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HK Far From A Barrier-Free Society For The Disabled

The Young Reporter (2005, February), 37(05), pp. 1.
Author: Colleen Lee Yun-yan. Editor: Kristy Lam Chi-sum.
Permanent URL - https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/bujspa/purl.php?&did=bujspa0007376

Collen Lee Yun-yan

THE disabled have complained that many building and transport facilities are ill-equipped despite existing government regulations listing barrier free requirements.

The Rehabilitation Alliance, a concern group, inspected 99 public toilets for the disabled. It was found that almost none of them fitted into the standards set out by the Buildings Department in 1997.

The survey found 41 per cent had no emergency alarms. In 75 per cent of the toilets, the basins were either too high or too low when checked against the guidelines.

Other problems included handrails that were placed too distant from the toilet seat, and that some washrooms had been turned into storage rooms or even locked.

The group said some wheelchair users avoided drinking water and going to toilet when they were out.

Lai Tak-kwong is confined to a wheelchair. He said many toilets for the disabled became storage rooms for cleaning contractors in shopping malls. Most of the toilets he visited were difficult to find.

Public transport is another area the disabled long for improvement. “I can only get onto buses with ramps,” said Mr Lai. “If I want to take a Rehabus on my own, I have to book it at least three weeks in advance. If I book it on behalf of some rehabilitation centres for holding activities, it is necessary to book it lour to five months in advance,” he said.

In 14 out of 54 MTR stations, the wheel-chair-bound need help from the staff to use wheelchair aid service in order to access the concourse.

Steps, which are common in Hong Kong, are big obstacles to wheelchair users. Mr Lai said he was unable to use some of the automatic teller machines because they were placed One step above the ground.

“Even one step is unacceptable for electric wheelchair users. I have complained about the step in the taxi pick-up point in Metroplaza in Kwai Fong for two years, but no measures have been taken yet,” he said.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, the owner of Metroplaza, declined to comment.

“I lived in Shek Lei Estate before moving to Kwai Fong. I asked the Housing Authority to make some improvements on the steps and the steep slopes in the estate. As my request was turned down because of high costs, Equal Opportunities Commission helped me arrange a new unit in Kwai Fong Estate,” he said.

Senior Equal Opportunities Officer Ms Mariana Law said it could be discrimination if there were no ramps in the main entrance of a building where the wheelchair-bound lived. But whether it was unlawful depended on specific cases. Building owners must provide adequate facilities unless it imposed unjustifiable hardship on them. It might include financial and technical difficulties.

“If a locomotory disabled wants to have a ramp in the main entrance, the owners of private residential buildings will probably turn down the request for saving money,” she said.

While the wheelchair-bound lamented the absence of improvements in public facilities, the blind and the visually impaired were having a hard time crossing the road and getting into the MTR stations.

The visually impaired said they hardly saw improvement in the facilities for them. Some crossings are still without audio alert despite continuous requests.

Tony Kan Shik-leung has poor vision. He has demanded more crossings with audio alert for more than ten years in the Southern District. He has sent his requests to departments concerned. He said different departments in the government just disclaimed responsibility.

Visually impaired people also asked for more tactile warning strips for staircases and tactile guide paths. They could not decide which side of platform to be their destined direction in the MTR stations. Only Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon Bay Kwun Tong, Mei Foo and Wan Chai stations have tactile station layout maps.

Mr Kan said the mainland was more advanced than Hong Kong in terms of providing directional facilities for the visually impaired, who can phone a hotline for help.

Ms Law said the commission had received 369 complaints about passage and facilities from September 1996 to December 2004. It resolved 222 cases.

She said laws, the commission and education were significant factors leading Hong Kong to become a barrier free city.

Mr Kan said it depended on the government’s prudent use of money and effort.

Edited by Kristy Lam Chi-sum

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