On the Dot

• On November 1, the street lights were on all day at the City Gate bus terminus. Have the ongoing works damaged the timers or is it just that the general area is already in such a big mess that another inconvenience does not matter, one way or another?

Money

• People tend to use ATM machines for simple transactions. But, as if it were not enough that not each bank cashier desk is manned at least when there is a queue of more than 10 people, this sometimes gets longer than necessary because the ATM machine is out of order. When this happens, especially on Saturday or Monday mornings, the results are there for all to see.

Dangerous

• Holes are dug willy-nilly in pavements for temporary village feast pylons to be erected. These are not filled in immediately when the thick poles are removed and are therefore the cause of several twisted ankles and the occasional broken leg. How about making removable, pre-cast, concrete plugs to measure? These could be numbered and removed when necessary. Another alternative is to have the holes covered with hinged metal lids, which would lie flat when access to the hole is needed.

Education

• For some reason, students are forbidden to use the majestic stairway at the entrance to the Gian Franġisk Abela Junior Lyceum. As a result, they have to crowd up and down a narrow slope to the left of the entrance. This lies parallel to a side street used by lecturers on their way to the car park. Across the top of both is a zebra crossing. Ironically, for a place that is supposed to educate people some lecturers think it is degrading to stop for students to cross.

Untidy

• The Ħaġar Qim-Żurrieq promenade cost a pretty penny of taxpayers’ money to construct and thousands of man hours too. However, some people cannot be bothered to walk as far as the nearest bin to dispose of rubbish. How about actuating an on-the-spot fining system with different law-enforcement officers making visits at irregular times?

Removal

• For some reason, the small refuse bins have been removed from a part of the Islets Promenade pavement in Buġibba. One hopes they will be replaced before summer because people are hardly likely to walk all the way to the square to throw away food wrappers or other rubbish.

Salvaging

• Reduce, reuse and recycle is a slogan not present in the modus operandi of certain educators. Whereas some teachers encourage children to create arts and crafts from found objects or scrap materials, others regularly ask pupils to purchase things that could easily be substituted by others that would not necessitate spending any money. Is there any policy on this? Some parents or carers sometimes find this extraneous expense a problem.

Travel

• Mcast students may catch the number 16 route bus from Valletta to their place of education in the mornings. The nearest bus stop to return to the city, however, is downhill and across two very busy streets. This, in an area where storm water forms a veritable river and traffic sometimes does not even stop at red lights, is a very dangerous situation. Why is a direct route bus not introduced for these students, picking them up at a designated spot? This service would cut journey time for students, often loaded with heavy books and equipment, by half.

Dailies

• Day and week tickets are available for tourists to purchase if they intend to visit several places in one day. How about re-introducing the return fare system for students and workers, in which their fares are reduced for the journey home if they would have taken a bus before a set time? This might reduce the use of private vehicles. A bus pass system for students would also help them financially.

Caretaking

• Green wardens, for some reason, do not materialise near skips and bring-in sites on Sunday afternoons, when people from outside given areas literally queue up to dispose of their rubbish. Is this because they would have to be paid overtime?

Disposables

• Are not brown paper bags and cardboard boxes bio-degradable, perhaps even more so than black bin liners? Why is it, then, that people are not allowed to dispose of garbage inside them, provided they are then thoroughly sealed?

Addressed

• As yet some households have not received the latest edition of The Yellow Pages. One assumes the companies that paid to take out advertisements are none too pleased about this, especially if the new entries contain new information, such as different addresses and other means of contact, from the ones listed in the previous edition.

Medication

• Some accidents are inevitable. But perhaps it is now time to reconsider the issue about whether or not medication for certain chronic conditions on school premises is to be kept under lock and key inside an office. Anyone who wants to force a lock could probably find the means to do so without attracting attention. Yet, if, in the past, there has been even one case where a key was mislaid when the medication was necessary, it is already one too many.

Rain

• Each time there is heavy rainfall, the streets are jammed with vehicles the owners of which think they will get to work faster than if they used the public transport they usually do. How about introducing temporary direct route buses, which would however stop to pick up commuters, specifically for occasions like these? The news that the service is available for the day could be broadcast on all radio and television stations during the morning news bulletins and sporadic announcements by presenters. A freephone for queries would also help.