Gordon House leads violators as disability access law grace period ends

The two-year window for public entities, private businesses and other institutions to retrofit their buildings to allow members of the disabled community to access their services or products more easily or face possible sanctions expires today.

However, Gordon House, the seat of Jamaica’s legislature, is found wanting as wheelchair users or persons with a permanent or temporary disability cannot easily access the chambers or visitors’ gallery.

Parliament passed the Disabilities Act in 2014 and gave the nod to the regulations eight years later in 2022, which paved the way for the implementation of the law that year.

This legislation, which safeguards the rights of one of the most vulnerable groups in society, is seemingly being paid scant regard by the Parliament, which debated and passed the law a decade ago.

The irony of Parliament passing a law mandating other sections of society to put measures in place to accommodate persons with disability while it remains in a state of lethargy in facilitating this vulnerable group at Gordon House is not lost on opposition Senator Lambert Brown.

He charged that “lawmakers are the biggest promoters of lawbreaking when it comes to the Disabilities Act”.

CHALLENGING STAIRS

On his return to the Upper House in December last year, following a period of illness, Brown remarked that he was challenged to navigate the flight of stairs and had to be assisted by his nurse to gain access to the chamber.

Brown reminded Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson that in 2016, following his ascension to the presidency, he had promised to install “a lift”.

Even before then, the previous administration, in 2015, had set aside $25.6 million in the Estimates of Expenditure to, among other things, retrofit the Parliament building to provide access to persons with disabilities.

Brown argued that Parliament is yet to facilitate parliamentarians, who are temporarily physically incapacitated from attending to the nation’s business to pass laws.

The opposition senator reiterated a call he made in 2012 for the country to construct a new Parliament building.

In the Throne Speech last year, the Government pledged to “continue to advance a number of flagship projects, including the new Parliament building and the Government campus”.

“It’s time for the construction of a modern Parliament that can meet the requirements of the Disabilities Act. What example is Parliament setting for the rest of the nation, when the Parliament itself is in breach of its own laws that access must be available to people with disability,” Brown said.

COMPLAINTS PROCESS

Dr Christine Hendricks, executive director of the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), said that effective tomorrow, persons with disabilities whose rights have been infringed under the act can make a report to the JCPD for an investigation to be done.

If the entities, public or private, refuse to address the breach, the JCPD can refer the matter to the Disabilities Rights Tribunal (DRT).

Hendricks told The Gleaner that the tribunal has the authority to prescribe sanctions that can be applied in the face of a breach.

She urged stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, including schools, churches and government agencies, to ensure that members of the disabled community can easily access the service that is provided by these organisations.

“People with disabilities are part of the citizenry of our country who have that right to access the service that you provide,” she said.

The JCPD executive director said that an accessibility checklist is available on the organisation’s website that will help stakeholders to determine how accessible their offices and spaces are.

“You’ll find the accessibility checklist to help you conduct a simple audit to ensure that you know what you need to fix – the doorway that needs to be widened, the ramp and the rail that needs to be in place, the signage that should be in your building to give direction or to give guidance,” she said.

“And so we are reminding you at this point and urging that you comply because if a person with a disability enters your space and they find that they are unable to have access, then there is a process for complaint and the tribunal is ready and waiting to hear complaints,” she added.

Opposition Senator Dr Floyd Morris, who was instrumental in the development of the Disability Act 2014, said the legislation covers much more than access to physical structures, but also addresses infringements of rights in the area of access to education, employment, healthcare, housing and public transportation.

“[Today], it becomes effective and I can tell you, the Ministry of Transport is in trouble because we only have six buses in the system that are accessible for persons with disabilities,” Morris said.

He said every bus that is being purchased by the Government have features to accommodate the disabled.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com