On the Dot...

If they are not to upgrade it, the least they could do about the pavement near Our Lady of Victories church in Valletta (across the road from the police station) is to put up a prominent notice saying "Slippery pavement". The latest victims have been a pregnant woman and an elderly man, the latter ending with a bloodied hand and much loss of blood.

Seaside stink

The intention, it seems, is to build two toilets at highly popular Golden Bay. Work started in winter and stopped, and in the meantime they installed some mobile conveniences - which no one uses because they stink. Can't someone keep them clean?

Plan and Elevation

Much hype is being given to the development plan for the central part of the island. So much so, that some households have been receiving as many copies of the newspaper, without address labels, meant to inform the public about this, as there are adults in the house. This is patently ridiculous, seeing that a plain sheet of paper, and the same envelope, could be used.

Field Day

On Sunday, July 28, several cars were towed away from the stretch of road in front of the fish shops at St Paul's Bay, and taken to a field near the Dolmen Hotel. This area has not been designated as a tow zone, and yet, according to the operators of the scheme, it was temporarily made so "because of the feast". This is unfair, seeing that there was no notice put up to this effect.

No Zone

There are two leaflet dispensers on the new Malta-Gozo ferries. The one containing leaflets in which passengers may make suggestions and criticism is regularly refilled (although a writing instrument is not provided); the one supposed to contain a publication by the name of Gozone, complete with a notice encouraging patrons to "please take a free copy", is often left empty.

Post Hasty

Robert Lake, the new CEO for Maltapost, was quoted as saying that local postage rates will be revised, i.e. increased by one cent as from this month, in order that "investments" be undertaken. It would be interesting to find out whether his plans include reviving the Posdinu young philatelists' club; something that in the long run, might also have a positive effect on the company.

Horse Sense

Horses taken off duty at Valletta might heave a sigh of relief; but when they find out they will have to ply the Bugibba-Qawra environs, they will find out that they're out of a frying pan into the fire. Apart from having to work at least from 4 p.m. to past midnight, they have nowhere to shelter from the torrid heat, and their drivers appear to be a particularly cruel bunch.

Switched Off

Most of the tiny lights alternating with fluorescent boards along the Burmarrad route are out of order - perhaps because of the extra-long time this project is taking to come to fruition. This stretch of road, already a death trap when all of it could be utilised, has become a major artery, and the fact that only half of it may be used makes it currently particularly dangerous.

Nose Job

So far, never has a day passed without the smell of sewage permeating the Veccia area. It could be possible that the drainage system in the area is not capable of coping with the influx of summer residents. Everyone knows that water pollution is not necessarily visible; and anyway, the damage could be happening underground, with overflowing or burst pipes leaking into the terrain.

Pavement hogging

Clearly, this is a busy time of year for these shops in Ross Street, St Julian's, (picture) but the crates of drinks take up much of the pavement, causing problems for passers-by.

Wind Ward

The driver of the red Marina car with the number plate KAS 584 must be driving his car on a mixture of kerosene and water. Whenever he is on the road, especially going uphill, a black cloud is belched out, dense enough to make soot particles stick to the windscreen of the car driving immediately behind him. It would be interesting to know whether the owner can produce a VRT certificate.

Flag Daze

All one needs to do to set up house - or at least the equivalent of a huge garden shed - on public land such as at Ghadira, is to purchase several cans of green paint and a Maltese flag. That having been said, the several shades of green extant give a little bit of colour to the otherwise bleak environment. How about moving the idea of a golf course, and its possible fruition, to this area, for a more environmentally friendly solution to at least two problems?

Drumbeat

Whatever happened to the initiative started by the department of the environment with regard to the removal of rusty oil tanks from the boundary walls of fields? How many truckloads of them, so far, have been collected? A drive in the countryside indicates that there are still many of these metal monsters, the only purpose of which appears to be providing trickles of minerals into the fields each time the sprinklers are turned on, or when it rains.

Load of Rubbish

A young lad, without any protective gear, was seen helping out in the collection of garbage bags, at around 6 p.m., in Fontana one day last week. The tourists who wrote in, having followed the truck for some distance, were appalled, and hope that this was a one-off occasion, rather than a daily occurrence. The truck in question was the one with the number plate BAA 283.