Access for disabled mere decoration
Access for disabled mere decoration
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A considerable number of state and private-owned buildings in the
capital have provided access for people with disabilities, but
according to an advocacy group, they are little more than
decoration as most of them are useless.
The Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities (HWPCI)
chairwoman, Ariani Abdul Mun'im, said on Thursday that a number
of shopping malls, government office buildings and prayer houses
had built parking lots, lifts and toilets for the disabled.
"But the facilities do not comply with the standards set by
the now-defunct ministry of public works," she told The Jakarta
Post, referring to a ministerial decree No. 468/1998 on access
for the disabled.
The decree stipulates that a handicapped ramp must be built
according to a 1:12 ratio, meaning that a 12-meter-long access
has to be built for each one-meter-high set of stairs.
However, some buildings apply a 1:6 ratio which means that a
disabled person still has to count on other's help to get up a
ramp, said Ariani, who has a visual impairment.
She said that shopping malls such as the Kelapa Gading Mall in
North Jakarta had in fact provided parking areas accessible for
the disabled but the areas are frequently occupied by regular
users.
"In other malls, the parking lots are also too narrow for a
wheelchair to move around," she added.
Moreover, Ariani said, the existing facilities for the
disabled were, for the most part, poorly maintained.
"We found that the heightened-platform to accommodate the
disabled in phone booths have been lowered to the original
position. While the Braille on several sidewalks have been
obstructed by huge pots," she said, citing the result of a survey
conducted by the HWCPI, the Jakarta Architect's Club and School
of Civil Engineering at Trisakti University in 2001.
The survey also found that from over 30 public facilities
surveyed, only Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta had
parking lots, elevators, toilets, public phones and walkways that
are accessible for the disabled.
The railway station is one of the pilot-project sites
providing access for disabled persons. The project started during
the administration of then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid,
who is partly visually disabled and whose wife is confined to a
wheelchair.
Ariani concluded the poor state of access for the disabled
highlighted the negligence of building contractors and managers
in upholding the rights of the disabled.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 10
percent of the Indonesia's 220 million population had some
disability.
The HWCPI recorded 10 percent of 12 million people living in
Jakarta and surrounding municipalities as disabled.
Separately, vice president of World Blind Union Asia Pacific,
Daniel Tangkesalu, said the discrimination against the disabled
has yet to reduce despite the government's policy to ease their
access to public facilities and services.
Citing an example, he said most public transportation drivers
declined to let the disabled on board although the latter is
willing to pay the fare double.
"They have a perception that disabled people will only cause
them trouble," he told the Post.