Madeira Hidden Debt Investigation Concluded

The "Cuba Livre" investigation into the Madeira hidden debt has been concluded. The Public Prosecutor's Office found that there had been falsification of documents and that the debt had indeed been hidden. However, they conclude that since the State suffered no negative consequences there was no reason to proceed and so the case is not going to Court.

This typical of the impunity nurtured by the Portuguese Justice system.

Not only was the State negatively affected by the hidden debt, the whole of the island's economy has been torpedoed and the taxpayers are landed with the bill.

The Public Prosecution's decision came mere weeks after the Banco Espirito Santo scandal hit the front pages of the world's newspapers. The timing meant that the Madeira hidden debt investigation got minimal press coverage.

The New Democracy Party, which was party to the denounciations, will appeal the decision,

New Tender for Funchal harbour

The Regional Government has launched a new public tender for Funchal Harbour worth 18 million Euros. The previous tender had to be dropped because all the companies' tenders were too high.

The dock is to be built on the Funchal beachfront in an area which was used by the Government as a temporary landfill for the debris resulting from the 20th of February 2010 flash floods. The Governmet used this as an excuse to use the special package specifically allocated for reconstruction of damaged infrastructures, to embark on a totally new venture. Meanwhile, much of the 20th of Feburary damage remains untouched, needing repair.

A protest against the project led to a 2000 strong demonstration on the landfill sight in 2011. A large part of the Madeira debt and the debts that Jardim hid from the National Government and the Regional Parliament (with the help of the construction companies themselves) are due to Jardim's many mega construcion projects, many of which have no practical use.

Jardim invents false debt

In his public interventions over the last months, Jardim has insistently repeated that Portugal owes Madeira 9 billion Euros, 3 billion more than the Madeira debt.

He claims that according to the Portuguese Constituion, all Madeira's health and education expenses should have been paid for by the Portuguese State and that the State therefore owed Madeira 9 billion.

When Madeira was granted the statute of Autonomous Region, it got to keep all the tax income generated on the island and received extra from the mainland to compensate for its isolation, but to claim - thirty odd years later - that the State should also have paid all health and education costs is absurd, dishonest and utter tripe.

This is the type of manipulative disinformation that Jardim has used for the last thirty years to evoke phantom external enemies and to mobilise the people to keep him in power. Its disgusting that the national authorities allow him to keep voicing the same dangerous drivel unchallenged.

Court Auditor's Report on Connective Intelligence Scam

The Connective Intelligence Project was an Information Society Pilot Project on which the government spent millions and has literally nothing to show for it...so somebody got very lucky and got away it. This is what the report says:

1. The public expenditure on the 'connective intelligence' project was worth 3.995 million Euros. The contracts, protocols and solutions adopted were heavy on the public purse and ineficient in terms of creating a pilot project for the region in the domain of the 'Information Society'.

2. The Audit draws attention to the following aspects to the protocol signed between the Autonomous Region of Madeira and the International Centre for Connective Intelligence sole proprietorship company:

a) The Regional Education Secretariat did not fulfil its duty ...'acompany and evaluate the execution of activities, guaranteeing the fulfilment of the CITD'

b) When the protocol was denounced in 2001, there existed no proof of any results of the centers activities, and none of the goals of the project were attained.

a) The Secretariat accepted the bills presented by the Center without any of the informnation required by law. These expenses were processed and paid without any control of the respective services rendered.

b) Between the 1st of April (April Fool's Day) 2000 and 14 February (Valentine's day) 2003, a total of 1,397 million were paid to the center 'despite none of the milestones established by Anexes A and B of the protocol having been reached'.

c) The estimated 1.948 Million debt to the Center, which included and amount of 368,000 still to be billed, which the Secretariat confirmed to the BCP bank, is not substantiated.

d) The comfort letter emitted by the Secretariat in favour of the Center, without the provisions required by law, resulted in the BCP paying the company 1.948 million , i.e. the debt confirmed by the Secretariat.

e) Due to the payments made through the BCP arrangement (1.3 million) the Region has no further financial obligations to the company.

f) The eventual payment of the remaining amount 648 thousand Euro, suspended following an audit, may by law imply that the amount be repaid to the region, for damages and loss to the public purse.

