On the Dot...

¤ The Valletta Tritons fountain needs some urgent attention. Most of the lower water outlets are blocked, the water is filthy and grass is growing on top of the dish.

Filter Tipped

¤ Many eateries try to lure customers into their establishments by claiming they have al fresco facilities. Sadly, sometimes, people are to be seen smoking as they wait for their meals to arrive. Complaints often bring the comment, from the staff and management, that smoke quickly disperses in the open air, and, as such, should not bother those who would like a smoke-free zone. This is unadulterated nonsense - especially considering that some of these places are merely courtyards surrounded by high walls.

Palm Beached

¤ The state of the palms along the entrance to St Paul's Bay (in front of Villino Chappell and the antique shops) is going from bad to worse. As has been stated before, these plants are not hardy enough for such an environment; if replaced by shorter trees, more suited to local conditions, the place would look infinitely better and more welcoming, and more smog would be absorbed from the atmosphere.

Mind your language

¤ Next to be inaugurated, hopefully, is the Language Guardian Branch. These people would collaborate with any body set up to protect the language. Their job would be strictly to monitor the media, i.e. the printed press and every extant local radio and television station. They would compile evidence of "bad language" and have the authority to slap a fine on whoever mangles syntax or includes several foreign words in one broadcast.

Valletta Calling

¤ The work on the entrance to Valletta is a never-ending chore. Since it is actually being done, one wonders whether all plans to revamp the area with a replacement of the present monstrous structure have been shelved. The question begs itself - would it not be better were the whole ugly construction removed, to be replaced by a majestically elegant archway, built of Maltese stone, as the only fitting welcome to a World Heritage City built by gentlemen for gentlemen?

Walk Ways

¤ Some tourist guides have the annoying habit of talking in a voice loud enough only for the first couple of rows of listeners in a group. Moreover, they tend to glare at third parties who decide to listen in, rather as if the information they were giving out was being paid for, separately, by each of the listeners and therefore not available to outsiders.

Scholastic Daze

¤ A few metres into Fleur-de-Lys Junction, from the Maltacom plc offices side, one comes across a traffic sign indicating that during school hours, ordinary traffic is not allowed to use this route, which is reserved for school vans. However, in order to read it, motorists would already have broken the law by travelling along it. Reversing once there is also problematic.

Bank Accounts

¤ One wonders why certain bank branches bother having three or four teller windows when these are unoccupied most of the time. Whereas one understands that members of the staff are all entitled to take their breaks, the fact remains that clients, like traffic, have their own rush hour. This occurs either during opening times, or breaks of other establishments, or towards closing times.

Grid Blasted

¤ Much ado, and naturally, political mileage, were made of the fact that the Maltese government "wrongly interpreted" the laws of the European Union with regards to hunting and trapping. However, little has been said about whether or not there are any European injunctions about having, or not, fireworks factories within a stone's throw of private residences. Nothing has been said, either, about whether people who work in these places must be in possession of at least minimum qualifications in chemistry.

In Good Chime

¤ One notes with pleasure that the single belfry of the old Sta Venera parish church is finally being repaired. Perhaps this is just as well, since it has been a source of worry for a very long time, both to the Carmelite Community and to the parishioners. One wonders whether, this time around, another matching tower will be built on the other side of the roof, since the building has had a lopsided appearance for too long.