Madeira News Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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