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Jersey appeal raises €70k for Madeira ; Private firms to Rebuild in Serra de Agua

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Tom … Monte wicker basket ride

Thanks to Pete for sending in this really interesting snippet : "A huge hydro-electric power plant 250 kms south-east of Lisbon in Portugal uses Alstom technology to combine and store wind and hydro energies. This plant has a capacity of 260 megawatts and supplies energy to 175,000 households. The reduction in CO2 emissions is the equivalent to removing 185,000 cars from the road". VIDEO

And thanks to Paul for these two snippets :

£70,000 to date from Jersey Appeal for Madeira disaster. “CUSTOMERS and staff at one of the Channel Islands’ biggest retailers have dug deep and raised nearly £19,000 for the Jersey Side by Side appeal for Madeira.

Around £70,000 has been raised by the appeal so far after flash floods devastated the Portuguese island almost a month ago, killing 42 people and leaving around 600 homeless. A massive £18,980 of the appeal total has been raised by Sandpiper CI, the company that owns the M&S franchise in Jersey, along with Safeway and Checkers, in just one week. The total, which was raised in both Jersey and Guernsey stores, includes £1,000 from Sandpiper’s management, while the rest came from fundraising events among staff and customer collections.”

Have you seen the Large White Butterfly? “The commission cited the Large White Butterfly from the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira, which has not been spotted for at least 20 years.” READ MORE I can’t imagine who thought up the name for it? Der

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

DIÁRIO 17/03/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

RTP, Sonae and Mota Engil rehabilitate the Serra d’Água. Those responsible for the RTP and Grupo Sonae solidarity campaign will meet tomorrow with the Governing Board of the Investimentos Habitacionais da Madeira (IHM), in order to determine which applicants should receive the donations. The campaign Together for Madeira (‘Juntos pela Madeira’) has raised 800,000 Euros already and the promoters have donated 1.5 million Euros, enough to build a small housing complex. Over one million phone calls were made in response to the RTP campaign, and the Sonae Group challenged thousands of Portuguese to round up their till receipts in Modelo, Worten and other stores in the group, a campaign that will continue until the 18th April. RTP is preparing a mega-program to be broadcasted on Sunday between 15.45 and 19.00 hours, also helping to promote the 7 Wonders of Portugal competition, in which the beach at Porto Santo and the Laurisilva forest are 2 of the 21 candidates. RTP is preparing a fundraising concert with one of the top Portuguese musicians. It will be transmitting the Flower Festival Parade and the program is to be dedicated to Madeira in solidarity with the reconstruction effort. It will include images of the cleaned baixa (lower) area of Funchal, without forgetting of course the strickened area of Serra d’Água. In the latter area, 25/26 houses need to be rebuilt, for which Mota Engil guarantees 1.2 million Euros on top of the donated 1.5 million Euros by the Sonae Group and RTP. A Portuguese company is offering 25 Teka kitchens, Tintas Dyrup is giving 25,000 litres of paint and Indutora will install the electrical wiring in the new houses. The company Paços de Ferreira is donating furniture. Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade Lusíada and the architect José Paradela are offering their services for free. Donations are deposited in a fund specially created by the Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa.

Joint Committee meets in the region over the next two days. The Joint Committee created by José Sócrates to assess the amount of damage and the best use of funding for the reconstruction work after the storm on February 20th, meets for the first time tomorrow. Representatives from the Government of the Republic arrive tomorrow in Madeira for two days to look at the destruction of houses, roads and other public infrastructure that occurred in the worst affected areas. The committee will not monitor the regional authorities. The members will rigorously assess the help needed, cost it and then formulate a framework of cooperation between the State and Regional Governments through the Special Law of Regional Finances. The committee will also prioritise the work and what needs to be done later.

MADEIRA

Beach walls are provisional. Santos Costa, the Regional Director for Social Infrastructure, replies to yesterday’s report about walls built in the middle of the beach of Porto Santo. He explained that the walls are only provisional, built to prevent damage by the abnormally violent storms that occurred from last November to February 20th. The photo shows the threat that the government is attempting to alleviate and the technicians will be able to decide on a technically and environmentally desirable solution when the sea is calmer.

Humanitarian problems in Funchal. The Report of the USA about Human Rights in 2009 revealed that Portugal and the archipelagos have humanitarian problems, although there have been improvements in prison overcrowding. With regard to Funchal, the report highlighted a young offender imprisoned for eight months with convicted adults. This was despite a special prison (prison-school) in Leiria for young offenders between the ages of 16 and 21 years old.

Excessive police force. A car was badly parked in a prohibited area while the driver went into a shop. On returning, he found a a police officer was fining him and he exchanged ‘bitter’ words with the officer who then asked for reinforcements. Two police motorbikes and two patrol cars responded using sirens and the unresisting man was forced out of his car, searched and arrested. This was watched by angry witnesses, an elderly woman in the front seat and accompanied by screams from a child of approximately nine years old in the back of the car. The two passengers were also taken to the police station. The Regional Command of the Police has not yet responded to the questions of the DIÁRIO.

ECONOMY

Madeira – Paris / Orly from 58 Euros. The airline transavia.com starts the promotion today for the new routes between Funchal and Nantes. The first flights begin at the end of March and the French low-cost carrier offers a discounted price for journeys made between 1 April and 15 July. Travel between Porto and Funchal is from 38 Euros in both directions. For Nantes via Porto, flights start at 58 Euros one-way. The all-inclusive web reserve system is totally transparent. The promotional campaign includes the transport of 20 kg luggage in the hold and 5 kg in the cabin.

POLITICS

Court of Auditors stop work by the council. The Court of Auditors has stopped a road being built in Camacha by Santa Cruz Council. The road was to link the Caminho Municipal da Portela, by the old church of Camacha, to Mato Grosso. The work was financed by both the Regional Government and Santa Cruz Council but the contract did not stipulate details of the co-payments. In 2005, the Tribunal could not obtain assurances that the council could honour their financial commitment and the work was prohibited. The municipality wanted to build a bridge linking this road to Mato Grosso, where the population is of a significant size. They began to build the bridge then were ordered to stop by the Court of Auditors. During the last storm, retaining walls were washed away and earth deposited inside the bridge, threatening the flow of the ribeiro Pedro Lourenço and houses downstream. A date for the completion of the bridge depends on an agreement being made.

UPDATES

British Embassy supports Centro Porta Amiga do Funchal. The British Embassy in Lisbon has decided to help the Centro Porta Amiga do Funchal after the disaster of February 20th. Financial assistance will be raised through the Sport Relief Mile event, organized by a British charity each year. The race takes place on the 20th March, starting at the promenade of Oeiras at 10.30 am and finishes at the beach of Santo Amaro. If interested in making a donation, contact the Embassy by phoning 213924035 or e-mailing kate.christie@fco.gov.uk

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

CULTURE

Show raises over 23,000 Euros. João Carlos Abreu, President of Criamar, the charity for the Social Development of Children and Young People, handed over 23,803.65 Euros to the Association of Development of Ribeira Brava. This will go towards the reconstruction of houses damaged on the 20th February. The money was raised by performances in Lisbon by Filipe La Féria and by "Juntos Renasceremos" (Together Reborn) in Funchal.

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

Valter puts in the drawer [postpones] the library of Farinha – It took 5 months and a change of presidents in Porto Moniz in order that the project might cease to be a priority.

Contest of the pharmacies drops a clanger – Opinion of the ANF hinders the process. Competitors protest.

Today’s main news headline : MP requires efficiency in the Madeiran Inland Revenue – The coordinator of services of the Public Ministry in the region devastates the leadership of Fiscal Affairs. The annual report reveals there is late notification in the establishment of inquiries, ‘investigation’ that is not worthy of the name, "almost total ineffectiveness" in fighting tax crimes. Ho, ho, ho, I wondered when someone would notice. Great people, and very helpful in my tax office, but efficiency doesn’t ooze in the IRS of Madeira. Whoever this guy is he will have to change a complete culture of local standards, rules, and behaviours. If successful, that would cause some considerable hardship in the Madeiran cash community. Can’t say anymore than that for fear of reprisals.

Taiwan send money through the deputies – Storm causes diplomatic embarrassment.

Christian democrat Party, CDS, asks for a commission of enquiry, CDU shows sites in need of recuperation.

Increased number ‘signed on’ in the Employment Centre – Madeira registers the second highest increase in Portugal. The numbers increased throughout the country, except in the Azores. Nationwide, there was an increase of 19.6% comparing the last two Februaries, and a 0.2% rise on January 2010. From January to February this year, the number of those ‘signed on’ on Madeira increased by 3.8%.

The main sports / football headline today : Jardim’s plan for the European season is at risk – The famous meeting in preparation for a triumphant season for Marítimo did not result in a dynamic winner.

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.

Many thanks to Elaine (West) for this heart-tingling story :

Saved from the rubble after almost 30 days. A dog was rescued alive yesterday in São Gonçalo during cleaning of the site. A unique situation for those who witnessed it. Yesterday morning, a group of employees of a company that specializes in building found a dog trapped beneath the debris resulting from the tragedy of the 20th of February during a cleanup operation in the area of São Gonçalo,. Nearly a month after the storm, to everyone’s surprise, the animal was healthy, but with its hind legs, preventing it escaping and fleeing the scene. The black cocker spaniel was helped by another dog, which faithfully kept him company. According to the DIÁRIO, the animal was freed by firefighters and taken to the Society for the Protection of Domestic Animals (SPAD), while the dog which had protected its friend ran behind the car. "It was a shame not to bring those two together, because they seemed to be great friends," said one worker on site. As the animal appeared to have been well looked after, there is every reason to believe that it has an owner and that he was caught by the flood. The dog was found yesterday morning around 10 o’clock, when a group of workers took over the clean-up operation by Palheiro Golf in São Gonçalo. After the initial cleaning, the workers returned yesterday to the site to continue the work. The DIÁRIO also tried to establish with SPAD the state of the animal, but was refused any access to information by the management.

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117 thousand tourists lost in 2009 ; Sao Vicente to prepare risk plans ; Other news headlines

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Rita … "Pride of Madeira taken at Pico Alto"

Many thanks to Elaine (East) for these web snippets :

Vimeo site. Daniell77 has uploaded two videos of the natural areas of Madeira. Narration in Portuguese. HERE

Origin of the ukulele in Hawaii. The SS Ravenscrag was a British barque, historically most famous for bringing Portuguese immigrants Joao Fernandes, Augusto Dias, Jose do Espirito Santo and Manuel Nunes to the islands, as these men are considered to have introduced the ukulele to Hawaii. This ship sailed from Madeira and reached Honolulu on the 23rd of August in 1879. This date is now honoured as the birth of the ukulele. MUST HAVE BEEN PAINFUL GIVING BIRTH TO A UKULELE

Don kindly send me in this playlist of Carnival 2010 Videos, so you can while away an hour or two … Thanks Don. YOUTUBE

From Tess : A short write up on Caniço’s carnival. What better way to laugh away the rain than to bring in the clowns?

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

Some odd links today.

Slideshow of the cortejo Trapalhão

An extensive personal blog about his love of wine, including Madeira Wine and his satisfaction with tasting different (expensive) ones. An Ounce of Madeira, A Step Back in Time. ….However, while I admit to approaching wine with the erudition and delicacy of Fred Flintstone, I do have a confession to make. I have acquired a grape-based guilty pleasure that has, somehow, managed to make me into a full-on, hardcore, lover of wine; a connoisseur, aficionado, and unabashed lover of a particular kind of wine you may have never heard of. It’s called Madeira, and it changed my life…..

Is this how us punters are conned? Selling sweet wines. …If clients are hesitating when recommended a wine, give them a drop to taste. It costs almost nothing to offer 1 or 2 cl but it works well. Especially if there is a couple and you give the lady to try the sweet wine (women usually can’t resist sweet wine ;o)). After seeing her face begging for more of that, the gentlemen on the other side of the table has no changes to back off from ordering it … MORE

A factual account of Madeira. Perpetual Traveller. Funchal. The island of Madeira belongs to Portugal, but thanks to the special statute it was given, since 1976 it has been autonomous from an administrative point of view. It is a beautiful island, with a constant spring climate that attracts tourists all year round. It has wild and harmonious vegetation, jagged coastlines and enthralling, breathtaking panoramas. MORE

DIÁRIO 17/02/2010

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Ferry delayed by a 4 hour wait for the berth to be free. The Administration of Harbours decided to keep the 138 passengers who had sailed for 24 hours from Portimão on board the ferry "Volcan de Tijarafe waiting. The ferry was to berth only after the AIDAluna left at 17.00 to leave a vacant space for the Lobo Marinho. The captain of the ferry had reported a delay in the arrival to Madeira which was originally scheduled for 13.00 but now expected at 17.00. Despite the forecasted delay, the ferry passed the Ponta de São Lourenço at 13.00, so the captain decided to slow down and take four hours over a journey normally taking 45 minutes. The sailing of the AIDAluna was delayed by an hour as there was a problem in removing the portaló (gangplank to the entrance?). Then the pilot had problems climbing aboard the Volcan de Tijarafe due to high waves. The ferry docked at 17.45 and sailed again at 20.20 with 64 passengers, a further delay due to a damaged machine. The Porto Santo Line had originally cancelled yesterday’s trip but improvements in sea conditions and the reduction in wind speed allowed the ferry to sail at 12.00 and leave Porto Santo at 19.00 with 450 passengers.

Madeira lost 117,000 tourists in 2009. The region lost 117,000 tourists and 693,000 overnight stays resulting in a reduction in revenue of 42 million Euros. There were 9.1% fewer tourists than the previous year and a 11.2% reduction in the number of nights stayed. The average stay lasted 5.2 nights, the worst figure since the record of 6.7 nights in 2000. There was a sharp increase, 18.1%, in the number of overnight stays by Portuguese last year but they are less profitable visitors as the average stay lasted 2.8 nights. The Portuguese secured 16.3% of all overnight stays, an increase from 13.3% in 2000. The loss in revenue to Madeira, amounting to more than 115,000 Euros per day, shows the region is loosing competitiveness. December was the worst month with only 34% occupancy and the annual occupancy rate was 52.1%. The worst months are the first four in the year and November and December. Last year, the average decrease in international tourism was 4% and the only region to increase tourism was Africa (5.1%). The decrease in values for different areas were: Europe 5.6%, Asia and the Pacific 1.9%, Americas 5.1% and 5.6% in the Middle East.

MADEIRA

Câmara de Lobos joins the Wine Association. This is the third county in the region to join the Associação de Municípios Portugueses do Vinho (AMPV). The other two counties are Porto Moniz and São Vicente. Since the AMPV was formally established, it has more than six dozen associated municipalities. Câmara de Lobos has been traditionally associated with viticulture and is responsible for more than half the annual production of Madeira Wine.

President of the Taxi Association assaulted. The President of AITRAM was attacked by a former head of the association. He was sworn at whilst in the Dolce Vita mall then punched in the face. He left but was pursued and took refuge in the interior of a company in Rua dos Aranhas, where he was assaulted. People came to his rescue and he went to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. When the police arrived at the scene, the alleged aggressor had disappeared.

