Research indicates playgrounds are unsafe

Recent research by the Association of Building a Good Home Together found hygiene and safety issues in many of Macau’s outdoor playgrounds.

A report published by the association found problems with 87 parks, gardens, and recreational areas that are listed on the website of the Civic and Municipal Bureau (IACM). Common issues include but are not limited to design, hygiene and safety. Similar problems were found among nine other recreational areas which are not included on the IACM’s website.

The report states that children’s entertainment facilities in Macau are not evenly distributed among districts and do not allocate sufficient space for each child. In the district of Santo António, where the population density is the highest in Macau, there are not enough facilities to cater to children in the area. In older communities, the percentage of park space each child can use is even smaller. 

The report also states that some facilities are old and partially damaged, posing a risk to the children using them. Some facilities in a few areas remain accessible to the public despite ostensibly being closed for maintenance.

Countryside parks have even more serious maintenance issues.

Of Macau’s 96 parks and recreational areas, 45 have children’s entertainment facilities such as slides, swings and climbing structures.

The association criticized the majority of parks and recreational areas for the lack of diversity, excitement and challenge in the design of their equipment and facilities.    

The association also rated the hygiene in nearly 60 percent of children’s playgrounds as average or bad, and blacklisted five sites.   

The association found that only three amusement areas were equipped with hygienic amenities. These three amusement areas met with hygiene expectations by having faucets but none of the recreational areas covered by the report offered full-scale sanitization facilities.

Last year, IACM was slammed by the Commission of Audit for its poor maintenance of the region’s public facilities, including children’s playgrounds. The Commission detected “many problems concerning facilities and equipment and hygiene conditions in municipal facilities for leisure purposes, which include the aforementioned children’s playgrounds.”