On the Dot...

They need to pay more attention to rubbish collection from Sta Marija Bay, and the Blue Lagoon (above), on Comino. As it is, rubbish will start littering both if the collection is not made regularly.

Summer Thyme

Summer schools are a good idea; but not for secondary school-aged children in the higher forms, who attend mainstream schools and yet have the need for a facilitator. For a number of these children, peer companionships are of utmost importance. The problem is compounded when they have only one parent, or when both parents work.

Seascape

On May 1, at about 9.30 a.m., the pilot of the Gozo Channel ship in line after the Malita decided, for some reason, to berth at the south quay rather than wait for the other ship to move. The policeman on duty started allowing the cars nearest it to board. When those who had already been waiting for a long time voiced their complaints, he indicated that it would have been too much "bother" to redirect the near-endless queue of cars from its beginning.

Final Countdown

Around this time every year, several pleas are received from parents whose children are sitting for Junior Lyceum examinations. It is about time that the placings were decided on the global mark achieved in all the examinations. As things stand, a child who obtains far fewer marks than another may theoretically get to attend a Junior Lyceum, whereas the second child must go to an area secondary, having achieved a low grade in just one subject.

Bed Socks

The staff on duty at some wards at St Luke's Hospital almost makes it a pleasure to be a patient. However, this feeling certainly does not extend to Ward M3. On the worst of days, it is overcrowded with patients, and consultants who together with doctors in their firms have to deal with different illnesses and conditions, some of which need constant monitoring and pristine cleanliness. Sometimes patients have to be treated in corridors or makeshift cubicles, which is very undignified.

Over Taken

Plainclothes policemen could do worse than spend a couple of minutes on the pavement in front of the MUSEUM chapel at Blata l-Bajda. Several drivers, including those of heavy plant, regularly shoot the red lights, and travel on to Hamrun notwithstanding. This is bad news for anyone rushing up from the steps on the Marsa side, hoping to catch the next bus going to Valletta on the other side of the road.

Nit Wear

What is being done to eradicate head lice thoroughly from private and state schools? Some parents are at their wits' end, knowing that even if they literally scrape their children's heads clear of parasites over a weekend, the following Monday they once more return home with unclean hair.

Water Site

The employees of the Department of Agriculture have done a wonderful job in rehabilitating and embellishing the Chadwick Lakes area. One hopes that the place will be included in the calendar of educational outings for schools, as are other sites such as museums, Ta' Qali crafts village, Valletta, and the Three Cities, especially now that the weather is more reliable.

Play Black

The buildings comprising the Civil Service Sports Club, in Valletta apparently belong to the state. Pieces of wood from the balcony of the building, already in a precarious state several years ago, are often seen lying on the pavement beneath it. Seeing that in the area there are several offices, and that several Valletta residents use this narrow pavement daily, this is only an accident waiting to happen.

Pot Holing

A dangerous pothole, in front of the Brandstatter factory at Bulebel, vies for attention with the one at the Marsascala bypass in Zabbar, near the pelican lights. But both fail dismally when compared to the long trench being dug along Cannon Road, Sta Venera, which is ironically filling residents' homes with fine dust, and increasing he incidence of asthma attacks for children in the area who have the condition.