On the Dot...

• Legislation has it that trucks ferrying rubble and other building materials are to be covered to ensure that there are as few potential accidents, and as little pollution, as possible. However, this regulation falls literally at the wayside when this material arrives at its destination. Whether for public works or for private jobs, gravel, and other inert material are strewn on the pavement, often spilling into the road without being covered, resulting in dust swirling about and the whole area looking generally shabby.

Walled Out

• The rubble walls on the way to Birzebbuga really need to be spruced up; whatever happened to the beautifying process that was being talked about some months ago? Some of the walls need bolstering; others have parts that need to be replaced because they are crumbling; others have parts that are downright missing.

Building Sights

• In Cuschieri Street, in Fleur-de-Lys, there is a building site that is not thoroughly closed off when no work is being done upon it. Since the foundations are very deep, it poses a danger to anyone not familiar with the area, especially at night time.

Fruit Fools

• Bananas currently on sale are green on the outside but mushy, or downright bad, on the inside. Potatoes for local markets have been growing ever larger, sometimes with greenish tinges in the skin, and black spots here and there. They are probably the ones that did not make it to the foreign market. Tomatoes no longer have the delicious taste of yore; their juice is slightly acidic, coloured water. Why this deterioration in the quality of produce?

Work to Lure

• It is bad enough having to go to work in an industrial environment, what with the noise of machinery and the stark, bleak buildings. Workers who commute to the Xewkija Industrial Estate have an added disappointment to face daily; the area appears to be one big dumping site that has not seen a sweeper or clearing-out exercise for ages.

Double Hazard

• Several people make use of one of the bring-in sites at Mosta. The irony is that they do this when taking children to have some fun at the swings because someone had the bright idea of using a little of the space at the playground to prove how environmentally conscious the local council is. This is ridiculous.

Air Supply

• Every so often we get clean-air surveys lobbed at us in the press, about the quality of air in different places. It would be wonderful to find out how often this exercise is carried out at Marsa, when thick black smoke coming from a chimney is often noted spreading a pall over the area.

All Tied Up

• Traffic congestion is the order of the day between 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. every weekday morning in the Zammit Clapp hospital area. This problem arises every morning during the week because students alight from their coaches in the main road. Vehicles stop just before the narrowest part of Mrabat Street, near Belmont Hotel, creating an even bigger bottleneck that generates chaos in Mrabat Street and in Birkirkara Road, with jams lasting 20 minutes being the norm. Given that most students appear to be in a state of torpor, this becomes even more dangerous.

Dress Circle

• Some catering establishments make no bones about the fact that smoking is still allowed within the premises, not specifying whether there are smoking and non-smoking areas inside. Others allow smokers to indulge in their habit because diners in the open air are not supposed to be offended by the smoke and stench that drift their way, on the premise that these are soon dissipated. This is not good enough if they want to retain patrons who do not want to smoke, actively or passively.

Parking Areas

• It has been said that Blue Stickers are either for the use of vehicles managed by a person with a disability, or else by someone else in the driver's seat when the said person is riding in the vehicle, but ought not to be utilised when either of these conditions is not adhered to. This means that a person who is running an errand for a family member when often time is short and other duties call, cannot benefit from it.

Water Waste

• How often are reservoirs cleaned and tested for leaks? This would ensure that precious rainwater is not wasted when the time comes for them to start filling up. As a corollary, it is high time rainwater courses and gutters were swept clean, since this would lessen the incidence of flooding in areas where water has been known to cause damage in the past.