On the Dot

For a good number of years, the upper section of Triq it-Tiben in Swieqi, next to the local council premises, was blocked by a wall. After a very long period of time, the wall was removed earlier this year but access for vehicles was still being blocked by two metal barriers, which remain there till this very day. What is keeping the authorities from clearing the place and opening it, as it should be, to vehicles immediately?

Lists

It would be a good idea were all the entities concerned – parishes, local councils, Transport Malta etc – to have a meeting some months before a village feast. This would be done with a view to compiling a list of streets through which private and public transport would pass. It would be made available to the press at least a week before the event so that there would be no needless circling around, bottle-traps and occasional instances of road rage.

Lunchtime

Cat feeders take it upon themselves to leave containers with food and liquid – sometimes water, sometimes milk – outside their residences or in other places, for “their” animals to feed upon. Unfortunately, the ones on private land are quickly cleared away, lest they attract flies. The ones on public land are left there until they are consumed. Whether the diners are cats is a moot point.

Lines

Each time a new building is erected, or a demolished one rebuilt, the chances are that more service cables will be added to the extant ones, making the total load heavier. Does this damage the façade of buildings to which the lines are attached, seeing that the original arrangement was for just a few cables? In cases where pylons are bearing the weight, is there any danger of their becoming top-heavy and, therefore, falling over?

Lifetimes

In countries where bicycles regularly run over wild animals, roadkill is sometimes collected and used as food. In Malta, this is not feasible because nobody would eat pigeons, cats, rats and the occasional hedgehog. Therefore, unless someone actually removes them for proper disposal, the carcasses are left there until the pressure from vehicle tyres presses them into the softened tarmac. This does not say much for the local councils where this is allowed to happen.

Leave

The Birkirkara bus terminus is one of the places where Arriva driver changeovers take place. It sometimes happens that, after driver A leaves the bus, leaving the engine idling, there is an interval of minutes before driver B arrives to take over. Different commuters have joked about driving the vehicle away themselves not to waste time or fuel.

Lights

Whatever happened to the regulation that all loud noises must cease after 11 p.m., especially in inhabited areas? As if it were not enough that places of entertainment regularly flout this rule, there is the added inconvenience that the bright lights from them also annoy people, who, in this heat, would like the opportunity of keeping windows and balcony doors open.

Locations

The Office for Consumer Affairs informs us that inspections are regularly carried out in retail outlets to ascertain that each item displayed for sale has the correct price tag on it. A simple walk through certain streets, specifically in areas where there are many tourists, would indicate that this is not so. If inspections are carried out regularly, with fines being meted out, the owners of the outlets would perhaps be cured of their habit.

Liberty

A lot of fuss has been made about whether wearing a tie, or not, makes any difference in the service obtaining with Arriva. This is balderdash; a bad workman quarrels with his tools. Give the drivers a comfortable polo shirt, with a logo if needs must, and they will be more comfortable and, therefore, more at ease in their cabin.

Listeners

Why is it that some people in the medical profession feel they have to push the idea that, in order to feel better, one must resort to surgery to “iron out imperfections”? Sometimes, the approach is less than subtle. To make matters worse, even some celebrities who have had procedures done at times join in the chorus.