Dear Editor,
It is ironic that the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) on Monday March 5, 2012, launched the new building code at a venue that is disability unfriendly. This venue, the Guyana International Convention Centre, was not constructed with persons with mobility challenges in mind. Even though, the Guyana Tourism Authority’s website states, “The Centre is fully accessible to the physical challenged,” a wheelchair user would have to be lifted into the building because the ramp is blocked.
In addition, a person with a disability, getting into the main conference area is physically challenging because the steps leading down into that area are relatively far apart.
Such poor access can make it difficult for many persons with disabilities to participate in important activities such as the launch of the building code and also the recently held National Stakeholders Forum. People with disabilities may not speak well, may not hear well, and in many cases, may not see well but being excluded from specific places because of physical barriers like stairs is in contravention of the Persons With Disabilities Act 2010.
It is important to note that persons with disabilities are not special people, we are just people in the community with different abilities and different needs, and we too deserve the respect of our democratic system in which we are included and our politicians and building contractors listen to what we have to say.
I think this exclusion was accidental more than deliberate. However, there is need for greater social inclusion for persons with disabilities, an inclusion which is based on the social model of disability and involves breaking down the barriers in society that prevent our full participation in society. Such inclusion, for instance, promotes positive attitudes and perceptions (e.g. disabled people in politics), modifies the built environment (e.g. ramps in public buildings), provides information in accessible formats (e.g. our website in large print) and makes sure that laws and policies support the exercise of full participation and non-discrimination (e.g. employment discrimination laws).
Access to education and employment, an accessible physical environment and changes in legal, social and cultural norms to ensure social inclusion means that persons with disabilities can be full, participating members of the surrounding community.
As things are beginning to change with growing attention to disability being fostered by the United Nations and the Guyana Government, it is important that both public and private organisations remember that this country is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities and take steps to play a greater role in the social inclusion of this important group.
Yours faithfully
Leon Walcott
Chairman
Guyana Council of Organisation for Persons with Disabilities
