The disabled still face obstacles in government buildings, churches and private establishments as the annual report by the national commission for persons with a disability shows
David Darmanin Schools, banks, churches, government departments, private companies and cultural event organisers were brought to book by the National Commission for Persons with a Disability (KNPD) over limited facilities for the disabled throughout the past year.
The commission said schools had so far opted out of administering medication to disabled children, forcing parents to visit during school hours to give out medicine to their children directly.
“Despite the commission having cooperated with the Education Ministry and agreed to form part of a task force which made the necessary recommendations, a solution has not yet been found,” the KNPD’s annual report said. “The commission had no other option but to file a judicial protest and subsequently take court action against the ministry.”
The court has been hearing this case over the past year, while KNPD is still looking for options with which an agreement may be reached out of court.
In other complaints registered by the KNPD, this time against Bank of Valletta for excluding disabled persons from being covered by a Middlesea insurance policy, the commission said that after several attempts to resolve the situation no agreement has yet been reached between the parties.
KNPD also received complaints from persons with hearing impairment due to the lack of subtitles in TV programmes offered on the GO platform. “When contacted by the commission, the company (GO) explained that subtitles are currently provided for those stations using teletext,” the report said.
But GO is not in a position to offer the service for those stations which run on a different stream. GO are now discussing the issue with the relevant authorities.
Numerous complaints were also made on limited access to the disabled in a number of McDonald’s outlets and certain restaurants owned by Food Chains Ltd (which operates KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Nove). Meetings held with both companies led to an agreement for an audit to be made on the specific establishments with a view for corrective measures to be taken within a reasonable period of time.
“The commission has also drawn attention to the fact that the McDonald’s Valletta outlet in Republic Street is still inadequately accessible in spite of it having been recently refurbished,” KNPD said.
The watchdog also met with Archbishop Paul Cremona and Pro-Vicar General Anton Gouder, to urge a “strong effort” so that churches become more accessible to disabled persons. “Although some improvements have been made, progress is unfortunately moving very slowly,” the report says.
Ironically, the commission also found lack of access in public health centres, where access to health clinics was even difficult for the elderly. Following an audit, both parties agreed on a strategy to solve the problem – but the KNPD claims no progress whatsoever has been made until the time the report went to print.
Complaints were also filed against various private IT training institutes after disabled students found “enormous difficulties in following computer courses due to the schools not being physically accessible to them.” Although the KNPD dealt with the institutes directly, the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology still sub-contracted the private schools using EU funds – in spite of tendering requirements laying down that the courses had to be held in adequately accessible schools. KNPD said the process to get the facilities up to scratch seems to be lengthy.
A complaint made by a visually impaired person also led the commission to hold discussions with low-cost carrier EasyJet after the airline asked for a fee to cover the cost of a seat taken by a guide dog. In order to comply with EU laws, EasyJet assured the commission that action is being taken to bring an end to this discriminatory policy.
Meetings held with the Malta Council for Culture and Arts (MCCA) further to a complaint on disabled access at cultural events Notte Bianca and carnival, resulted in an agreement that redressed the situation. The commission also discussed with the Malta Tourism Authority ways of making live music concert Isle of MTV well accessible to the disabled. “MTA immediately accepted to consult with disabled persons themselves on the matter so that proper access is ensured,” the report said. “In fact, the event organisers respected the agreement in spite of there being room for improvement.”
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