Motorised bicycles that are being sold can develop substantial speed. Those selling them say the machines do not need to be insured. Is this correct – a young cyclist on one of them can easily cause a traffic accident which could result in substantial damages. Who would pay for those damages if the child is to blame for the accident, and there is no insurance cover? Are these motorised bicycle sales legal?
The Malta Independent received a letter from the Department of Health Information and Research with regard to the drawing up of a Public Health Report for 2008. Is this correct, or should it be 2009? Secondly, when the editor of this newspaper sent in his reply, by email, as requested in the letter, he did not even receive an acknowledgement that his email had been received, let along a thank-you for his contribution.
The three roads leading into Zurrieq – from Qrendi, Mqabba and Hal Far – are all in a great need of being redone. Residents are known to have called the local council for help, but apparently the roads in question are the direct responsibility of the central government. Yet residents are fed up of this situation and have complained that their cars are being damaged. They would like to know if the government is planning any work in the roads in question.
Qui-si-Sana residents last week phoned up to say that whereas they had electricity in their homes, the street lamps were not lit up for several days. The roads in question included Locker, Hughes Hallet and Dragut streets. The residents wanted to know why the Sliema local council referred them to Enemalta Corporation when they phoned up to complain, saying that the council should have itself taken up the matter.
When One TV carried the news report about the 20 proposals made in Parliament by Labour leader Joseph Muscat on illegal immigration last Monday, the captions that accompanied the news items were littered with spelling mistakes. Very few of the 20 captions that, one by one, came on screen were free of errors. This is not the perfect example that the station could give to its viewers.
Last week, weeds that were growing on the sides of the roads were cut in the St Julian’s area. A good deed. But it was half-baked because the weeds that were cut were left on the sides of the pavements, and were literally blown away by the strong winds we experienced. If something is to be done, it should be done properly.
The PBS sports department held a seminar to see how matters could improve. Yet it seems that many lessons still need to be learned. Yesterday week, during the Sportlive programme aired between 4 and 6pm, the presenters did not even notice that there were problems with the transmission when they tried to link with their correspondent at the football stadium. It took about half a minute for the voice to come on air, but no apology was made.
One also questions why the interviews that were carried out during the cycling races in the morning yesterday week were not broadcast that day... only to be aired yesterday, one week late. Is this the kind of service that PBS wants to give to its viewers? Why is footage of Formula 1 races held 12 years ago being given more importance than local events that are painstakingly organised by volunteers?