrative Court of the Circle of Funchal (TACF) fined the council and an ‘advisor’ €2,500, in connection with the VIP residences ‘Villas Jardins D’Água’. The judge ruled on 25th August that there was bad-faith from the council and developer of the properties, disrespecting judicial decisions, as if they had not been declared illegal. Work continued illegally after the judicial decision was ignored, and then the council illegally issued the authorisations for habitation, and now the properties are illegally occupied, said the judge, "It’s truly shocking in a state of European Union law". The council also has to take remedial measure in respect of the properties, including cutting-off the illegal water supplies. Councils and developers defying court judgements, what could have been the motivation? Must nip out later, as I am almost out of brown envelopes and other essential stationary items.

(19th August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Germans Want Hotels At The Price Of Rain – Hotel owners of Madeira are worried with the demands of the German tour operators: discounts of up to €50 on the daily rate’. The German operators are pressuring the hotels, and there are requests for unrealistic discounts for the launch of new (travel) programmes. The pressure is always there when the period for contract negotiations starts with the various tour operators who offer Madeira, but this year, the pressure is greater, and some Madeiran hoteliers express concerns about what may happen in the next year. The demands for lower prices of course happen every year, but this year the demands are more unrealistic than usual, with reductions sought between €20 and €50 a night, on top of the already heavily discounted prices given to the tour operators. There are charter flights, but Germany doesn’t have any direct or low cost airlines coming to Madeira, so therein lies part of the problem. So they want to nick all the sun beds and pay less for the privilege … don’t we all, but most of us just don’t have the cheek to do and demand. I suspect that over a week’s holiday the hotel bars will manage to recoup most of the ‘losses’, with some very special prices for German customers. Basil Fawlty would have known how to effectively deal with the situation for sure, and I think that would probably be the right approach. Madeira is cheap, and you get top quality hotels for less than you would find elsewhere in mainstream Europe. The regular German visitors here already know that, and as for the rest, they can take it or leave it. And it won’t be just the Germans looking to slash prices, that’s a certainty.

‘Residents Of Santa Luzia Ask For Tarmac For The Roads – The parish enjoys the quality of life, in safety. Even the ‘sales’ still work on trust. Besides the state of the roads, few complaints’. In the latest in the Diário series ‘Through Madeira’, in Santa Luzia in Funchal, life is still made of calm, trust, and tradition. It is just needed to wander through the streets to see who lives well. Some very well in fact. The zone inspires comfort. Large houses and small quintas (houses with agricultural land), trellis shades on the smaller houses, sleeping dogs, and gates left open. Micaela Gouveia says that everyone knows each other, and there is trust between neighbours. In her family run supermarket, faithful customers buy their groceries, always paying at the end of every month without fail. Some have shopped there for over 30 years. José Lourenço Gouveia has worked behind the bar in the supermarket for 40 years, with just good things to say about the parish that welcomes every day. One lives well in Santa Luzia, the "rich zone of Funchal", even the mosquitoes "don’t want nothing of your blood"(?). Manuel da Costa and his wife live in one district of the parish, which they define as a "corner of heaven", "thanks to our Lord".  Just the craters in the road are of annoyance, especially in Winter when they fill up with water. I don’t think that will be a problem for much longer. Did I mention that our president Albert João Jardim, also lives in that parish.

"Obviously there must be a better response of Health Line 24" – Users complain of delays in answering and the advice needed for enquiries for Gripe A’. Health Minister Ana Jorge admits that the swine flu hotline needs to improve after complaints have been made’. Calls to the number 808 24 24 24 have been increasing as the number of cases in Portugal increase. The management of the call centre is public-private, and a number of initiatives have already been agreed. Ana Jorge added that "at present, nothing is out of control," but stressed that the Gripe A epidemic has characteristics, which means it will spread to a large population simultaneously. The telephone number given is also for use on Madeira.

