Will anyone in government see that the communal pathway in St Joseph Street, Marsascala, enjoyed by many for a large number of years, be restored to its original state. Mepa had issued an enforcement notice but the path remains inaccessible.

Hospital-ity

Someone had the bright idea of sectioning off a footpath in between St Luke's Hospital and the pharmacy next to the building under construction. No doubt the original idea was to safeguard pedestrians from the constant traffic. However, this plan misfired because many motorists have discovered that it makes an excellent, protected, parking slot.

Bridging the Gap

Another similar occurrence obtains in the part of St Joseph High Road behind the Wignacourt arches, in Santa Venera. A footpath has been cordoned off with small pylons and lengths of chain. However, since the place is also decorated with pot planters, drivers of large cars, who back into the space too near the plants, constrain pedestrians - let alone people who use wheelchairs and those with children in pushchairs - to use the street.

Work to Lure

An answer to a parliamentary question recently revealed that a miserly number of public servants have been seconded with NGOs in order to combine a vocation with a job. No doubt there are many others who would willingly do the same, given the chance. Who knows? Some people might even be ready and able to work outside normal office hours, without expecting such niceties as time off in lieu, if they were in this situation.

Note This

It was a marvellous idea to create a series of Teddy Teatime Concerts at St James Ravelin for the three-to-seven year olds age group and their parents (one assumes that siblings are also allowed in). This is the type of activity which imbues children with a love for culture at an age when they could be led astray by any other type of inane entertainment. One hopes that in the future this activity will be enhanced to reach the entire pre-teen group.

Call to Arms

A mobile telephony company recently launched another gift scheme wherein it behove people to make more use of the service in order to obtain merchandising items. Given that Maltacom plc has now introduced a lower tariff rate for the Easyline system, ought it not follow suit, given that people will presumably be making more calls from their land line?

Money Talks

An advertisement for life assurance has a male child wishing for "the biggest car" when he grows up and his sister would want the "longest veil". Does the Commission for Equality has anything to say about whether such attitude is sexist? Are we expected to think that the children's mother's thoughts being geared towards peace of mind mitigate their materialistic way of thinking?

Fuel for Thought

According to Minister Austin Gatt, 2007 is definitely the year in which the Birzebbuga petrol depot will be closed. Meanwhile the Qajjenza gas depot has not been closed as was promised for these last 15 years; it is also open to the general public who are not being served by their area gas distributors, for the purchase of gas cylinders. This opens yet another possible use for the Maghtab dump area, which may be even better than the aforementioned four-wheel drive arena.

Bad Ridden

Fees for school mini-bus services rise higher and higher; garage owners blame the increase in the price of diesel for this. When both parents work, it becomes a dire case of take-it-or-leave-it. Leaving it means trusting the public bus system to deliver even a young child to school, albeit sometimes one has to take two buses there and back, wasting time and walking with loads that are still too heavy despite a time-table having been strictly followed.

Eating Well

As a follow-up to his inauguration, President George W. Bush has asked for September 26 to be a Family Day, wherein all parents and all children would make it a point to have dinner together. In Malta, something similar ought to take much less than nine months to prepare for; no doubt, there are several NGOs with the well-being of the family at heart that could take this in hand.

Private Properly

There appears to be some mix-up with regard to what constitutes public and private places. Smoking in a restaurant is supposedly forbidden because it is a public place; however, certain owners allow clients to get away with it because they assume they can do what they like in a place that is their own private property.

Science Friction

It is a well-known fact that the streets in front of several schools are only open to one-way traffic and that, moreover, only school vans are allowed through them during certain times. However, this is not always the case, and in places where parking is allowed on both sides of the street, light cars cannot move before all the children get on their particular van, when school yards are not used for this purpose, and it drives off. When the road surface is not what it should be, and several streets open into the one being used, the problem is further compounded, to the extent that it sometimes takes over half an hour to drive off.

Coach shelter!

Almost every day the bus stop by the old Empire Stadium in Gzira is blocked by large coaches, whose drivers are probably having breakfast across the road. This means that bus passengers are dropped in the middle of the road and those wanting to alight cannot shelter in the bus stop because they will not be seen.