São Vicente will have a carta de risco (risk charter). The physician-mayor of this municipality will have a risk document drawn up even if it is "politically expensive". There will be restrictions on constructions, especially in areas close to streams. The initiative comes from a history of disasters occurring in winter, particularly in 1979 when people died after being buried in landslides.The council will enlist experts in the areas of civil engineering, geology and hydraulics and the recommendations will be incorporated into the revised Municipal Plan, PDM. A ‘carta de risco’ outlines natural hazards that can occur, the prevention and repair of damage, civil protection plans and implementation of systems for monitoring events and alerting people. Planning, land use and conservation of the environment are a prime target for study.

Infiltrations in the Bairro da Nazaré. For over 20 years, residents in the social housing complex in the neighbourhood of Nazaré in Funchal have complained of rain entering the apartments. A resident complained he had spent 500 Euros in an attempt to fix the problem and had to replace a water damaged washing machine and refrigerator. On the top floor, a middle-aged couple no longer bother to have the damage repaired because the same problem recurs. Residents have notified the IHM, responsible for the building, but they visit then say they have too many repairs to do.

CULTURE

Benjamin Marques in focus in Madeira International Art Biennial. The Biennial will open on June 15th and the works of art will be displayed over several areas. This year it will pay homage to the Portuguese artist Benjamin Marques with a display of eight of his works. This is the third edition of this arts exhibition and the inauguration will be held at the Casa da Luz (Electricity Museum) on June 15th. The event ends on July 31st. The works and artists will also be represented in other areas of Madeira: from June 18th at the Casa de Cultura de Santana; from 24th June at the Casa da Cultura de Santa Cruz and at the Library of Estreito and Civic Centre of Ponta do Pargo, at dates to be announced. The photo is one of the works of Benjamin Marques in the collection titled, Géologie.

UPDATE

CDS-PP and PS want to know when the new hospital is to be built. A previous request by the CDS-PP for a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on Health and Social Affairs with the Regional Secretary for Social Affairs was rejected by the PSD. The CDS-PP now request a meeting with the Secretary for Social Affairs, the Director of the Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, the Director of SESARAM, Trade Unions and the Order of Doctors to clarify the date of commencement of construction of the new hospital in Funchal and other issues. A socialist councillor stated that the health of patients in Madeira is not a priority for the government of the PSD-M. Otherwise they would have already built a new central hospital instead of spending money on a golf course at Calheta (17 million Euros, only the first phase), tennis courts and more roads and tunnels. The centrists are concerned about the climate of persecution that lives in the Regional Health Service, with constant conflicts between doctors and nurses, the Clinical Director of the Hospital, SESARAM and the Trade Unions of the Health Professionals. The two opposition parties express concern over the debt of the service, the budget of 323 million Euros and debts in payments to suppliers and banks as well as more than 80 million Euros owed to the National Association of Pharmacies. Marmeleiros Hospital and the Health Centre of Bom Jesus are obsolete and there have been complaints from doctors about lack of medicines and hospital beds.

JORNAL DA MADEIRA

FRONT PAGE NEWS

Medical records online. The medical records of users of the health service will be online by the end of this year. Thus, doctors may have access to them at any hospital or health centre in the region. The emergency department of the hospital and the health centres have computerized records but they are presently not all connected on the same system. This will save both time and cost as the doctor can see the medical history, latest information and tests carried out.

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

Today’s main news headline : War of the posters without solution – The agreement in Funchal failed. The BE and PCP only take down their [political] posters when the council stops using their electronic displays. This story has been kicking around since last year at least, and I really can’t be bothered to read it again. The communists / other parties, who entered into an agreement last year to restrict their political propaganda posters in Funchal, particularly in the tourist areas (below Cota 40), noticed that the ruling Social Democrats in the council were using the electronic street display boards (public property) to spread their political propaganda instead, wherever and whenever they wanted. End of agreement of course, and the BE and PCP still have posters up and have no intention of removing them.

The sea swallows the coast – The transgressive phenomenon is a reality for Madeira and Porto Santo.

Madeira left in the dark – Thunderstorm caused the black-out. Rui Rebelo, president of the Electricity Company of Madeira said that the bad weather that caused the power cut was felt especially on the north coast, and had caused "an atmospheric discharge that focused on the 60 Kw lines" leading to the automatic shutdown of electrical systems for safety reasons. Rui says that in these circumstances the reactivation of the electricity takes some time because it is necessary to restore the electricity in a phased manner. Well actually it was just after day-break, which was quite handy. I was without ‘luz’ for around half an hour I think, but as the mains-powered digital clock stopped, it is difficult to be absolutely sure. The article says it was out nearly an hour, but the entity upstairs keeps an eye out for me, and must have realised that my early morning cup of tea was lacking.

Low visibility at Madeira Airport – Flights have been cancelled and planes have been obliged to divert. The Porto Santo ferry, Lobo Marinho, cancelled its voyage. Wind and rain, but mostly poor visibility caused the problems at the airport, and 3 flights were cancelled up to the time of the Diário report, and another 7 diverted, two of which, coming from Stanstead and Amsterdam went to Faro.

More than 14 thousand unemployed – Madeira records the biggest increase in the country compared to the same period in 2009. The latest figures have been released by the Institute of Employment on Madeira, and show a horrifying increase of 45.3% January to January, when there were 14,432 registered unemployed. The Algarve came a close second with 43.7%, and the Azores third with 38.2%. In terms of annual average statistics, there were increases registered in all the regions of Portugal. The highest was in the north of Portugal (11%), and Madeira with 7.6% was one of the lower statistics. That latter figure I find hard to believe, as a quick calculation implies that there must be 176,000 people working here in a population of around 260,000. Perhaps it is my maths that needs closer scrutiny?

Ribeira Brava will try out ‘Census 2011′ in March. The Pilot Survey will be held all over the country from March 1 to May 31. We are now entering the final stage of preparing for the 2011 Census. According to the website of the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DRE), the "dress rehearsal" for the actual operation of the census will take place from the 1st of March, in the municipality of Ribeira Brava. 30 interviewers will be recruited by the DRE and NSI and then will be sent to the towns of Ribeira Brava (16 interviewers), Serra d’Água (3), Tabua (3), and Campanário (8), so that within three months they can collect "thorough data on the Buildings, Accommodation, Families and Individuals." The collection of information for statistical purposes should be made face to face with the population.

Madeiran wins slot in television series – Joana Ponte is a vampire in the series ‘Lua Vermelha’ [Red Moon]. I haven’t watched this series on SIC, but a few days ago I saw a bit when channel hopping, and it looked quite interesting. But if SIC wanted to recruit for monster / weirdo roles in the series, surely Uncle Bertie would have been the first choice. He has nothing else constructive to do, and he wouldn’t even need any make-up. If that doesn’t get me deported, then I reckon I am safe here for the rest of my days!

The main sport / football headline today : Intelligence of Rúben decisive in the victory – The Madeiran made the difference again, even weakened. In the end he shone. And what an unusual winning goal it was he set up, as Porto beat Arsenal 2 – 1 in the Champions League knock-out game. The visitors manager Arsenal Whinger was moaning about it on the news this morning, saying that the referee should have given a penalty to Porto, not an indirect free kick. What planet is that bloke from? Benfica play tonight in Germany. It’s on SIC at 8 pm.

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’

Electricity prices rise ; New year for the young ; Christmas supplement ; and news stories

admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s photo – Many thanks to Eiryl … Xmas scene from Câmara de Lobos (pt 2).

"The airport was opened on 18 July 1964 with two 1,600m runways. The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean, made it a tricky landing for even the most experienced of pilots. The original runway was only 1600 metres in length, but was extended by 200 metres 8 years after the TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 incident of 1977 and subsequently rebuilt in 2000, almost doubling the size of the runway, building it out over the ocean. Instead of using landfill, the extension was built on a series of 180 columns, each being about 70m tall. This airport is also considered the Kai Tak of Europe because of its singular approach to runway 05". MADEIRA AIRPORT ARTICLE

The Diário de Notícias newspaper has published a Christmas colour supplement if anyone would like a browse through it’s online HERE with lots of photos.

The charges for electricity are going to rise by 2.9 percent in 2010 in continental Portugal, the equivalent of a €3 increase for an average bill of €40. In Madeira the increase is of 2.5 percent and in the Azores of 2.1 percent. PORTUGAL NEWS Well of course you already knew, you always hear it here first!

Nothing to do after the new year’s eve celebrations? This might appeal to the younger ones, and might offend the older ones …

Most Levada walks are difficult for anybody with the slightest fear of heights; so when reading about a short walk described as ‘easy’ and ‘flat’ it already had sounded interesting . A short ride on a local bus up to the Palheiro Gardens (Blandy’s gardens) where you can enjoy the peaceful surroundings of what must be a beautiful garden at the height of summer, a little short on colour in December but still interesting. A short walk, approximately 45 minutes to the renowned Jasmine teahouse; once there you can have a refreshing cuppa before catching the bus (conveniently the stop is just outside the tea house) back to Funchal. Funchal Really Easy levada walking

"Higdon Life in Madeira: Jardim do Mar, Madeira Island, Portugal: We live a simple life on the beautiful island of Madeira off the coast of Morocco. We have three beautiful children that God has blessed us with-Kaija, Mikkai and Adelei!" Never post anything private about Madeira on the web … I will find it! HIGDON FAMILY JIG

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

(There is no newspaper today, as I guess the reporters all had yesterday off … what a luxury, and yesterday’s newspaper just had a handful of stories, some already covered here a couple of days ago).

Rock fall forces family from home. The car was buried inside the garage, and the house damaged, early on Christmas morning in sítio do Calvário, in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos. There were 5 people in the house when it was stuck at about 1.30 am yesterday morning, but all escaped uninjured. The fire brigade attended, but there was little they could do, so the matter is now in the hands of the council to clean up and secure the location from further problems. Also up until early yesterday morning the fire departments were called to Funchal, Tâmega (Ribeira Brava), Fontaínhas and to Quinta Grande to deal with trees that had fallen into the roads. At Levada dos Piornais a wall collapsed. Somehow I suspect there must be many more stories of problems than just the few cited here, but everyone deserves a day off, so bad luck for the firemen as well as for those badly affected.

Expense with unemployment benefit soars – Compared to 2008, this year obliged Social Security to spend 40% more on benefits. With unemployment up around 50% in the same twelve months, they did well to keep the increase in expenditure down to 40% in my opinion. The article is full of facts and figures, but luckily for me the Diário also published them in a table, saving me some work.

Yesterday’s main news headline and with most of the front page with a great big picture of a Santa statue : Bring back the good old times [?] – The period of celebrations has been marked by storms and damage. And the forecasts for the next few hours are not the best. But there are compensations that help to fuel the dream and to maintain the tradition.

Footballers : Living Christmas in the traineeship – Christmas dinner in the home of Cléber. A bit of a space filler methinks. The story looks at three 18 year old apprentices from Nacional football club of Madeira, who are spending their first Christmas away from home. Their normal home these days is in the athlete’s accommodation at the Choupana Stadium. Everyone else has returned home for Xmas, but these 3 Brazilians stayed on Madeira, using the time to play computer games and play snooker, because it would take too long to return to Brazil with just a short break ahead of them.

At the moment I can’t get into any other online stories, but may try again later.

If anyone else can oblige with any other news stories, Thank you in anticipation.

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’

Gripe A detectors installed ; Storm warning continues ; Embroidery exports plummet

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo – Many thanks to Sheila … "A rainbow emerges from the clouds to slip into the sea off Santa Cruz".

I am of the impression that the weather is a very popular subject for many blog visitors, and I saw this website and thought of you. It has 3 hourly advance forecast slots for temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity and chances of rain (in % terms). So rather than planning ones day based on a very general daily weather forecast, those in Funchal can plan their shopping trips in between thunderstorms (theoretically). FUNCHAL WEATHER

Being the season for Eggnog, did you know you can make this sickly drink with our very own MADEIRA WINE

I had a free 1.8 metre Christmas tree delivered yesterday, as did neighbours, so I assume it was from the council … an environmentally friendly recyclable plastic one I guess, but I didn’t open the box to see. I think most people who wanted an Xmas tree would have brought one by now, so probably a waste of time for this year. Anyone want it? It’s free if you want to collect it.

What make Madeira Unique? Students answer the question in this video.

Gripe A detection machine in the airports of the Region – Suspect cases will be accompanied by the health authorities. Madeira and Porto Santo airports started yesterday a monitoring system for people arriving at the respective airports, to check if they are potential carriers of the swine flu H1N1 virus. 3 nurses will be based in each airport to check the results of people passing through the sensors, which will report elevated body temperatures in disembarking passengers. Any passengers that trigger the system will be asked questions, and if it seems that they are possible Gripe A carriers they will be put in the charge of a nurse until the virus has been confirmed or otherwise.

Civil protection emits warning about rain and strong winds – The alert continues until Christmas eve. Strong and very strong winds from the Southwest will hit Madeira, with gusts up to 130 km / hour in high places. Rain and heavy downpours are also forecasted, with the conditions for thunderstorms. The warning is given not to venture into high and exposed areas on foot or by car, and to be aware of the potential for a little flooding, rock falls, and landslides.

Sharp drop in exports of Embroidery – Embroiderers will have an increase of 3%. The year 2009 saw a sharp drop in exports of Embroidery. Data provided by the Secretary for the Environment and Natural Resources show that the export of this product fell by about 25% over the previous year. Manuel António Correia acknowledges that the sector is experiencing some difficulties, and that this situation has influenced the government’s decision to set wage increases for home-working embroiderers by 3% in 2010. The announcement was made at the ceremony of awards at this year’s best embroiderers.

Many thanks to Sue for this article.

Rivers overflow and storm causes damage. The rivers of St. Vincent and the Magdalene Sea overflowed last night sowing panic and chaos in those areas. The most serious took place in St. Vincent, where a motorist was surprised at the speed of the rising waters, left the car and ended up falling to the river bank. Moreover, the streets of the mountain village were covered with mud. Thanks to assistance from the Fire Department of San Vicente and Porto Moniz they managed to rescue the man with virtually no injuries. The corporation had almost not enough hands to cope with the number of requests for help that arrived at headquarters, including the Police station which was one of several areas flooded. The storm and the consequent rise in the water of the river, forced the closure of via expresso 4, connecting Ribeira Brava to Sao Vicente, the traffic being diverted to the former regional road (Encumeada). This caused a massive traffic jam, as explained by the commander of the Regional Civil Protection Madeira, Rui Neri. "Hundreds of cars were stopped which caused many complications, because everyone wanted to get home," stated Commander, describing the situation in St. Vincent and Madalena do Mar "very complicated". But the rest of the island was not spared by bad weather, with record floods, landslides, falling trees and lampposts slightly throughout the Region, due to gusts of wind blowing up to 130 km / h. In Funchal, the two corporations did not rest with the falling trees in the hotel zone, Avenida Zarco, Monte, Rotunda do Infante, District of Nazareth, where a car was damaged. Also the lighting fell from the effects of strong wind gusts, with a taxi being hit by a pole near the House of Light and Christmas decorations set up on the pier causing it to collapse partially. In the area of the Star, the way to the Nun’s Valley, a landslide hit a car, but caused no casualties because the occupants left on time. In Camara de Lobos, more specifically in the Strait, a tree struck two parked cars, blocking the road. In the same area, Nogueira, a zone of São Lourenço, a tree fell on a bus, causing no injuries, forcing the Fire Department to redouble its efforts to clear the road. In the municipality of Santa Cruz, there were power cuts that left some locations in Canico and Camacha in the dark. The North, in Santana, there is no record of flooding. The river overflowed Faial, and a collapse in Fajã Cedro Gordo blocked the road leaving dozens of cars, including a bus, blocked. Firefighters, technical authority and the Government were in place. For all these reasons, and because the weather conditions will continue at least until this afternoon, the commander Rui Neri asks the population to avoid leaving the house and riding in a car. "If you do, try to avoid areas most at risk, circulating under trees or other places that may be a risk," advised the person responsible for civil protection, stressing the need for people to obey the authorities – PSP, and Vialitoral Via expresso – who are responsible security. "It is essential to respect the signs," he stressed.

