Disability Council calls for more fully accessible buildings

by David Hinkson

The Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) is calling for more public and private sector organisations to come on board with its Fully Accessible Barbados initiative.

As the council recently presented a Fully Accessible Barbados (FAB) certificate and plaque to the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP) at its Mervue House head office, office manager for the BCD, Roseanna Tudor, told members of the media that, “We only have thirty buildings fully accredited, meaning that they have facilities that can be used for independent wheelchair users, assisted wheelchair users, mobility challenged persons, and those with hearing and vision impairments. Even our airport has not fully met that criteria as yet.”

President of the BCD, Kerry Ann Ifill, described Fully Accessible Barbados as a “dream and a vision”, noting that, “There are thousands of buildings all across the island, so having only thirty accredited is really not enough.

“We have not put a time frame on it, but ideally we would want to see at least fifty more accredited by the end of this year.”

Tudor added that there was still a lot of work to do in that regard, especially in and around Bridgetown.

“Our basic infrastructure was laid out many years ago when town planners did not even think about matters like accessibility for people with disabilities, so that is one of the reasons it has been so difficult,” Tudor said.

She noted that the council’s initial assessment of the BARP head office was a good one and it only required some minor amendments before receiving certification.

“Generally speaking, older buildings tend to be more challenging, but we were pleased to see the ramp here, as well as the lift that can accommodate wheelchair users, and we only made minor changes such as lowering the height of the hand sanitiser dispensers and bringing the disabled parking spaces closer to the building of itself.

“We assess the buildings using international standards and once they meet some of the criteria, we let the owners know what they have to do to satisfy the others.”

Meanwhile, President of BARP, Marilyn Rice-Bowen, outlined some of BARP’s future plans as the island continues to reopen its doors following the COVID-19 pandemic over the past couple of years.

“During the lockdown period we were having some classes on Zoom, but now we will be offering those classes online and in person.

“In the third quarter of this year, we plan to set up a Members Business Centre, where members can come in and do online transactions such as pay bills, renew their passports and so on.

“We will be installing a Braille computer, plus one that is easily accessible to people in wheelchairs, and four others. We will also be instructing elderly people on how to use Automated Teller Machines (ATMs),” Rice-Bowen explained.

She added that a member of BARP will also form part of the board for the BCD and that it will continue to raise awareness of disabilities among its own members.