Farmers Suffer Again

In Search of Hope – by Sam Gannon

Seconded to the parish of Tililngdon, the Reverend Dolores has been presented with a challenge.

She’s living in an antiquated house and she’s cold. Furthermore, her new Bishop, Bishop Alice does not approve of ‘showgirls in dog collars.’

Determined to prove the Bishop wrong, she sets about warming her house – who cares if it smells of horse! There is the crochet club, jumble sale, and soup run to organise. And this year, the church bells will ring, no matter what threats are made. Even more so, the newly formed choir will spread a little joy this Christmas, even though they can’t sing – yet! And with a little help from Phil, her bassist, this year could be full of magic.

However, she has a fight on her hands as the townies out in Knob Hill – she must stop calling it that, are trying to stop her from ringing her bells. When Krystal with a K decides to do some volunteer work, Dolores sets out to see just how committed she really is.

Up to her ears in granny squares and squawking choristers, Dolores is revving up for Christmas, yet a deeper darker secret is beginning to emerge!

A secret that could blow the whole parish apart and put Dolores in danger.

(available from Amazon)

The PS-Madeira denounced this Sunday a significant reduction in the support that Madeiran farmers will receive this year under the ‘Single Request,’ known as ‘parcelar, ‘ which will fall from 400 to 100 euros per year.

During a visit to the agricultural market of Santo da Serra, Paulo Cafôfo, President and head of the PS list for the regional legislative elections on the 23rd, harshly criticised the Regional Government for “despising farmers” and treating small agriculture as the “poor relation.”

“Farmers cannot continue to live in perpetual misery and poverty, nor can they afford to be cut to the bone,” said Paulo Cafôfo, denouncing that the support of the ‘parcelar,’ which covers about 13 thousand farmers, will be reduced from 400 to 100 euros per year. “This is poleaxing regional agriculture and disregarding those who work the land. Only recently, the President of Madeira visited a small agriculture unit and was quite disparaging about its viability and impact on the economy. Hardly words of encouragement to a young entrepreneur.”

The socialist leader explained that this money comes from the European Union and questioned the destination of the funds since the total amount has not decreased. “If it goes from 400 euros to 100 euros and if the European Union’s ‘cake’ has not decreased, what has become of this money? Where does this money go?” He asked, stressing that “it does not go into the pockets of farmers.”

The PS candidate also warned of the decline of regional agriculture, noting that in the last four years, there has been a reduction of about 1,200 farms in the region.

“We have to be more considerate of these men and women. We are talking about people who sustain this land, people who do a lot for Madeira with heart and soul, who feed us, and we cannot forget those who feed us,” noted Cafôfo.

The President of the PS-M assured that the party has proposals to value the sector, promising to increase and redefine support for small agriculture. “It is necessary to allocate money where it is most needed, where farmers need it most, because this is a way to reverse the situation of decline in regional agriculture,” he stressed.

“We have to look at these production costs because that’s where farmers need this help and this incentive. That is what, as a Regional Government, we will do”, he asserted.

For those interested, there is an EU directive on farming, which can be found at https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/ and https://www.europarl.europa.eu/