Jakarta an urban prison for disabled people

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.