Call for more ‘disable-friendly’ facilities
Posted on December 31, 2011, Saturday
KUALA LUMPUR: Can fully capable people imagine how their lives would be if they were wheelchair-bound,
blind or deaf?
Surely, life would be difficult.
Recently, a seminar was held on the accessibility of public buildings to the disabled. The seminar was a joint effort by the ministries for Women, Family and Community Development and Housing and Local Government.
The seminar drew the participation of various organisations for the disabled, as well as 116 representatives from 82 PBTs nationwide. The disabled who attended the seminar voiced the problems they face while trying to use public facilities and gain access to buildings, despite the fact that Malaysia had undergone robust development 54 years after gaining independence.
They consider this unfair, as they also have the same rights and privileges as those enjoyed by fully capable people. To the disabled, trivial matters can balloon into huge problems and may cause severe stress.
Wheelchair-bound
For example, lifts, particularly in low-cost and medium-cost flats, are prone to breakdown because of poor maintenance, which can pose great hardship for the disabled.
International Islamic University economics lecturer Professor Dr Ruzita Mohd Amin, wheelchair-bound since primary school, recalls that faulty lifts forced her to skip school and stay home on many occasions.
After her father’s death, Dr Ruzita and her mother had to stay in a flat located on the 16th floor.“Imagine how difficult it was for me, after returning from school, to discover that the lifts were faulty. The most I could climb the stairs was up to the second floor. As for the rest, I had to rely on the sympathy of passersby to carry me up my house,” she said.
She calls on the relevant authorities to emphasise equal education opportunities for the handicapped, which means facilities that are disabled-friendly.
“Classrooms, laboratories and libraries should be accessible to the wheelchair-bound. There should be lifts, or classrooms for the disabled should be moved to the ground floor,” she said.
The blind
Lifts without proper facilities also pose problems for the blind.
They are not able to see the lift buttons and unable to determine which floor they have reached.
Ideally, each lift should be equipped with an audio facility that tells the occupants which floor they have arrived at.
This is more practical than only the sound of a ring at every floor when the lift’s door opens.However, a hearing-impaired individual would have problems if he or she is alone in a lift that
gets stuck, with only the intercom to rely on.
Mohamad Sazali Sha’ari, president of the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MDF), said the deaf are in peril, as they are not able to hear anything during emergencies, such as when a fire breaks out.
Fire emergency
The deaf would not be able to hear the alarm that signals a building is on fire.
If a deaf individual happens to be alone, said Mohamad Sazali, he or she would be among the first to be
trapped in a blaze that breaks out in a building.Silatul Rahim Dahman, manager of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB), said there are many buildings and facilities in Malaysia that are still inaccessible to the blind.
Like Dr Ruzita and Mohamad Sazali, Silatul Rahim calls on the PBTs to do away with facilities that obstruct the movement of the handicapped. He urges local authorities to come out with designs that are disabled-friendly and more practical for use by the handicapped.
“The PBTs should take into consideration that the blind totally rely on the sense of touch to move. For example, they use pedestrian lanes so such lanes should not be slippery. They should also be equipped with markings to help the blind feel their way,” he said.
He also calls on the PBTs to do away with decorative items such as flower pots, which inhibit the movement of the blind, to ensure that there are no potholes, and keep drains covered.
Toilets, parking spaces
Toilets for the disabled ideally should adhere to certain specifications that include doors that open outwards, enough room for the wheelchair to enter, and steel grab bars.
Toilets for the disabled should also allow for use by persons of either gender, as the wheelchair-bound may have a person from the opposite gender assisting them.
The size of each parking space for the disabled should be bigger and well-labelled to indicate that these bays are only for the handicapped.
Special lanes should be provided for the disabled to make their way to safety during emergencies.
Gradients and slopes should be eliminated, as these are hazardous to the handicapped. — Bernama
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