On the dot

Doesn't a local council have to consult with the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) and have a legal notice issued before making a one-way road accessible to residents only? A case in point is what happened in St Julians. The Pietà council had decided to introduce residential parking zones. Since they had not consulted with ADT the court had over-ruled the council's decision. This is clearly a case of different weights, different measures.

Exasperating

Another instance where it is difficult to imagine which criteria were used in determining something obtains with regard to speed limits. Two narrow roads in Malta (one in Żabbar, the other in Msida) have different speed limits, 10kph and 15kph.

Shoddy

After it was mentioned as having been left in a state of disrepair, the panels of the bus shelter near St Joseph's Home in Sta Venera were finally replaced. However, the original roof was maintained, meaning that, come the rainy season, commuters will still get soaked. Incidentally, the workers using a drill were not wearing protective earmuffs or shoes to guard against noise and vibrations.

Rubbished

The bring-in site at the bottom of Mediterranean Street in Valletta, just where it branches left to the Mediterranean Conference Centre and right to the Great Siege Memorial Bell, have become the centre of attraction - for an unplanned rubbish dump. Could it be that motorists want to leave the city with their vehicles lighter and cleaner and that is why they stop to dump all manner of things before they leave, thereby avoiding the hassle of calling the bulky refuse removal service or having to wait for the domestic rubbish collection service?

Boxed

Another bring-in site that had - negatively - exceeded expectations is the one in Canon Road, Sta Venera, just before the street branches left to Ħamrun and right downhill to Qormi. The positioning of the large containers makes them ideal for the dumping of garbage by the several industrial and other firms there. Those who want to get rid of rubbish will not wait until the skips are emptied for they have to go home after they close shop.

Barred

There are laws governing the number of pharmacies allowed in a region. But, of course, this does not apply to the number of licences being issued for bars, even in non-tourist and residential areas. Mepa and the MTA must stop issuing new licences and revoke the extant ones because, essentially, this means noise pollution at all hours. There is rampant abuse of the trading hours allowed at law; it is obvious that when the doors are closed, there are still people, inside some of these premises.

Documentation

Whatever happened to paper shredders? Copies of private documents, which include policy account statements, were strewn along a particular road when the bag holding them burst in transit. Surely it is not right to have the amount of money people are willing to invest, the amount of regular bonuses due to them, and other details, broadcast to the four winds?

Cheesy?

A visit to Mġarr ix-Xini is a must on any trip to Gozo. However, the road leading there has become worse than an obstacle course. The two dairy farms appear to have spread out beyond their envisaged boundaries and it seems that the farm animals know this and assume they have free rein of the area.

Flagged

It was both ironical and incongruous to see a flag of the European Union flapping outside the Labour Party club in San Ġwann. After all, the said party was so much against joining the EU in the first place. What springs to mind is the incident wherein Labour supporters had burnt the EU flag before Malta joined the EU.

Windowless

The time window for Go mobile top-up cards has been removed. This means that people who only use their cellular phones for emergencies, and who had hitherto frittered away the better part of even a €5 card, might now be encouraged to purchase higher denominations of cards. Who knows, they may even be tempted to use their phones more often, as a sign of goodwill towards the company.

Bouncing?

Yet another security guard, incidentally one of those called bouncers, has been found guilty of using excessive force. This led to a client of the place the former was guarding sustaining grievous bodily harm. This trend has got to stop; one would have thought that the police force is there for a reason. People just cannot take the law into their own hands when something strikes them as being amiss.

Unhealthy

A recent parliamentary reply revealed that 2,000 women are on the waiting list for screening mammograms with an estimated waiting time of 10 months for the least urgent cases. Is health a priority for these individuals? What is keeping them from making a mammogram in a private clinic if it is an urgent matter? How much would this cost and are all those on the waiting list so much in need they cannot afford it? For some it might be a bit late.

Employable

A parliamentarian asked the minister concerned how many displaced immigrants are working legally in Malta. The answer was a bit less than 800. The observation comes very natural: these find employment and Maltese men, young and not so young, do not. Why? Perhaps remaining on the dole and performing some work behind the scenes suits them better economically!