THE government will soon introduce guidelines to enable all public transport services to include accessibility for people with special needs (OKU).
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said the guidelines were being drafted by the Transport Committee, which is a committee in the National OKU Council under then Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
“The committee is chaired by the Transport Ministry while the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) is a member in the committee. It is still in the preliminary stage but there is every possibility of the guideline being governed by the law,” said Nancy Shukri in Dewan Rakyat, here yesterday when answering a question from Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Ampang).
Zuraida had wanted to know the government’s plans to ensure disabled people are not sidelined by public transport service providers, especially in rural areas.
Nancy Shukri also urged bus service providers in the city and rural areas to have a fleet of OKU friendly or low-floored buses to ease the burden of the disabled to travel without obstacles, although such buses may cost more than normal buses. — Bernama