PN MP Stanley Zammit raised concerns that there is no authority or entity that ensures that standards of health and safety in public spaces are upheld, such as playgrounds or parks.

"While the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) is responsible for maintaining the psychological, physical, and sociological health of workers, there is no parallel authority that deals with health and safety standards in public spaces," Zammit said in Parliament.

In response to a question posed to Minister for Inclusion and Social Wellbeing Julia Farrugia Portelli, who claimed that standards as they relate to public spaces are upheld only voluntarily, Zammit said that this was not enough.

Further, Farrugia Portelli said that responsibility for the maintenance of the standards falls to "those entities that are responsible for the land itself, frequently local councils."

"The actions necessary to ensure the maintenance of adequate standards occur only after any accidents that happen, such that we're failing to prevent harm and only reacting to it after the fact," Zammit said.

"Malta has no culture of preventative maintenance as we first wait for something to break before taking action."

Zammit also said that there's "no point blaming local councils if we drain them of the appropriate resources to be able to deal with these problems effectively."