Murat Şahinbaz, head of Ankara’s Turkish
Association of Disabled People evaluated the services of local government for
bianet in the run-up to the local elections on 29 March.
“Local authorities do something
for the disabled, but always without including them. These ‘token’ arrangements
and services do not help us.”
Those affected are not consulted
Şahinbaz
thus criticises municipal councils which carry out projects without consulting
relevant NGOs and people actually affected by disabilities.
He emphasises
the need for structural changes that would allow disabled and able people to
live together, telling bianet:
“The
disabled live in isolation from public life anyway. We do not want schools for
the disabled; rather, we want everyone to profit from municipal services
equally.”
Urgent demands for improvements
According
to the association, municipalities must consider the following issues as a
priority:
-
Inner-city
transport: Public transport vehicles need to be accessible for the disabled. In
Ankara, for
instance, there are over 1,000 buses, but only 10 have access for the disabled.
In addition, buses in most cities charge the disabled. However, so the
association, public transport should be free of charge nation-wide.
-
Pavements:
according to the laws, pavements must have an 8 percent slope so that the
disabled can use them easily. However, in Ankara
in particular, many pavements have a 70 percent slope. This makes life very
difficult for those people trying to get around. When there are overhead and
underground walkways with escalators, these can often only be accessed after
negotiating stairs.
-
Representation
in councils: local authorities are obliged to represent the disabled. That is
why they should consult NGOs and disabled people on their city planning
projects.
-
Employment
quota: The Law on Disability has made it obligatory for workplaces to employ
disabled people. The quota has been set at 3 percent. Although there are more
than 10,000 people working in the public sector, this quota has not been
fulfilled.
-
Support
teams: In other countries, city councils create support teams for the disabled.
The association demands similar implementations in Turkey to make it easier for the
disabled to take part in public life.
No more tokenism
Şahinbaz
voiced other criticism: “When there is a physiotherapy centre opened, there is
one physiotherapist to 60 disabled people. The therapist cannot be of use to
all of them. That is why we need more expert professionals employed in services
for the disabled.”
He
emphasised that many of the current “services” were token gestures and did not
contribute to a more positive life experience for the disabled. (BÇ/EÜ/AG)