No one resigned, no one was fired, no one has yet been called to account...

Court Auditors: Madeira debt 5.9 billion in 2010

The Court Auditor's Report for the year 2010 calculates that the Madeira debt reached 5.887 billion Euro in 2010.

The Publico writes that by mid 2010 the debt had already reached 6.328 billion and estimates the regional debt to now have exceeded 8 billion Euro.

At the end of 2010 the region's direct debt was 963,3 million. The administrative debt reached1.9 billion, a steep rise in comparison to the previos year, owing to the discovery of information omitted the previous years. The public companies debt reached 3 billion and the financial debt of the companiesreached 1.738 billion. Unpaid bills (encargos assumidos e não pagos) was estimated at 1.455 billion Euros.

The auditor's report also reviewed the 2008 and 2009 to include all the hidden debt that had gone unreported in the previous years.

The Court Auditors concluded that the omission of debts resulted from the Regional Directorate of Budget and Accounts not having done their duty in checking the budget and supervising the accounts.

The Government’s 1878 Hidden Bills

Source: Expresso

A Court Auditor’s Report concludes that the Madeira hidden debt was the result of the deliberate actions of five members of Jardim’s Government: Santos Costa, Secretary in charge of Public Works between 2000 and 2011; Ventura Garçês, the Secretary of Finances, and another three subordinates.

The audit uncovered that the hidden debt corresponded to 1878 bills, almost all related to public construction projects build between 2003 and 2010. The issuing and registering of the bills had been successively put on hold.

The conclusions point to grave infractions in terms of not reporting  to the National Statistics Institute and the Budget Directorate General, as required by law. Those responsible are therefore liable to criminal prossecution (hardly likely in Portugal).

Those responsible alledged they had difficulty in circulating documents between the services, also blaming their computer programs for delays in issuing and registering bills. The Court Auditors were not convinced.

Such excuses, the report reads, could never  justify discrepancies to the order of seven hundred million Euros over seven years, particularly since there were several moments every year which obliged the Secretariat to make a balance of the budgetary and financial situation of the Secretariat.   

810 million of the 862 million unpaid debt, hidden over the years, relate to construction projects. A further 404 million correspond to interest on arrears owed to twelve builders – the result of extravant clauses in the contracts relating to delays in payment.

The hidden debt was successively regularized with the builder in 2008, 2009 and 2010 without ever setting a limit on the interest in arreas. Just in the period of six months between December 2010 and June 2011, the interest grew by 40 million. One of the violations of the Budget Law denounced by the audit relates precisely for the lack of justification for the accumulation of interest.

Why should Madeiran’s pay for this scam. The construction companies were in on the scam and did very nicely out of it, making sure they kept Bertie in power to ensure the money kept rolling in and that he would keep them happy with lots of new construction projects – to be inaugurated during the election campaign.The constructors – who are all heavily linked to Jardim and Jaime Ramos – should also be held criminally responsible for playing along in hiding the debt, duping the electorate to keep benefitting from the Jardim dictatorship.

Jaime Ramos and the Hidden debt investigation

The  Expresso weekly reported that Jaime Ramos is business partner of two of the construction companies who are creditors of the Regional Government in the 1.1 billion of hidden debt.

As is well known, Jaime is chair of the Cimentos Europa, in which he owns a 22,5% stake. AFA, Tamega and Zagope are the other shareholders.

Jaime Ramos and his son, Avelino Faria (AFA) and Tamega are also equal shareholders in Ecoram, a waste-treatment company.

Jaime Ramos and son are 100% shareholders in the tarmac supply company AECP-Asfaltos, Emulsões e Combustíveis.

(Nobody knows who the owner of the AFA shares owned Offshore are)

AFA, Tamega and Zagope are on the list of hidden debt credit which is being investigated by the Central Investigation Department in the operation designated 'Cuba Livre'. The investigation is on whether members of the government hid the debt from the Bank of Portugal and the Institute of Statistics on Purpose, a crime punishable with a one year jail sentence (which will lead nowhere since it is not severe enough to oblige the lifting of their parliamentary immunity! - just like the election violations!).


