On the dot

The policemen outside the President's private residence in Birkirkara should be more civil-minded and take residents' and their relatives' difficulties into consideration, for example, by allowing them to park in the "reserved" area when unoccupied in order to allow elderly people or babies and children to embark or disembark. Maybe it is about time a residents' parking zone is introduced in Main Street.

School Transport

What is precisely the situation in Malta with regard to the EU law on compulsory use of seat belts for school transport? Could the Minister for Transport and the Health and Safety Unit declare when this measure will be put in place and who would shoulder responsibility if an accident involving school children not wearing seat-belts were to occur? What does the Malta Insurance Association have to say?

Few Details

So scant of information are police communications about incidents/accidents/raids that they might as well include the inquiring magistrate's telephone number in order for one to get more details. This could serve so that in the case of a traffic accident, for example, not all relatives of motorists driving, say, a Yamaha motorcycle, would have to wait anxiously to hear word that all is fine.

Yet Again

The government blew its trumpets so loud when it launched the Energy Saving Appliances Rebate but not when it decided to stop it. Can one be surprised therefore that the findings of the inquiries into the fatal police shooting in Qormi and into the near air miss over Żebbuġ remain under wraps?

Bumpy Ride

Someone has decided to change the flow of traffic in the square that leads to Triq l-Imsida and Misraħ il-Barrieri, in Sta Venera where a tiny dome of bricks was placed off-centre. Apparently, it is meant to serve as a roundabout but, since drivers tend not to expect it, they are caught unawares and ride over it.

Health Wise

It is wonderful to see that a health survey will be commissioned. It is even nicer to note that the pharmacy of your choice scheme is weeding out those who abused the system. But it jars to note that people who suffer from asthma have not been given the Serevent inhaler because it is out of stock. This was last handed out in September.

Free Choice

During the April 30 Systems of Knowledge afternoon examination session at Maria Assunta School in Ħamrun, candidates in different blocks were given confusing instructions. "Answer four questions, one question from one section; you may answer either in English or Maltese" could be interpreted either that the students had to keep to one language throughout all the paper or that, as long as an answer to a question was in one language, both languages could be used.

Litter Patrol

It has been noted that a lot of foreigners residing in University Street, Msida take out their garbage bags soon after the garbage collection is done. This was pointed out to them by locals but to no avail. Garbage thus piles up, especially from Saturday mornings to the following Mondays. Moreover, pet dogs allowed to roam outside alone tear open these bags, dirtying the street.

Valletta Phoenix

Each time the Eurovision Song Contest comes around, people think that if Malta wins, it will be the ultimate incentive to have the Royal Opera House built again. This once august building needs no "excuse" to be reconstructed. Surely somewhere there exists a pile of forms that could be filled in to help Malta obtain the necessary funds to carry this out, thus giving the world another gem in a World Cultural City.

Potholes Galore

The rainy season is now over but the Marsascala bypass is still littered with potholes, some of them several centimetres deep, enough to slash a tyre or break a wishbone. Three potholes in Labour Road, Żabbar, near St Joseph Institute, have been filled after several appeals but, strangely enough, another pothole metres away was left undone. What sort of workmanship is this?

Life Blood

The staff and students of the Mosta Primary School, which forms part of Maria Regina College, celebrated Mother's Day with an original gift idea. The school council, with the help of David Zammit, heeded the repeated calls for blood donations by the blood bank and invited parents from Mosta to offer this gift of life in lieu of their children, who are still too young to be doing so themselves. Would that other schools follow suit.

Dog Gone

The Tower Promenade, in Sta Luċija, is one dirty mess because the dog owners who take their pets there do not care enough for the environment to clean up behind them. This is unfair on those who find the area a fine place to include in their daily walks.

Name Sake

The five or six boundary signs delineating the peripheries of San Ġwann all indicate Kunsill Lokali in capital letters. This is odd, for there was a time when there were plaques saying Ismek Tifħirek: Merħba. Why have these been removed to be replaced by something so commonplace and obvious?

Walled In

The works carried out in Bastion Street, Mdina, were done in a slapdash manner, one thoroughly not in line with the tone of the buildings and the feel of the environs. This is a historical city. Such work, where someone decides to allow plumbing works that include a section of a pipe protruding outside a wall, are unacceptable anywhere, let alone here.

No Go

The attention of the Valletta local council has been drawn several times to the disgraceful state of the public staircase in the government building at the side of the main entrance into the city. Unless it is kept in pristine condition access to it might as well be barred.

onthedot@timesofmalta.com