• Just because a residence appears to be empty is not a reason for people who live in other houses to dump household refuse in front of it at all hours, rather than when the garbage collection is due, simply because they need to go out. This is a daily sight at The Strand, in Sliema.

Denigration

• An area in Sliema that needs attention is that at the entrance and sides to the upmarket apartments of the south block in Tignè Street. For at least four years now, an assortment of builders’ debris, bulky refuse, fast food wrappers and other rubbish has been placed there for collection, which sometimes does not happen until weeks later.

Distributions

• Draft regulations have finally been issued with a view to fixing the situation wherein households can select the products from the company they want when it comes to LPG gas cylinders. The plans include distributions based on a five-day week. One hopes there will be specific outlets open on a Saturday such that people who are not in a position to take deliveries on weekdays can still pick their own cylinders up.

Dangerous

• The white lines of the zebra crossing across the road from the Pagoda, just out of Paceville, are all but invisible. This means that people who cross without paying heed to oncoming traffic and drivers who forge ahead if the road appears clear are both factors in accidents waiting to happen.

Dump

• All the manhole covers, bar one or two, in the stretch of road along the Chalet area in Sliema have worked their way loose. The road surface around some of them has sunk. For others, it has merely broken and some bits stand proud of the rest. In either case, however, they make the drive along the promenade very annoying and uncomfortable.

Donations

• It is good to see that €8,070 have been collected in a rather short time as donations for the widow and family of Ashih Tekleab Haile. This is one of the things that show how we, as a nation, care for others, provided that our attention is drawn to the issues that need to be addressed.

Damages

• No fewer than seven playgrounds have been found to be unfit for use and had to be closed or have their equipment mended after inspections were carried out on 56 sites by two inspectors from the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority. It would be interesting to find out exactly how many children were injured in the playgrounds or on equipment that have now been declared out of bounds. When each playground had a sponsor, the system worked well.

Daring

• There is a simple solution, apparently, for avoiding the hassle of clearing streets from traffic for fireworks displays during feasts. Certain organisations boast of the fact that it is a bright idea to let off fireworks from a barge when there is a bay available where this can be done. Is an environmental impact assessment carried out beforehand? How do the noise and the vibrations affect the flora and fauna of the area? Is the sound of the fireworks multiplied significantly when it is on open water rather than being absorbed and muffled as it is in built-up areas?

Drainage

• One piddling summer rainfall indicated that some street drains and gutters have not been cleaned since last winter. The amount of water that remained in the streets long after the sun had come out is evidence of this. One wonders, with all the buildings that have gone up since the last rainy season, whether anybody has thought of finding new outlets for the water flow since this will now have to change course and how many local councils have undertaken to clear all the ditches and gullies before winter.

Dancing

• It is all very well to boast that thousands of Maltese persons have been involved in any film shootings in Malta. However, it is obvious that not all of the extras look upon this as simply fun or their five minutes of fame. Some actually do it to augment their income. So it is a pity that the accounts department of the firms doing the casting will only cough up the fees after numerous phone calls.

Decisions

• One wonders who is responsible for selecting the television stations and/or videos that are shown in public places. Some of them are totally unsuitable for the potential audiences, some are not good choices when the likelihood of people watching all the performance is very low and some of them may not be followed when the sound is turned down very low, especially when this happens in a place where there is piped music.

Driven

• It is good to see that, either for health reasons or to avoid interminable waits in traffic jams, more people are taking up cycling either to commute to work or for short journeys. It would therefore be a help if cyclists were allowed to use bus lanes, especially where there are no cyclists’ paths. Moreover, if drivers of vehicles kept to the left, there would be a relatively clear path for cyclists and motorcyclists to overtake on the correct (right hand side) rather than being forced to weave in and out of traffic.