According to the Court Auditors, some of the debt (in 2009) reported to construction projects completed in 2003, but not billed until 3 or 4 years later. The Government had made a secret deal with the constructors to pay them in installments up until 1914, but never reported the debts.

There seems to be an obvious collusion between Bertie, Ramos and his construction partners in hiding the debt to keep Bertie in power and ensure his program of public construction would continue to drive huge sums into their pockets.


We used to joke about the 'Cement Lobby', but in this case, there is no need for a lobby since they are directly represented in Government. 

A quarter of the bailout goes to public companies

The Regional Government is loaning 259 million Euros of the bailout money to the bankrupt government-owned development societies: 96 million for the Western Development Society, 63,4 for the Metropolitan development society; 61 million for the Porto Santo Development Society, 22,8 million for the Northern Development Society and 15,2 for the Industrial Parks Society.

'Público' 4th May

Transparency, Debt and limit of Mandates

The Public Prosecutor's Office has denied it has found any new hole in the Madeira accounts, but does this invalidate the readings that the debt may now be over 8 billion? No, or rather, we simply don't know. It seems to be a simple game of semantics.

And why don't we know? Because there is no democratic system of check and control. The Parliament, does not function. The Government never goes there and on the rare occasions it does so, goes there on its own terms: it does not provide the requested information and allows no debate. It simply appears to make speeches. Last summer, for instance, the Secretary of Finances went to the Parliament to say the regional debt amounted to little over 1 billion; weeks later it had to admit that is was over 6 billion.

There is absolutely no transparency in the Madeira accounts and none of the State entities, Parliament, Justice System, Public Prosecutor's Office, function in way resembling those of a Democracy.

Why, is the President of the Government of the Autonomous Region of Madeira the ONLY elected post without a limit of mandates? Simply because the whole Democratic system has been screwed and manipulated to perpetuate the power and the abuse of power of one man - a man who cannot be held accountable to Parliament - or any other institution, for that matter - and who now spends his Sunday mornings preaching his theories to churchgoers in the churchyard after Sunday mass.

Many journalists and politicans absurdly refer to him as Europe's longest serving elected leader. There can be no comparison since no elected leader in Europe can serve for more than two or three terms in office ... and this rule is made precisely to prevent corruption and chronyism and so that noone can stay in power long enough to manipulate the whole system in his favour - to perpetuate himself in power (with abundant election violations from which he is imune from prosecution!).

Expresso Demistifies Government Debt Denial

The Secretary of Finances had denied this week that the Madeira Debt had reached 8 billion Euros. According to the Expresso, the contested 2 billion disparity relates to the Public-Private enterprises, for the companies exploring the regional roads.

Of the 2 billion total accorded with the concessions, 600 million had been paid up until 2010. Although there is an annual fee for the Government to pay, this is only considered a debt (according to EU Comission criteria) if the Government defaults. According to the Secretary of Finances, the default in December 2011 only amounted to 170 million Euro.

The Via Expresso and Via Litoral partnerships were established in 1999 and 2004 and will oblige the Government to pay them a further 1.3 billion between 2012 and 2029.

In short, the Government has contracted debts of over 8 billion Euros, but only consideres 6 billion to be in debt.

The Via Litoral, set up in 1999, has as its main shareholder AFA, owned by Avelino Farinha Agrela (and unidentified offshore shareholders).

Via Expresso, formed in 2004, has Tamega as a main shareholder. The most important regional construction companies are sharehodlers in both.

(The main companies are also shareholders along with the PSD leader, Jaime Ramos, in Cimentos Europa, the company that supplies most of the cement to the public works in Madeira)

Jaime Ramos, Secretary General of the PSD and PSD Parliamentary leader, is also President of the Construtors Association - ASSICOM; Avelino Farinha Agrela (AFA) is the chariman of the ASSICOM General Assembly.

The Institute of Fianacial Administration, in its September 2011 report, alerted that these contracts were highly profitable for the private entities with no risk involved.

Operation 'Cuba Livre'

The Public Prosecutor's Office carried out a search operation on the Madeira Government Building in charge of public construction works on Monday. The building was sealed off by Police all day while the search ensued. The raid is part of an investigation into Madeira's debt.

