Yet another huge white elephant of the government, with the factory in Camacha left in ruins.

Camacha Fly Biofactory

The Camacha Fly Biofactory in Madeira is a unique project in Europe aimed at breeding and exporting artificial flies from the Mediterranean. It is a project designed to breed sterile flies, which are used to combat the fruit fly plague in Madeira and other countries affected by this scourge.

18 years ago, the Madeira Fly Factory was in full operation, which led to the release of 15 million flies per week. This service was provided by the Aerocondor aircraft, but on 19 May 2007, DIÁRIO reported a ‘controversy’.

The issue at hand was the seizure of the aircraft by ANAM, due to the airline’s default. Aerocondor was thus providing a service to the Regional Government, through the Madeira-Med Programme, which provided for five to six flights per week. Each of these flights would release 3 to 5 million flies, with the contract being worth 427 thousand euros per year.

With the plane seized, all that was left to do was transport the flies by land, in a vehicle, and then disperse them.

Meanwhile, in the 23rd May edition, DIÁRIO reported that the debt to ANAM had been settled, but that the aircraft had been seized again, this time for tax debts. After further investigation, the tax authorities realised that, after all, the aircraft belonged to the North American company Dynamic Avision Lease Incorporatea, and therefore could not be seized for a debt owed by Aerocondor. The aircraft was back in service.

In October of that year, the Regional Government decided to terminate the contract with Aerocondor, as there were no guarantees that the service could continue to be provided as stipulated in the contract.