Making Jalan Gasing disabled-friendly

Friday, July 17th, 2009
disabled-friendly walkway along Jalan Gasing
A ramp provided for mobility brings them cheer
Pauline Almeida

FREEDOM: The disabled are grateful that shops and bus stops are now more accessible to them in PJMALAYSIANS Against Discrimination of the Disabled (MADD) have praised the Petaling Jaya City Council forconstructing a disabled-friendly walkway along Jalan Gasing.

"We are very grateful that the council will provide us with this accessibility. It was like the fight from day one that has finally paid off. The 450-metre pavement is being built along the road," said Stanislaus Anthony, the Rukun Tetangga Seksyen 3 committee member in charge of security. "Even though this walkway is partially completed, we know it's going to make our lives a bit easier," said Anthony Siva Balan Thanasayan, the vice-president of Support Group Society for the Blind of Malaysia, a MADD member.

Asked how the walkway would affect their lives, sports executive of the Malaysian Association for the Blind Muhammad Fairuz Abdullah said: "Nobody wants to be disabled, so by building the walkway with a universal design, we can move around just like able bodied people.

"Sometimes it's hard getting out of the house simply because there is no one to take us to the place we want to go. But that's going to change," he added.

According to council engineering director Ismail Shafie the project started in September last year and was to be completed in February.

However, due to some unforeseen technical problems construction will only be completed later this month.

"The initial plan was to upgrade and maintain the previous walkway and to provide a walkway for the public. But at the request of disabled people, we believed that it would be better if we installed tactile guiding blocks. The blocks are a safety guide for the disabled, mainly the blind, as it indicates how far they are from the curb.

"The tactile guiding blocks are installed in the middle of the walkway," he said. In 2007, the council startedbuilding universal design pavements in Section 52.

"The pavements link the council headquarters to Menara MBPJ. And for any development approved after 2007, developers are urged to install ramps, railings and curbs to make it easier for the disabled to move aroundwithout endangering them," he added.

The project is expected to cost RM2 million.