How long will this abandoned car outside the Junior College (almost in front of the entrance to the Activity Centre) be allowed to stay in place? Someone has already helped oneself to a wheel and a few lights while the front bumper is hanging loose. Next month it will celebrate its first birthday.

What’s in a name?

Now that the long-awaited change of ID cards seems about to start, one hopes that the opportunity is taken to put right the errors made when new passports were issued where citizens were burdened with Italianate names rather than the names they had been using all their lives. Hopefully Salvatore can become Saviour, Luigi can become Louis, and Carmelo can become Charles. One awaits an official communication.

Have a go at teletext

Melita has been without teletext for weeks if not months, and not a single apology to its customers has been forthcoming. Perhaps they’re going the way of TVM, who struggled desperately to incorporate it, but lost the battle. Perhaps Melita think this is unimportant to them. Telext provides instant news, weather forecasts, sports results and TV programmes and a lot of people ‘surf’ it constantly for a hundred and one reasons. So come on, roll up your sleeves and have a go (no pun intended).

The scourge of rubbish

Road sweepers and cleaners in St Paul’s Bay do their best to keep the roads clean. However, some people in the locality place their rubbish out at the wrong times, which means bags are ripped open and the wind blows the rubbish through the streets. It’s a shame that the locality’s beauty is ruined by the minority that do not take care or pride in their surroundings.

Disappearing road markings

Only a few weeks ago, fresh road markings were painted on the Pietà-Msida seafront road. A strong smell of spirit permeated the area in the hours after the markings were painted. Could this be the reason why the road markings have already started to fade? Is the paint thinned down with spirit? Why do road markings here fade within weeks and those in other countries last a lifetime?

If you have any item for On The Dot, send it to onthedot@timesofmalta.com. Please include all particulars, especially a contact telephone number. Items are sent under the express understanding and condition that the editor may, and is authorised to, disclose any/all of the personal information mentioned above to any person or entity requesting the information for the purposes of legal action on grounds that such person or entity feels aggrieved by the item published.