On the Dot...

This is one of the views one gets when walking or driving along Psaila Street, Birkirkara. Does it make sense to pump thousands of liri to improve this main thoroughfare but then allow this?

Health Wise

In the Valletta area they have St James Ditch; in St Venera they are attempting a St Philip's Ditch. In the area in front of the Evergreen Garden Centre, a slight slope has become a tiny temporary landfill, with those who are unwilling to wait for garbage collection trucks cheerfully dumping plastic bags full of rubbish, and other assorted debris, in it.

Be a Sport

A number of teenagers, evidently still of school age as may be seen by the vestiges of uniform they are wearing and the schoolbags they are carrying, are regularly to be seen loitering around the Marsa Sports Grounds area. If they are there to sample the amenities, why are they not frequenting the grounds where sports are held?

Hole Truth

In St Dominic Street, Valletta, at the corner with St Ursula Street, a deep ditch was dug and surrounded by rickety barriers standing on their last legs, at the very edges of it. No warning was given at the Mediterranean Street end of the former street and things became literally touch-and-go several times.

Channel Hoping

The administration departments of the two television stations belonging to the major political parties do know indeed upon which side their bread is buttered. So, indeed, appears also to be the case with some advertisers, and local personalities, who pop up in discussion programmes and other presentations like the proverbial bad pennies. If this trend continues, all that will be different in the end will be the station logo on screen and the face of the presenters.

Car Jacking

A notice dated November 11, 2003, arriving at its destination in the last week of January, asked a motorist to take his vehicle for its VRT test. This would have been all to the good; however, the deadline set for compliance was a 90 days' notice period, probably on the assumption that a vehicle in a bad state would have given up the ghost by then.

Blue Moon

Despite several complaints and objections, the blue pillar signposts in Valletta remain, complete with silly mistakes. A case in point are the posts indicating the location of the memorial dedicated to World War II and the Jesuits' church.

Dogs Gone

The pack of dogs, the members of which vary according to how they are decimated by traffic accidents and others somehow recruited in their stead, still patrol the Cross Road and Aldo Moro Road areas in Marsa. Several times accidents are avoided by a hair's breadth when these dogs decide to migrate to the other side of the street.

Wrong Angle

Another place where accidents are simply waiting to happen is the area around the zebra crossing just across the road from the Rotunda church, in Mosta. The traffic from St Paul's Bay, the contra-flow from Naxxar and the vehicles from other streets in the vicinity have to wait for a gap during rush hours before going on their way which is, of course, impossible for people who think themselves more important, or more busy, than the rest of the population.

Limit of two

Why do the operators at Maltacom give no more than two numbers when people call asking for them? While one has to pay for this service, callers are made to wait for their turn because the lines are often busy and are made to listen to music while the numbers asked for are being looked up. Is the limit of two aimed to raise revenue?

Not so Calm

On the narrow road leading to Popeye Village there is an unmarked badly constructed traffic-calming hump. It is perfectly camouflaged and the warning sign on the way to the village is missing. On the way out, the warning sign is right on top of the hump, giving you no time to reduce speed! Certainly such bumps shouldn't be a hazard in themselves.

Early Warning

Besides seeing to the lights surrounding the Spinola Bay promenade it would not be amiss to install "cats eyes" or suitable lighting on/around the traffic islands in Spinola Bay opposite the Love monument. Several accidents, luckily not very serious ones so far, have already happened on this spot.