The BBC recently reported that a £1 million migrant helpline pilot scheme in Kent, funded by the British government and meant to help failed asylum seekers and their children return to their homelands, has failed miserably. Only one family has so far benefited from it. Primarily, the idea was to reduce the number of children locked up in detention centres each year. Two main lessons to learn here: one that more funds do not automatically confer greater efficiency and, two, the children are always the ones to suffer.

Cheaters

It defies the imagination as to how people could stoop so low as to steal public property. The latest example of this is the theft of trees at Karl Chircop Garden in Dawret it-Torri, Santa Luċija. Apart from indicating that some are too niggardly to purchase their own garden supplies, it also shows a dearth of respect for the deceased gentleman after whom the place was named.

Recycling

There is another facet to charity shops and bring-in sites, which is, after all, what many people do, albeit on a larger scale. The parish priest of Our Lady Queen of Angels chapel in Central City, Pennsylvania, Fr Joe Maurizio, has begun a scheme where people take items to the former thrift shop. If they want, they can pick up items for their own use. The system is run on a purely voluntary basis, with no money changing hands at any time. This is a very good idea to follow.

Dirty

There are conscientious dog owners who always clean up their pets' messes. There are others who make a show of having a dusty plastic bag knotted onto the leash. And there are people who borrow dogs in order to have a companion during their evening walk but who do not even bother with the niceties. Yet, all the people who walk dogs never think of carrying a bottle of water to dilute the dogs' urine, so this festers and stinks on people's kerbs and stains pavements.

Accountability

Joe Public finds it weird that the Development Control Commission (DCC) board finds it easy to overturn, after negligible modifications, several applications situated in UCAs that Mepa recommends should be refused on more serious grounds. One wonders whether this occurs because the modification so adopted would have been pointed out by someone who knows how these things work.

Shocking

The Malta Standards Authority has banned a particular universal electrical adaptor from the market, having determined it poses a "very serious risk of electric shock" to consumers. However, one often has cause to wonder about the health and safety standards of similar products, especially when, after some hours of use, they are found to be quite warm to the touch. The same may be said for the novelty night lights and energy-saving bulbs on sale from several outlets.

Maltese

Some time ago this column complained about the fact that the national airline's website was failing to offer its clients an important service: that of having a Maltese version. Air Malta is risking losing custom by somewhat biting the hand that feeds it. The fact that a translation "costs money" does not cut ice.

Imprisonment

The outcome of a recent court case had a man jailed because he dealt in drugs to sustain his own habit. It goes without saying that, in order to have drugs to sell, he must have bought them from a bigger dealer. This person has now had one source of income curtailed. Yet, he is still free to sell his lethal poisons to other dealers who, in turn, try and enmesh others into the habit, so as to have a steady income.

Music

How many children, exactly, can explain what a żaqq and a żafżafa are, albeit they may know what a tanbur is? It is a pity that these instruments are relegated to the realm of folklore and that music lessons in schools only rarely include any reference to them.

Poetic

Many countries - the latest one being The Philippines - are holding "poetry in motion" contests with the winning verses being printed on public transport vehicles. This would be a good idea, which takes even further the initiative of having verses printed on perspex bus shelters. It would also give a window of opportunity to those who would otherwise never have their work displayed in public.

Numbers

A television programme offered "latest statistics" dated 2005. Identity cards and telephone directories are way out of date, too. Whose responsibility is it to monitor these discrepancies? It is useless boasting that Malta is at the vanguard of IT systems when these things continue to happen.

Pray

The guide at St John's Co-Cathedral directed two Maltese teenagers to "round the corner" when they decided to visit the co-cathedral in Valletta after their examinations to offer a prayer of thanksgiving. There, they found they had to pay an entry fee and the person in charge told them that "at least" they were being charged the "student rate"!

Censored

The Archbishop's Curia distanced itself from court evidence by the Church's film classification board chairman on the banned play Stitching, declaring that his views did not reflect the Church's values and teaching. The question comes very natural. In that case, should he not have been asked to relinquish his post? Or did he and the Church would not admit it?

Intelligence

It is an open secret that VAT is being evaded. The department concerned should introduce a confidential landline for consumers to report these injustices. They are ruining our economy.