Disabled to get barrier-free access

By Inge Komardjaja

TSUKUBA-CITY, Japan (JP): The Japanese government has now made a significant decision to enforce equal rights for the disabled, so far assumed to be a burden to society.

These encouraging intentions to make the day-to-day life of disabled people better, including plans to introduce a barrier- free environment, are in line with the early 1990s declaration of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The declaration mandates governments of developing countries, including Indonesia which signed it, to provide the appropriate social and physical infrastructures, so disabled people can lead a more fulfilling lifestyle.

Physical barriers often add to the social exclusion of disabled people. The most common among them are steps and gaps, such as open drains, which impede mobility.

Disabilities are generally divided into four categories: 1) the ambulant disabled who are able to walk without or with devices, such as crutches and walking canes; 2) those who use wheelchairs; 3) people with sensory impairments, such as the blind and deaf; and 4) those with mental disability.

Then there are people with a combination of disabilities.

The planning and design of a barrier-free environment needs to consider the helpers who look after those with complex disabilities. For example, the person who pushes the wheelchair, often needs to carry the disabled person to certain places.

Also, a safe and convenient environment for those with similar disabilities, may not be so for others with different impairments.

For example, a blind person needs pavement with guiding blocks, a surface with small protruding signs that guides him through the use of the cane.

The same pavement, however, may cause stumbling for an ambulant disabled person who has slight difficulty in lifting his feet.

Regardless of the different needs of the disabled, a national standard of physical access has to be formulated to provide planners and designers with guidelines when constructing barrier- free environments.

This is particularly relevant to public buildings such as post offices, banks, hospitals, department stores, colleges, bus and train stations, and roads.

Indonesian cities are notorious for their high pavements; not only are they inaccessible for disabled people, but also for the elderly, street hawkers carrying loads, cart pushers, pregnant women, and toddlers.

A recent praiseworthy act was the installation of ramps in front of several buildings on the grounds of what now is called the Ministry of Settlements and Regional Infrastructure in Jakarta. The first ramp was officially put in use in July this year.

In the first stage this ramp may be just a showcase for other public domains to follow suit, but at least there is acknowledgement and concern for needs of the disabled in accessing city facilities.

The then ministry of public works issued the National Standard for Accessibility in Public Buildings in December 1998, though it took about one and a half years to construct the first ramp.

The Ministry of Settlements and Regional Infrastructure is making extensive plans to create barrier-free facilities, such as the installation of hand rails on both sides of staircases and grab bars in toilets, and the construction of spacious lifts and toilets for wheelchair users.

Clearly Japan has been doing all it can to plan and design accessible environments. Particularly so, as the elderly are increasing rapidly while they cannot totally rely on family for assistance.

There is also a strong tendency to live independently among Japan's elderly despite their declining physical strength and health. Hence building barrier-free facilities has been mandatory, starting from the initial phase of construction of new buildings and roads.

Even though public transport is well-operated and families have their own transportation, Japan has made it a point to enforce the barrier-free environment code.

Comparing Indonesia with Japan's technology and its culture of independence is unfair, but much can be learned, which could be adjusted to our social, economic, political, and geographic situation.

Regarding the initiatives in place in Indonesia, Satoshi Kose, a well-known Japanese specialist in a barrier-free environment, said that "Once the change starts, it will continue progressing, even if the process goes slowly."

The writer works with the Research Institute of Human Settlements Technology in Cileunyi, Bandung. She is now researching barrier-free environment in the Building Research Institute in Tsukuba-city, Japan.