MPFA sees wide appreciation of its work

In spite of it being the computer age, they are still as popular as ever and a mix of people with children gather there at different times of the day to watch over their children and gossip.

Malta's playing fields - there are more than 100 of them - are still extremely popular but especially so in areas with a high child population, Malta Playing Fields Association secretary Gerald Bilocca said.

He said that where the child population was low, such as in Floriana, the playing field was enjoyed by people from elsewhere - in the case of Floriana, from Valletta and Pietà.

Playing fields in Malta were once the sole responsibility of the association but local councils have now taken over some of them.

When councils were constituted, a clause in the Local Councils' Act made councils responsible for the gardens and playgrounds in their locality.

With this, Mr Bilocca said, many understood that the playgrounds were their responsibility, even though the association had been paying rent or emphyteusis for the site.

Many councils, he said, were changing equipment at playing fields and carrying out improvements without even consulting the association, which the association resented.

Mr Bilocca said he was afraid that many councils did not understand the meaning of a playground. To give an example, some were getting equipment for the playgrounds from overseas, which although very attractive, was not suitable for the local climate and conditions.

Such equipment, he said, was more suitable for use in large complexes where parents left their children to pass the time while they shopped, for example.

One also had to keep in mind that playgrounds were accessible round the clock and equipment had to be of certain durability to withstand vandalism.

For this reason, the association was all for the traditional equipment, which was made of metal.

The lack of money available for maintenance was another problem but, unfortunately, most councils only understood what the association had been saying all along when the council's term was up.

To overcome this, the association wants to have a liaison officer within each council, namely the secretary, who would not change with each local election and would be the link between the old and new councils.

The association, Mr Bilocca said, was not asking councils for money but only sought cooperation.

It was in the councils' interest to cooperate, he argued, because if they maintained the playing fields through the association's services they would be exempt from paying value added tax - the association is exempted from VAT.

The association is given Lm500 a year out of the Super 5 earnings and has permission to hold raffles and fund-raising activities, including a flag day.

Less and less money is being collected during flag days, with under Lm500 collected this year, showing little appreciation for the playing fields' value to children. It used to be different, when much higher amounts used to be collected.

Mr Bilocca said he felt people were reluctant to give because they believed playing fields were the government's.

He said that tins left at local councils mostly brought in miserable sums - in one case 2c, in another 5c.

Tins were in the past also distributed in schools where children were encouraged to donate something towards the upkeep of their playing fields. But although there is still official permission for this, the association felt it had to stop as it was being made to feel very unwelcome by some schools.

The association also had its own lotto booth, and the profits from this booth were shared with the lotto receiver. The association has 300 members who paid Lm2 annually.

Mr Bilocca said that while, in the past, the government used to rent sites to the association on encroachment terms at very low rates - in some cases as low as 5c a year, the terms were that the government could take back the land whenever it wanted and any structures which would have been put up would become its property.

More recently, land is being given on temporary emphyteusis following a parliamentary resolution. Although this was more costly, it was also more secure.

Mr Bilocca said that Malta's first playing field - King George V Recreational Grounds in Floriana - was inaugurated on November 27, 1937.

King George had had a special affection for children and had appealed to schools to ask children to contribute a penny each for the creation of playing fields.

When the war started in 1939, the site stopped being used but at the end of hostilities the local administration appointed a committee for recreational grounds.

It was from this committee that the Malta Playing Fields Association was born in 1950. The association was officially inaugurated in 1951 by Prince Philip at the Radio City Opera House in Hamrun.

In his speech, Prince Philip had urged the people not to expect the government to do everything for them but to also do things themselves.

After 1951, several district committees were created in towns and villages and playgrounds started opening up.

Unfortunately, the district committees disappeared once their playing field was created.

The Malta association was until independence affilialted with the National Playing Fields Association of Great Britain. In 1964, the International Playgrounds Association was set up in Zurich and Malta immediately became an affiliate, which it still is to this day.

The association may be contacted on tel. 21223877, fax. 21378738.