On the Dot...

HSBC recently sent pages one to five of an account report to clients, and, under separate cover, pages six and seven of the same statement. Apart from being a waste of paper and postage, one wonders at the logic behind the division. Just as one wonders why employees have to wait outside the bank until someone turns up with the key only minutes before the first customers are due inside the bank itself.

Smoking Zone

The Main Street and surrounding areas in Attard are fast going the way of other similar areas in Malta. Traffic from outside looks at this area as a short cut to the other side of the island and residents find that they can scoop away soot from their louvers every few days. Is it too much to ask to have traffic rerouted, just for a few months, in order to ascertain whether the situation will improve?

Like Poison

A recent study indicated that up to seven per cent of cancer cases may be caused by dioxins, which are especially dangerous to children, even those who are yet to be born. An amount of dioxins occur when waste is incinerated. Yet, many incinerators, some of them with patently faulty filters, are still operating. Guidelines may, or may not, be issued; however, legislation would ensure that in the end it would be cheaper for those responsible to switch to a different method of waste disposal rather than pay the heft fines that they would then have to pay.

Write On

Roald Dahl says that all one needs to write a story (and in his case, earn a living) is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a thinking cap. Parkers apparently only need a tangible equivalent of the latter kind; their earnings are tax free, they have a law unto themselves (some even lay down the amount motorists must pay) and they are not responsible for damages incurred to vehicles while under their ostensible care.

Brick Bats

The new millennium has come and gone but the Royal Opera House is just a faint memory in the minds of an ever-decreasing number of Maltese people. How about forgetting all the grandiose plans for it and digging out the original plans? People, including tourists, can perhaps be persuaded to donate a brick or two, on the lines of how other sponsorship operations are carried out, for example donating a new pew in a church.

Slow Lane

Every morning, between 8.15 and 9.15 am., a red Seat Marbella can be seen parked in the former bus lane in St Anne Street, Floriana, blocking traffic towards Valletta. Can wardens or the traffic police do their job?

Entrance Free

Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo had gone on record stating that City Gate, in Valletta was to be sheared clean of itinerant hawkers and artistes plying their different trades. This promise was too good to last. Indeed, City Gate is as bad as it ever was and, somehow, the number of pigeons ready to leave their mark on commuters appears to be once more on the increase.

Off The Record

Every so often, raids are carried out in certain flea markets, the object being to seize pirated CDs and games console games. Obviously, the raids are always successful in that they yield a substantial amount of material that, inter alia, would be breaking international copyright laws. However, the chances are that literally as soon as the excise officials' backs are turned, a new consignment of goods is once again out up for sale, only a stone's throw away from where the original contravention would have taken place. This is both risible and pathetic; raids must be done every day, rather than sporadically.

Bus Stop

Saint James Ditch is the place where bus drivers, who are off duty, or those who must see to their cars, usually congregate. It is obvious to the drivers, the passers-by, but not to the authorities apparently, that such a mustering area would need to be provided with a number of public conveniences. As a result, there is a great stench in the area, which no amount of sunshine can dry up and no amount of rain can wash away.

Over the Tot

The recent statistics indicating that Malta has the highest alcohol-consuming rate in the early teen ages make shocking reading. However, when one notes that legislation does not provide against youngsters purchasing relatively cheap alcohol in closed containers from grocery shops and other outlets, one would be tempted to comment that this result is almost in the natural course of things.

Rock On

The area of the Birkirkara By-Pass where there used to be the Supermaster discount store is in a worse shambles than ever. Now, not only are there mounds of building debris and other rubbish accumulating everywhere; the street surface itself has also started to deteriorate, making it feasible for people to take the route through the residential areas rather than using this road.