On the Dot

Mistra Bay could arguably be one of the most fascinatingly beautiful areas on the island. However, it has been allowed to fall into wrack and ruin and the amount of garbage dumped there has to be seen to be believed. It is obvious that the dirtier a place is, the dirtier it becomes, because that is the way the minds of some uneducated people work.

Car Parked

A Peugeot has apparently been lying stationary for more than five months in the Spinola car park. A couple of tyres are flat and it is occasionally vandalised and cannibalised for parts. Ironically, it is parked less than 200 metres from the police station and displays a Malta International Airport car park permit on its windscreen.

Talk Radio

Some broadcasters still have no idea of how to broadcast. Grammatical and language mistakes are rife and when they fluff they never apologise. A degree in communications is evidently not enough to help one face a microphone.

Public Knowledge

Since Alternattiva Demokratika deem it their duty to communicate to the public suppressed information, would they care to publish the findings of the inquiries into the fatal police shooting in Qormi and the near air miss over Żebbuġ? Perhaps the Labour Party and Azzjoni Nazzjonali might want to assist too!

Deflation Rate

Political parties tend to present manifestos that promise heaven on earth and a bag in which to put it. However, one wonders whether, in some instances, the word surcharge is interchangeable with the infamous excise or even VAT, given some promises that were never kept.

Street Wiser

The Valletta Waterfront is up and going and so is the Vittoriosa Waterfront. One wonders whether this could be an indication that the Grand Harbour regeneration project would ultimately benefit had it to be partly financed by private investors, as well as public shareholding.

Nit Picking

As the date of the general election approaches, so does the intensity of frivolous attacks about details in the projects of rivals in the political scene. This involves a lot of playing to the gallery; yet there remains, thankfully, a sector of the public that is not impressed by this type of speechifying. Some of us actually relish dissection of the real issues, such as mission statements and electoral programmes.

Stay Tuned

Blue Skies is an opportunity that many are trying to denigrate, for reasons of their own. However, the fact remains that some people did not realise that this low-rate offer was solely for one year. It is also evident that it did not even occur to some respondents that they would have to purchase a computer for their household first, since the offer was not available to other residences where they had use of a computer, which, however, would have had internet connections at least once before.

Light Work

One wonders whether all variants - including the potential temporary blinding of motorists driving towards them - are considered before floodlights are positioned in certain locations. Two cases in point are the spotlight just before the Maritime Offices in Marsa, coming from the direction of Valletta, and another is the source that lights up the façade of St Gregory's church in Żejtun. The new-fangled idea of placing high-brightness spotlights in the pavement for pedestrians to pass over is also annoying.

Flat Rates

Health and safety officers interviewed on the media always say there are not enough of them to be at every building site at all hours. It would be interesting to read a report of how many of them actually slapped fines on workers without protective gear. This goes not only for construction workers but also those who work in garbage collection.

Skirting Issues

Unsuitable alterations to school uniforms in groups of children on a cultural tour make one wonder whether the schools these children attend actually do have a dress code. What with the incredibly short skirts, jewellery and hideous black tights and totally unsuitable footwear, the chances are that only a couple of girls in a group of 30 would be wearing what the original designers of the uniform had in mind.

Time Limit

One can hail a battery-powered taxi in Valletta. So could people be allowed to use their own battery-powered vehicles in the city without incurring the CVA charges? The vehicles in service have been chosen because they do not pollute the atmosphere - and, no doubt, such a concession would encourage more environmental consciousness.

onthedot@timesofmalta.com