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

Hotels obliged to fire staff.

Unemployment hits 28 Madeirans a day – Madeira had 13,510 unemployed in November, 53.4% more than a year ago. After the Algarve (+59.8%), Madeira had the worst problems, with the Azores very close behind (52.9%). With Summer jobs now over and the year end peak not looking promising, Madeira will have a slack tourism period for several weeks, save festivals and carnival week, so it looks like there is worse to come. Unemployment here has increased by 4.5%, or 587 people, just from October to November. In that same short month, job offers fell by 46%.

Today’s main news headline : Crimes shelved - The Court (of Appeal?) decided that the lawsuit ‘Medicam’ was not strong enough for trial. At issue were four defendants accused of falsification of documents, criminal association and serious fraud.

Most of the front page today is taken up with a ungripping photo of a stopped (abandoned?) car in a street littered with flood debris … but no flood (maybe the Diário photographer arrived a bit late?) : Night of panic – Rivers spill over in São Vicente, Ribeira Brava, and Madelena do Mar. Sue kindly covered the weather stories above, so not much more to add. All was under control in Ribeira Brava town, but the flow in the river was the strongest I have ever seen. I can’t normally see the actual river from my balcony, but last night for a while I could, and the noise was incredible. The water clearly coming from somewhere with much more rain than we actually had in the town. The poor ducks (around 70 of them) were homeless with no high ground left to sleep on. They ended up clustered on a few rocks very close to the sea and the threat of high waves. Don’t forget if you have some leftovers / bread etc. you can spare, they really do need help to find food at the moment and probably for a good few weeks to come.

Rain and wind threaten the most popular night in downtown Funchal. The rain hasn’t helped businesses, and now with the stalls of flowers, fruit, vegetables erected around the fruit market (Mercado dos Lavradores) ready for Market Night tonight, traders are apprehensive about the night and trade being ruined by more bad weather. The roads are closed to traffic and full of traders trying to make the most of the last few days before Xmas. The sun umbrellas amongst the stands are serving to provide some protection from the repetitive rain, but there has been no protection against the financial damage they have all suffered as a result of the poor weather.

Bad weather cuts water supply in São Jorge.

As expected the Lobo Marinho ferry crossing to Porto Santo was cancelled today. The same story indicates that after Christmas day (when indications are that conditions will be improved), adverse conditions will return on 26th December.

Today’s sports headlines : Leonardo leads second division without exuberance.

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.

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’

Firework record about to be broken ; Red Cross need volunteers ; Rat control measures failing

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo Thanks to Debbie … a last look at the Savoy Hotel in Funchal

"Having been to Madeira many times on holiday I enjoy reading the blog to keep up to date with news. I don’t feel that I am able to contribute very much but appreciate those who take their time to translate news etc. When I was in Madeira this summer, I took these photos of the Classic Savoy knowing it was all about to change. It was the first hotel I stayed in when I first came to Madeira". Debbie

Nacional coach Manuel Machado in intensive care. The coach was in a life-threatening situation over the weekend, but the indications are that Machado has now stabilised, although he is in a state of induced coma. A full recovery is expected to take many weeks or even months. GET WELL SOON MANUEL

"The Main Tourism Office in Madeira has gone Wow! with the installation of an interactive water floor picturing images and info about the famous madeiran levadas. Wow! also delivered a multimedia kiosk where users can browse through a Madeira interactive guide available in four languages". EQUIPMENT PHOTOS anyone know any more on this?

DUBAI – Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi hopes to set a new world record for the largest fireworks display on Wednesday to mark UAE National Day, local daily the National reported on Tuesday. The 45-minute display will see fireworks set off from 12 barges floating offshore reaching up to 2,000 metres into the air, the newspaper reported.
The current record holder for “largest fireworks display” is a 2006 New Year’s Eve display on the Portuguese island of Madeira, the paper said. OUR RECORD GOING UP IN SMOKE? perhaps it will pour down with rain, but it’s not likely in that part of the world!

This is an image of Madeira’s Guinness World Record certificate, which if the above is true will be obsolete later today. (Click image for a slightly larger view).

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

Sea changes colour. Deposition of land into the sea by the works of the promenade. Increasingly common sight now Winter is approaching.

Unicer will sell Guinness in Angola. Unicer will sell Guinness in Angola in partnership with the drinks company Diageo, which owns the brand. This partnership is for a period of five years and they expect to reach 180,000 customers in the first year. Unicer sells about 125 million litres of beer in Angola per year – the brands Super Block, Cristal and Carslberg. —Not strictly Madeira related but I know of interest to particular blog readers. Where will they sell Guinness next?

Government blames Councils. The Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development stress that unless there is greater involvement of the Municipalities in the program of extermination of rats which has been promoted by the Government, the success of the program will be jeopardized. It is for the Municipalities to place traps in places that need further attention and there will be hundreds of clarification sessions with farmers and officials of the Councils. The regional authorities should tackle the problem of uncultivated land and bill the landowners for the cost of the pest control campaign. "The Councils may notify the owners of vacant lots to put rat poison in these areas and should give a deadline for that to happen. If the owners do not take this measure, the Councils are entitled to do so and send the bills to the owners of the land." People’s habits need to change to fight the plague of rats. The worst factor is the abandonment of land. Other factors are the use of abandoned land as landfill and not cleared of rubbish, land full of scrub and beds of streams not cleaned. The aim of the program is not to completely eradicate the rat population but control the numbers. The second phase of distribution of rat poison to the Municipalities has already begun. Rat poison will be distributed to 10,000 farmers in the coming days. This program to combat the plague of rats lasts three years, from 2008 to 2011. By the end of the program, they hope to have distributed 300 tons of rat poison and 60,000 traps throughout the region, at a cost of €1.3 million.

Red Cross needs more volunteers. There are about three dozen people who make up the volunteer corps of the Portuguese Red Cross (Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa CVP), but they need more people willing to take part in the social work of the institution. They deliver breakfast to outpatients at the hospital, visit inpatients, work with groups of elderly people and deliver clothes to families and individuals in need. The opening of the Christmas Bazaar is only possible because of the goodwill of a few volunteers. All products on sale were made by the volunteers of the CVP. It will continue until Saturday December 5, from 10.00 to 19.00, at 21 Rua Dr. Fernão de Ornelas. The most demand has been for the sweet products and Christmas decorative pieces.

‘Adopt a Star’ to support the Centro da Mãe. The Centro da Mãe is situated in the Bairro do Hospital in Funchal and is an institution for pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers and their children. Until 15 December, Liberty Seguros have a campaign to collect toys for the Mothers’ Centre and other Social Services institutions. Last Christmas they delivered 1,800 gifts and a wheelchair.

SEF holds Belarusian sought by Interpol. A woman born in Belarus was held by immigration officials at the airport yesterday as she attempted to board a plane to the UK. The arrest was on the grounds that Interpol had an International Warrant for her extradition to Belarus to fulfil a prison sentence (10 years for corruption). She was sent to Lisbon where the court rules on all extradition cases. They allowed her to continue to the UK where she has been living recently. —- No reasons given yet for that decision.

Isidora pays a fine and expects a licence. João Isidora, the leader of the Earth Party (MPT) had work done on his house that was not licensed by Funchal Council in 2007. The Council ordered the demolition of this extension last June. He challenged this decision and awaits an outcome. Meanwhile, he must pay a fine of 1,000 Euros. The original licence was for improvement to the roof but instead he added an attic. He applied for a second licence but this was refused on grounds that it did not fit in with the Municipal Plan (MDP). His new challenge is that only 65 cm of the roof is illegal and he also challenges the legality of the MDP. — The Earth Party leader spoiling the contours of the environment!

Region tries to ensure funds for the sea. A maritime network for transport of goods to Europe to replace traffic congestion on the road links in the EU is being developed. In the case of Madeira, it is suggested an amendment to the EU maritime policy to allow funding to facilitate the transport of goods as well as basic goods and raw materials that are necessary for the region. This links in with an article stating that movement of goods and passengers in Madeira had a sharp fall in the third quarter of 2009 compared to both last year and the previous quarter. The largest fall was the transport of goods at Caniçal Port which fell 15% between July and September this year. Similarly, at the airport, passenger movement fell 3.3%.

Construction contentions in Chão da Ribeira. In the countryside, brown wooden barracks have been built in defiance of the laws. There are now several thousand throughout the valley, they infringe the Municipal Master Plan and are of concern to both the Council of Porto Moniz and the Natural Park of Madeira. The Mayor of Porto Moniz and the Director of the Natural Park of Madeira are to meet to decide the most effective measures to combat investors converting ‘palheiros’ and vacant land to small buildings for weekend / weekday nightlife. These constructions of non-permanent residence proliferate in an area of strict building restrictions to protect the landscape and existing buildings. Buildings can only be reconstructed, restored or remodelled if they do not increase the area of existing construction. This is what is happening. The mayor is awaiting a detailed plan of the location in order to impose detailed rules setting out, once and for all, policy development. The cultural and environmental heritage will be preserved. These palheiros were used to store farm implements and agricultural products. "I am in favour of reclassification but with detailed guidelines." The mayor has a stone palheiro in the area. The Director of the Natural Park of Madeira confirms that criminal misdemeanours have occurred. A wooden building can cover an entire plot of land, have high walls, a barbecue and a TV satellite dish. The previous mayor defended the Municipal Plan for the area which enabled the reconstruction of 120 palheiros and a restoration area, and was agreed by the Regional Government. Now it is known the gravity of this plan on the landscape of the whole valley of Chão da Ribeira. —- A palheiro is a small building, like the typical A-framed houses at Santana. Selling on the web, with land, for about 100,000 Euros. —- for anyone who likes history, from the J. Madeira.

Madeira between the ‘filipinos’ and the Restoration of 1640. Portugal today celebrates the first day of the fight against the Dinastia Filipina who for 60 years (1581 – 1640) reigned in Portugal. December 1 marks the Restoration of Independence, with the consequent establishment of the Portuguese Dynasty of the House of Braganza. These two times (that of Filipes of Spain and the Restoration) were reflected in the political and economic situation in Madeira. In the fifteenth century (Filipes of Spain), Madeira had close relations with the Canaries for trade and Spanish soldiers settled in Madeira and even married Madeiran women. It was a peaceful occupation except for a few warships sent here, not to occupy but to prevent the English, as they did in the Azores. In 1640, when there was Restoration of the Republic, those from the Canaries residing in Madeira returned to the Canaries. Not because of expulsion by the Madeirans but because of the privileged position of England, which supported Portugal during the fight against the Spanish, led to English families being installed in the Region. The border war in Spain / Portugal was reflected in the Canary Islands, with restrictive measures to trade between those islands and Madeira. In Lanzarote, there was retaliation against the Madeiran residents, especially a prominent family whose assets were confiscated by the Spanish. Limited trade with the Canaries led to Madeira turning to new markets, under British influence, especially the USA and the British colonies, which had a positive impact on the export of wine. So Madeira won both economically and politically while Portugal was under the two situations: the Filipes of Spain and the the Restoration.

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

Today’s top news headline : Porto Santo subsidised to the power of 7% of purchases. The Porto-santenses are amongst the best-off in the country thanks to the salary increase. Only the 30% insularity allowance causes regional irregularities : one lives worse-off in Funchal. Top story today I will leave for some other kind soul to translate. LINK

Sá Group invests €3.5 million in Câmara de Lobos. The new Hiper Sá store opens on Saturday, with over 7 thousand products, and provides employment for 30 people, and also 10 posts indirectly. It will be open every day between 8 am and 9 pm, and includes free parking spaces for 31 cars, with 5 of those allocated for disabled and pregnant shoppers.

256 vacancies to be filled – Every month there are work positions to be taken up. It’s strange : Madeira has almost 13 thousand unemployed. October finished with almost 13,000 unemployed signed-on at the Institute of Employment and not far off 400 job offers made. Even so there were 256 vacancies still to be filled at the end of the month. Those aged over 35 and less than 9º grade education are the worst off when it comes to finding new jobs.

Insecurity in Venezuela is a myth. Vice-minister for Europe represented Hugo Chávez (President of Venezuela) in the XIX Ibero – American summit and guaranteed to the Diário that the intervention in banking serves to save the savings of the international community that lives in Venezuela. I am not allowed to say ‘who cares’ it seems, so I will skip this story on the basis that ‘it likely provides limited information of little interest to blog readers’.

Discotheque will liven Market Night. The nightclub ‘Vespas’ will erect a tent in the Praça da Autonomia. The programme for December includes various parties and the presence of famous DJs, and runs into the beginning of January. The big story is the market night entertainment provided by Vespas, that will appeal to the younger generation, that each year fill the main arteries of Funchal. I could give you a list of the ‘star’ names who will play music, but I suspect it might be as useful as the names of Rudolph’s pals who will be out delivering presents those nights. I remember reading from last year that the traditional significance of Market Night was diminishing, and with this racket filling the streets all night this year, that it not likely to get any better. Perhaps I misjudge the younger generation, and after dancing the night away to DJ Motiv8 (pictured), perhaps they will stock up with a bag or two of fruit and veg before ambling home. And as for Motiv8 himself, what were his parents thinking when they christened him with a number in his name?

Finally, in sport, or football rather : Lionel Messi dethrones Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine was elected with simplicity. The (ex?)-king of football drops down a notch, as Messi of Barcelona picks up the Golden Ball 2009 award, given by a French football magazine, after CR737 won it last year. Messi got 473 points, Ronaldo just 233 in the selection process, but still ended up a clear 2nd place in the rankings.

Marítimo player Bruno contracted ‘Gripe A’, making him the first case in Madeiran football. Get well soon Bruno … enough said?

