Disabled Persons Are People Too!

Now that we have reached entry number 7 can you remember from previous posts the 6 different ways that people traverse through the city? Persons move around the city via: walking, cycling, cars, buses, maxi taxis, and water taxis. Now that we have highlighted the six forms of mobility this blog will focus on the problems some persons face in moving around the city. These persons I refer to are the physical challenged persons in living in our society. In Trinidad the structure of our cities does not cater for these individuals. Governments need to realize that these persons are also members of our society and they too need to get around the city. I can easily relate to this blog entry as when I was on crutches for a while I too experienced difficulty traversing through the city of San Juan. The above highlights the plea of physically challenged persons. The picture on the left shows a non-disabled person parking his vehicle in a designated handicap parking area. When I asked the gentleman why he parked his vehicle here he replied “It had no one in the spot so I just ran out to drop something.” The picture on the right shows a ramp for wheel chairs in Port of Spain. This area is now full of garbage and it seems as though water settles here every time rain falls.

A physical disability is any impairment which limits the physical function of one or more limbs or fine or gross motor ability. We refer to Hall and Barrette (2012) again in this entry and from scouring through the chapter on Mobility it is to be noted that no aspect of the chapter spoke about mobility for physically disabled persons. Ashford et al (1981) goes on to say that one of the main reasons for the challenges face by disabled persons is due to the fact that these persons are the minority in society. His book went on to state that in 1980 seven members of parliament spent six months investigating the problems faced by disabled people against the physical barriers in the city. At the end of the investigation it was deduced that transportation was the main challenged faced by physically disabled persons. Transport for these individuals was not safe and reliable. In addition to get into the vehicles was frustrating and time consuming. These problems that were highlighted by Ashford was in the year 1981, which was a very long time ago. The questions remain though as to why are these problems still existing in societies all around the world today, more specific in Trinidad.

In recent times there has been a move toward helping physically disabled persons. In the United Kingdom there are several schemes available for disabled persons. There is the Motability Scheme which helps disabled persons in purchasing powered wheelchairs or scooters. In addition there is VAT relief system that gives persons VAT exemptions on vehicles that are adapted to suit their specific disability. There is also the Blue Badge parking scheme which provides a range of parking benefits for disabled people with severe walking difficulties who travel either as drivers or as passengers. To learn more about what the UK is doing you can follow this link https://www.gov.uk/financial-help-disabled/vehicles-and-transport

 Even in Trinidad there has been a movement by PTSC to aid in movement of persons in and around the city. As recent as  the December 5^th 2012 the PTSC launched its Elderly and Differently Abled Mobile Service ( Eldamo) at NAPA, Port- of – Spain. The launch was held in observance of the United Nations International Day of People with Disabilities, celebrated each year since 1992. This Eldamo initiative would involve a fleet of 24 buses, three of which would be based in Tobago. Each would be equipped with special features such as a wheelchair-lifting platform with an automatic and manual lifting system in each. Buses would also be fully air-conditioned and would include nine seats and three wheelchair fixing places. The service was launched in Scarborough, Tobago, on November 21 with two of the special buses. The information kit distributed at the event explained that those who needed to schedule a ride would be able to call the PTSC at least 24 hours in advance and arrangements would be made to pick up people at their homes or at a mutually accessible location nearby. The picture below shows the new initiative by PTSC, the Eldamo buses in San Juan.

Reference

Hall and Barrett,2012. Urban Geography. 4^th Edition. London and New York: Routledge Publishing.(pages 282-301 ).

Ashford, Norman, Thomas A. Rich, Villiam G. Bell. 1981. Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Handicapped Persons New York: Gordon and Beach Science Publishers Ltd.