Six out of 52 playgrounds inspected for safety were found to be in an “awful state” and have to be closed or have their equipment isolated until they are up to scratch, Local Council Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said said.
The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority is recommending local councils close these playgrounds, situated in Mtarfa, Luqa, Paola and Marsalforn and two in St Paul’s Bay.
Dr Said explained that two inspectors from the authority had been tasked to inspect 165 playgrounds around the island that fell under the councils’ responsibility.
Inspections started in April and, so far, the inspectors have visited 52 playgrounds and drawn up detailed reports which they handed to the respective councils, including a list of recommendations on how to improve the particular play area and make it safer.
“Implementing the recommendations will be the responsibility of local councils that will carry the legal responsibility for any accidents on their turf,” Dr Said said.
While the authority will be carrying out annual inspections on all playgrounds, the local council will be checking them daily, he explained.
During the annual inspections, officers will ensure that the criteria for playgrounds’ safety, listed in a national standards document, are adhered to. Standards include the need for fencing, safely designed benches and safe equipment.
Dr Said was speaking during the opening of a training course for the authority’s two inspectors being conducted by the UK’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Later this week local council representatives will be attending similar training sessions. Authority chairman Francis Farrugia said he hoped to implement similar inspections for childcare centres and old people’s homes in future.
Earlier this year, the father of a seven-year-old boy who suffered brain injuries when he fell a height of five metres at Chadwick Lakes, late last year, called for safer playgrounds and recreational areas. He called on the authorities to set up a group of experts who would regularly check such areas to ensure they are safe.
Yesterday evening the Paola local council issued a statement saying it had not been informed to close any of its playgrounds. A government spokesman said the council had been informed verbally and would soon receive the report.