On the Dot

One bus driver who came up trumps was Kenneth Tabone, driving vehicle FBY 654 on the Cirkewwa route. A man who distinctly remembered using his cellular telephone on it, subsequently lost it, and contacted the driver who, after searching the bus thoroughly, found it lodged between the seat and the inside of the bus. He would not accept a token of appreciation, saying simply it could have been he who had lost the appliance.

Rest Assured

The experts tell us that the best time for pruning trees is in winter, when they are dormant. Yet haphazard snipping of branches decorating the streets goes on whenever some workers are available to do it. The same may be said for the razing of wild grasses that attract and shelter insect life; greenery, including the lovely wild flowers, the roots of which bind the soil, is left to dry by the wayside, and meanwhile the parched soil blows away.

Be-Sieged

At the start of the scholastic year, Great Siege Productions set in motion a great project that involved, inter alia, competitions aimed at schoolchildren, published in the Maltese magazine Saghtar. To date, participating schools have heard nothing, despite the fact that results were supposed to have been published in the last edition of this magazine for this scholastic year, dated May.

Stop That Pigeon (man)

An elderly gentleman regularly makes trips to the area to the left of Portes des Bombes, going to Valletta, in order to feed the hungry. Unfortunately, the famished creatures in question are hundreds of pigeons that swoop down practically as soon as he appears. It helps the proliferation of the bird, which in many cases has become a pest, there are so many of it.

Too high

The trees in Herbert Ganado Gardens, Floriana are in need of pruning. Some of them are so high above street level that they obstruct the lovely panoramic view of Grand Harbour from Girolamo Cassar Avenue.

Dirty Direction

The workers who refurbished the Kishna outlet in Merchants/Melita streets, Valletta, did a good job. Let's hope someone will take the trouble of cleaning the direction post indicating various tourist sites: it is all dusty and concrete.

Hearing Aids

The Occupational Health and Safety Unit is understaffed and overworked, perhaps because it is a relatively new institution. This could be why there are no regular hearing acuity tests indicated as precautionary measures for people who work in noisy environments that can have a cumulative adverse effect on their hearing. It's about time, for instance, that radio stations are not tuned as high on certain factory floors, to discourage conversation.

Pleasant Tense

People who some time ago went around the island festooning electricity pylons and traffic signs with chipboard squares advertising their services have not yet removed them: not even where the signs were affixed to public buildings. The local councils should track down those responsible and fine them for blemishing the environment.

Slippery Slope

The part of the pavement leading down from Our Lady of Victory Church in Castille Place, Valletta, towards the rear entrance of St James Cavalier, is very slippery. The latest near-accident involved a woman pushing a buggy who slid about half a metre along the pavement. Had she fallen, the baby would have gone straight into the path of a vehicle coming from around the blind corner.

Manhole Danger

The manhole cover just by the same pole is a danger to pedestrians. Heavy traffic has broken it in two and one of its corners juts up several inches. And walking away from it towards St Paul Street, on the right side, is another broken manhole which poses a similar danger.

An Accident

Labour MP Rita Law was very humane in parliament in calling for assistance for the family finding itself homeless after the Fgura blast. But why should she refer to the blast as "an accident", as if no one was to blame. Is that all the forthrightness our MPs can show? Ms Law should ask the family in question what they think of the "accident".

French oral

The item "French oral" states that the oral test was held at St Theresa Junior Lyceum. It should be pointed out that the examination was not a school-based one but one of the many Matsec examinations held at the school during this period. In fact the school was only involved as an examination centre during this particular examination.