Drive down St Joseph High Road, Ħamrun any day during the morning rush hour and you are sure to come across heavy vehicles double-parked, disrupting the traffic flow at such a busy time. Pity wardens or traffic police never seem to be there, unless they are turning a blind eye!

Testing

On February, 20, at 10.30 a.m., a young motor mechanic who operates from a garage in St Julians was road-testing a client's black Japanese sports car. He drove it in such a manner that he lost control of the vehicle as he approached the petrol station leading to San Ġwann. A public road is not a race track.

Ignored

It is astonishing that the Prime Minister fails to acknowledge the public furore about the decision to have a roofless theatre - rather in the way of an unfinished symphony - in a World Heritage City built by gentlemen for gentlemen. Beginning from the survey in the timesofmalta.com website and continuing through other fora, the message is clear. A big chunk of the Maltese are not happy with what is being proposed.

Dogs

The police would do well to check out the Tal-Ħandaq area round-the-clock. Dogs with clipped ears and tails are regularly seen roaming the area. These dogs are sometimes badly injured. The police have been informed of this but they said they have to know the time when illegal activity is taking place for them to swoop down and catch the perpetrators in flagrante delicto.

Invaders

Footage beamed on television showed individuals, who did not seem to be either police officers or court experts, right on the scene-of-crime of the Marsaxlokk murder. Are the police in a position to guarantee to the public that no evidence was in any way disturbed?

Interference

Why is it that Radju Malta, on the FM dial, sports a discernable hum during most transmission times? It does not make any difference whether the programme is recorded or live; the background noise remains. Switching to AM is even worse; there the station has interference from other stations.

Examined

The general area across St Elmo examinations hall, incorporating the bastions and the ground, has been on the "to do" list for ages. The steel mesh to stop access is still in position but the work is progressing at a snail's pace. One hopes that, by summer, locals and tourists alike will be able to enjoy the whole area, clear of clutter.

Fountain

Another public project that is taking forever to be finished is the Saqqajja Hill fountain. The fairly recent innovation of using an image of the finished opus on the protective netting is a fine one. However, people eventually get tired of looking at a two-dimensional reproduction of what ought to be a three-dimensional piece of fine art.

Driven

People sitting for their driving test for the first time have to rely on hearsay about what to expect. It is annoying to see an assessor like the one on duty on the morning of February 16. He really could do with a course in courtesy towards potential driving licence holders. The young person who was about to take the test became very nervous at the way he was treated and spoken to and this could have led him to fail his test.

Treatments

As soon as one excuse for the dearth of available beds at Mater Dei Hospital has run its course, another one promptly takes its place. This time, the cause for lack of beds has been noted as an increase in the number of respiratory tract conditions such as pneumonia, influenza and chest infections, which "increase drastically in the winter months" and results in patients having to be admitted to hospital rather than being treated at home. This, inevitably, affects the system from grassroots level. Hopefully, better weather will decrease the incidence of these types of conditions.

Ethics

There seems to be some kind of a war of words among bloggers, columnists and journalists in general about what should or should not be reported and commented upon. There used to be a Press Ethics Commission in the past but its members had resigned en bloc, apparently amid controversy. Isn't it time for the commission to be set up again ASAP and knock some sense into the never-ending debate?

Pyrotechnics

Another fireworks tragedy has left two fatalities. What is it with this pastime that wreaks havoc with lives that no amount of health and safety precautions can foresee? Is it a question of regulations with regard to clothing and buildings not being adhered to? Is it raw materials that are not up to standard? Whatever the cause of these senseless tragedies, it is time to stand back and take a good look at what is happening... and then take firm action.

Usury

It is obvious that despite all the sterling work done by Caritas and other NGOs, usury is still rife in Malta. Victims are often in too deep to be able to admit what is happening to them. And, then, when a tragedy happens, everyone shakes his head... until the next time. Perhaps we need to introduce an address to which anonymous letters can be sent because some people are afraid to use land-lines or even mobile phones to report what they know.

Language

In a number of Swieqi roads, the sign Taqtax il-kantunieri is prominently displayed. It would seem that the only people who are prone to cutting corners are those sitting on the local council. They are the ones who have not bought themselves a Maltese-to-English and English-to-Maltese pair of dictionaries in order to discover that literal translations do not necessarily cut the ice.