And a bonus story : Portuguese use internet to see emails, exchange messages, and to see news. Obercom reveals a study that gives account of the increasing use of the internet. These are the facilities that those who go-online most use, and the growth areas are contact with friends (58.9%) and family (41.3%) through the internet, since 2003. In terms of information searches, the search for online news is the most widespread activity within the internet activities of the Portuguese, and nearly one-third perform this search daily. The study also indicates that the Google search engine has emerged as the most popular, having been visited since the beginning of 2009 by 87.4 percent of Internet users, followed by Sapo, visited by nearly two thirds of Internet users. 24 percent of the survey respondents believe blogs have little or no importance as sources of information, and 28.7 percent think the same in relation to government websites. Well what can I say, is it time to pack up and go home?

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.

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’

2010 depends on bank loans ; 45% success for smokers therapy ; New fisheries policy needed

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Today’s Photo : Thanks to Tobi … a visiting private yacht

"Funchal is the prime spot for overseas property buyers; the capital enjoys sunnier and drier weather than the rest of the island and has all the amenities expected in a cosmopolitan city plus the international airport close". The usual BS from a property company, and if you have up to €429k spare, by all means read it, but I wouldn’t bother. ‘Healthy’ tourists prefer holiday homes to hotels

"When the leste blows – the wind that comes from the Sahara – the thermometer may rise to about 33ºC. But that does not happen often and, on this little Portuguese island, situated far out in the wide Atlantic, you can assume the temperatures will rarely rise above a pleasantly warm 24°. You may prefer to sleep with a blanket, but you won’t roast in the mid-day sun". HELLO MAGAZINE ON QUINTAS

Carlos Carvalhal, the ex Marítimo manager, who was sacked a few weeks ago after a pretty poor start to the new football season, has been appointed as the new boss of one of the biggest Portuguese teams. Sporting gave him the job after Paulo Bento resigned last week. Just shows that poor performance doesn’t stop one going up in the world … the world of football that is.

Yesterday’s top news stories thanks to Elaine again :

More details about the emergency exercise at the airport on Wednesday. On Wednesday at 00.30 there will be a full-scale exercise to test the Emergency Plan. The scenario has been set for this year. A bus with 32 passengers for a flight to Lisbon looses control and will hit the right wing of an aircraft, while 52 passengers are disembarking by foot and another 91 remain in transit on the plane. In the mean time, 109 passengers are boarding. The flight originated in Lisbon and is going to Caracas. The bus also collides with a refuelling vehicle, causing a spill of about 3,000 litres of gasoline which catches fire. As a result of the accident, there are 328 casualties – 13 dead, 10 seriously injured priority I, 20 seriously injured priority II, 10 slightly injured and 178 uninjured. In addition, 6 passengers go missing because they panic and flee, and 80 passengers have to be evacuated from the airport. The scenario is chosen by the probability of occurrence and to test equipment which the emergency services might be unfamiliar with using, for example to deal with a fuel spillage into the sea. As such, the Administration of the Harbours and Control of the Maritime Area will be present. This operation involves dozens of regional entities and about 160 extras, in addition to observers and assessors, and will last four or five hours. I thought these emergency exercises were supposed to have an element of surprise, but it seems that if all this was published in the newspaper beforehand everyone involved can have everything planned and prepared to the last detail … I’ll be home for tea honey! Der

5 neonatal deaths in Madeira in 2008. This was one less than 2007. There are decreases in both neonatal and perinatal deaths in the region. Nationally the infant mortality rate decline to 3.3/1000 live births and the neonatal rate decline to 2.5/1000 live births.

300 people on the waiting list for smoking cessation therapy. 45% of the 900 people attending for anti-smoking therapy at the Bom Jesus Health Centre since February 2005 stopped smoking. This is above the 20% national rate and 35% international rate due to more intensive therapy but there is a waiting list of 300 people and the treatment is not subsidized by the state. There are priority cases, for example people with lung problems, heart diseases and relatives of people who have quit smoking. There is a multidisciplinary team consisting of a doctor, nurse, psychologist and nutritionist. It is more successful as there are more consultations, between 16 and 18, and a person calls the user every day to try to motivate them. The main reason for failure is the cost of the medications which are not subsidized and range from 70 to 100 Euros. It would be cheaper to subsidize them than the health service treating resulting diseases, usually occurring 28 years after starting smoking. Since the tobacco advertising law was enforced in 2008, there has been a 5% decrease in tobacco sales and a decrease in the number of men smoking but an increase in female smokers.

CMF wants to encourage renovation of buildings. Funchal Council want to revise the municipal tax again in another initiative to encourage private investment in the renovation of houses. There is already a 50% reduction for residential use and exemption if the use will be for tourism. The mayor Miguel Albuquerque said that in recent years there had been a housing boom in the city centre. Therefore the council must make an effort to ensure affordable social housing in these areas such as in Cruzes and Alegria, and not introduce discrimination in terms of residents in the historic centre. He was speaking at the inauguration of a restored building in the Rua do Bispo, which includes six apartments, seven offices and three commercial spaces, and cost 1 million Euros to renovate, keeping the original facades and main features. (Shown in photo)

64 year old man arrested for sexual abuse against a child. Arrested on Friday for an alleged sexual abuse of a female child, up to the age of 13 years but no age specified. The offence occurred in Funchal and there is no family relationship between the man and the child. The man is prohibited from approaching children and could face up to eight years in prison. In March, a 17 year old was arrested on suspicion of rape of a 50 year old man and is in custody in prison.

An accident victim is seeking witnesses. The woman has fractures to both feet and one knee after a head-on collision last Friday in the Meia Legua tunnel in Ribeira Brava. A blue Fiat Panda was reversing inside the tunnel and she had to swerve to avoid it and collided with a van travelling in the opposite direction. There are several witnesses but no known registration number of the Fiat which left the scene, so any information should be passed on to the police.

Fine issued by GNR taken to the European Court. An emigrant from Madeira living in Luxembourg has refused to pay a 175 Euros fine issued by the GNR in Ponta do Sol in October and says he will take the case to Brussels. He was penalized for driving a car registered abroad that had exceeded the time limit of 183 days of exemption from taxation. He said he did not violate the law as the car had been in the region that same year but with another owner. "The car was mine but I sold it to my mother and thus the period of 183 returns to zero." The GNR said they might interpret the law in one way, and the Customs differently.

Airport receives 200 pieces from the private collection of Joao Carlos Abreu. The collection of ‘Angels and Boys Choir’ will be on display at the Arrivals Area from 20 December and throughout the Christmas period. These figurines are made of clay, ceramic, cardboard and metal and many were collected in Portugal and Italy as well as other countries.

President of the RTP in lightning discreet visit. The President of the Radio and Television of Portugal, Guilherme Costa, had a lightning visit to Funchal yesterday, previously unannounced and was not available to speak to journalists. The leaders of RTP-M also declined to comment. The workers of RTP-M were stunned as they had expected a formal meeting on Thursday to discuss the replacement for the retiring director and the future plan for equipping the regional centre. It is only known that the president talked at length with the retiring director, Leonel Freitas.

The 2010 budget depends on bank loans. The Regional Government will formally ask the State to amend the debt limit so it can go to the banks for loans to finance the Regional public investment. This revenue is needed to avoid an increase in unemployment and keep the economy going through wages and spending. It is difficult to cut current expenditure without affecting the quality of life of the population, for example health and education account for 75%. The current expenditure will be maintained by tax revenues and transfers from the State. Some investment finance should be available from the EU but the regional component has to be funded and Madeira has no money for this. Without bank loans the situation will be dire, the Regional Government cannot invest, major corporations will collapse and unemployment will soar. The Regional Government will have to depend on support at Lisbon of the PSD and CDS. The review of the Regional Finance Law introduces a new concept of the debt limit and possibly allows the State to endorse loans. The Regional debt to suppliers could surpass 150 million Euros by the end of this year and the Regional Government needs a new way of settling such debts as from June next year, the EU requires Member States to pay suppliers within 30 days. The PCP have delivered a package of 39 measures to cut ‘megalomaniac projects’ to the Regional Secretary of Planning and Finance. These are in economic and social areas to be included in the Budget next year. Jardim has already put the brakes on promises the Government made in some municipalities but some projects cannot be postponed, for example the new hospital in Madeira and a new small hospital in Porto Santo.

‘Estelinha’ and the conflict over the chapel. ‘Estelinha’ – popular name for Estela Pereira Ferreira – a 73 year old resident of Campanário who holds the keys to and receives the money from the promises for the Capela de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho (Chapel of Our Lady of Good Order). She has done so for more than 40 years on behalf of the local population. Several parish priests have been in the region but none have been able to clarify the ‘jurisdiction’ over the private chapel which belonged to Conde Canavial. There have been bitter exchanges and suspicions between ‘Estelinha’ and some priests, disagreements over public/pulpit money. In 2004, the priest and the diocese refused a baptism in the chapel, other times there have been weddings, Masses and christenings. Now the Mass is limited to festive seasons and the priest has to ask ‘Estelinha’ to open the door. ‘Estelinha’ says she has the permission of the owner to manage the chapel and has a ‘commission’ to pay for the upkeep made from received money and the ‘gold’ of Our Lady given by Conde Canavial. With conflict over the ownership of this property over the past 15 years, this ‘commission’ is not enough for the people to legally claim ownership of the chapel. Also conflicts over payment for repair work and the door and the roof were restored with the ‘commission’, not by the parish. The chapel is in a magnificent setting with a beautiful view and it is worth tourists asking to see inside. It was founded in 1672 and restored in 1762. In 2007, the Regional Government classified it as a monument of public interest and with this classification, it is in an area for special protection.

Unemployment decreases in the third quarter. Unemployment fell 0.2% over the second quarter of 2009. It stood at 7.9% in the third quarter of 2009. The national unemployment rate grew 0.7% to 9.8%.

Christmas shopping hours proposal. The union SITAM handed a proposal to the CMF that commercial areas close on Sundays and public holidays and at 20.00 in the week before Christmas. This is defended by a lack of consumers.

Consultations in the hospital increased 5.9% in the first halves of the years 2008 and 2009. Consultations at Health Centres also increased by 8.4%. Almada Cardosa of SESARAM stresses that the increased efficiency proves that the staff are not dissatisfied with the new management. "There is a great motivation and increased production with the same conditions." —- No strikes then?

PSD support new fisheries policy. The PSD Parliamentary Group wants Madeira, as an outermost region, to be treated differently by the European Parliament and they need a new fisheries policy for Madeira. The fishing vessels need upgrading to compete with the major industrialized countries and the large industrial vessels. They need to discuss with the MEP their concerns about levels of stocks of many species, not just the black scabbard fish. Also need to be able to manage stocks when there are future imbalances. The new fishing port at Câmara de Lobos will become a reality in 2011. It will be the largest fishing port in the region and the infrastructure will include the Regional Directorate of Fisheries, the auction and all the infrastructure related to the port.

Link to Canhas will be realized, Calheta Health Centre earlier. The link to Canhas in Ponta do Sol will be completed but the forecast is not until 2012. Jardim said that as the work is so complex and deadlines changed, he might not be able to inaugurate it. The Centre for Health and Social Security at Calheta will be completed earlier than expected as the project will begin immediately and not in 2010.

Headlines from the front page of today’s newspaper … feel free to add more ‘meat’ to the stories :

Offences of Jardim reduce PSP Madeira – Political accusations and mainland issued during the [election] campaign result in ‘lows’. The repercussions of President Jardim’s behaviour and accusations of a police force controlled from Lisbon. Some officers have requested transfers, cheesed off with Jardim’s behaviour and attitude toward the police.

Today’s top news headline : Expenditure in the port divides opinions – The project is to provide facilities to embark and disembark in the comfort of covered passageways. But the investment of €3 million is not peaceful between the shipping agents, because the equipment will not be 100% functional. This is about the installation of walkway equipment that will be used to embark and disembark some passengers arriving by ship (ferry or cruise), similar to the facilities used for planes, where a moveable corridor is moved into place to allow passengers to enter or leave the ship through a moveable corridor mechanism, as shown.

European Popular Party [PPE] brings 500 to Madeira – The assistant secretary general of the PPE is in the region preparing a meeting for October 2010. The PPE is the major ‘family’ of Euro MPs in the European Parliament, with nearly 300 inside the group. The event, scheduled for 13th – 15th of October 2010 will see a congress held here under the theme of ‘study days’. The event is likely to be one of the major events of the year, with around 500 people expected to attend, representing the 27 member states of Europe.

Festival of ‘Tunas’ livens up Funchal in December. With no specifics about this as I haven’t read the article yet, if you get the chance you should get along to witness this, as it is worthwhile. The ‘Tunas’ are bands from the universities of Madeira and Portugal, and the ones I have seen have always been all girls or all boys, normally up to around 20 in a group, but regardless have been really entertaining. Whilst other students may spend their spare time ‘down the pub’, these students put their effort into music and entertainment. What is different is the ‘extra’ entertainment they provide, often quite challenging and athletic, and I would imagine also very tiring.

War today on the road to South Africa – The atmosphere in Bosnia continues to be hostile to Portugal on the decisive day for entry to the World Cup. In South Africa, where Ronaldo already shines, the Portuguese community sees it’s pride in check. The second leg of the playoff between Bosnia and Portugal is tonight, on TVI (channel 4) at 7.45 pm. It’s do or die time, and the 1 – 0 home game lead has to be protected, or it’s no visit to South Africa for the World Cup Finals next year, and a big disappointment for the three Madeiran players likely to be in the squad.

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’

No funding for a new hospital ; Making a will ; Fishing fleet reduced ; Tunnel safety issues

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

TODAY’S PHOTO : Thanks to Vic … Gaula from Madeira Airport

You know, I was lying in bed the other night thinking to myself about Gaula. What’s Gaula all about I was thinking? Who lives there, and aside from a slightly irregular political profile, what does it have different to offer I thought? Well of course I didn’t have all the answers I needed, and added it to my mental list of places to visit. Well you can imagine my surprise to wake up the next morning and find an excellent article and lots of great photos all put together by a blog reader … all about Gaula … the premier is coming soon.

Babymoon on the beautiful Island of Madeira - Babymoon has done a nice review of Madeira on her blog, but somehow I think she may also be a shareholder in a certain hotel. BABYMOON

I asked yesterday how high is the statue of Cristo Rei in Garajau, and the consensus ranged between 20 and 150 metres, and although I have never seen it I would guess that a lower estimate is nearer the mark . The reason I asked was to do with the story during the week, where the PND new Democrats had put forward a motion in the regional assembly to erect a statue of Uncle Bertie overlooking the port of Funchal. It wasn’t mentioned until a couple of days later that the statue proposed would be 50 metres high. The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (pictured), was believed to have been one of the tallest statues of its day at 30 metres, but as the picture shows it was rather a trim statue. With Uncle Bertie’s body mass, at 50 metres it would have been a colossus indeed, and a deterrent to cruise ships coming into port, not just though any physical danger, but also likely to frighten the kids and adults alike. The PSD of president Jardim rejected the proposal, and I think I would have voted with them on this occasion, given the opportunity. But had the proposal been approved I think it might have looked something like this.

