Thursday December 4, 2008

- Lifestyle > Focus


Better facilities
WHEEL POWER
BY ANTHONY THANASAYAN

INTERNATIONAL Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), which was observed yesterday, turned out to be quite a memorable event for a number of disabled persons in the Klang Valley. The theme for this year’s celebrations was Dignity and Justice – two words which matter a great deal to disabled communities all over the world.

On Monday, I was invited as a Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya speaker to a road safety awareness campaign at the MPS stadium in Selayang, Selangor. The event brought together more than a hundred disabled motorists. The campaign, held in conjunction with the UN international disabled day, was targeted at disabled drivers, and organised by the Selayang Municipal Council, together with the Malaysian Road Safety Department and the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC).

Francis Siva, president of ILTC, said: “Because of the lack of disabled-friendly public transportation, the handicapped have to find ways to acquire vehicles on their own to earn a living or for hospital visits. As cars are expensive, many of the disabled resort to buying bikes, which are not exactly safe.”

These bikes are modified into four-wheelers or three-wheelers. The four-wheeler looks like a normal bike except that it has three wheels at the back with the usual one wheel in front. The disabled can tie their foldable wheelchairs at the backend of their seats. The three-wheelers come with an attached sidecar. Although the wheelchair can be placed in the sidecar, it would take a strong disabled motorcyclist to lift the wheelchair into the sidecar. Riders with poor balance also risk falling off their bikes.

“There are no driving schools which provide disabled-friendly cars or motorcycles for the handicapped,” said Francis, who became disabled in a driving accident more than 20 years ago.

That did not stop him from driving again 10 years later. He uses a hand-powered car that allows him to control the pedals with his hands. He said the only centre that has two modified cars for disabled persons to learn to drive is at the government Bangi training centre in Kajang, Selangor.

“I often receive complaints that the centre has no instructors to teach disabled drivers,” he said, adding that all driving schools should provide at least one modified car and motorbike for handicapped students.

Francis has a couple of suggestions:

>Make special concessions: Many disabled persons are illiterate because they have not been to school. Others were forced to drop out because schools refused to provide disabled-friendly facilities or there was no transportation available. Special training to handle such persons is required for all staff.

>Many PJ buildings are not disabled-friendly. Its offices in Padang Jawa, Selangor, and Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur, provide services at the disabled car parks. However, there are complaints from the handicapped that the allocated parking lots are not next to entrances, security personnel are never around, and the handicapped are being charged for parking.