On the dot...

The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions and that's the way it is at the Malta Transport Authority (ADT). On March 15, the not-so authoritative ADT's PR lady wrote that "Pinto Wharf, in the direction from Valletta to Marsa, was reopened to light vehicular traffic in the afternoon of February 4". This photograph, taken yesterday, indicates otherwise...

Read their Lips

One says he will. The other says he won't. The administrative head of the Nationalist Party promises the reasons behind the strategy that led the party to pull out of the Marsa and Zejtun elections would "absolutely" be known after the results are out. The political head say there's no way he would please the Labour Party. But what about the electorate? Where's the much vaunted accountability?

Flee Fall

Air Malta has just appointed 13 general managers, recruited in-house, in line with its restructuring process. This, no doubt, means an increase in the monthly net vote for wages. When compared to cost-cutting exercises and fares being charged that are higher than those of comparative routes for other airways, this exercise suits unwell. That they will be working under the direction of their chief officers is neither here nor there.

PERfect Timing

The electricity bills bearing the much-maligned surcharges have started going out, coincidentally immediately after the results of the local council elections were out. To add insult to injury, some bills are also being sent out with indications of arrears where none exist and consumers have the receipts to prove it. Surely, a more streamlined way of doing things could have been envisaged.

Hard Cell

According to a report published in The Economist print edition, it is surmised that an extra 10 mobile telephone sets per 100 people in a "typical developing country" will boost the gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.6 per cent. One hopes this would not be at the cost of increased expenses in the health care sector.

Taxing Thoughts

It used to be the practice that every form, unto an acknowledgement, issued by a government department, bore a serial number and every signature was accompanied by a rubber-stamp indicating the officer's name in full, in case a query were warranted. This appears no longer to be the case. One takes it that nowadays a file number, and a person's personal details as well as the name of the officer handling the case, ought to suffice.

Fruit for Thought

Tuesday was World Consumers' Day; however, most of the local media only woke up to the fact on the morrow, when the booklet containing a collection of stories by Joyce Borg was presented to the public. The series of cautionary tales that had first appeared in several issues of Saghtar have now been collated into a colourful collection that should appeal to children - and also impart a few home truths to adults.

Careless Wisp-errs

Despite recent legislation, there are still bars, notorious for hosting students who ought to be at their lessons, where wholesale smoking is still the order of the day. This means, in a nutshell, that not only are these students missing school and whiling away their time in the unhealthy habit of smoking; they are also poisoning their peers who would simply prefer to miss school without, so to speak, the occupational hazards involved.

Think Tanks

Despite legalised betting, crowds of people - usually men - still gather at notorious hotspots whenever football matches deemed "important" are set to be played. These people are very careful not to allow any money to be seen changing hands; however, sometimes, the odd notebook and pencil are still in evidence. When will a sting operation put an end to all this needless, endless, gaming?

Stamp Duty

April 4 (04.04.04) of last year was deemed a special date by Maltapost plc. Indeed, a stamp was issued to commemorate the one-off date. One hopes that 05.05.05, and so forth until 09.09.09, will be similarly treated; and, at the end of the series, the whole set of Specials will be given as a welcome gift to the new generation of children, members of Posdinu Club, which will by then be once more up and running.

On Air

TV owners are obliged to continue paying an annual licence even if they feel they are not served at all by the Maltese TV stations, especially the one that suck up so much taxpayers' funds - PBS. To many, what happened over the past months in Broadcasting House is not restructuring but rather emasculation.

Happy Two-gather?

On April 18, 2004, the front page headlines of the sister paper informed us that The Majority Happy About EU; 49.3% Satisfied With (Lawrence) Gonzi. By March 6 of this year, 75% Of (The) Maltese (Were) Unsatisfied With The Way Government Is Running The Country and an even more recent survey showed that the downward trend is still extant. One hopes there is a salutary moral in all this, for anyone standing for any elections.