Lisbon papers reported that a further 2 billion Euro hole was found in unreported debt, including works that had already been carried out, but had simply never been billed as the government had requested builders not issue the bills until given the OK. The Regional Secretary of Finance has denied all  reports of unreported debt - he also denied the 6 billion Euro debt in the first half of 2010, which he was later unable to hide. 

Reacting to the news, Bertie's Party Youth leader, José Pedro Pereira MP, better know as Mijinhas (for having pissed on a Police car) , called for Madeirans to revolt and declare independence: 

'Along the years we have seen successive national governments, of all [political] colors, launch constant attacks on the Autonomous Region of Madeira. They are filled with envy and hatred due to the development we have attained! I think the next revolution will be the revolt of the Madeirans, to tell the Portuguese Republic that if they carry on along this path of constantly attacking Madeira, it will be better for us to fight for independence! ' - now who does that remind one of?

The Sunday Telegraph on Madeira

 Billions of euros of European Union money have been spent in Madeira, yet the island is swimming in debt.

By Colin Freeman

Tucked beneath towering cliffs on Madeira's storm-battered west Atlantic coast, the €50 million Marina do Lugar de Baixo aimed to provide the perfect welcome for super-luxury yachts. Unfortunately, thanks to the huge waves that have fractured the harbour wall three times since it was built in 2005, not even the more adventurous yachtsmen have often been tempted, never mind passing billionaires in floating palaces. Today it lies abandoned, a chain blocking the road where an Oleg Deripaska or Roman Abramovic might have strode ashore, the white clubhouse empty as the Marie Celeste.

Just as spectacular as the ocean breakers off Lugar de Baixo, however, are the waves of European Union cash that have been splashed around Madeira, a Portuguese-owned island better known for sweet wine and winter sun.

While the marina was financed mainly by the semi-independent Madeiran local government, €3.5 million came from Brussels, which, like the other backers, did not heed warnings that a stretch of coast popular with hard-core surfers might be less ideal for yachters.

 Similarly, at the nearby promenade and restaurant complex at Frente Mar Madalena, where a rusting plaque marks a €1.2 million EU grant, developers overlooked the risk of rockfalls from the cliffs. Until, that is, a boulder tore a hole through the restaurant's roof two years ago, since when it too has been empty.

The real big hole though, is the one that such rampant, publicly-backed development has torn in the island's finances, as it has transformed itself into a resort similar to the Canary Islands further south. For Madeira is now swimming in debt as deep as the Atlantic waters around it, thanks to a government-backed building spree fuelled in part, critics say, by over-generous Brussels grants. Today, despite a population of just 250,000, the local administration owes some €6 billion, nearly double the per capita public debt of mainland Portugal.

 The financial crisis, which only came to light last autumn, is hugely embarrassing for Lisbon's leaders, who have already had to negotiate an €78 billion bail-out themselves from Brussels and the IMF. The island is now seen as Portugal's own little answer to Greece, widely considered the most feckless of the southern European debtor club.

 "Madeira is like Greece in the Atlantic," said Gil Canha, a councillor in Madeira's opposition New Democracy Party, which blames years of unhealthily cosy relations between island politicians, developers and Brussels grant-makers. "The European Union has given money too easily, and the government has borrowed far too much from banks. We are a tiny island, you can hardly see us on any map. To have a debt with so many zeros is crazy." Sipping coffee in a square in Funchal, Madeira's balmy capital, Mr Canha looks as relaxed as the elderly British and German tourists wandering past, who like the island's quiet, yob-free reputation.

Yet in his pocket he has a can of pepper-spray, and when out at night, he takes a Browning 0.25 pistol, both of which he is licensed to carry for personal protection. For within Madeira's small community of long-term residents, being politically outspoken can have consequences. Mr Cana has been beaten up twice, had his own bar burned down, and had his family's cars vandalised.

"As a councillor I've complained about corruption in building projects, and got a few stopped," he said. "So they use terror against me." He points the finger at supporters of the island's president, Alberto João Jardim, 69, who has ruled here ever since 1978, making him one of Europe's longest-serving elected leaders.