In the main front page photo, also the day’s sports headline, we see athlete Nélson Évora lying in the triple jump sand pit in Berlin : ‘Nélson Loses Title But Wins Silver – A British athlete ‘stole’ the gold from the Portuguese’. No, no, no. He didn’t steal it Nelson, he did you a favour as he is now the reigning Clown Prince of sports most ludicrous event. Besides that you are not really Portuguese, so that headline is not quite true.  I have it from a good source (Derclopedia, volume 7 p.166 – only available in hard copy) that the triple jump event is just a big wind-up. According to the story, triple jump (aka hop, step, jump or hop, skip, jump) was invented in a tavern ‘horse and carriage’ park back in 1894, after three very drunk men were thrown out of the pub in very heavy rain, and wanted to get to their transport without getting their wet feet. What is amazing that they managed to persuade the Olympic Organising Committee for 1896 to include it in the Athens games for that year, when at that particular time Greece was very prone to monsoon storms. It has been in every Olympic games since. Think about it … the fastest in the world, the strongest, the best high jumper, the best thrower, all were skills of some value to our ancestors when chasing wildebeests and trying to escape tigers. But the hop, skip and jump … what use was that EVER in society, obviously except when crossing a minefield in a hurry. Nelson, you have been done a big favour my man, you are now just the pretender to the Clown Prince of Britain, rather than the man himself.

Also squeezed in : ‘Sporting Draw 2 – 2 With Fiorentina, Compromising Qualification For The Champions League’. More referring controversy overshadowed the football. 

‘Spectacular For 30 Years Of The Office – The work, to premier in October 2010, was ordered by the Office of Artistic Education from writer Miguel Esteves Cardoso and the composer Jorge Salgueiro’. GCEA will celebrate 30 years of existence next year, three decades of valuable work and support to the children and young people of Madeira. Jorge Salgueiro wrote the work ‘Orquídea Branca’ (White Orchid) which debuted in Funchal last year, and is due to return. The new work will be either a musical or an opera, being between the two authors to decide. As well as supporting schools at all levels, the organisation also provides extra curricular activities in music, dance, theatre, and ‘plastic expression’.

(18th August). ‘Works cost €1.7 million – Works aim to repair damaged areas and will last for 13 months’. The Administration of Ports of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, opened a tender process for the contract for the implementation of structural improvement of the ‘ponte cais’ (bridge pier) and curtain wall of the main pier of the port of Funchal. The tender deadline is 14th September, with the lowest priced tender taking all the work. How do they already know the cost, and that it’s going to be a 13 month job, before they have gone out to tender. They can specify that upper time limit, but someone might come in and specify a shorter project. Or has there been a pre-tender tender process?

‘Festival 29th In Ponta do Sol’. This year the 12th International Festival of Folk-dance is going to take place on a Saturday for the first time. It starts at 9 pm, and this year will have participants from Sweden, Spain, Portugal, and the Azores, as well as from various parts of Madeira. The festival will form part of the festivals of the region of Ponta do Sol, which start on Monday.

Whilst on the subject of festivals : ´São Vicente In Festa 25th To 30th August – Musical entertainment, exhibitions and book launches make up the programme of the regional day’. To save me a job, if interested you can see the programme HERE

This from the Jornal da Madeira : ‘Video surveillance in schools from the academic year 2010 – Project of the Regional Secretary for Education and Culture include the mass issue of electronic (access?) cards’. The academic year 2009 / 2010 will see the introduction of video cameras in the schools of Madeira. The projects have been repeatedly postponed, but now the administrative preparation has been done, and the 2010 budget is awaited to start the work.

(14th August). The main photo on today’s front page shows a rather bored looking man dressed all in while leant against his idle wicker basket (the type you ride in) : ‘The Problem With Monte Is The Lack Of Parking – Monte lives a period of great festival, with the usual gathering. But actually the rest of the year to stop there in a car is a chore’. It’s another one of those Diário featured locations, must be the fourth one this week? Faith and tourism fuel the parish of Monte. It is essentially a village turned towards the foreigners, but the locals ask for more doctors in the health centre, roads and parking. Tonight is the big night in the festival of Nossa Senhora. In the Largo da Fonte, the movement is already huge, not just with traders getting ready for the big weekend and hoping for good business, but also with tourists, emigrants returned for holidays, and curious folk from other parts of Funchal.

