On the dot

Many people purchased IT equipment after they were encouraged by the promise that they would receive a subsidy of 16 per cent. Some of them had to stretch their budgets to do it. That is why people have been writing in to complain that the financial help has been long in coming.

Nuisance

Somebody is letting his dogs loose during the night in the Tal-Qroqq area. These dogs spend the night chasings stray cats, barking and dirtying the pavements and, of course, the owners do not bother to clean up after them. If this country really means business in all environmental aspects, surely a way could be found to track down these dogs and possibly even the owner/s.

Masked

The traffic lights in Triq Ħal-Warda, Attard are disappearing out of motorists' sight. The one on the right as you drive towards the school from the Ta' Qali side is completely hidden behind the leaves of the tree there. The one on the other side can hardly be seen.

Congestion

Speaking of Attard, can the Malta Transport Authority have a look at the bottleneck that ensues during the morning rush hour (from 7 a.m.) in the narrow road next to the US Ambassador's residence? It should either bar heavy vehicles - from big vans upwards, including buses - or declare that stretch one way or have a warden on each side to direct traffic in order to avoid blocking the road during that busy period.

Unavailable

Each year, at around this time, this column inevitably repeats the same comments. Why is it that children preparing for Matsec examinations are asked to buy several booklets of past papers, when these are sometimes not available in the shops, and, moreover, by the end of the year, they would not even have opened them?

Accumulated

The same reasoning may be applied to the fact that post-secondary students are asked to have photocopies made by the morrow, or within the week. Shops that accept Smart cards do not do so for amounts of less than the equivalent of Lm1. This means that, at least for this purpose, a Smart card is useless. If the children could combine such minor expenses, they would be able to utilise it.

Shuttling

One notes that after all the fuss made about direct routes to and from tertiary educational establishments, the scheme does not cover the needs of all students. Some of them still have to spend slightly less than €2 daily, (four times 47c) because they have to catch two buses to and from their town or village since there is no direct route near enough to utilise.

Entitlement

Students who are lucky enough to be able to catch the direct route bus to the Mater Dei Hospital terminus, which is obviously less tiresome, must fork out €1.40 for two direct trips daily. Surely 16- to 18-year-olds attending Junior College should still be entitled to a bus pass and pay student fares! This must hold true even when their lectures lie outside the secondary school time-bands for utilising similar passes because it is obvious that lectures are tabled differently.

Heavyweight

Yet again, many teachers appear not to realise that they are not the only ones taking classes in a particular school. They ask children to take one or more textbooks for each lesson, even when each book is two inches thick. Since most schools did not have additional grounds upon which to build, the chances are that another storey was added and this means children have to climb up and down stairs carrying heavy books, as well as other paraphernalia.

Bland

How could anybody have allowed the Tritons Fountain at Gity Gate to end up in the poor state it is in? On the night of Notte Bianca it was clear that its pumps were barely powerful enough to propel the water with the sort of force one expects. Not to mention, of course, the different shades of colour that its lighting system used to project in the past.

Decibels

As usual, the Voices performance was a thrill to attend. However, someone must have thought that magnifying the volume would make the sound even better but, sadly, this was not the case. In fact, several people were seen leaving the concert hall at intervals to give their eardrums a rest. Gilding the lily serves no purpose - and this was a case in point.

Unkind

The person collecting food items for cats near the HSBC branch in High Street, Sliema, should be refraining from insulting passers-by and being very impolite, when, for some reason or another, they fail to donate anything. His behaviour is certainly not encouraging people to be kind to animals.

Skyhigh

Transport fees for girls attending a Church school in Gżira have reached exaggerated levels, as quoted by the new school transport system. They have shot up from €93.17 (Lm40) per child per term to €168 (Lm72.12) per child/term, leaving no option but that of parents having to use their own transport to take their children to school.

Congregations

Elderly residents in some Homes are craving for daily Mass but it seems not enough priests are available. Then, at Mdina Cathedral during weekdays only a few faithful turn up for the three daily Masses. This is sheer waste of human resources and another concrete example of lack of proper pastoral management, for the simple reason that radical decisions, that need a change of heart from certain pastoral operators, who seem to be happy with the status quo, are not being taken.