• Last Tuesday, commuters at the Portes des Bombes waited for over 30 minutes for a 51, 52, 53 bus. When the latter finally turned up at about 6 p.m. it was full up, thus disappointing those wanting to go to Tal-Virtù. To make matters worse, it was very cold and raining. It was not nice seeing two buses serving other routes passing by half-full. Does anyone from the Premier-appointed task force read these columns?

Tables

• Arriva seems to set store on buses arriving and leaving according to the set schedules. As laudable as this may be, it does not make sense when it involves connections from one route to another. Take those who have to commute to their workplaces or schools after alighting from the ferries. It is galling to have to wait for a bus after an unpleasant ferry crossing and, more so, to see them leave the terminus when one is still on the boat.

Travel

• In spite of several written complaints and requests, to date, the Tal-Qroqq bus-stop and the Parilja one in Psaila Street, Birkirkara, for catching buses to Valletta, remain exposed to extreme weather conditions. Is it asking too much or the impossible to have at least some sort of shelter from heavy rains or, come summer, sweltering heat and raging sun?

Terrible

• The perimeter area around Saint Philip Hospital, going down to Msida, is a very dangerous zone. There is no boundary wall whatsoever. The area being covered in grass, in the middle of such a traffic-prone zone, could encourage passers-by to explore it.

Takers

• There was a time when blood donors could look forward to a day of paid leave at least once every three months because it was par for the course that employers looked favourably upon this service to the community. This is no longer the case, perhaps because this praxis could have tempted people to abuse the system. However, one would appreciate knowing that at least three hours do not have to be taken out of one’s own leave allowance.

Trips

• In order to avoid blocking the traffic, the garbage collection truck in the general area of Rudolph Street, in Sliema moves at a steady pace. This often leaves the onus of collecting huge bags to one sole employee, who ends up lugging up to 10 heavy bags to the end of the street and placing them in a pile from where they will later be collected. This is unfair on the said employee.

Things

• It is not the first time that people who do not like the words and actions of others take the law into their own hands. In some cases, however, people with an axe to grind seek to inflate the happening in order to point out a lacuna in the legislation. At least, some good may come from the actions of such venomous people.

Turnaround

• The person who designed the perspex bus shelters probably uses his own car to get to and from work. They are not deep enough for people to be able to line up against the back to escape the rain. Even if this were possible, the fact that the sides do not reach the roof means that rain will enter the shelter according to the direction of the wind. Some of them are close enough to the edge of the pavement to allow splashes from passing cars to reach people.

Totals

• Yet again, three young people with personal problems have found themselves residing in an institution that is certainly not an asset to their well-being. Whereas the public does not know the circumstances that led to this, the fact remains that the state must make sure that adequate provision is made for emergency cases such as this.

Temptations

• Yet another financial scam is doing the rounds. And, yet again, the people who are behind it fail to realise that e-mail addresses are not necessarily indicative of the residence of their owner. This time, the letter is an invitation “to ensure that exact data is being kept up on our systems and to be able to grant you better quality of service”. To this end, people are being invited to submit personal details to a company that is supposed to facilitate the submission of (American) income tax returns.

Triumphs

• The good news is that Maltese photographers have won 11 awards in The Societies’ international photography competition. Maltese artistes have won a gamut of awards, among which the Commercial Photographer of the Year, Advertising Photographer of the Year, Architectural (Interiors) Photographer of the Year, Macro Photography, Digital Photographer of the Year,and more. What made this event more exceptional was that Maltese photographers delivered master classes during the convention, attended by 12,000 photography professionals.

Termination

• Enemalta had originally planned to modify the Delimara power station such that it would produce less harmful emissions. The €18 million project (€15.5 million in EU funds and a commercial loan of €2.8 million) has now been dropped. This bodes well for air quality nationwide and not just in the general area.

Traffic

• It is very evident that both the police and the local council/s cannot be bothered or are unable to do anything about the double-parked delivery vehicles and, at times, light cars that often cause traffic jams during the rush hour along the busy stretch between the Ħamrun and Sta Venera churches. What can the poor motorist and frustrated Arriva drivers do but lump it?!

Tidal

The heavy downpours over the past days yet again demonstrated the lousy design of most of Malta’s roads. Can one be blamed if one concludes that, at times, there must be far more water accumulating on most roads than in many of the island’s reservoirs?