 A firebrand throwback to the days of Portugal's Salazar dictatorship, for which he once wrote propaganda, his popularity has been cemented - quite literally - by the billions he has spent developing the island, which, prior to the end of Portugal's dictatorship in 1974, was a poverty-stricken backwater.

 Today, a 120-mile road and tunnel network links Madeira's previously isolated mountain communities, cutting journeys around its steep volcanic contours from four hours to just one. But much of the money came from the €2bn in EU grants handed out over the last 25 years, and when that started to dry up a decade ago, Mr Jardim began borrowing on the open market instead, via publicly-backed development firms. Thus did construction continue, to the point where today, even small villages boast lavish civic centres, swimming pools, and football pitches.

As the government-owned newspaper, the Jornal, dutifully reports, the president cuts the ribbons at up to 450 opening ceremonies a year, using them for political rallies where he denounces his enemies in lengthy speeches. Spain's El Mundo newspaper calls him "El Maestro del Insulto" - the master of insults.

"He has accused me of being a Communist, a Marxist, and a member of Opus Dei, among other things," sighed Michael Blandy, chair of the Blandy Group, part of a powerful English business community that settled on the island 200 years ago, when Madeira's position on the trade winds routes made it a pitstop for both the Old and New Worlds. Today, as well as making Madeira wine, Mr Blandy owns the island's main independent newspaper, drawing further barbs from Mr Jardim that he is a "colonialist".  "President Jardim is quite a reasonable character in person, and did a lot of good development work in the old days," added Mr Blandy, who complains that the Jornal - which gets €3 million a year in public funds - is unfair competition. "Unfortunately, there has been too much chasing of EU subsidies, which have been dished out like no tomorrow, and to which the island got addicted like a drug. "Then, around 2000, when money from Brussels become more restricted, we saw the start of more creative accounting, when Mr Jardim set up firms borrowing money to build yet more roads and golf courses. The whole thing is out of control.

Indeed, many claim that Madeira has lurched from underdevelopment to overdevelopment. In some areas, the expressways, tunnels and flyovers look more like a suburb of Los Angeles. And white elephant projects abound. Industrial parks accessible only by steep mountain roads stand largely empty. A helicopter landing terminal has never been used. In Machico village, population 10,000, the seafront is dominated by a vast municipal hall more suited to a large London borough, its theatre and twin cinema screens open only a few nights a year, its two restaurants unused. "It was built using calculations done on a napkin," said Joseph Freitas, a local hotel waiter. "Jardim is good at standing up for Madeirans' rights, but he could use his resources better."

 While much of the public cash for such projects has come from the Portuguese government, Lisbon claims the EU's past willingness to offer matching funding encouraged over-building. "The whole country has too much construction, not just Madeira," insists the prime minister Passos Coelho, whose centrist Social Democratic Party Mr Jardim also belongs to. However, while a spokesman for the European Commission insisted that there were "many good projects co-financed by the EU in Madeira," the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, recently singled the island as an example of how not to spend EU regional development funds. "There are many beautiful tunnels and highways," she said in February. "But this did not contribute to competitiveness." Mr Jardim has responded in typically combative style to criticisms of his financial management, describing Mrs Merkel as "ignorant", and the island's debts as a mere "drop in the ocean". When the credit agency Moody's downgraded Madeira's debt last summer, he even declared that Moody's inspectors were banned from the island.

Such populist rhetoric goes down well with the Madeiran public, which voted him back in for another four year term last October, albeit with just 48 per cent of the vote, his worst result in 33 years. However, Eduardo Welsh, whose blog is Madeira's answer to Private Eye, argues that Portugal's national leaders should have reined him in years ago. "Jardim is a real dictator," he said. "But nothing has been done at national level to stop him, because they are scared of him agitating for Madeira to become independent."

 Like other government critics, Mr Welsh has suffered for his beliefs. The government has brought dozens of libel lawsuits against him, including an ongoing one for a cartoon comparing Mr Jardim to Hitler, in which Mr Walsh was acquitted. The president has now appealed. Mr Welsh and fellow activists also claim to have been roughed up by Mr Jardim's bodyguards and supporters while heckling at public openings, which they attend in a hearse with the slogan "bury the corrupt". The one benefit of the debt crisis, he says, is that it brings international scrutiny to Madeira's problems.

