The Star- Metro
Good news for the disabled
By JADE CHAN
THE PETALING Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will be allocating 150 covered parking bays for the disabled, and has begun identifying their locations around Petaling Jaya.
The parking spaces will be located at places like public parks, commercial centres, government offices, community halls, health centres, police stations, post offices and stadiums.
They will be covered and located at the area closest to the entrance of the buildings.
MBPJ Town Planning Department director Sharipah Marhaini Syed Ali said the council was committed to providing facilities for the disabled and had identified four strategies for this initiative back in 2002, including modifying the PJ Community Library and MBPJ building to have facilities like lifts and ramps, and having the Barrier Free City project in Section 52 and SS2 to provide facilities like tac tiles, accessible bus stops and ramps.
Accessibility for the disabled: Thanasayan gets some assistance from an MBPJ officer as he goes about to check on the sites where the 150 parking spaces for the disabled in PJ have been identified.
“To improve the Town Planning Department’s efforts, the MBPJ has taken the initiative to form the Technical Working Committee for the Disabled’s Facilities (Jawatankuasa Kerja Teknikal Bagi Kemudahan Kurang Upaya) in August 2006,” she said.
“The PJ mayor (Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman) has approved a policy whereby from Aug 1 onwards, all development plans will need to be approved by this committee before they are submitted to the one-stop centre committee, to ensure that the plans include facilities for the disabled.
“This policy affects plans for both government and private entities. The requirements include the provisions of ramps, toilets, lifts and parking spaces for the disabled.”
MBPJ councillor Anthony Thanasayan said the 150 parking spaces for the disabled would be shaded, provide ample room to manoeuvre around and were available at no charge.
“The MBPJ will issue their own stickers for the disabled and their caregivers to have access to these parking spaces.
“To apply for the sticker, they will have to submit either their disabled identification card issued by the government, or get a letter from a government hospital doctor.
“Those with Parkinson’s Disease or stroke can get a letter from their societies to apply for the sticker. Even those who are temporarily disabled can apply.”
Sharipah said: “The sticker will be issued free and we’ll open the applications in November.
“To ensure that we mean business, the council will issue a maximum of RM300 fine if people are found to have parked their vehicles in parking spaces for the disabled. No appeals will be given to reduce the fine.”
“We will also place a hotline signboard on the roofs of these parking spaces so the public can report such abuses if they spot them,” said Thanasayan.
Thanasayan plans to go with several of his disabled friends to all the sites identified to give his views and ensure the job is done correctly.
The modifications for the parking spaces for the disabled will begin in September and is scheduled to be ready in November.
Sharipah estimated that it would cost the MBPJ RM500,000 to build or modify facilities in the city to be disabled-friendly, including having ramps and extending the tac tiles.
1 comment:
Peatling Jaya is going to be a role model for the hole nation to see how a Disable city thanks to our disable councilor.so far he is doing better job then the welfare ministry has done for any part of our beloved country. "KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK SHOW THEM YOU ARE AN ACTIVE COUNCILOR FOR THE OKU"
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