On the Dot...

The time switches for street lighting in Mosta seem to need adjustment to make them compatible with winter time. As it is, lights in various streets are going off too early in the morning - before 6.30 - when it is still dark, residents report.

Wooden Say

Sometime ago, the Department for the Protection of the Environment issued a leaflet about indigenous trees. Around this time of the year, one starts wondering what became of the suggestions made. The number of trees that die simply because they are not suitable for the local environment, itself points to the necessity of planting indigenous trees.

Write On

Much political mileage is made out of the fact that illiteracy is on the rise. One hopes that the next Young Writers' Club, just as the Let Me Learn, Hilti, and Id F'Id schemes will be made available to all children, in private and Church schools, as well as those attending state schools.

Moneys Talk

In reply to a question in parliament put by Evarist Bartolo, Finance Minister John Dalli said that action was being taken so that BICAL depositors would soon be in a position to receive the monies due to them. This is all to the good; but what about the shareholders of the Kursaal Company Limited, who are still left with shares certificates worth not even the paper on which they are printed?

Stone Bolder

The idea had been mooted that at least a section of the megalithic temples of Ggantija were to be covered, to protect them against further deterioration, with a view to extend this exercise to covering four of the 23 sites, five of which are world heritage sites, at a cost of Lm4,000,000. So far, this proposition seems to have been shelved. The next time it is taken in hand no doubt, the costs will have risen, and the condition of the temples will have worsened.

Off The Shelf

Another project that was placed on the farthest back of burners was the reconstruction of City Gate. Meanwhile, environmental-conscious commuters who try to help the environment by using the bus service still have to bear the brunt of the weather. Rain or shine, they cannot shelter anywhere except in places which make it all too easy to miss the bus.

Word Perfect

The conveyor-belt system that disgorges countless B.Ed students into classrooms is lacking in several aspects. In the effort to turn their own students into memory machines, many teachers are forgetting the all-important aspect of treating each child as an individual, rather than all of them collectively as a class. In an effort to appease their tutors, many students are trying to do too much in too little time, with the results that the pupils get disoriented and frustrated. This is unfair on everyone concerned.

Permit Pending

It took over two hours to get a car licence paid on Monday, December 30; most of the time the queue was 50 strong. Not only that, but there was no seating available for the elderly or the infirm. This is a shocking state of affairs; why is not payment allowed at local council offices, or otherwise decentralised, so that the system becomes more efficient?

Food Fair

Despite all the talk about the need for healthy school lunches, several schools still award tenders for a tuck shop. In a nod to nutrition, several of these have started serving the traditional hobza. Definitely, however, this accounts for only a small amount of the revenue; the rest is achieved through the usual plethora of sweets and salty snack packets and fizzy soft drinks.

Stay Tuned

Every evening, without fail, cars are parked in every available nook around St Paul Square in Hamrun. Whereas it is obvious that this is done because space is at a premium here just as it is in any other town, one wonders why, despite the "tow zone" traffic sign, and the fact that a police station stands at the corner of the plaza, it continues to be so.