adminCallie-Lou Kakwere Herald Reporter
The Federation of Organisations of Disabled People in Zimbabwe has called on Government to make it mandatory to have disability-friendly buildings. Elisa Ravengai co-ordinator of FODPZ said Government should come up with legislation that will result in the creation of more facilities that are user-friendly to persons with disabilities.
“Society has created barriers and they have failed to adapt to the needs of people with disabilities. We therefore, call on Government to underscore construction of disability-friendly facilities,’’ she said.
“It is disappointing to know that most of the buildings that are in the city do not cater for people with disabilities and even those that are still under construction do not facilitate for people with disabilities,” she said. She said despite having a number of disability laws in Zimbabwe, construction of infrastructure has not been made friendly to disabled people.
“The majority of public buildings in Zimbabwe are ‘no-go areas’ for people with disabilities and therefore improving the accessibility of the environment for disabled people is critical to them being able to live independent lives on an equal basis with others,” she said.
A survey of public buildings showed that, despite the fact that 10 percent of the Zimbabwean population consists of persons with various forms of disability, the buildings are devoid of disability friendly facilities that are required to make a public building obstacle free.
All the surveyed buildings do not have bright lighting and colour schemes for the visually impaired, specially designed furniture for them to competently do their jobs and anti-skid tiling for those who use wheelchairs.
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