On the dot

It would seem that the people responsible for detecting leaks in the mains systems do not work over the weekends. It was only on Monday morning that a leak in Triq il-Kukkanja, Santa Venera, was eventually fixed. Clear water had been pouring down Cannon Road throughout Saturday and Sunday and even before that. What a waste of resources!

Moot Point

Following comments in this column, some bank branches have decided not to play loud music while the wide-screen television sets are on. This, however, has not been coupled with allowing clients to listen to the programmes being aired; some screens have the volume turned off and others have switched to playing very low background music.

Catch Up

Towards the end of the scholastic year, teachers take a good look at the curriculum to see whether or not they have covered it all. If they have, it means they will reward their classes with outings. If they have not, it means they will probably assign a project or two to incorporate missing lessons and research. Either way, it means that children will be distracted from studying from their exams.

Numbers Game

It has become the norm for offices open to the public to install systems similar to those in supermarkets, whereby one takes a number and awaits one's turn. The system at the Water Services Corporation in Valletta calls out numbers in English...only. Could this not have been amended to include the vernacular?

Screen Shot

One notes that clients can pick up a copy of the very interesting in-house magazine provided by the WSC. Alternatively, they may choose to be entertained by the tiny monitors positioned high up, facing the waiting area. The one on the right-hand side flickers and does not provide a complete picture. The wording of notices on both monitors is too small to read for anyone with less than perfect eyesight.

Colour Scheme

One notes that the plants in wayside strips have now been changed to colourful geranium. These plants, being rather common, have proved less of a temptation to pilferers and are ore hardy than their Sanseveria predecessors. It has been a better choice all around.

Pay Checks

Clients wanting to pay TV licences through their account at a bank find out that they cannot do so at the bank's cashier. However, the irony of it all is that one can use the same account to pay it by using the 24/7, online banking facilities. One hopes this will be remedied soon, especially as not every town or village has a branch post office.

Rainbow Valley

Two years after this column began campaigning for the preservation of Għomor Valley, the results are finally obtaining. One hopes that, soon, the building debris and hunters' hides will all be removed as will all the carcasses of dead animals. One hopes that the missing soil will also be replenished and that the retaining rubble walls will be fixed - with rubble, not building blocks as is being done on the road to Għadira. Perhaps some type of gardening venture will help bind the soil together.

Dog Gone

Conscientious dog owners always clean up after their dogs. However, nothing has been done to make karozzin owners clear up the mess left by their animals. Having to walk along the streets of Valletta breathing in the acrid fumes of horse manure is not nice at all.

Horse Sense

Speaking of this type of transport, one wonders how often the animals are checked by veterinarians. Some of the animals obviously have a tough time negotiating inclines, especially in summer. Driving behind these karozzini shows that some horses twist their hind legs in an unnatural manner when they walk, which could indicate they are not in perfect health.

Traffic Control

Daniela Borg Mizzi, manager public relations, Malta Transport Authority, took exception to an item in this column on June 9, wherein noise and sound pollution from vehicles was mentioned. So willing was she to impart statistical information about "random checks on buses and private cars", she failed to notice that the item in question spoke about "two-wheeled vehicles. The data she provided may have done something to inform us about what is being done about emissions - but only of the aforementioned four-wheeled vehicles.

Lights On

Something must be drastically wrong with the timing system for the Floriana Street lights. Lately, they have been left on till mid-morning. It's not as if it were dark, stormy weather - in fact, their yellowish light is lost and actually wasted, in the sunlight.

Stop Gap

To remain in Floriana. While the traffic lights near the Lion fountain are necessary to control the flow of traffic from the Park & Ride area, those in St Anne Street are not. The underpasses are in fact a safer bet for pedestrians. As things stand now, the chance of stopping at a red light there has doubled.

Screen Shot

It seems that the magisterial inquiry into the fatal police shooting in Qormi has not been concluded because the magistrate wants to interview two people captured by a CCTV cameras. Alas, the police have been unable to trace them. Is that reason enough to keep such a high-profile case open and the public in suspended animation?

Public Account

So an official delegation travels to Nigeria to assess the situation on the ground following the kidnap of a fellow Maltese citizen. Yet, on its return, no official explanation is given to the public. How's that for public accountability!