On May 3, I went to St Paul’s Bay local council to apply for three ‘No parking’ notices to be affixed outside a block of flats in Triq il-Mulett, Qawra, since some furniture was to be delivered to a fifth-floor flat on May 8. I paid the €15 fee and was told to put up the notices the following Monday, which I did, taking care to ensure they were properly attached to the wall.

So imagine my surprise when, on arriving there at the appointed time on Wednesday, I find three cars parked in the space intended for the truck delivering the furniture and the lifter to hoist it. I called the number on the notice and was told to go to Qawra police station to report the three cars blocking the delivery vehicles. To their credit, the police immediately called the owners but one of them did not comply and left her car there, making the actual delivery and hoisting of the furniture more difficult.

This is just one example of the sheer egoism which, sadly, abounds in this country.