Creating deprivation (1)

Last week I was at the playing field outside Mdina and asked a mother who was coming out whether she liked the new trampoline facility. She turned blue and shrieked that the contraption was fleecing the users. Before this monstrous facility was installed the children had a lot of room to roam about in yet were always visible to her. Now they can go behind the installation and she has to follow them lest they decide to go on the road. The price for using it is exorbitant - she said she could not afford it.

Most mothers who used to go there have now stopped because children would naturally like to use the facility but at their income level it is simply not affordable. If children insist it would embarrass the parents to say no and the children would feel deprived. Parents are made to feel small and inept. This is creating a social cum psychological problem of no mean extent.

Let the facility be taken to another area, not where children and parents normally enjoy themselves for free. The local councils of Rabat and Mdina should stand up for their low income parents and demand the removal of this facility from the area.

I understand there is a commission to defend children's rights and well-being. I am sure it will act.