MANGO CHUTNEY – Tobi’s ex-secret recipe :
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
5 fresh mangoes
2 pears (sometimes i leave these out)
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
300 ml cider vinegar
175 g light muscovado sugar
1 tsp dried crushed chilli
pinch of allspice, salt, cumin, paprika, (don’t worry if you not got all these.)

Chop onions and heat olive oil in a pan, add onions and garlic and cook for 5 mins until soft, add the mangos, sugar, raisins, vinegar and cloves, and bring to the boil, then let simmer rapidly for 30-40 mins, stirring from time to time, until the mangos are tender and the liquid has evaporated. While doing this get your jars ready, I get mine hot in an oven for say 5 mins, with the lids off, but heat the lids as well, as this is just to kill germs, then place the HOT chutney in the jars and put the lids on, when they cool, the lid will pop down making it vacuum tight. Store in the cupboard for at least 2 weeks before eating, once opened it keeps in the fridge for 3 months. I have also placed in plastic tubs in the freezer, as it freezes very well, I love it with curry , or a tub of pringles …. Many thanks Tobi, it smells delicious

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Making a will within the EU : This piece was very kindly submitted by Sheila … many thanks.

Further to the comments about wills, the Portugal News had an interesting piece yesterday.

The European Commission has just proposed the simplification of cross-border inheritance rights. The new rules, if implemented, will allow people living abroad to choose to have the terms of their wills carried out in accordance with the laws of their own country.

At present, the laws of the country, where the deceased lived, apply to the entire estate, even if that includes property or assets in another EU country.

The new rules would allow a single authority (either in the country of residence or of origin) to deal with the whole estate. That would end contradictory rulings by courts, in several EU countries, relating to the same estate.

The Commission also proposes to create a special certificate to enable heirs and administrators of wills to prove their status in a particular country of the EU. At the moment, European countries sometimes refuse to recognise each other’s inheritance documents.

Around 450,000 of the inheritances dealt with in the EU every year have an international element. The total value of such estates is an estimated 120 billion Euros a year. Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said that the proposed legislation would make inheritance laws more certain and flexible. He said: "It is imperative that citizens and legal practitioners are able to understand and, to a certain extent, choose the rules applicable to assets in a will, wherever they may be located". The new rules will not affect inheritance taxes, which will continue to be administered under national law.

Hopefully that clarifies things a bit but, if you are still in doubt, you might like to do what my husband and I have done – find a good Madeiran, English-speaking lawyer! Good luck.

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

Reminder XXIV Regional Meeting of the Tunas and Mandolin Orchestras in Câmara de Lobos Saturday and Sunday. 16 groups in the Casa da Cultura. Sunday from 16.00.

Apprehension about the new Nursing Director. There was turbulence when the clinical directors were replaced at the hospital, now they think the focus will be on nursing. The previous Nursing Director had resigned for ‘personal reasons’, although few believe that was the real reason, and the successor has now been appointed. The President of the Union for Nurses says the managers change what is working well instead of restructuring regional emergency services or implementation of a regional network of continuing care. The Order of Nurses says they will act if changes mean the legality and safety of patients and respect for all professionals are affected. Focus is thought to be put particularly on the elderly and the Department of Dialysis, as the newly expanded department will be operational next January. The hospital for continuing care, João de Almada is overcrowded and there needs to be more care for the elderly at the primary health care level (health centres). There is also a long waiting list for residential homes and not enough money available.

Mackerel fishing fleet reduced. The fleet will be reduced to three when two boats are taken out of service next year. Weak demand, low prices, limitations in the Madeiran market and the only canning factory has closed means that profits are low. Last year’s taxable income was 1,800 Euros. One fisherman will join another company and the other will work with his brother. The EU aims to reduce the quotas (to 15% less fish) in the Atlantic and North Sea next year. For Madeira, it means a reduction from 1,280 to 1,088 tons but they only catch an average of 400 tons. The fishermen reckon there is enough mackerel and horse mackerel locally, especially as there is no Spanish competition. A Marine Biologist said it would be different if the quotas were reduced for the Black Scabbard fish as they are presently catching near the EU quota.

Madeira wine promoted in Japan. Madeira wine from five companies will be promoted to importers, journalists and wine experts. Over the past three years, the Japanese market has been the fourth largest export market for Madeiran wine. In 2008, 205,283.70 litres were exported representing a gross income of 1.0092.786,88 Euros. ——-This time, 0.70 litres has crept into the figure.

Judges are not independent. The President of the Association of Public Prosecutors admitted that the judges are not independent and impartial due to the size of the island and strong political and media scrutiny. They have to do more to resist pressure.

EU recommends that road tunnels are made safer. Smoke emissions in tunnels and car parks and fatal accidents in Europe mean that the present tunnels need to be modified. How does one make a tunnel safer exactly? Perhaps we could knock down the part that actually defines it as a tunnel, i.e. the rock? As our tunnels already have escape routes, cameras, ventilation, lighting, emergency services and equipment and whatever, one struggles to thing what more could be done. Ahh, I know … how about we close them to cars! Der

Diocese has new church paid by the Government. The new church in Feiteiras, São Vicente cost €1.5 million. The parish community raised 120,000 Euros for restoration of art works and interior furnishings. The building was started in 2003 and represents an inverted ship, a reference to St. Peter’s boat.

More than 1,000 crimes against children. In the first half of this year, there were over 1,000 cases of violation of the rights of children and young people, but the numbers have decreased since last year. Of the 1,097 cases, there were 300 cases of neglect, followed by ‘deviant behaviour, psychological abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse’. The social workers and outreach workers were praised at the forum, especially those working in Câmara de Lobos and Nogueira, Camacha. The most cases occurred in Funchal, then Santa Cruz, Machico and Câmara de Lobos.

SANAS assistance quadruples. The lifeguards have dealt with three assistances every hour, four times those registered in 2005, due to a growth in the number of bathing areas. 36% of the help required is given to children, especially wounds. The elderly were vulnerable to drowning due to loss of consciousness. Cases of sunstroke increased, mainly in adults and adolescents. The most cases of death were in Calheta and the Lido. 37 drownings last Summer, more than half by exhaustion and three cases required resuscitation. There are over 130 lifeguards on 21 beaches. There were definitely no deaths by drowning this Summer from Madeira’s beaches, so I think there must be some national statistics mixed in here, but I can’t find the original article to check. Der

Portela to Ribeiro Frio levada walk still partially closed. Will remain so until next March. There are notices at Portela advising how much of the walk can be undertaken.

New hospital still has no guaranteed funding. Initial investment of €150 million needed. According to the D. Notícias, but not confirmed, Jardim has been in talks with the Mello Healthcare Group who have investments in hospitals in Portugal and Spain. They say that in the short-term, they will be unable to make investments so it will not be for another 3 to 5 years. Two other private groups are interested in building the new hospital of around 662 beds. Private hospitals are 14% cheaper to construct and operate than public sector ones due to tight control of costs and efficiencies.

——-In contrast:

Barreiros stadium to be completed on time. Redevelopment will be finished by December 2010 and in time for the Schools Sports in May 2010. Contracts should be signed within a month. —-No mention of the cost. Questions asked at the pre-elections time why this is more important than the hospital. Jardim’s involvement? €45 million of taxpayers money is being used to fund the Marítimo stadium redevelopment. Der

12,625 unemployed (8%). September last year, the number was 8,184. 68% received Jobseeker’s Allowance, 5% Social Integration Income and 8.9% were looking for their first job. 70% were short-term employed and 30% had been registered unemployed for more than one year.

You can email blog@madeira4u.com with any large contributions or comments and photos / videos, or if you can contribute regularly, I can give you a special account that allows you to create your own blog postings.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

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’

23 New Cops Arriving ; Local Derby Weekend ; New Public Garden Opened ; 7 Guns Seized

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:56:51 +0000

(19th September). Today’s main news headline : ’65% Without ‘Morals’ – Each time there are less students signed up for the option of Religious & Moral Education. There are less than 10 thousand between the 5th and 9th grades, and just 37 in the secondary school’. The older they get, the less interested the students are in the discipline, and now religious education has been selected by just 35% of children for the new academic year, that starts on Monday. The religious classes are optional for students under the law of religious freedom.

‘Sentence Annulled – António Henriques, condemned for the crime of active corruption in sport, won his appeal’. A court in Porto annulled the suspended sentence of 28 months in prison for the man who was tried after a game between Marítimo and Nacional, in the 2003 – 2004 season, that secured a place for Marítimo in the UEFA Cup. The referee in the game was also convicted at the trial last November, and given a suspended prison sentence of 20 months. Unreliable evidence and unclear facts helped clear the former vice president of the Refereeing Council, for his alleged part in the ‘golden whistle’ game, which became known as the game ‘well robbed’. No doubt destined for a career in Politics now. Uncle Bertie is probably on the phone to him right now, especially as the alleged act thrusted his favourite team into Europe that year.

’50 Students In A Basement – Paralysed works in the school of Lombo de São João oblige the controversial transfer to the basic school of Ribeira Brava’. Families of around 50 pre-school students demand real classrooms in the return to school. The usual school in São João is undergoing improvement works, that were promised to be completed in January this year, but the works were suspended for 6 months due to the contact being transferred to another company, due to insolvency. Meanwhile the kids occupy two basement rooms at the Basic School of Ribeira Brava, where the temperatures are high, and there is very little natural light.

‘Officers On Waiting List – The regional command of the Public Security Police is going to receive 23 new Madeiran officers, but there are 79 transfer requests still unanswered’. The ‘green light’ has been given by the PSP nationally to transfer the 23 officers to Madeira to strengthen the regional command. But there is no shortage of further candidates, with 79 officers on the mainland asking for transfers to Madeira. Some are desperate to come here, and join the region of Portugal that has the lowest ratio of police to population, just 3 officers per thousand inhabitants. The last influx was in January 2008 when 15 officers were transferred from Portugal. The new recruits are due to start duty next month, and will take the PSP numbers up to around 750 officers. The trade union spokesman for the police said that he had not been informed of the transfers, and preferred to wait and see before commenting, but did say that 23 recruits was not enough to provide the total contingent needed.

‘PSP Seize Arms In Machico – Domestic violence triggered a search’. 7 fire arms were seized, various forms of rifles, along with around a thousand rounds of differing calibres of ammunition. Police managed to obtain a warrant for a search of domestic premises, and were seized on the basis of elevated risk in a case of domestic violence, which applies even if the firearms are legally held.

‘All The Schools Now have Contingency Plans For Gripe A – Rui Anacleto says that self-control is needed’. All schools will start the new academic year on Monday with a swine flu contingency plan. The regional director of education guaranteed yesterday that all schools are prepared and ready to deal with the H1N1 virus, but only in terms of procedures and prevention in the spread of the virus, with the reinforcement of hygiene requirements. Disinfectant products, masks, and isolation rooms form part of the plans. Anacleto said that everything was being done to minimise the situation, and asked all involved to show self-control. He said he did not want "to transform the pandemic of Gripe A into a pandemic of fear".

Monday will see the official presentation of the Monte Train Project. Funchal Council will reveal the project ‘Comboio do Monte’ on Monday afternoon, that will provide a route by rail between Largo da Fonte, in Monte, to Terreiro da Luta.

The Festa do Pêro is tomorrow in Ponta do Pargo, Calheta. President Jardim will be there around 1 pm to make a speech to the farmers. On Monday he will be performing inaugurations at two schools, one new, the other enlarged.

Police (PJ / Judicial Police) are warning people to ignore emails that are seemingly coming from them. The emails have been sent to many on Madeira, advising them to install a Microsoft security programme, that in fact is a virus. The emails seem to be coming from South America, and the exact source is being investigated.

A young man, who has had an arrest warrant outstanding for over a year, was finally captured yesterday in Nazaré, Funchal. The arrest was made after a routine check in the area. The man is wanted in connection with of thefts and robberies in Funchal going back over several years.

‘Albuquerque promises better quality of life – Centre of São Martinho is enhanced with a garden overlooking the sea’. A new garden was opened yesterday in São Martinho, Funchal. The garden, with sea views, is located at the Centro de São Martinho. The president of Funchal Council who was at the inauguration, promised more such urban open spaces that offer the population "more quality of life". The new garden occupies a site of nearly five thousand square metres, and was transformed at a cost of €450 thousand. It has 145 trees of 60 different species, seat, litter bins, and play equipment for children.

This weekend’s football : Only one football match worth watching on Madeira this weekend … the local derby. Nacional v Marítimo Sunday 6 pm, on SportTV 1.

Petrol and diesel prices drop 1 cêntimo on Monday. Petrol will be around €1.19 a litre, and diesel €0.93.

UPDATES :

‘Registered Unemployed Rose 50% In August, Compared To 2008 – In August 2008 there were 8,209, one year on there are 12,315. But there are 74 less than in July’. The registered unemployment on Madeira and Porto Santo continues to show signs of improvement, for the second month running. However, August is normally the best month of the year for job offers.

‘Another Fine Mess – Madeira was involved in another case that shakes the country, this time the bugging of the Presidency of the Republic’. The scandal is believed to have connections or even origins on Madeira, after information about bugging the President’s office in Belém was revealed by an aide of Cavaco Silva. First it was the free ride in the car of the regional government to the national leader of the PSD, and her presence at inaugurations, then it was the "**** ****" of president Jardim, and now the listening device(s) in the office of the President of the Republic. Several controversial episodes, separated by just a few days, and in one form or another, they all have Madeira in the middle. Madeira and the PSD that is. It was on the front page of the Daily News of Lisbon yesterday, that the principle aide of Cavaco Silva had revealed there had been a possible interception of information through monitoring of the President’s team. The news is full of this story, but Cavaco Silva himself has refused to discuss the matter publically, as he thinks it is better to wait until after the elections.

In the latest poll by SIC, the PS socialists have moved ahead of their only real rivals, the PSD social democrats, in the race for seats in The Assembly of the Republic, due to be contested a week tomorrow. The poll indicates that the ruling PS have increased their vote share from 33.6% to 34.9%, whilst the PSD have fallen back to 31.6%, a difference of 3.3%. The BE Left Block has remained steady in third place with 9.6%, whist the CDU communists have fallen back 1% to 8.4%. 15% of those involved in the poll said they were still undecided on which way to vote.

170 Jobless Teachers ; Série Madeira €6 Tickets ; House Building Slump ; €250k / Mandate

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:51:46 +0000

(3rd September). Today’s main news headline : ‘Teachers Worried – Those that don’t have ties seek the Employment centre; 1,402 await contacts’. The government plans to renew contracts with 1,402 teachers, 170 fewer than in the academic year 2008 / 09. The new school year starts on 21st September, but teachers are already preparing themselves for the return. For those ‘non permanent’ staff, who work on fixed length contracts, the situation appears to be much more tense and unpredictable, as they are officially unemployed unless told otherwise that they will have a new contract. The placement lists are still being finalized by the Regional Department of Educational Administration (DRAE), which intends to employ 6,219 teachers and expects to contract 1,402 on a temporary basis. Right now, nobody knows who will be left out, so the Teachers Union of Madeira (SPM) has advised all to sign-on at the the Employment Centre. "If you did not get a renewal of contract and have not been taken off the lists, then you’re in a situation of unemployment", concludes Marília Azevedo, president of the SPM, as there is no guarantee of work for anyone. Many of those worse affected are young and with little financial stability.