You were warned … top flight football is back today : ’1st League Starts Today – Leixões – Belenenses starts (20h15) a new season. Tomorrow Nacional receive Sporting’. Indeed a tough start for our local teams, with Nacional hosting Sporting tomorrow (at 7.15pm, live on RTP1). Even tougher is Marítimo’s visit to Benfica on Sunday (live on SportTV1 at 8.15pm).

In a late update to yesterday’s story : ‘Guns And Drugs In The Mega-operation In Santo Amaro – PSP identified 137 individuals, 5 were detained’. The regional command of the police divulged late yesterday the result of the Special Operation of Crime Prevention (OEPC) that took place Wednesday evening in Santa Amaro. The five detentions were for drug trafficking, possession of a prohibited firearm, judicial disobedience, and driving without a license. Searches of a number of residences and businesses allowed the seizure of 7 arms and small quantities of drugs. The operation, which controlled all access points to the area, allowed police to undertake checks on 435 vehicles, of which 15 were detained for various offences. In addition one person was ‘captured’ for deserting from military service.

‘Car Driving License Now Allows Some To Drive A Motorbike – The new law that comes into force today allows driving of motorbikes up to 125cc’. Car drivers (category B) aged 25 and over, or with alternative license conditions, can now drive a motorbike up to 125 cc in capacity (11 kw / 15 horsepower). The alteration has been made resulting in law nº. 78/2009, effective 13th August. Persons aged under 25 will have to take and pass an exam. The change is hoped to have a beneficial effect on traffic and also in an environmental aspect, as many more car drivers leave their cars at home and jump on a motorbike instead. You should check you own circumstances if acting on this news, as different conditions may apply to those mentioned.

‘Social Security Take Care Of The Old Lady From Pico dos Barcelos’. She will continue to live at home, but Aldora aged 74, who was abandoned by her family at the weekend, is already in the hands of social services, who have taken her to the doctor. As there are no available places in old peoples homes, she will stay in her apartment, but will be accompanied at night by an assistant, and during the day will be visited by a girl who will walk with her, deal with her meals, and control her medications. Well done the Diário … another fine result.

This from the Jornal da Madeira yesterday :  ‘Government is constructing nine educational establishments – This school year will see the initiation of two new schools and three further improved schools’. New schools / divisions to be ready next year are the basic, secondary and third cycle schools in São Jorge, secondary and technology in São Martinho, and basic and pre-school in Câmara de Lobos. Also there will be works of expansion and modernisation at the pre-school and basic school in Ponta do Pargo, in São Paulo (Ribeira Brava), Tanque in Monte, and São Filipe in Santa Maria Maior. Other works to be started in the coming months will be pre-school and basic schools in Porto da Cruz, Romeiras in Santo António, and in Imaculado Coração de Maria, and a new infant school in Santa Cruz. The list goes on … 7,261 teachers will start the new year on 21st September, including 1,402 on non-permanent contracts. Add to that 3,226 other staff in schools. 51,161 students are expected to attend classes in the coming academic year. 

Thought yesterday was bad on the Gripe A count? In the last 24 hours (announced around 8pm yesterday) there were another 149 cases of swine flu, taking the total to 884, the Ministry of health has announced. 136 of the cases were by cross infection within Portugal.

The final front page story today : ‘Commission Of Honour – Ex-Leaders of PS-M and independents of the region on the commission of support for the national lists’. The list of supporters of Prime Minister José Sócrates includes 10 Madeirans, including ex-leaders of the socialist party of Madeira. I think this is about the committee that will support and launch the prime minister as the number one candidate (for re-election) at the national legislative elections on 27th September. From Madeira there will be 2 ex-leaders of PSD-M, local party activists, and also independent figures close to the socialist party. All in all, a group of people spanning business, culture, economy, and politics. The selection of the names indicates a will to reinforce a party seen to be suffering with an identity crisis, and present a different face from that shown in 2005.

It expected that prime minister Sócrates will visit Madeira before the September elections. He could come to the party rally here at Fonte do Bishpo, but with little more than a week to go and with no announcement yet, that is looking unlikely.