Peril at Paola playgrounds

The public playgrounds in Paola are an accident waiting to happen. Far from offering a safe and nurturing play space, the main playground areas for the estimated 1,000 children living in one of Malta's largest towns are derelict and ridden with used syringes and broken, hazardous play equipment.

A couple of Saturdays ago, children even had to witness the scene of a dead pig on spit-roast in the middle of their play area.

At about six in the evening, people passing by Ġnien Pawlu Boffa, the main playing field in Paola, reported a huge bonfire in the middle of the play space and a whole pig roasting on an electronic spit, very close to children on the swings.

The pig was later dished out as part of a pork feast (majjalata) organised by the Għaqda Soċjali Muzikali Band Club for its members.

"I found it very disturbing myself, let alone how it must have felt for kids," said an appalled passer-by who preferred not to be named, "Couldn't they have cooked it elsewhere?"

The band club had a permit for the event from the local council but Paola mayor Dominic Grima said the council had no idea it would feature the pig actually being roasted in the playground.

"I was stunned. They regularly organise activities in the playground and this thing never happened before. Had I known I would have objected. It will never happen again," he said.

But the episode does not stand alone. It lies in a context of a series of disappointments for the Paola residents when it comes to the upkeep of public spaces for children.

The Times came across scores of used syringes under the benches at the playing field in the dingy Ġnien Wied Baldun. Some of the syringes still had the needles on.

The town has five playgrounds, almost all in a run-down state. While other localities boast modern playgrounds with cutting edge recreational equipment like jungle-gyms, playhouses and mazes, the Paola children have to make do with the basics: swing sets, merry-go-round, slides and see-saws, when these are not wrecked or missing.

And most of them are not in good shape either. The playground in Ġnien Pawlu Boffa, apart from the broken and missing equipment, also houses a central fountain which is always switched off and tends to be used as a rubbish tip.

Mr Grima said the area last underwent maintenance last summer. "It is cleaned every day but parents should educate their children to dispose of their garbage properly."

He said the planning authority has just issued permits for a re-design of the garden. "We have started work - we're re-doing the pavement first and I hope that work on the play space will start by end of this year," he said.

The council's main problems, said Mr Grima, were lack of human resources and budgets. "I've only got three people for maintaining the upkeep of the whole town. And apart from that, the equipment is very expensive. New playground dustbins in Ġnien Pawlu Boffa, for example, cost €230 each."

The smaller playgrounds tend to be allocated even smaller budgets. The playground in San Alwiġi Street has no padded flooring, a see-saw with no handles and a very hazardous merry-go round. The small playground in the Lourdes area, off Ninu Cremona Street, has had its lights vandalised.

The mayor talks of the high incidence of vandalism and recognises the importance of keeping these places well maintained as the only way to counter it. "We made use of CCTV cameras for a while but they are way too expensive, not viable and, at the end of the day, do not curb vandalism".

Child psychologist Denise Borg said: "Children and teenagers cannot identify with a place which is dirty and badly maintained. It is easier to cause damage in a place which does not belong to us than one which does. There is also a lack of awareness and education as well as a lack of consequences."

Dr Borg stressed that children need space for optimal development to take place. "In villages or towns where the majority of children are living in spaces which do not allow this, there is a far higher demand for well planned and well maintained playgrounds."

The Malta Playing Fields Association, which in the past had the specific objective of acquiring, protecting and improving playing fields and playgrounds where they were most needed, no longer has any responsible role.

Chairman Tony Bonello said that, in 1993, the playing fields became the responsibility of local councils. "We are now on call to give guidance and advice to local councils, although this doesn't happen very often. We've got more than 50 years experience, so ideally they should make use of us."