On the Dot...

With absolutely no regard for the environment, or even for logic, Maltacom has once again sent out vouchers for pitiful amounts to people who made use of the unasked for mailbox facility. Many clients feel uncomfortable asking for tiny refunds when presenting their bills, which will follow later under separate cover; all this hassle could have been avoided by marking the refund clearly in an itemised bill.

Grass Roots

Seasons come and go, but the ridiculous Astroturf fringe around the Ferdinand von Hompesch monument at the entrance to Zabbar remains. The tufts are a little faded now; so perhaps it is high time the local council spent a little of its money on seedlings.

Support Tactics

One notes with satisfaction that the Support Line 179 is now being advertised as available round the clock. This means that those who need it, and who may only snatch seconds from their existence to make their plight known to others, may finally get emotional and probably practical relief for their problems and traumas. Well done to all those volunteers who give their time - and themselves - to such worthy causes.

Picture Imperfect

The Breast Cancer Awareness Group recently organised two wonderful live painting sessions in which artists were seen to paint works promoting awareness of the insidious condition of breast cancer, which claims the lives of 28 per cent of all local, cancer-related deaths. The paintings were then to be offered to local councils for a nominal fee of Lm10. Shockingly, only five representatives turned up for the occasion; evidence of apathy if ever any were needed.

Needle Point

Hepatitis inoculations are being offered as a precautionary health measure by the health department to all school children. One would have thought that the drive would also include the carers, teachers and facilitators of these children, who come into daily contact with body fluids of these children as a matter of course. Surely even here, prevention is better than cure?

Corner Stall

The corner between Barbara Street and Victory Street in Hamrun, has become an accident trap, especially when vehicles that are larger than an ordinary car park on the slope of the latter. The area has a concentration of shops; residents have lost count of the number of times quarrels break out between drivers who assume they have the right of way, or those who fail to see vehicles coming at right angles to them. This of course, does not take into account the number of collisions.

Bedtime Storey

Why is it that disruptive patients are allowed to stay in wards with other patients who need all the rest and tranquillity they can get? A case in point is one of the recent patients in ward M8 of St Luke's Hospital who made it a point to disrupt the peace and quiet at all hours, rather than being grateful that his life was saved despite bad injuries in a traffic accident. Incidentally, the toilets in this ward are desperately due for refurbishment, or at least repairs.

Food For Thought

A restaurant in Marsascala recently broke the Slow Boat To China barrier by slow motion, rather than by speed. On a recent Saturday, orders were taken at 9 p.m., yet by midnight patrons had only been yet served their starters, which turned out to be cold soup and messy pancakes. Is this type of food so authentic that one has to wait for it to be brought over by junk from the ROC?

To The Ears

Energi disco advertises itself as offering music for All Kind (sic) of Occasions. One hopes that the record collection is more comprehensive than the net amount of letters and syntax in the signs nailed to walls encouraging us to make use of it.

Green Acres

Itinerant vegetable vendors appear to have found a haven in some areas of Sliema. Rather than being the imposing centre it was designed to be, Dingli Circus has taken on the aura of a pitkali, and the mess left at the end of the working day has to be seen to be believed. Moreover, the traffic flow is being impeded, with an increased incidence of minor accidents and near-misses throughout the day.

On The Ball

The drainpipe leading from the Salinos Valletta FC training grounds is leaking extremely dirty water onto the bastion walls. This compounds the miserable stench emanating from the general area of the Yellow Garage and the ditch below City Gate. The bastions are continuously being eroded and defaced; these historical gems are already forever marked with an indelible black stain, and the accumulating detritus has formed black sludge that is both unhygienic and an eyesore.

Cove(r) Story

Despite it being officially past the swimming season, Ghar Qawqla in Marsalforn Bay in Gozo is still much frequented by tourists and divers. This area needs a facelift; the railings of the benches and stairway cry out for attention, and the parking area and the promenade need resurfacing, preferably before the rains wreak further havoc by washing away what remains of the surface.