‘Injunction Hinders Completion – The urban works in São Roque are stopped for nine months’. The main picture of the day just shows a pretty empty street. The courts ordered the work to be stopped last November, but last week the machines returned to São Roque to demolish another building. The three residents, who sought and obtained the injunction, are now in fear that the machines will be entering their own properties. They took out the injunction to stop compulsory purchase of their property because they were not satisfied with the compensation offered. The department responsible for the infrastructure, guaranteed that work will resume only after the court decision is known. Until then they will just demolish buildings whose owners have accepted the terms of expropriation (compulsory purchase). The project will see the construction of a roundabout.

Today’s sports story : ‘Clubs Of Madeira Deceive Federation – FPF imposes tickets priced at €6. But the price is not inviting, so the clubs release freebies’. The Série Madeira, the new football league starts on Sunday, but the clubs feel obliged to fool the organising federation who have set the minimum ticket prices for spectators. "Instead of helping, the Federation just complicates life for the clubs", said a manager at one of the participating clubs. The price is just too high for the level of football, and the clubs don’t want to discourage spectators from attending the matches. Among the measures being taken, or considered, is ‘open doors’ matches, cut price season tickets, memberships, and other incentives. The clubs do need to cover match expenses, so most are considering offers that still attract spectators but cover costs as well. Many of the football clubs already have membership schemes where fans just pay a few Euros a month (€2.50 in Ribeira Brava for instance) which includes entrance to the matches, so €6 a game is a big jump.

‘Builders Give Up On ‘Affordable’ Housing – The crisis has changed the tendency of the market, and developers claim that they have lost clients’. The builders say there are no buyers because the market has changed, and new projects are selling badly, with houses and apartments left unsold. Falling prices have also made these projects less viable, and more difficulty in obtaining bank loans and finance. The situation is not serious according to some of the businessmen contacted by the Diário, although some refused to discuss the matter. I think these are developer led projects, that buy up land to build a apartment block or row of houses, where economies of scale and other factors make the costs and selling prices much cheaper than a ‘one off’ house build. It is much the same situation as reported as happening on Porto Santo a few weeks ago.

‘Festas Stacked Up Don’t Worry ‘Xutos’ "It will be a memorable concert", says Zé Pedro of the Xutos. On a Saturday of festas, the appearance of the band in Ponta do Sol is one of highlights’. This is the top rock act in Portugal, and they perform at 10 pm on Saturday as part of the ‘Festa do Conselho’. ‘Xutos & Pontapés’ will perform 10 songs from their new album, as well as a ‘journey through the classics’. It seems they are on a busy schedule, but really wanted to play on Madeira, "where we have many friends" said one band member.

(2nd September). ‘Electricity Of Madeira Distributes 250,000 Light Bulbs – The campaign will start this month and function in the same manner as the previous campaigns’. EEM has made available ‘new stock’ to persuade its customers to switch to energy efficient light bulbs.

UPDATES :

The President of the Board of the Regional Health Service (SESARAM), Almada Cardoso, released a statement following the reporting of the high profile case of a young lady who caught a hospital infection whilst undergoing surgery. The infection attacks the immune systems of it’s victims. In the press release, Almada Cardoso states that "nosocomial infections occur in all hospitals in the world" and that "Funchal Central Hospital has a lower rate than the national average, thanks to the very worthy work of the Commission for the Control of Hospital Infection of SESARAM, that performs an important daily prophylactic activity, to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial infections, which is a constant and permanent challenge". I am glad that was clarified, as the report yesterday was one sided, and the response from the hospital spokesman was very poor, and gave the impression that nothing could be done, and nothing was being done to minimise the chances of infection.

‘Treatments distributed to beekeepers’. In order to combat varroa, a parasitic disease caused by a mite which causes the weakening of the swarms, the Regional Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development is distributing a veterinary drug to Madeira’s beekeepers.

‘Enrolments For The Dog Show End Today‘. The last chance is today (6 pm) to enter a pet into the IV Dog Show for the event in the Lido Gardens on Saturday, starting at 2.30 pm. Rush to SPAD or VetFunchal now if you forgot. Any race, or non-race, can enter but must be between 4 months and 10 years old, and must have proof of the necessary vaccinations.

In Portugal, a new automatic car registration reader was installed in just 17 police vehicles in June. Already in just 3 months, 521 stolen cars have been detected, and 2,256 cars have been identified without insurance. The equipment costs around €11,000 per vehicle. We don’t have it here yet, but nationally the plan is to extend the installation of this equipment in vehicles of the security authorities (GNR & PSP).

On the TV news this morning, there was an astounding leap in the cases of Gripe A in Portugal. Swine flu has been confirmed in 5,123 cases, up 2,897 in just one week. Madeira, is included in these figures, but itself had just 3 new cases in the week, taking the total number of confirmed cases here since the beginning to just 33. The message is clear, come to Madeira for your safe holidays (as if you didn’t already know!), as long as you don’t bring Gripe A with you.

In politics today :

‘Carlos César considers Sócrates "courageous" for advocating the need for greater support for the Azores – The leader of PS Azores reaffirms that the "cost of living on the nine islands are greater than on two, and the Azores need more support than Madeira". The row continues, with the president of the Azores again reiterating that the Azores needs more financial support than Madeira. Personally I don’t see what the row is about, as each region has it’s own needs, and central funding must be based on those. I can’t see any value in comparing the two and squabbling about who deserves more. I didn’t see any statement from prime minister Sócrates on the issue, but it seems he agrees with César anyway, who in turn is using it as an election tool to persuade the Azores population to vote for the PS socialists.

‘Council Presidents Receive Thousands Even In Times Of Crisis – Albuquerque receives half of the president of the republic, €250,000 per mandate’. The full time presidents of the câmaras have no reason to complain, as is the case for those others in positions of high political trust. Miguel Albuquerque, president of CMF (Funchal Council), is paid €250,000 for his 4 year mandate of the governance of Funchal, and is the ‘richest’ on Madeira. Presidents of smaller câmaras receive €200,000 per mandate. Miguel Albuquerque receives €4,483 a month, including allowances / expenses, about half of the salary of Cavaco Silva, Portugal’s president. In the other regions, in those with between 10 and 40 thousand voters, the presidents receive €4,035 a month (inclusive), and in those with less that 10,000 voters the presidents receive €3,586 a month. Full time councillors in Funchal receive €3,310 a month (including allowances / expenses), with the rule of thumb being 80% of the salary of the president.

Sócrates Comes To Madeira ; Election News ; Unemployment – "A Good Indicator"

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:59:20 +0000

(19th August). Only a tiny little front page mention : ‘Sócrates Comes To The Festival Of PS-M – The prime minister of Portugal returns to Madeira on Sunday, this time as national leader of the socialist party, and he goes to Fonte do Bispo’. He enjoyed his visit and warm welcome on his last visit in May, and is back this weekend for the PS-M socialist party annual rally at Fonte do Bispo. He left it very late to decide, and I bet João Carlos Gouveia, the leader of the socialists here, is over the moon. His popularity amongst his party here probably doesn’t even register on a scale of one to ten, but with JS in attendance you can bet that will bring in the activists on Sunday. I was thinking about going myself, but my toenails need trimming again.

‘New website of the voter presented Thursday – The ‘Site’ will "provide all necessary information about polling and the various elections". The new facility developed by the Ministry of Internal Administration will tell us what we need to know about the elections and polling on September 27th and 11th October. One of the aims is to disseminate information and encourage people to vote.

12 political parties will run in the national (legislative) elections in September, but sorry I can’t translate them all as they become meaningless, so I opted for none. So the ballot paper here will look something like that shown, including 5 parties that are pretty meaningless for Madeirans. Bloco de Esquerda (BE), Centro Democrático Social (CDS), Partido Popular Monárquico (PPM), Movimento Mérito e Sociedade (MMS), Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR), Partido Social Democrata (PSD), Movimento Esperança Portugal (MEP), Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (PCTP/MRPP), Partido da Nova Democracia (PND), Movimento Partido da Terra (MPT), Partido Socialista (PS), Coligação Democrática Unitária (CDU). I don’t why I bothered really as I can’t vote anyway.

‘PSD, PS And CDU Run In All The Local Elections – PP Runs in all except Santa Cruz where it supports the citizens movement ‘Juntos Pelo Povo’. In fact BE (Left Block) and CDS/PP (Christian Democrats / Peoples Party) have all put their weight behind ‘Juntos Pelo Povo’, who will be at the top of the polling paper in the Cruz. The socialists, social democrats, and CDU (communists), have candidates for all the locally contested seats. The CDU communists are amongst the first to start putting up propaganda posters around me I noticed. One that they put up very near the PPD / PSD (Madeira) souvenir shop in Ribeira Brava was torn down the same night, but has now made a full recovery, presumably with the aid of extra strong glue. Silly season has officially arrived!

"A good indicator". The regional secretary for Human Resources believes that the INE data on unemployment in Madeira in July, is "a good indicator." Statistics show that the registered unemployment fell last month, which in practice is least 94 less people registered this month compared to June. However, compared with July last year, Madeira also notes a significant rise. The communiqué issued yesterday by secretary Brazão de Castro notes that at a national level the trend continues to increase in the number of unemployed. He also stressed that the figures for July, for Madeira, present other "positive symptoms", including increased ‘offers of employment’ (16.5% more than in the previous month).

(18th August). "It’s Not The End Of The Crisis – Sócrates admits that it is not over, but defends the investment of the state’. Prime Minister José Sócrates said on Monday that the public investments were responsible for taking Portugal ‘technically’ out of recession. "What is demanded of the state is the combat of the crisis and we did something already for that. It was that reason that took the country technically out of recession in the second quarter". But "it’s not the end of the crisis" he clarified, "no, we are far from that, it is certain, but it was the first sign, as one of the countries that came out of technical recession conditions that we have been immersed in for the last 9 months".

Candidates Switch Parties ; 60 Inaugurations In 7 Weeks ; Unemployment Down For Madeira

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:30:00 +0000

(18th August). ‘Dozens Of Candidates Switch Parties – Lists for the local elections have various cases of changing political colours’. The number seems much higher than in previous years judges the Diário. The MPT ‘Earth Party’ has the biggest involvement in party switches, many at the expense of the PS-M socialists. In São Vicente there have been changes between the PSD-M, PS-M, and CDS (Christian Democratic) parties.

‘JPP Makes History To Run In Santa Cruz’. The group of citizens amalgamated to form the ‘Juntos Pelo Povo’ (Together for the People) yesterday submitted it’s candidate lists for the câmara of Santa Cruz and the parishes, having gathered a list of five thousand signatures of support. This will be the one to watch on election day in October I reckon.

(17th August). ‘Locals - They Finished Yesterday The Delivery Of More Than 100,000 Candidates’. The day finally arrived, being the cut-off for candidate lists for câmaras, parish councils, and municipal assemblies. That’s a relief, that was about 80-90% of the political section, wheeling and dealing with the lists of the numerous political parties. What with there being no assemblies and council meetings either, the Diário was also forced to focus almost entirely on President Jardim’s antics, which is usually quite entertaining, but limited. There are still plenty of articles about the ‘lists’ in today’s newspaper though, but they will soon fizzle out and move to party policies and opinion polls, that’s for sure.

From the Jornal da Madeira : ’60 Inaugurations On The Agenda Of Jardim Between 1st September And 9th October’. President Alberto João Jardim will be all over the region next month and the beginning of October, as he supplements his electioneering with official duties. 9 new schools or improvements, new roads, urban arrangements(?), and libraries, over €200 million in works altogether. The highlights will be the new west access at Santo Amaro (12th September), at the Estrada Monumental in Funchal between Fórum Madeira and the Rotunda da Assicom (17th September), and the via expresso to Funchal port (2nd October).

Two articles on unemployment from the last two days, but the conclusion is much the same.

(18th August). ’94 Less Unemployed – The unemployment in July decreased 0.8% – The first fall in 9 months. But it increased 50.3% in relation to July 2008′. Figures from the Institute of Employment of Madeira say that there were 94 less unemployed here in July compared to June, and we now have 12,389 registered unemployed. Only 3 regions of Portugal had positive results, the others being the Algarve and the Azores, again both seasonal locations. However, jobs on offer here are still very low.

(17th August). ‘Number Of ‘Signed-On’ In Job Centres Rises To 496 Thousand In July – Madeira records the first decrease in 10 months’. The registered unemployment nationally increased by 1.4% in July (from June), and was up 30.1% compared to July 2008, to 496,683. The new statistics came from the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (IEFP). The most important part of the increase was from young people. As for Madeira unemployment fell by 0.8%. The last actual figures reported for Madeira from IEFP were up to the end of June, when there were 12,483, up 296 on the previous month. As Uncle Bertie doesn’t accept as accurate any data from the Nacional Institute of Statistics and the Bank of Portugal, I wonder if he will accept these positive reports from these different sources? It was half expected as much of the work here is so seasonal.

PIB / GDP Surprises Most, But Not Jardim ; Unemployment Worsens ; TAP Cut-Backs

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:43:53 +0000

(14th August). Today’s main news headline : ‘Slowing Of The Crisis Surprises ACIF – The opinions were divided yesterday in the country on the meaning of the increase in PIB (GDP / Growth) of 0.3%. For the government, the economy came out of the ‘red’ and has arrived at the beginning of the end of the crisis. Economists advise prudency. For now, ACIF expect results from the improvement’. Despite the previous days expectation of a further negative showing for growth in the Portuguese economy (-0.6%), the actual result surprised everyone, with 0.3% growth, and matching the results also announced earlier for France and Germany. The President of the Commercial and Industrial Association of Funchal (ACIF) considers it a "good surprise" with the news announced yesterday, that the Portuguese economy is reviving, given the announcement of the increase of 0.3 percent in the Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of this year. He says that the improvement will also be reflected on Madeira. Francisco Santos, also regional director of the Millennium / BCP bank, told the Diário that the positive figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), follow on from the announcements of economic recovery in some other countries of the Eurozone, especially Germany and France, whose statistics were also revealed this week.

It would normally go under ‘politics’ of course, but as it is another headline that directly relates to the headline above : "0.3% Is Zero Growth" – Jardim considers that the increase in PIB / GDP signifies nothing and is a "big fat economic failure". Unlike many reviews and opinions, Alberto João Jardim considers that the growth in the economy of 0.3% means nothing. Prime Minister José Sócrates guarantees that the figures show that Portugal is coming out of recession in a turn in the country’s economy. The president of the Madeira government has a different opinion : "0.3% is zero growth and is therefore a big fat economic failure" that doesn’t even pass for a "fantasy for cheap electioneering". Funny that Uncle Bertie mentions the subject of elections, as that means that for the forthcoming national elections the voters may well be cheered by the news, and decide to stay with a socialist government.

