• Progress is good, however, it brings with it wanton destruction. It is obviously quicker and cheaper to mow down trees than dig them up from the roots and cosset them until they may be replanted, on site or elsewhere. Indeed, it sometimes appears to be a way of assuaging expenses, when the trunks and branches, if suitable, are chopped down and sold as firewood.

Tempting

• Not only is the bus shelter just outside Saint Joseph’s Home, in Santa Venera ugly, it is also an ideal target for Arriva buses. Regular commuters have lost count of buses that have managed to whack it with their roofs or mirrors. Indeed, the left corner as one looks at it is now neatly folded back from repeated hits, most of them in the same place.

Tracking

• Sina Bugeja, chief executive officer, Foundation for Social Welfare Services, informs us that children placed on fast-track for attention include children and adolescents who do not have a support system and/or are exposed to constant substance abuse, have challenging behaviour, are in need of social housing, living in a chaotic environment, are under a care order or under three years of age and are victims of sexual abuse. This just about covers everybody. No wonder there are children who wait.

Trivia

• Renewable energy is one of the promises that were made by local council candidates standing for election on the green ticket. One hopes that these promises will be embraced and actuated, whatever the platform, in the newly-elected local councils and also in the forthcoming general election.

Torrential

• It is a well-known fact that it is always the same areas that are inundated with water when rainfall exceeds expectations. Seeing that, a flash flood warning means that roads and low-lying areas will be flooded, it is high time to introduce them in Malta – and make persons ignoring them liable to a fine. After all, it often costs the country money to save those whose vehicles get caught in the torrent.

Tad

• A man was taken to court for misappropriating less than €10 worth of food, probably enough for a meal, and was charged. In all probability, the man-hours this involved cost the country many multiples of the sum in question. Is there no departmental alternative where a person, admitting his crime, would hand over the equivalent of what he stole and cover any expenses rather than have the case dragging on?

Travel

• In olden days, before Arriva shook, rattled and rolled the transport system, it used to take commuters just over one hour to get from Sliema to Birkirkara, using the Portes des Bombes junction as an interchange. These days, using the same system, it takes just as much, if not more. Using the direct routes buses takes much longer because of the intervals at which they run.

Tearful

• Last Monday, at about 11.30 a.m., an elderly gentleman tripped on the uneven pavement in front of the NSTS buildings in St Paul Street, Valletta. Of the several students standing at the entrance to the Old University, just across the road, only three bothered to help him. Most of the rest just gaped or pretended not to notice. Is this an example of what tomorrow’s adults will be like?

Takings

• One of the latest e-mail scams involves a notice ostensibly from UPS .com customer services. It states that a delivery, of something which is unspecified, has failed. It comes from UPS Team 83 and Support 362. Obviously, the person who receives this would probably not have sent anything, so the chances are that s/he would think that something has not been delivered to him. It is, therefore, par for the course that s/he would be tempted to “click the button to find out more”.

Totals

• Another potential swindle involves an accusation that the addressee has “possibly participated” in income tax refund fraud for one of the person’s employees. Then comes the dire warning that “According to AICPA bylaw subsection 500, your certified public accountant licence can be terminated in case of the act of presenting of an incorrect or fraudulent income tax return for your client or employer”. Moreover, it is indicated that failure to reply to the letter within seven days “will result in withdrawal of your CPA licence”. The recipient is likely to panic and click the “Contact Us” button, when the harm to the person’s system would probably be actuated.

Treatment

• Health Minister Joseph Cassar was recently quoted as saying that patients turning up at Mater Dei Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department cannot be turned away. Won’t they be if the triage system deems them as not being ill enough to require inpatient treatment? This is one more reason why health centres must be kept open; then only serious cases would be referred to hospital on an emergency basis.

Testing

• A red Kia Mentor car with an expired road licence, umpteen wardens’ fines under its windscreen wiper and with flat tyres has been parked in Potters Street, Birkirkara since at least last November. Despite a number of reports having been made to the police by different people, this vehicle is still there occupying valuable parking space.

Trying

• In an unbuilt plot in Triq Carmel Brincat, Birkirkara, there is a large dug out hole that is filled with water whenever it rains heavily, as it has done in recent days. When it doesn’t rain, the water gets stagnant, attracting swarms of mosquitoes, which invade neighbouring houses, to the great inconvenience of the residents. The health authorities, who have been informed, should take immediate action.