Rusty slides, metal swings, dangerous merry-go-rounds, inadequate benches and litterbins overflowing with rubbish, normally associated with the more derelict playgrounds in Malta, will be a thing of the past within the coming months as the Malta Standards Authority (MSA) yesterday launched a document on public playgrounds’ safety and management.

The document is still in its draft stage and has not yet been finalised for the simple reason that members of the public are encouraged to submit their proposals to the MSA, by the end of October, on how they think playgrounds can become safer and better managed.

The authority will then review the proposals, before publishing a final document with the standards and requirements all playgrounds in the country need to meet.

Once the final document is published, all local councils will be briefed about the new set of standards, since the management and upkeep of the playgrounds will fall under their remit.

They will also benefit from government funding to ensure that standards are met.

Announcing the revamp of playgrounds yesterday at the ‘John Borg’ playground in Birkirkara, which was inaugurated on 25 July, Chris Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Consumers, Fair Competition, Local Councils and Public Dialogue said Malta will be the first EU country to launch a set of standards for the management of playgrounds.

Dr Said, who described a playground as “any outdoor public site with at least one item of playground equipment”, said that the new set of standards will focus on four major aspects:

• The upgrading of design and spacing to ensure that all public playgrounds have adequate fences and gates, ramps, litter bins, benches and lighting;

• That all playground equipment has to be of a certain height and all playing surfaces to consist of soft material;

• All local councils will have to appoint a specific person to oversee the management and maintenance of their respective locality’s playgrounds, and whose duty will also include filling in ‘accident report forms’ whenever an accident is reported, as will be stipulated by the new set of standards;

• An annual inspection will take place at every playing field, ensuring that safety of the area, suitability and condition of equipment and accident reports conform to standards.

MSA chairman Francis Farrugia said the authority is working hard to change the way people see the playgrounds in several localities, which, because of their derelict condition are regarded as ‘black spots’.

“If the MSA and local councils receive reports of an unsafe playground, the first step would be to remove the equipment and replace it with newer equipment before anything else.

“Some of the playgrounds which have recently been inaugurated started being referred to as recreational zones, as they cater for both adults and children.

“Taking this playground in the heart of Birkirkara as an example, there are swings which are very accessible to toddlers, an open air gym for the more fit among locals and an artificial football pitch which rugby players also practise on from time to time.

“The MSA is working very hard to get of rid of the misconception that Ta’ Qali is the only recreational zone available in Malta which meets the needs of everyone,” said Mr Farrugia.

Severely fractures skull in merry-go-round accident

For some, the new set of standards are too little too late.

In 2006, a married couple in San Gwann witnessed part of their son’s skull crushed in a horrific merry-go-round accident in a playground in the locality.

“Prior to the accident, changes were made to the merry-go-round with the purpose of making it safer but which, in the end, nearly caused the death of my son.

“The seats of the merry-go-round, which were previously stuck to it, were now stuck on a platform which was placed under the seats.

“However, the platform was constructed in a manner which left a gap between the platform and the ground.

“At the time of the accident, my son was enjoying himself and going round in circles, but when he tried to get off it, for some unknown reason he jumped off his seat and he landed with his skull trapped in the gap,” the father of the child, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Malta Independent.

The child, who was three-and-a-half years old at the time, was rushed to hospital after officials from the Civil Protection Department (CPD) spent a considerable amount of time freeing the child.

“My son was practically half-dead and was resuscitated three times on his way to hospital.

“He spent several months in the hospital’s Intensive Treatment Unit, and had 10 operations in order to reconstruct his skull.

“Although his condition gradually improved, nevertheless, because of the accident, he has half-facial paralysis, and some of his nerves are completely damaged. For instance, he cannot blink his left-eye and has permanent damage to one of his ears,” said the man.

To compound matters, police charged the couple with causing their son’s injuries through negligence, a charge which was cleared two years later after a magisterial inquiry which was launched on the case described the whole course of events as a complete “accident”.

The inquiry, however, also revealed that the accident could have been avoided since the platform was constructed in a manner which ensued that the merry-go-round operated in an anti-clockwise manner, going against the laws of inertia, which is why the child, at the time, was not thrust forward and into an open space away from the playground.

When asked whether the family filed for compensation because of the accident, the man replied that their sole concern at the time was making sure that their son made it past his fourth birthday.

“The upgrade of the country’s playgrounds has been a long time coming. Despite a lot of media awareness on the issue, several playgrounds, such as the ones in Mgarr and Cospicua, have long remained potentially dangerous.

“It is nothing much to ask for one adequate and safe playground to be made available to children from all localities,” he said.