‘Unemployment Worsens In The Second Quarter Of 2009 – Rate hits 9.1%’. That’s up from 8.9% in the first quarter of 2009. The figures from the National Institute for Statistics released today show that unemployment in Portugal has risen by 1.8% in the space of a year. The bad news was above the governments prediction of 8.8%, and the average prediction of analysts contacted by the Diário. We just need to wait now for Uncle Bertie’s mob to provide the figures for Madeira, but we can already predict the reaction to the normally vastly understated figures, probably something like "?.?% is zero growth" from the man himself.

‘Help For The Rent – The number of interested parties in the support of IHM for the unemployed, without money to pay for housing, is growing’. 320 families are already interested in receiving assistance with their rent since the new scheme was introduced in April. The scheme, which helps those who find themselves unemployed and without sufficient money to pay their rent, has already attracted many contacts and applications through ‘Housing Investment in Madeira’ (IHM). Nearly all of the tenants in question are still receiving unemployment benefit, but when that runs out, and there is still no work, then the new scheme kicks in. Just three families so far have reached that stage. The maximum assistance per person is €175 a month, but if a couple of tenants living together both lose their work, this assistance can be doubled. It is paid for 12 months, but can be renewed at the end of that period if necessary.

In Transport & Tourism :

According to the TV news this morning, TAP, Portugal’s favourite airline, is really going through tough times at the moment as people cut back on travel and the competition begins to bite. It has announced fairly severe cutbacks, the more significant being a 10% cut back in flights next month. The president of TAP is said to be feeling the pressure in managing the company "due to the policy of trade unions in a year of elections". He made a statement to the media in reaction to the announcement of 4 days of strike action, by employees represented by 5 different trade unions, over the lack of a pay increase since last year. Madeira is one its most popular and well occupied routes, so maybe we will get off lightly in the cut backs. On the other hand it is now one of the stiffest routes for competition, so perhaps not.

‘DECO Accuses Easyjet Of Rejecting Complaints – The airline company that does connections to Madeira doesn’t accept complaints in Portuguese’. The consumer defence organisation DECO has accused Easyjet of breaking the law, because it is refusing to deal with complaints written in Portuguese. DECO has had several complaints from flyers, in connection with delays and baggage issues, where the complainant has been told they must complain in English, Spanish, German, French or Italian. Likewise, anyone ringing the company office in Luton, England, will be turned away as there are no Portuguese speakers. I guess DECO will get nowhere with this one, unless of course they write their own complaint in one of Easyjet’s acceptable languages.

‘Disney Cruise Line Promotes Madeira – The company website of Disney promotes the destination’. The cruise ship ‘Disney Magic’ is to visit us twice in 2010, with 2,400 tourists. The first time will be in the height of the flower festival (18th April), and then again in September. The Diário says that the Disney website is one of the most popular in the world, and the write up for Madeira could also also promote tourism here through means other than the Disney cruise ship.

Jornal da Madeira Referred To EU ; Gripe Fears Cancel Holidays ; Unemployment Hits All

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:05:00 +0000

(30th July). ‘CDU Repeats Artur In Funchal Council – The Unitary Coalition wants to move to two councillors and take Dírio Ramos to number 2 behind Artur Andrade’. I am clearly suffering with election boredom already, but it was on the front page, and I really cannot be bothered to read and translate an article involving a party of no-hopers … sorry.

‘Four Flags Take The Place Of Direct Political Speech’. The law does not allow political speeches when the elections are scheduled, and yesterday, at an inauguration in Câmara de Lobos, the President of our Government explained these rules to the people who joined him in the sun for the celebration and speeches. President Jardim still spoke of autonomy and freedom, but the people didn’t need to stretch themselves too much to know what he had in mind. Indeed, on the wall of the new road being inaugurated, there were placed 4 flags of the social democrats (PSD).

‘Regional Government Should Notify Brussels About Assistance To The Jornal da Madeira – Competition authority recommends “adopting principles that avoid distortion in competition”. The government here should inform the European Commission about the financial support being given from public funds, and urges the adoption of practices that will not conflict with the principles of competition with any future funding. The competition authority concluded that the use of public funds constitutes state aid for the newspaper. If in Brussels the funding is judged to be illegal, the money injected may have to be repaid. The amount given until the end of 2007 is assessed at €23.4 million. The regulator warned that future aid given to the media, would have to conform with several principles to avoid distortion of free competition. This would mean an objective justification based on the likelihood and impact of failure of the recipient of the aid, ensuring that the financial support was proportional to the risk, and not discriminatory.

‘Lack Of Employment Hitting All Sectors Of Activity – USAM presented yesterday an overview of the labour-political situation on Madeira’. “There is no sector of activity that is not affected by lack of employment.” This is a review of the conclusions of the labour-political situation in the region in the first half of the year, presented yesterday morning in a press conference, by the Regional Council of Trade Unions of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (USAM). Worst hit are the hotel sector, and construction and trade. Concerns in the hotel sector are particularly worrying, because the hotel bosses are getting rid of staff for any number of reasons, and in some cases expecting remaining staff to maintain the same level of productivity after colleagues have been dismissed, singling out the Savoy Hotel “which fired dozens of workers without good reason”. I would have said that demolishing the Savoy Hotel, with government backing, was a reasonable excuse for cutting back on staff.

Madeira’s richest man lost 30% of his fortune, falling from fourth to ninth place in the rich list of Portugal. Madeiran Joe Berardo, according to the magazine ‘Exame’, will now have to manage with just €618 million.

The cruise liners ‘Queen Victoria’, ‘Oriana’, ‘Boudicca’ and ‘Saga Ruby’, have already booked their places in Funchal for the next two New Year celebrations.

(29th/30th July). A late story yesterday : ‘Travel Agents Fear Alarmist Messages About Gripe A – Luciano Jardim says that concerns led to cancellations of trips in the last few weeks’. APVAT wants to reassure the travellers. “The Gripe A virus is present the world over, and it is not necessary to leave Madeira to catch H1N1″, that’s the message being given out by travel agents to counter negative messages passing amongst the public (it just about makes sense, but I suspect it got a bit mangled in the translation). It is younger couples with children who seem to be reacting more. I don’t think this has much to do with swine flu, more like concerns about travel agents losing money. How can you morally justify persuading someone it is just as safe to go abroad when the virus presence there might be much more prolific than here on Madeira? Good for our economy too if people spend their dosh here rather than abroad.

3 Months Off In Politics ; Real Unemployment More Than 15,000 ; Internal Holidays Grow

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:37:54 +0000

(28th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Three Months Of Holidays – The Madeira parliament only reopens at the end of October. The elections justify the idleness*’. The elections in September and October help to prolong the parliamentary break. There is a session in the assembly today, and then the politicians have three months without the usual work responsibilities, "a time that reminds one how the school Summer holidays were" says the Diário. To keep things ticking over during the long break, there will be a commission in place which consists of the president and vice president of the assembly, and one representative from each political party or parliamentary group.
* The dictionary offers the choice of free time / leisure time / idleness , or indolence in the translation of the word ÓCIO.

‘BE Accuses PS And PSD Of being Obsessed With The Deficit – The coordinator of BE stresses that the biggest problem of the country is unemployment’. According to the Left Block (BE) Madeira has around 15,000 unemployed. He says that both the social democrat and socialist parties are too concerned with the financial deficit instead of focusing on the real issue of unemployment. He disputes the official figures of 12,500 people out of work, reckoning on the true figure stretching well beyond 15,000. Undoubtedly correct, as the unemployment figure is just those registered, but it is difficult to separate and solve the two issues of unemployment and Madeira’s finances.

(27th July). ‘Madeiran On The Way To Cuba – Anacleto Teixeira. Friend of the presidents, leads the market of ‘gourmet’ products in Venezuela. Cuba comes next’. Anacleto’s business already extends throughout Venezuela and Latin America, and Cuba comes next. His success comes with the support of wealthy businessmen in Caracas, who are also his regular clients, especially in the orthodox Jewish community which consists of around 50 thousand people, many connected in big business. He started by spotting a window of opportunity that nobody else had seen, and now is the biggest importer of grocery products and fine gourmet ingredients for both the professionals and the general public. The range includes the most tempting and expensive specialties from around the world. Operating under two ‘brands’, Anacleto’s business turned over $180 million last year, and employed 1,800 people, including 170 in Peru. He imports $25 million worth of goods a year from Italy alone. Through his business he can count in his contacts the President of the Republic and ministers and other authorities in government, as well Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela. He is also president of ANSA, the National Association of Supermarkets and Self-service, that has 700 members, including many Portuguese and Madeirans.

‘Search For Madeira From Within Increased 22.75 In June – Tourist Agencies ‘readjust offers’ for the Summer, with tourist packages of less risk’. The Portuguese continue to seek opportunities to travel, despite of economic problems and the fears about Gripe A (H1N1). That’s the conclusion of the Portuguese Association Of Travel Agents (APAVT). "The month of June, that marks the beginning of the Summer holiday season, exceeded the expectations for the search for holidays in the sector", says APAVT in a press release. When compared with the same month in 2008, the number of Portuguese that travelled in June to Cabo Verde, Burgas (Bulgaria), Antalya (Turkey), Marrakech (Morocco) and the Dominican Republic, the number doubled. Domestic holidays were up too by 10.8%, with Madeira being the main beneficiary. Risk to travellers has also been reduced by focusing more on domestic travel and using proven airlines, as well as promotions on charter flights to stimulate demand. Holidays to Spain have also increased in popularity, whilst generally the international destinations have taken a fall of 9% in the numbers of hotel bookings.

Political Gripe ; Doctor Free Favours ; €8.3m Tax Dispute ; Insolvency Makes 90 Unemployed

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:59:04 +0000

(25th July). ‘Gripe Impedes Ferreira Leite Attending A Meeting For The Electoral Programme – Leader of the PSD is expected Sunday at the Festa do Chão da Lagoa’. Hmmm, the Diário has it as a headline, so I suppose I had better cover it … reluctantly. The president of the national PSD Social Democrats (and maybe our future prime minister) missed a meeting yesterday in Porto, as she has gripe, being ordinary flu, not the piggy type. The relevance is that she is due to be here tomorrow for the Festa do Chão da Lagoa, which isn’t really a festival, its the PSD-M annual rally. The vice president for the PSD says we have no reason to be especially worried about Manuela … errrr snr. VP, you have no cause to be worried about me worrying about Manuela worrying about whether she will be able to attend the comedy act tomorrow.

In a separate (front page) but related article : ‘Thump In The Kidneys – Ferreira Leite "Elitist and loser" is the star expected tomorrow at the plateau’. The words of President Jardim, specially selected by the Diário to welcome the sick leader of the PSD on her planned visit to the political rally this weekend on Madeira, now back to the story. Tomorrow at the Chão da Lagoa, one should be able to witness a ‘tumble’ in the political positioning of Alberto João Jardim, when he receives the national leader of his party. Some months ago, prime minister José Sócrates managed to outsmart Ferreira Leite quoting negative references as uttered by President Jardim and his party PSD-M. Even when the current national party leadership was up for grabs last time, Jardim was spreading the word that Leite was not up to the job of winning elections, a fact he was wrong about if the recent European election results were anything to go by. It’s a long and entertaining article, too long to explain properly here, but I am sure you now have the picture, and suddenly tomorrows event (if Leite comes), has a much more interesting aspect. 8 out of 10 to the Diário for political s***stirring by digging out quotes going back to 1978, and I will leave this article with a few quotes from Uncle Bertie about poor Manuela Ferreira Leite and Lisbon.
*"MFL cannot win elections because she is a candidate of factions".
**"Lisbon is dominated by a triangle of evil : Social communication, the gay lobby, and the drugs".
***"It is necessary to denounce these collaborators … people with their pants down and their asses in the air, turned towards Lisbon with their lies, acting against their own land".
****"On Madeira it is those the true Portuguese that fight against dictatorship, and not those poofs in Lisbon that call themselves antifascists".

‘The Word Of Ferreira Leite Is Sufficient For The PSD-M – Programme of the PSD should not include direct reference to the law of regional finances’. This is about the law which creates the regional budget and facilitates funding between Portugal and Madeira, which has been in the headlines for as long a President Jardim has been smoking cigars where he shouldn’t be. "In the PSD, the keyword arrived" announced a PSD bloke, referring to a promise made by the PSD national leader that if she and her party win the elections on 27th September, that the regional finance law will be revoked. I assume this means that the matter will not be turned into an election issue here.

‘Romeira Gives Consultations Without Giving A Bill’. Jorge Romeira admits that he does not give bills to everybody, and that 40 to 50% of his consultations are free. He is a practising medical doctor and also leading candidate to the presidents seat in the forthcoming council elections in October. Accusations have been coming since his candidature for the PSD was announced, with the sources of the finger-pointing as yet remaining anonymous. They also say that his surgery or practice does not have acceptable conditions for a medical practice (from the photo it seems to be in the middle of a jungle) and is not properly licensed. I think it’s nice that a doctor would give his services free to those who cannot afford to pay, but in the political world that would equate to check-ups for favours, or even votes perhaps.

‘Sócrates Takes Away €8.3 Million Of IVA / VAT’. The 11 regions of Madeira will lose the money, more than half of it in Funchal, due to what the PSD-M considers to be an illegal act by the prime minister of Portugal and the state. In a press conference the parliamentary group of the social democrats again accused the government of not transferring tax revenues to the câmaras, as they believe is written in the Statute of Madeira and the regional finance law. The state government argues that the funding for the câmaras is included in the regional budget.

In the economy news:

Today’s main front page photo shows a crowded conference room : ‘Full Up In The Conference Of The Top 100 – Conference about marketing draws over 300 interested parties. Speakers leave suggestions for a new relationship between the companies and the customers’. The article is referring to a conference forming part of the event ’100 Biggest & Best Companies’ held in Funchal. The highlights are about using new techniques in marketing that reduce costs and boost sales … through the internet. One speaker warned those in sales and marketing that "the consumer is changing, the market is more competitive, there are new management tools and techniques, and business models are changing", he later went on to say by way of illustration that that Google undertake 700,000 searches a minute, or 31 million per month (with maths like that I don’t think I will be taking any advice from this expert). To avoid the danger of nodding off, I will cut to the chase as reported on RTP news, that the overall suggestion that Madeira overcomes it’s island remoteness by focusing efforts on globalisation through the internet. Might be a little bit of catching up to do me thinks.

‘Over 90 Workers Become Unemployed – ‘Elimar’ requests insolvency’. The construction and real estate company Elimar, made up of 12 group divisions, found its workers outside its HQ yesterday morning, demanding back wages, allowances, and compensation.

Jardim Boycotted ; Wind Farm Inaugurated ; Summer Sales Underway

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:48:00 +0000

(16th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Parties Refuse To Listen To Jardim – PS, PCP, Bloco & PND are going to boycott the agenda of the PSD leader about the constitutional review during the run-up to the elections. They won’t attend Jardim’s appearance in Parliament next Wednesday. At the same time they will debate what they consider to be the real problems of Madeira’. The political parties PP and MPT (3 people) are not part of the boycott, and intend to hear and discuss Jardim’s proposals. Meanwhile the boycotting parties are set to meet elsewhere to discuss the economic crisis and severe social crisis. Somehow I don’t think Uncle Bertie will be losing any sleep over this development, and as for the other toothless parties having their own debate, it can be nothing other than a talking shop.

