Disabled people are treated like an afterthought and cannot even get into a Government building, like the Town Hall, without great difficulty to attend a meeting on discrimination. So said wheelchair-bound T&T Chapter of Disabled People International (TTDPI) representative, Justin Barker, at the Equal Opportunity Commission's (EOC) "Raising Awareness, Promoting Equality" session at the auditorium of the Port-of-Spain City Hall on Monday. He added: "A disabled person is seen as an afterthought in this country. You can't get into the bathroom of this Government building."
He said Government buildings were inaccessible to many people with disabilities and if the EOC received 40 complaint letters a week from members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-gender (LGBT) community he was sure he could supply the commission with 500 letters from disabled people who were discriminated against in one month. Barker said he received many calls from members of the chapter who were almost terminal or in a dying state and could not access emergency transportation to a hospital. "Transportation is bad. Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) has only one bus for disabled persons and it is usually down because it was refurbished," he said.
When asked to comment on PTSC's announcement to put into service 24 buses by the end of the year, catering specifically for the disabled, chapter member Bernard Beaumont, who also uses a wheelchair, replied: "I will believe it when I see it. You cannot get a proper education from primary school and you cannot reach UWI level. You cannot get a job. It's a vicious cycle." He asked the EOC panel chairman, Professor John La Guerre, legal adviser Narendra Lalbeharry and commissioner Beverly Beckles if he got as many people as possible to submit letters if they could be brought to Parliament.
Beckles replied that reflected the sad state of affairs of people with disabilities as there was no legislation in place. She said: "There has been some advancement. We have signed the UN Convention on Persons with Disabilities in 2007 but we have ratified Convention 159 since 1999." Beckles told Barker to bring his 500 letters to mobilise people with disabilities and her organisation was behind him.
A member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community quipped that they felt as if they were disabled. Lalbeharry said disability was included as a category in the Equal Opportunity Act so that people could launch complaints of discrimination based on that. "Your letters will really help the relevant ministries to move a bit quicker in terms of implementing remedial measures," he added.
