A group of men were noticed doing some roadworks on St Joseph High Road, Ħamrun, towards the Blata l-Bajda end, at about seven on Thursday morning. They had already placed some barriers, thus eliminating the use of one lane in that part of the road. Yet, no wardens or traffic police were to be seen, at least at that time.

Supervised

The Foundation Suriet il-Bniedem welcomed the halfway home project for detainees at the Corradino Correctional Facility. This allows individuals who are nearing the end of their terms to prepare themselves for rehabilitation into society. It would be a good place, too, one thinks, for teenagers to carry out their sentences, under strict supervision.

Soothing

In the run-up to local or general elections, candidates try and dazzle voters by vague promises during home visits and rhetoric at mass meetings. It would suit them much better if they were seen doing the things ordinary mortals do: use public transport; queue at Mater Dei Hospital’s outpatient clinics; do the family shopping, and so forth.

Summer

I would be interesting to find out what, if anything, is being done about what effectively amounts to child labour laws being broken. In many outlets of different kinds young children are often seen doing much more than lending a hand as could be expected in a family business.

Street

Miżien Street, in Tal-Ibraġ, is a short road between Wejba Street and Modd Street. It has two long, wide lines of gooey matter paint running along most of its length; the result of somebody dumping kamura (the residue from floor-tile polishing) along the road. The local council has been alerted to this but to no avail. Is it waiting for the rain to wash away the evidence of its indifference?

Safety

It has now been confirmed through an official press release that inspections and investigations carried out by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority product safety officers over the past week indicate a number of electronic cigarettes found on the market are potentially dangerous. They do not comply with the essential health and safety requirements of the European directives and, as such, despite ostensibly helping people to quit smoking, they may have serious, health-related side-effects.

Soda

The same may be said of the false ideas and publicity surrounding so-called “diet drinks”. People who purchase them in the mistaken belief that they will help them stick to a calorie-controlled diet are wrong. The body reacts to the chemicals in them even worse than it would have reacted to sucrose.

Substance

It is also pertinent to point out that the use of certain margarines and other substitutes for butter could also be considered unsafe. People who do cookery demonstrations on the media or are guests on radio magazine programmes often tell viewers and listeners that “butter is fat” but refrain from speaking about the amounts of chemicals in the substitutes and that it is actually harmful to heat some of them.

Static

Years ago, a scheme was proposed whereby all utility cables in Valletta would be removed from sight and positioned along already extant underground passageways. This has so far not happened. Indeed, one gets the impression that what has happened is that the black ones have been replaced by thicker, lighter-coloured lines that are closer in shade to the patina of the buildings.

Same

A visit to the Valletta bus terminus, especially in the early afternoon, will indicate one thing. Of all the berths, the one that is most often unoccupied by a bus is the number nine, for buses 51, 52, and 53. As a corollary, this berth always has the largest number of people waiting to board.

Stuff

It is indeed a pity that glass is not collectable on Recycle Tuesdays. Many people find it easier to place bottles and jars in their ordinary garbage bags rather than taking them to the bring-in sites, for several reasons. If these were placed in a separate bag rather than in the green or grey bags there would be less chance of their getting broken and mixing with the paper etc, as is the usual excuse given as to why they are not picked up.

Service

It has become a point of honour with most restaurants and clothes boutiques, as well as other outlets, to offer clients a card in order to “save them money”. The card is to be filled in with details that are unnecessary for the service obtained, such as addresses and the number of people in the family as well as their age. It is, therefore, obvious that one of the purposes of these “discount card” is to compile a database.

Serious

On June 29, a swimmer at Sliema had a serious nosebleed. The lifeguard on duty, “because she had a lot of blood” and he ostensibly wanted to stem the flow, told her to pinch her nose and throw her head back. One wonders whether these people are given lessons in basic first aid and how to help swimmers who find themselves in difficulties.

Spaces

It is obvious that some people, especially those with young children and the elderly, would prefer to go to their local council offices, if they could, rather than trudge down to, say, the area office of the Social Services Department or a similar entity. It would be a sign of goodwill were a clerk from these divisions to attend at least once a month and see to the needs of people in a town or village. With eGovernance, this should not be a problem.