At around 10.30 on Monday night, some parts of Balzan had a temporary power failure. Luckily, since at home our supply is three-phased, not all the rooms were in cold darkness.

I needed ascertaining whether the failure was due to some fault from my side. Getting through to Enemalta was quite a futile marathon. All points of contact were busy, including, funnily enough, the security guard.

I must, however, register my thanks to a female police constable at the general police headquarters and, particularly, to another female officer at the Balzan police station. Both of them went out of their way to help.

It does not require any deep reflection to observe that, in a case of emergency, it seems very unlikely to reach, let alone receive, help from Enemalta. One just has to grin and bear it.

But, perhaps, the powers that be would heed this complaint from an 85-year-old couple.

Shame on you all.