‘Pass Disability LI to compel estate developers to make facilities disability-friendly’
THE Chairman of the Ghana National Council on People with Disability (GNCWD), Mr Andrew Okaikoi, has called on Parliament to pass the Legislative Instrument (LI) that makes it mandatory for property owners to make provisions for people with disability in the country.
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According to him, the delay in the passage of the LI has given the estate developers the justification not to make provision for people with disability when constructing their properties across the country.
Mr Okaikoi made this call in Accra when a British non-government organisation (NGO) called Disables Equipment Overseas (DESO) donated white canes to some hundreds of people with disability.
“We are into five years of the 10 years’ moratorium and nothing seems to be done because of the delays in the passage of the LI on making the provision of disability-friendly facilities to high-rise buildings springing up in the city,” he said.
He appealed to Parliament to accelerate the passage of the LI to enable people with disability to heave a sigh of relief when accessing such high-rise buildings in the country.
He said very soon the 10 years’ moratorium would expire and people with disability would still battle with difficulties in accessing public buildings and schools across the country.
He was of the view that Accra would very soon join cities like New York in the United States of America (USA) where high-rise buildings were for the beautification of the city.
For her part, Madam Mavis Hyde, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Disability Equipment Overseas, said the white cane was a highly sophisticated cane that gave direction to users.
She said the cane had the capacity to direct users and prevent them from falling into drainages.
The cane, she said, had a beeping sound that alerted users when they were heading towards drainages and open holes.
She added that the cane was locally made, very affordable and helpful to all blind persons in the country.