‘Energy independence is crucial, says Jardim – Yesterday he inaugurated the wind farm tripling capacity on Madeira’. Alberto João Jardim explained to an audience consisting mainly of officials of the Electricity Company of Madeira, colleagues from local government, and the councils of Calheta, Ponta do Sol and San Vicente that the issue of energy is a key element of regional autonomy, and that "it is necessary to quickly reduce the dependence from outside the region". Rui Rebelo, President of EEM (Madeira’s main electricity company), said that the planned output for the new park in Paul da Serra is 14.4 MWh / year, corresponding to the domestic consumption of São Vicente and Ponta do Sol (approximately 7200 consumers), allowing additionally the prevention of an annual emission of 10 kton of CO2 and the importation of 3.22 kton of fuel. Still using public events for political means then Uncle Bertie, though you seem to have dressed it up a little better this time.

(16th July). ‘Clothes Shops Hold-Out – The shopkeepers have adapted themselves to the shortage of money of the customers, resorting to ‘permanent promotions’. The opening of the ‘summer sales’ yesterday passed almost unnoticed’. The shops have reduced profit margins to maintain sales, ‘stock management’ is in, and variety in products goes down quite well. The first day of the official Summer sales, which are held in a period strictly governed by law, was yesterday, and new collections were appearing on the shelves of the clothing shops. The secret to survival say the traders, is to do business according to the situation, "and where there is a crisis we cannot dream of 100% profit". José Sérgio Ferreira, who says he prefers to earn 10% every day than 100% at odd times, has two shops of ready-to-wear clothes in Fernão Ornelas. The setting is traditional, he does not sell well known brands, nor does he have trendy fixtures and fittings, and the shop doesn’t lack movement, especially yesterday, the first day of the season sales. "You know how people are, they wait and appear when it is cheaper." For some time now the clothes shops have been making price cuts and promotions, with offers like ‘buy one get one free’ becoming more popular, and new ways of informing the customer of bargains, such as by SMS, are coming into use.

The Bank of Portugal says the economy of Portugal (growth / GDP) is going to retract this year by 3.5%, and 0.6% in 2010. The prediction shows a parallel with conditions in 1975. Employment will shrink by 2.6% this year, and another 1.5% in 2010. But … a spokesman says that despite of everything, there are other European countries in a worse state than Portugal … thanks for that, I feel so much better now.

Less Bureaucracy Says Jardim ; Car Sharing Rises ; Kids Need Schools For Meals

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:21:46 +0000

(5th July). Today’s main news headline : ‘Region Dwells(?) On Employment – Jardim says that he would reduce unemployment with more autonomy. It would be needed also to reduce bureaucracy, which slows down the start of the new programme of employment support’. The new government job creation programme was intended to commence last Tuesday, but delays in completing the necessary steps may hold it up now until 15th July, and even that has no guarantees. One of the key elements of the new measures is to provide finance to those wishing to start a business, where the money cannot be borrowed from the banks. Initially the programme will be able to provide 60% of the start-up money required, but will also consider assisting with the remaining 40% if absolutely necessary. President Jardim himself believe that more autonomy for Madeira would also help, as he would then be able to reduce the tax burden, control interest rates, and provide more assistance in matters of investment. Funny that, I always considered that bureaucracy created more jobs, and although cutting it might not increase unemployment, it would just leave a lot of people in central and local government with less to do.

The main picture of the day is of a hand ‘thumbs up’ – ‘There Are More People Getting Lifts – The numbers that share their cars with others is growing. The crisis obliges the reduction of costs’. The concept of ‘carpooling’ on Madeira is gradually waking up, despite some resistance, as the average occupancy per vehicle creeps up. It is more a symptom of the crisis, rather a changing environmental attitude says the Diário, who carried out a quick survey along a stretch of the via rápida to conclude that 42% of cars observed had two or more occupants. The same exercise in 2007 revealed that just 31% of cars had more than one occupant.

‘Out Of Fashion – Less marriages on Madeira. Especially through the church that takes on just a third of the marriages’. The number of catholic marriages declines year after year. Last year there were 1,153 weddings in total, 79 less than in 2007. Over 20 years the number has diminished by 40%. This trend is not just in Madeira and Portugal, and stems from a lack of commitment, and on the other side of the equation there are more and more couples living together. Of those that do wed, less are choosing church weddings, with just 37% choosing that option last year (41% in 2007). Now I think about it, it does seem true, as I reckon a few years ago I used to see at least a wedding a week in my local church, and I am now struggling to remember the last one, and this is the peak time of year.

"There is much needed to do in Arco da Calheta" : A cash-point machine, a modern health centre, leisure areas for tourists, and a supermarket are some of the things lacking for those who live there’. This is the Diário featured place of the week. "In recent times there have been no improvements here" says one resident, who believes that the place has been forgotten by the government. She adds that for tourists going there to relax, there is nowhere to sit down. Much of the usual stuff follows, an ageing population, high youth unemployment, a reducing feeling of security.

After Friday nights dreadful accident at Meia Légua (see yesterday) when a man died in a head on car crash, it turns out there were 10 injured people, not 9. Seven of them remain in hospital, but none of them in a life threatening condition.

‘School Kills Hunger – The government confirms that there are children that arrive at school hungry, through negligence or family difficulties’. Meals for youngsters (1st cycle) will continue to be free, and for many children it is the best food and maybe the only food they will see each day. The teachers are aware of the problem, the political parties have criticised the situation, and the Regional Education Department admits that for many kids school meals are the best they will eat. Free meals are also available to 30% of older children at later levels of education. The Director of Planning and Educational Resources is committed to continuing free meals for those in need, but he believes that of the malnourished children coming to school, not all are due to lack of money. "Almost always by neglect and carelessness" he said, and where those situations are identified it is referred to a body to deal with the matter.

Petrol comes down in price by 2 cêntimos a litre on Monday, and diesel drops by 1 cêntimo. The change was decided by the regional government. Remind me when are the elections again?

‘The Possible Marítimo – The Green-Reds presented themselves yesterday without surprises and with reserved prospects’. The positive news was not about strengthening of the squad, more about the redevelopment of the stadium into one of the most modern infrastructures in Portugal, in this the centenary year of the club. On the field, the objective is "to be better than our opponents", said the president with no great ambition to achieve a European placing.

The Diário website managed to revive itself in time, so thank your lucky stars as I was about to start another ‘Der true story’.

Unemployment Soaring ; Emergency Landing ; Whaling Success Story ; PS In Catastrophe

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:01:18 +0000

(23rd June). Today’s main news headline : ‘Registered Unemployment Increases 41% On Madeira – There are now more than 12,187 registered at the employment centre’. The number went up by 343 or 2.9% in May, and when compared to May 2008 the increase amounts to 41%, or 3,550 people. 92.8% are seeking new employment, whilst 7.2% are young people looking for their first job. Of the 343 new unemployed, 28% are from the services sector, 22% from construction, and 21% from hotels and restaurants. As a new measure to try and combat unemployment, it will be announced today a new scheme through a initiative called ‘Programme of Support for the Creation of Self Employment’. As for the rest of Portugal, the Algarve unemployment list has increased 81% in the same 12 months, the worst by far, and Madeira is in second place, with the Azores following with a 27.3% increase.

The main front page picture today shows many passengers leaving a plane at Porto Santo Airport : ‘Emergency Landing On Porto Santo – A failure in the right side engine and a loss of oil forced the emergency landing of a First Choice plane. The 222 passengers and 8 crew came out unhurt’. the Boeing 757-200 was on its way from Cabo Verde to Manchester England, when the forced landing occurred just before 9pm yesterday. Fire crews were on hand if needed. The passengers were put up overnight in a hotel, and left Porto Santo at 11am this morning on a replacement aircraft. Engineers are inspecting the aircraft, but it is not yet known how long it will need to stay there.

‘Four Light Injuries On The Via Rápida – The operator of the ‘fast road’ registered 14 accidents last week’. The service company assisted with 73 mechanical breakdowns, 3 vehicles parked without reason, and another abandoned. 5 pedestrians were removed, along with 11 animals, and 32 hazardous objects.

The regional secretary responsible has sent technicians to evaluate the rock face in São Vicente, where houses were damaged on Sunday, to evaluate the risk of more rock falls, but says it has nothing to do with the tunnel works nearby that finished a year ago. He believes it is down to natural causes, and said the heavy rain last week may have had something to do with it. A resident in a TV interview this morning said she was 100% certain that the tunnel construction works were the cause. Easy to deny from the ivory towers I guess, as who can ever prove otherwise?

‘Madeira "is a success story" – The Annual Congress of the International Whaling Commission began yesterday’. "Madeira is a success story" in the swopping the hunting of whales for activities with great interest for tourism, and the Whale Museum which is being built in Caniçal, and is an extraordinary example of how the whale became a resource without the need for hunting. After the opening session of the Annual Congress of the International Whaling Commission, the Minister for the Environment, Francisco Correia, expressed praise for regional action in this matter.

‘Lisbon Reduces Punishment For The Former President Of CAPFM – It gives a less severe sentence because the accused is unable to commit similar offences’. The Court of Appeal in Lisbon (TRL) has reduced from nine to five years the prison term given to the former president of the Agricultural Cooperative of Fruit Producers of Madeira (CAPFM). Fernando Gonzalez was sentenced in Funchal in March 2008 for corruption, diversion of subsidies, maladministration, illegitimate appropriation, and other matters. The corruption charge was removed in the appeal.

The head Anaesthetist at Funchal Central Hospital was sacked after all, after an emergency meeting yesterday, despite suggestions that her boss was exceeding his authority. It happened because the other health service administrators present at the meeting, who do have the authority, used it.

‘PS-M On The Edge Of "Catastrophe" – The representative of the republic, Maximiano Martins, says that Gouveia ought to recognise that he is in no state to lead the party’. He has appealed to the national leadership to intervene in the socialist party of Madeira, and sack the leader to stop the imminent catastrophe. Well this story has been dragging on for months and getting worse by the day, so the imminent catastrophe has long since passed in this election year, as the European election results showed. I am afraid that we will have Uncle Bertie and the PSD social democrats for a few more years … not that it was ever in doubt.

(21st June). ‘PS of Machico Accuse PSD Of Discrimination – Socialist counsellors say that they are being ignored on the official council website’. The 3 socialist party representatives are peeved that the câmara, with a social democrat majority, have produced the website with pictures of the counsellors, but the photos of the socialist members are much smaller that those of their social democrat opponents, in an "act of discrimination". Also only two of the three PS counsellors are included, giving the impression that the party only has two representatives. Ho Ho! If political discrimination were to be a crime, then Madeira would be run from behind bars.

Unemployment Crisis ; New Veterinary Laboratory & Home For The Elderly

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:53:47 +0000

(28th May). The main news headline of the day : ‘Records Of The Crisis’. ‘Yesterday, there were 81 jobs on offer for almost 12 thousand unemployed. 10 vacancies were filled. Cooks are the workers most sought after. The economic and social rut gets deeper. The income of 1,599 rich families is worth as much as that earned by the 32,813 poor families’. (These headlines seem to get longer and longer!). Employers apparently are fairly undemanding on qualifications for the few jobs on offer, with just 81 registered vacancies listed on Thursday, and those vacancies are very quickly filled. Most of the positions are in Funchal, but some of those advertised go as far as the Azores.

"If We Had New Jobs, The Youngsters Wouldn’t Leave the Parish" – The lack of work and the low wages put the youth of Seixal on the path of emigration. Yet another one of the Diário’s feature articles on Seixal makes the headlines. The quote comes from Rosária Andrade, who says that the parish is clean, with an excellent beach, and full of beautiful landscapes. Nancy Nicola, who runs a local family owned café agrees that the low salaries are the reason why the young emigrate "It is difficult to live on 400 or 500 Euros," she says "The cost of living increases and the wages remain the same". The UK is where most people want to go, and Nancy worked there 3 years, in London, working 12 hours a day.

The big picture on the front page shows a celebrating crowd of claret and blue shirts over a group of dejected white shirts : ‘Barcelona Make Manchester United And Ronaldo Look Ordinary – Cristiano Ronaldo only managed to overcome the stars of Barcelona during the first ten minutes. Then came the party of Iniesta, Xavi, Messi and company until the end of the victory (2 – 0) without a challenge’.

Madeira now has the best facilities for carrying out veterinary type monitoring, and food safety and water checks, with the new Regional Veterinary Laboratory in São Martinho, inaugurated yesterday by the President of the Government of Madeira. The four storey building cost €8.2 million. President Jardim stressed the quality of the laboratory, proven by "the requests for proposals to work with the outside, including the continent and the Azores", and the importance of such a facility for the future, dubbing it a "weapon of peace".

A building that was originally intended for the laboratory (above) in Poço Barral, also in São Martinho, will now be converted into a home for the elderly. The building will consist of 36 units of accommodation with 50 beds, distributed between single and double rooms. There will be a wing of 10 homes to accommodate people with mobility difficulties or disabilities.

High Dole On Madeira, Petrol Prices To Spiral, Election Fever … Not!

admin — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:00:00 +0000

(26th May). The main picture in the day’s newspaper is a pretty awful looking mish-mash of election posters showing some pretty ugly mugshots : ‘Campaign Pulls Out With Many Posters and Little Grape’ (I am sorry I cannot explain that). The electoral campaign for European elections officially began on Monday across Portugal, and in most other European Union countries. As in all elections, Funchal and the main population centres seemed to be more ‘colourful’. But despite the commitment of all candidates in the mobilization of voters, the indifference of the electorate continues to dominate the days preceding an election in which failure has always been the big winner. This year the situation seems to be no different. The voters know the importance of these elections, but the majority still show no interest. Even so, the candidates and parties intend to give everything until the 7th June. It’s driving me nuts already, although there are very few posters up in town, there are frequent party political broadcasts on the radio, and although not so many on TV, they are interfering with my normal viewing.

‘The Bet Is On Public Works In Place Of Culture And Sport’. Madeira’s government is to reduce spending on sport and culture in order to move ahead with building projects next month. "We have to make cuts because revenues have declined. Therefore, these cuts have been made in areas that have no immediate effect on employment", said president Jardim on Monday afternoon.

(25th May). Fuel prices are expected to start a new upward trend over the coming months, with petrol leading the way. After a short lull, the short term international situation will force up petrol prices even more, whilst diesel ought to remain more stable. The Diário says "The increases recorded in recent weeks, are just the beginning of a cycle of increased oil prices, that should accompany the recovery of the world economy".

‘Madeira Has The Third Highest Unemployment Benefit Payments’. With an average of €515.69 per month, only Lisbon (€606) and Setúbal (€555) pay more to the unemployed. That is based on April’s payments, where those eligible from the 11,844 registered unemployed on Madeira, had a ‘take home pay’ of €56 over the legal minimum salary (€459 / month).