Jakarta an urban prison for disabled people

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

While Jakarta's efforts to beautify the city and make it friendlier to pedestrians may be welcome, a large segment of the population is still left out of the masterplan, chairman of non- governmental organization Yayasan Tanpa Batas (No Limit Foundation) Irawan Santoso said.

"Why do you think you don't see many people with disabilities around Jakarta? It's simply due to the fact that if you are disabled, there's nowhere you can go without a tremendous amount of help," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

While it is true that walking around Jakarta's main thoroughfares is somewhat less life-threatening than five years ago when open manholes and the errant motorcyclists threatened the pedestrian at every turn. But for people with disabilities, the elderly, pregnant women and small children, the city remains as much a jungle as it ever was.

The pedestrian sidewalk along Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, for example, may look nice to the eye, but without help the blind are still more than likely to get lost.

"It's great that the administration has built new sidewalks, but such a shame that it didn't consult with accessibility experts first. As it is, these sidewalks are largely useless for us," said Irawan, who is himself wheelchair-bound.

Even the relatively new busway project has failed to take these most vulnerable of people into consideration.

"Ramps are great, but with the busway ramps, even if you can get up them in a wheelchair, going down them is enough to give you a heart attack as they're so steep," Irawan said, adding that many busway stops still had stairs instead of ramps so that a large part of the city was out of bounds to the disabled.

Even if a disabled person manages to get up the ramp, getting on and off the bus presents further complications, and is hazardous not only for those using wheelchairs or walking sticks, but also for those unaware that there is often a large gap between the platform and the bus.

This year's International Day of Disabled Persons, which fell on Dec. 3, is aimed at promoting full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities.

It seeks to increase an awareness of the gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

But making Jakarta more accessible to those with disabilities will take a long time, particularly when simple acts of devotion like praying in a mosque present major problems.

"Getting in and out of some mosques may not be a problem anymore -- though many still don't provide ramps up to the prayer rooms -- but for those in a wheelchair like me, doing ablutions before prayers still poses a challenge," Irawan explained.

For the most part, the disabled in Jakarta have to rely heavily on family and friends in order to be able to survive in this city.

Ironically, providing universal access is not all that difficult. Things like reducing the slope of ramps, erecting public telephones a little lower to the ground, making doorways a little wider, and having one bigger cubicle in public toilets are all it takes in many cases to make life easier for the disabled, as well as the elderly, children, pregnant women and women with small children.

"After all, even the healthiest of people will become infirm at some stage. Wouldn't it be nice to still be able to move around the city when that happens," Irawan said.