Time flies, another year has passed. Everybody complains that Christmas has become too commercialised, and yet each year it becomes worse. Soon enough, we might be even seeing Christmas decorations in August.
Some people think they can do what they like, and one cannot really blame them since their misdemenours often go unpunished. Last Saturday evening, a car was parked on the wrong side of the road, headlights blaring in the face of oncoming traffic, in Birkirkara Road, St Julian’s. Drivers on their way to San Gwann had to swerve onto the other side of the road to continue their journey. Yet, the driver of this particular car was rather unfazed and stayed there.
A salesgirl at the Agenda Bookshop in St Andrew’s phoned up a client, on his mobile, to inform him that a book he had ordered some weeks ago had arrived. The client had forgotten about the order and it took him two minutes to realise what the salesgirl was referring to. In the end he remembered. When he went to collect the book, he realised that it cost only 60 cents. So in all probability most of the profit made on that book had been swallowed by up the telephone call. But that is an example of what good service is all about.
Last Saturday morning, a minor traffic accident took place on the Regional Road bridge, direction Paceville. The irony of it all is that a traffic jam ensued in the opposite direction, towards Msida. The reason for this is that all cars travelling towards Msida slowed down, and some actually stopped, to see what was taking place on the other side of the road. And then they say we are not a curious people!
How laborious and cumbersome the Malta Transport Authority has become. Is it short staffed, inefficient, or what? It is taking a week or more for number plates to be issued to owners of new vehicles, after all documentation has been submitted. Surely that is far too long!
Not everyone will agree with Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett that KIF, the publication being distributed for free on buses, is “another step in refining the public transport service”, as he said in launching it. Many will see it as just another piece of trash to litter Malta’s roads. Maybe now we will see bus termini buried not only under discarded bus tickets, but also under free copies of KIF.
And, speaking of litter, it takes a windy day to realise how dirty the country is. Plastic bags, packets and whatnot fly around in the strong winds, often creating danger to oncoming traffic as such items end up on windscreens. Why are we so dirty? And what are the local councils doing to keep the streets of their locality clean?
One local council that does not seem to be doing its duty properly is that of San Gwann. The main artery, Naxxar Road, was last Saturday full of thrash that lined up the side of the pavements. A client who commented about this to one of the shopowners in the area got this reply – “they never clean up here, they just wait for the rain to sweep everything downhill”. Towards St Julian’s and Sliema, that is.