Environment Minister fails to address anti-oil demonstrators in Faro

OilReferendumSMALLToday's anti-oil demonstrators in Faro expected at least the usual platitudes and carefully crafted deceptions from the Minister for the Environment but they ended the day in disappointment as Pedro Matos Fernandes failed to show up.

The minister was scheduled to take part in a discussion at the regional planning and development body, CCDR-Algarve, while also taking the opportunity of celebrating World Environment Day.

Algarve motorway toll charges to fall 30% - but only for heavy goods vehicles

tollCampaign groups long have argued that tolls imposed on drivers using Portugal's formerly free SCUT roads, including the Algarve’s Via do Infante A22 motorway, should greatly be reduced or, better still, cancelled.

The government has made small downward adjustments in the past but now has lopped a sizeable 30% off the fees paid to use these roads – but only for Heavy Goods Vehicles which represent currently just 3% of the motorway's traffic.

Pro-oil Minister to visit Algarve to celebrate World Environment Day

CCDR AlgarveAttaining news heights in government cynicism, the Minister of the Environment and other members of the Government will be in Faro on June 5th to celebrate World Environment Day.

One of the Algarve’s ardent anti-oil associations, MALP is to take full advantage of the ill-timed and insulting visit by mounting a protest, next to the CCDR-Algarve’s majestic offices, in Praça da Liberdade, Faro.

New film to highlight plight of Ria Formosa Seahorses

seahorseDiver, biologist, conservationist and film maker, João Rodrigues, is creating a film dedicated to highlighting the desperate plight of the Algarve's Ria Formosa seahorse population.

Cavalos de Guerra (War Horses) is the title of a film and a book that points out that in 2001, there were an estimated two million seahorses in the Ria Formosa lagoon, now there are around 100,000, the decline due primarily to their illegal capture and onward sale to the Asian market.

Food Bank donations slip due to holiday weekend

riceLast weekend’s anti-hunger campaign by the Food Bank in the Algarve collected donations totalling 115 tons, down 10 tons from last May’s campaign.

At the national level, the Food Banks Against Hunger raised 1,602 tonnes of food, down 243 tonnes from the previous year, which according to the Federation of Food Banks can be explained "mainly by the long holiday weekend, which meant that many people were away from their usual places of residence which changed their usual buying habits."

Algarve hospitals' management pushing Doctors to go private

barlaventohospitalThe National Health Service in the Algarve is paying double or treble the hourly rate to attract doctors to work in regional hospitals.

Diário de Notícias looked at the figures for doctors employed by the HNS and found that some doctors earn more than €50 per hour, when the maximum established by law is €39.

EN125 to be repaired between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.

EN125RoadSurfaceNational road company, Infraestruturas de Portugal, at last has announced that its contractor is starting €250,000 of emergency work to the crumbing EN125 eastern section between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.

According to the company, a set of emergency repairs will be carried out to correct the damaged areas that have been identified on the 38 kilometre stretch of road.

Arade Conference Centre to host its first Algarve property show

4805Four dozen property sector companies will gather at the Algarve Real Estate Exhibition at the Arade Congress Centre - a monument to the State’s lack of grasp when it comes to property matters.
 
The famous ‘white elephant’ congress center, whose annual losses are covered by Lagoa and Portimão councils, is situated in Parchal, Lagoa, and is the venue for the show that runs from June 7th to 9th.