ROUTINE inspections are made of the 347 neighbourhood playgrounds under City Hall’s jurisdiction, with the recreational amenities here being repaired when necessary for the safety and benefit of its ratepayers.
Similar concerns about the public wellbeing are also behind the District Council’s decision to fence off some residential playgrounds around Putatan, including those in Taman Friendship Garden, Taman Ceriamas and Taman Bersatu.
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A spokeswoman for City Hall said its Landscaping went round to check on the condition of the playground equipment at housing areas once every few months.
The agency tried to have any overgrown trees on the periphery of these playgrounds pruned twice a year, according to her.
“The drains around these areas are cleaned according to a quarterly basis,” she said, “while the grass is cut once each month.”
On top of the residential playgrounds, the spokeswoman said the agency’s Landscaping Department also looked after the recreational equipment at 12 public parks and open spaces within its rating-area.
The latter government land covered a total of 354 square kilometres, according to her.
“The exercise stations at some of the parks are especially popular among many senior citizens,” she said.
She said such stations had been set up at the Tun Fuad Stephens Botanical Park, the Public Park in Likas, the cycle-way along Likas Bay and Ujana Rimba Tropika Public Park.
She lauded the durability of the static exercise equipment, saying that these facilities had been particularly well-received in places where the public could go hiking or jogging.
“Unlike mechanical equipment – which may need to be serviced every six months – the static ones merely need a fresh coat of paint once in a while.”
She said the static equipment required very little maintenance.
The Putatan District Council, on the other hand, has allayed fears that the playground for Taman Bersatu Lama may have been co-opted by an educational institution as part of its property.
This follows feedback from a homeowner who wondered why the fence for the technical and vocational centre also encompassed the area occupied by the neighbourhood’s playground.
A spokesman for the agency shot down the suggestion that the institute was treating the playground “like private property”, saying that the land on which the basketball court, as well as swings and see-saws, had been set up was a government reserve.
“This property belongs to the Council,” he said.
“We noticed that many youth were using the space late into the night and decided to fence off the land for their protection.”
He said the open space on which the playground was built was situated next to the sewage treatment plant (STP) for the housing area.
“Our staff noticed that the land around the STP was badly overgrown. The Council was concerned that unscrupulous parties might take advantage of the situation to carry out some misdeeds in this part of Putatan.”
This observation informed the agency’s decision to have the playground fenced off, according to him.
“There was already an existing fence around the institute nearby, so we just attached the one for the playground to this one. It seemed more cost-effective to do this rather than have a separate one put up for the playground.”
The spokesman said the impetus to protect playground users also prompted the Council to fence off the playground in Taman Bersatu Phase 3.
“This playground is right next to a busy main road which belongs to the PWD [Public Works Department].
“We didn’t want the youngsters who frequented the playground to inadvertently wander into the path of the traffic and come to harm.”
