Black garbage bags were not collected at Attard last Thursday. Apparently, residents received a note saying that bags containing glass will be collected every fortnight. Does it mean that the normal Thursday garbage collection has been dropped? Can the local council kindly put the record straight?

Barked

What a pity it would be if Noah’s Ark Sanctuary were to close down because of lack of funds. The likelihood would be that if it is allowed to close its doors others facing dire straits may be easily tempted to take the line of least resistance and follow suit. Would that not mean the government would have to do the job itself? So why not act now before it is too late?

Bloom

The comments made last Friday in The Times by veteran Lino Bugeja about the sad state of sport in the inner harbour region deserve urgent attention not only by the sports authorities and sportsmen but also by parents. As the saying goes, a sound mind in a healthy body and the terms sound and healthy have different meanings.

Books

Why is it that there is no set catchment area of casual sellers of booklets sold for charitable causes? In some areas, as many as three different people turn up on different days with the same issue whereas, in others, household rarely receive visits.

Breathers

Every so often, new signposts appear here and there. The problem is that these are usually set up to replace dilapidated ones or those that have gone missing. Unfortunately, in sprawling towns and villages, such as Naxxar and Birkirkara, drivers who are not familiar with the areas tend to keep running around in circles before finding the places they want.

Balance

The Nationalist Party has published its provisional list of candidates for the forthcoming election. For some reason best known to those who compiled it, the names are listed in alphabetical order, according to the given names of the persons, rather than the surnames, as is usually the praxis. One wonders why it was done this way.

Bright

It appears to be fashionable to pour vinegar on jellyfish stings and to keep it from drying out by placing tissue paper over it. However, it is certainly not advisable to try and scrape off the tentacles using the blade of scissors, which would have been used for other things. Are beach rescue teams actually trained in first aid other than where it comes to saving people from drowning?

Bumper

In the Msida Circus and Tower Gate Street area, one can notice vehicles being repaired, sometimes on the street itself. Has a permit been issued by the competent authorities allowing this to take place? This is not an industrial area.

Benefits

Soldiers from the 3rd Regiment and the Maritime Squadron and beach cleaners cleared Imgiebaħ Bay in Selmun of several bags of rubbish. One hopes that the posidonia (tapeweed) collected is being recycled into fertiliser, as was the case with that collected from Mistra, rather than being dumped along with the rest of the debris. It is also hoped that the natural habitat is not destroyed by overenthusiastic workers.

Broken

This column has often pointed out the inherent danger of the metal frame between the Bognor Regis complex and the beach at Buġibba. It is hoped that the entrepreneurs who construct the bouncy castle on it will replace all the rusty bits if they do so again later in the ummer. As it is, the structure provides a dangerous climbing frame to the adventurous.

Band

Some weeks ago, a vehicle smashed into a phone booth and a pillar box in Battery Street, Santa Venera, at the junction with Cannon Road, destroying both. The pillar box has been replaced, a metre or so down the pavement, but, to date, the area remains without a public telephone service. This is unfair.

Belt

Many people find it a big hassle to send in their VAT receipts for the weekly lottery. It would be a good idea to place them in a container and, at the end of the month, send them to a charity where volunteers do the work of rubber-stamping them and sending them on in the name of the charity.

Blight

It is a well-known fact that some entrepreneurs still take risks (calculated?) by not issuing VAT receipts. This is particularly the case with itinerant vendors and those who do home visits to carry out one-off jobs. There are even businesses that offer barter arrangements, where no money, and, consequently, no receipts, change hands.

Boost

It is indeed a pity that some children seem to prefer staying at home in front of some kind of screen rather than joining their peers in community activities. One welcomes the initiative of some summer school teachers who make the informal lessons more interesting by creating science clubs, cookery clubs, etc and organising didactic outings that are also fun.

Bright

One other such initiative was that taken by the staff and students of St Paul’s Bay Primary Class 5.1. Together they cleared up the tiny beach that lies just below the school complex. The exercise also indicated that the area needs more bins or that the extant one must be emptied more frequently.

Beached

Meanwhile, it would be a good idea to combine suspended sentences and community services with this type of activity towards the common good. This would allow offenders to compensate for what they took, seeing that Malta is not Alabama, where embarrassing and degrading chain gangs have made a comeback to offset prison costs.