Blind face discrimination in public transit system<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's public transportation is not friendly
\nto physically handicapped people, a group of blind people said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
About 80 blind men and women of all ages aired their
\ngrievances about the way they are treated by public transport
\noperators, particularly bus drivers, during a meeting with Dimmy
\nKirbrandiman, a senior official of the Jakarta City Land
\nTransportation and Traffic Control Office.<\/p>\n
They appealed to the authorities to train bus and taxi drivers
\nhow to provide services to the physically handicapped.<\/p>\n
"I always have trouble every time I want to travel around the
\ncity," said Furkhon, one of the blind participants in the
\nmeeting. "The buses won't stop, even when the driver knows that
\nthe passenger is blind."<\/p>\n
Edy Suryanto said a bus driver once got angry with a fellow
\npassenger who tried to help him onto the bus. "They really think
\nthat we are a burden to them," he said. "The funny thing is that
\nthey always refuse our money."<\/p>\n
"Don't give us a free ride out of pity. We can afford to pay
\nthe fare," he added.<\/p>\n
Edy said bus drivers always call him "a snail" because he does
\nnot board buses quickly. "I cannot chase after the bus as fast as
\npeople who can see," he said.<\/p>\n
Another blind man, Sugiyo, said that even Jakarta's taxi
\ndrivers are neither trained nor equipped to deal with the blind.<\/p>\n
Many taxi drivers are reluctant to give a ride to blind people
\nbecause they fear they will be bothersome, he said.<\/p>\n
The discussion at the Jaya Ancol Youth Hostel was jointly
\nsponsored by the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Association of
\nBlind People and the Students' Association of the Special
\nEducation division of the Jakarta Teachers Training Institute.<\/p>\n
Provision<\/p>\n
Dimmy acknowledged that the city's public transport policies
\ndo not include special provisions for physically handicapped
\npeople. He said that taxi drivers are already provided with
\ntraining on how to serve foreign visitors but admitted that so
\nsuch programs exist for the handicapped.<\/p>\n
Dimmy said the city administration is currently drafting a
\nseries of provisions in its traffic and public transport policy
\nto cater to the needs of handicapped people, as mandated by the
\n1992 Traffic Law.<\/p>\n
These include the construction of sidewalks on all roads with
\na standard height of 13 millimeters, the introduction of
\nloudspeakers which beep at zebra-crossings, the introduction of
\ntextured zebra crossings and of "talking bus stops", he said.<\/p>\n
The "talking bus stops" will provide information about the
\nbuses' numbers and routes and their arrival and departure times,
\nhe added.<\/p>",
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