Perhaps with that in mind, the president's office has been declined recent interview requests from foreign journalists. However, a man who attends as many public functions as Mr Jardim is not hard to track down, and The Sunday Telegraph caught up with him as he sat down to an anniversary dinner for a local carnival group. Far from summoning his minders, he proved charming - if defiant. "Madeira was very poor before, and the only way forward was increasing the public debt," he said. "If I hadn't done that, we'd still be saddled with the rest of Portugal's debts today anyway." What about the claims of intimidation? Nonsense, he smiled, the work of "fascists" in the opposition and "cowardly bloggers" like Mr Welsh. And the white elephants, such as the wave-damaged Marina do Lugar?  "I am not like your British empire, I cannot rule the waves. There has been some structural damage, yes, but we are repairing it." With that, he turned back to entertaining his dining companions - but just how much longer he will be the toast of Madeira's grand opening nights is another matter.

Like his mainland counterparts, Mr Jardim has had no choice but to sign up to unpopular austerity measures that will involve slashing public spending by a third and raising local taxes, heralding tough years ahead for residents.

Last Thursday, in a sign of unprecedented dissent in the local party, the mayor of Funchal, Miguel Albuquerque, also declared he would run against Mr Jardim for the SDP leadership. "Jardim could have been a great national politician, but he just wanted to be Mr Big here," said Mr Welsh. "Now even that is coming to an end."

Budget ‘Debate’: ‘Blessed is the Debt’

The Secretary of Finances, Ventura Garçês, during the budget ‘debate’ (the regiment allows for very little actual debate) quoted Einstein saying that the crisis is the greatest blessing since it brings progress. President Jardim has recently often stated that he only regretted not having made an even bigger debt while was still able to.

The 2011 budget estimated the region could raise 1.119 billion Euros in tax income; the final tax income only reached 667,000 Euros. The 2012 budget estimates a tax income of 792,000 Euros, but even the Secretary of Finances admits that, despite tax increases, they are likely to fall far short of this target.

The Regional Government has submitted a budget of 2.2 billion Euros, far higher than in previous years due to the 1 billion Euro loan from the Portuguese Government, which will go directly towards repaying accumulated debt. However, this sum will not reduce the Madeira debt, since it constitutes a debt transfer.

Although the Government has introduced some cutbacks, it is unclear how much of Madeira’s 6.3 billion debt, if any, will be reduced with this budget.  

Madeira Civil Service Cuts

There are an estimated 30 to 35,000 civil servants in Madeira. The Madeira Government alone employs 24,000 civil servants. While employees of the Portuguese central administration represent 4,1% of the total population and 13,1% of the active population, in Madeira, in June 2011, civil servants represented 11,2% of Madeira residents and 23,4% of the active population.

According to the 2012 budget, Madeira will have to reduce 79 million Euros in staff costs, which in 2011 reached 372 million.

In order to reduce the civil service by 2%, as agreed with the Portuguese Government the Madeira Government will have to cut 600 to 700 civil service jobs per year.

Jardim made an election promise that he would not fire any civil servants and later stated that the 2% reduction could be reached through the retirement of existing staff.

The Publico newspaper writes that the figures do not add up. On Madeira, only 459 civil servants retired in 2011, 57 of them in December. The retirement numbers so far this year fall short of the Government’s target.

Secretary of Finances denies debt may reach 8 billion Euros

The Secretary of Finances has refuted the news published in the Publico (below) saying that the 2 billion in commercial debt was included in the 6328 million Euros.

Source: Publico newspaper, 1-3-2012

With the reevaluation of the commercial debt to 2 billion Euro, the region’s overall public debt reaches 8 billion Euros, as the Público had predicted back in August. According to the General Inspectorate of Finance’s September 2011 diagnosis of the region’s debt, Madeira’s debt at the end of July 2011 reached 6328 million Euros without including the regional government’s indirect debt to various entities, to the value of 1255 million Euros.

These 6328 million Euros included 1031 million of direct public debt; 2719 of financial debt; 2058 million of administrative debt and 520 million of commercial debt. Since this last value is now held to be 2000 million, as the Secretary of Finances revealed to the Publico, the global debt may now reach 8 billion Euros, or may even far exceed this number if the concession of guarantees and the contracting of loans by various public entities are taken into account.  

