Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 4th January 2023
by Mike Evans
Good day to you all and a very happy New year from us all at Safe Communities Portugal. Welcome to the first Algarve Situation Report of 2023. Throughout the next 12 months we will endeavour to provide you with the latest news concerning safety and security from across the Algarve.
Let’s start off with the latest figures regarding the Operations carried out by the GNR over the period between Christmas and the New Year. During this period, 88 people were arrested (there were 52 in the previous week, which ended on Christmas Day), of which, 21 for driving without a legal licence, 13 for driving under the influence of alcohol and nine for drug trafficking, according to the GNR statement.
At the same time, the GNR detected 924 road traffic offences, of which 187 were due to speeding, 77 due to lack of mandatory periodic inspection, 41 related to anomalies in the lighting and signalling systems, 23 due to improper use of the mobile phone while driving and 20 due to lack of liability insurance. With regard to accidents on Algarve roads, 109 accidents were recorded, resulting in one death, three serious injuries and 19 minor injuries.
Away from the roads and throughout the week ending on Sunday, the GNR seized, among other products, 575 doses of hashish, 46 doses of cocaine, as well as various pyrotechnic devices, clothing, cosmetics and electronic equipment.
Person Dies in Road Traffic collision
A man aged around 60 died on Friday, December 30, following a collision between two light vehicles in Olhão, said a Civil Protection source.
The alert was given at 18:00 and the accident resulted in one death and one slightly injured, said a source from the District Center for Civil Protection (CDOS) in Faro. The collision took place on National Road 398 in Moncarapacho , in the municipality of Olhão .
The death was confirmed at the scene by the doctor from the Medical Emergency and Resuscitation Vehicle (VMER), he added.
On site were elements of the Firefighters of Olhão, INEM and Infrastructures of Portugal, in addition to the GNR that took care of the occurrence, in a total of 15 operational, supported by eight vehicles.
Crash on N125 causes serious injury.
Four people were injured, one of them seriously, following a collision that took place this Tuesday 3rd January between two goods vehicles on National Road (EN) 125, in the municipality of Portimão, a Civil Protection source said .
According to the Faro District Relief Operations Command (CDOS) , the accident occurred in the early afternoon, on the EN125, in the Belmonte area, in the municipality of Portimão, and involved two light goods vehicles. According to the source, the accident led to the conditioning of road traffic on the road section near Belmonte, which has now been re-established.
A total of 28 operators from the firefighters, the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), the National Republican Guard (GNR) and the highway concessionaire were deployed in the victim assistance operations.
The causes of the accident are being investigated by the Núcleo de Investigação de Crimes em Acidentes de Viação (NICAV) of the GNR.
ASAE closes clandestine animal slaughter site in Silves
The Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) dismantled two clandestine animal slaughter sites, one of which is in Silves . Three people were arrested and seizures estimated at 4,350 euros were carried out.
“ASAE carried out, through the Southern Regional Unit, and following investigations within the scope of the fight against criminal offences against public health, several inspection actions aimed at the clandestine slaughter of animals, in the municipalities of Silves, Portimão and Batalha”, indicated in a statement. In this context, it dismantled, in Silves and Batalha, two places of clandestine slaughter, where “roasting and part of the marketing” took place.
The remaining animals were sent for consumption in restaurants during the festive season, “without their being subject to any health inspection to screen for any diseases”.
ASAE instituted three criminal proceedings for clandestine slaughter, which constitutes a crime against public health, and seized 47 piglets, a kid and a lamb, as well as metal utensils and packaging used for packaging and transporting the roasted piglets, “disguising the its origin and misleading the consumer”.
In total, the value of the seizures was estimated at around 4,350 euros.
Following these crimes, ASAE detained three people and ordered the total suspension of activities “unlicensed and without minimum conditions” for their operation.
60 kilos of crab and 11 fishing gear seized in Tavira
The Maritime Police seized on Tuesday, January 3, about 60 kilos of Moorish crab and 11 professional fishing gear in the Ria Formosa , in Tavira, announced the National Maritime Authority.
This seizure by the Tavira Maritime Police Local Command took place during a patrolling action for fishing in the estuary, when two men were detected using “pots” and using Moorish crab as bait.When the men saw the security forces, they fled and left their fishing equipment at the scene.
The respective news reports were prepared and three members of the Tavira Maritime Police Local Command were involved in this action , supported by a vehicle and a boat.
First Baby of the Year born in Faro Hospital
Sanyam Malla is the son of Nepalese parents and is also one of the babies of the year in Portugal. With so many turns that life takes, and after his parents had already been to several countries, little Sanyam ended up being born in the Algarve, precisely at 00:00 on January 1, 2023. The smiles of parents do not deceive… This one is a special baby who “came to give meaning to the life” of a couple who live more than eight thousand kilometres away from their country
Newborns may, in fact, be synonymous with fragility. But let’s not forget that they are also the pinnacle of courage, strength and resilience in their most natural state. “That’s exactly what Sanyam is”, says the emotional mother.
The roots and blood are Nepalese, but the Algarve will forever mark the life of Sanyam – a name that in Nepal means “calm, peace and someone who is peaceful and patient”, explains the mother. This Baby of the Year was born by normal delivery at 00:00 on the first day of 2023 “with 3.495 kilos and 49 centimetres”, describes his father, Sandesh Malla, 29 years old.
Switzerland was the gateway to Europe for this young couple who left their homeland “in search of a better life”. After having been “studying” in Switzerland, Sandesh Malla ended up coming to the Algarve with his wife, where he now works “in a restaurant in Ferragudo ”, he reveals. It is in the region that they live and work “for several years”, they say.
In addition to being the couple’s first child, the two Nepalese were also treated to the fact that their son was one of the babies of the year in Portugal, something they “never” imagined and which turned out to be “one of the biggest and best surprises” of their lives.
As a joke, Sanyam Malla’s father asks himself, “from the moment of delivery”, about “what are the chances of what happened”. “It is something very special, without a doubt”, reinforces the mother.
All of us at Safe Communities wish the family good health and prosperity in Portugal.
And to end this first report we congratulate the Castelo do Sonhos family Charity in Silves, who successfully organised the 18th Christmas shoebox for the elderly campaign.
This year over 250 boxes were distributed together with warm clothing and food parcels to the elderly within the Silves Council. The charity even received boxes from as far away as Lagos and were pleased to learn that boxes were also delivered to poor elderly folk in that part of the Algarve.
CdeS would in particular like to thank the following clubs and individuals who helped make Christmas 2022 extra special for all the families registered with the charity: Silves Rotary Club for boxes plus donations for Christmas food, The Algarveans Theatre Group for boxes plus organising, at their Pantomime, a collection for the family Christmas food hampers. Katherine Kuys and her friends who filled and also collected boxes in Central Algarve and a huge thank you to Nada and “The Moonlighters”- a very productive Portimão social group.