E-tolling at Cornubia
THE CITY and the provincial Department of Transport are in a scrap over who should pay multi-millions for road upgrading to serve the R20 billion Cornubia housing project up the North Coast, in particular the N2/M41 interchange at Umhlanga.
But the dispute is quite unnecessary. The obvious solution is to set up an e-tolling system and let the motorists pay.
We could borrow or buy some of the newfangled equipment that seems to be standing idle up in Gauteng at the moment, and Bob's your uncle. Problem solved!
What's that you say? Controversial? Huge public dissent? Court orders?
No, we can't be sidetracked by fuddy-duddies. We're in the digital age. We must use the technology available. We must move with the times.
E-tolling it is! Let's go! And damn the torpedoes!
Into the abyss
EUROPE looks into the abyss as the financial crisis in Greece threatens the stability of the entire EU. Spain is one of the countries always mentioned as possibly the next domino to fall if the crisis is not contained.
It's somehow reassuring then that the Spaniards and the Brits should still be squabbling over the status of Gibraltar. Normality. Some things don't change.
Now Queen Sofia of Spain has cancelled a visit to Britain for Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee because of the dispute.
The legend goes that the day the Barbary apes leave the Rock of Gibraltar will be the day the British leave. Maybe they should just do a count of the apes to decide the status of the Rock.
Aldis exchange
WHICH recalls the story from World War II when the giant liner Queen Elizabeth (the original one) steamed into the Straits of Gibraltar one evening. She had been commandeered as a troopship and was unmistakeable for her bulk and speed.
"What ship?" signalled the aldis lamp on Gibraltar.
"What Rock?" came the reply from Queen Elizabeth's bridge.
EP and Dick
HERE'S another long shot. Malcolm Hacksley, of Grahamstown, is trying to find out the name of a Durban woman who wrote quality verse under the initials "EP" 40 or 50 years ago.
Two privately published, soft-covered books of her verse were donated at some stage to the National English Literary Museum, in Grahamstown, with no date shown, no publisher, no place of publication, no ISBN number and – worst of all – no author, only the initials EP.
"She seems to have been married to a man named Dick," says Malcolm. "The problem now is to establish her identity.
"One of her very accomplished occasional verses is a poetic thank-you to all her helpers at the St Dunstan's fete in the Durban City Hall in mid-December one year. She seems to have been in charge of the Cakes and Bread and Puddings stall.
"The helpers she thanks include: Kay and Norah - who took the money; Morag - at whose ping-pong table much of the baking preparation seems to have occurred ; Ruth and Jean – sisters; Nell - who cut holly; and Vi - the 'fruit-cake queen'.
Does anyone out there remember an EP of literary bent who was married to Dick? Or her pals Kay, Norah, Morag, Ruth, Jean, Nell and Vi, all of whom worked at some stage for the St Dunstan's fete? Are any of them still around?
Does anyone have a clue who EP might have been? Malcolm would be glad to know.
SMS freaks
PEOPLE caught texting on their mobile phones while walking in the streets face being fined in the American town of Fort Lee, New Jersey. This follows a rise in jaywalking incidents where pedestrians wander into the street without looking where they are going because they are engrossed in sending text messages.
So far this year more than 20 jaywalkers have been hit by cars in Fort Lee.
To the SMS freaks should be added the zombies who wander about with earphones, listening to music with a vacant stare.
But the authorities could never achieve anything meaningful here. We just don't have in Durban the numbers of police that would be needed to issue tickets to the SMS/earphone music freaks who throng our pavements.
Tailpiece
NEWSFLASH - Irish divers have revisited the wreck of the Titanic. They're amazed that after 100 years the swimming pool is still full.
Last word
If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody.
No comments:
Post a Comment