Madeira Bail-out Plan

The bail-out plan signed by President Jardim commits to reduce public spending by 32,1% in relation to the 2011 budget and to raise an extra 17,7% in tax revenue. In exchange, the Portuguese Government has agreed to loan Madeira 1.5 billion Euro, to be repaid as of 2016.

The Madeira debt is now calculated at 6,5 billion Euro and the Regional Government needs to find circa 3,5 billion Euro to meet its commitments until 2015.

The proposed annual reduction in spending, totaling 522,2 million Euros, is as follows:
Investment:        400,2 million
Civil Service:      79,2 million -
                        (49,6 million cuts in Holiday and Christmas subsidies)                                     
                        (16,8 million Social contributions;) 
                        (8,0 million Allowances;)
                        (3,9 million reduction in Civil Servants by 2% yearly;)                                                          
                        (0,7 million reduction in directors posts)
Other expenses:  19,4 million
Subsidies:             2,7 million
Benefits:             15,2 million
Consumption:       5,6 million

The estimated increase in tax income of 126,8 million is as follows:
VAT                      76,0 million
Income tax             29,1 million
Tobacco                23,5 million
Electricity                0,9 million
Alcohol                   0,6 million
Fuel                        4,0 million
Other                      4,0 million
Social contributions 11,3 million

Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom on the Marina do Lugar de Baixo

A multi-million pound marina partly built with British taxpayers’ money is lying empty, it emerged yesterday.

The project, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, was condemned as the latest example of EU spending madness.

The Marina do Lugar de Baixo, built eight years ago on the stormy west side of the island, is closed and undergoing further construction work which critics claim is needed because the Atlantic waves make it too dangerous to use.

Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom said: "This just shows why the euro and the EU are holed beneath the waterline. Anybody who has ever been on a boat knows where the prevailing wind lies, except those in Brussels who use our money to pay for it.”

The EU contributed about £3million of the £31million cost

Source: Daily Express, 14 January 2012

Sports Directors on Bank of Portugal Blacklist

As a result of the Regional Government not paying installments due to some sports clubs since March, many sports clubs have defaulted in repaying banks for sports infrastructures.

Since these investments were made in name of the clubs and directors had to personally underwrite the loans, many are now being held personally accountable by the banks.

The Diário writes that as a result, some directors have been put on the Bank of Portugal blacklist and are now considered high risk customers. Their private and business lives are being very negatively affected.

Last Saturday, Jaime Freitas, Regional Secretary of Education and Human Resources, in an interview to RDP Madeira, referred to certain sports directors as ‘mercenaries’ .

Madeira Sports Institute to be Extinguished

The institute had an annual budget of 34 million Euro: 9 to repay banks for sports infrastructures;  11 million for subsidies; 6 million for travel expenses and 4 million to pay 256 employees. It had an accumulated a debt of over 52 million.

The result of the Regiobal Government's lack of liquidity is being felt. Many sports clubs, particularly the smaller ones, are three or four months behind in paying salaries. The Government is apparently considering closing half the swimming pools it has built all over the island and the Sports Institute has announced most of the swimming pools will in any case remain closed until February since it has no money for heating them.

Jardim Blackmails Lisbon Government

The Madeira bail-out agreement, due to have been signed last Monday, is yet to be signed. The Regional Government is holding out, hoping for more concessions.

The Prime Minister stated, at the beginning of the week, that the Madeira Government had to adopt the bail-out-plan as its own and not view it as an imposition from Lisbon, to make Lisbon the scapegoat for the measures to be adopted. He added that the Madeira Government was the one who had to act in a hurry in order not to worsen the crisis.

Apparently, the Madeira Government does not share this view. Jardim’s spokesman, Guilherme Silva, let slip in an interview last night, that should the Madeiran finances collapse, the financial backlash would look bad, not so much for the Madeiran Government,  but for the Portuguese Government, harming its ratings and credibility internationally.

The cat is out of the bag, Jardim is willing to let the Madeira debt crisis escalate, at a huge cost to the Madeirans, in order to pressure Lisbon to soften the austerity measures, which result from his own mismanagement.