Most of the public institutions and social facilities of Moldova do not have ramps for wheelchair users and the persons with disabilities cannot thus take a more active part in the social life and cannot satisfy their elementary needs such as making a visit to the doctor. The disabled persons encounter the same problems when they need to move on the street, to travel by public transport or to use the elevator. The problems were enumerated in a workshop staged within an international conference held to mark five years of the ratification by Moldova of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, IPN reports.
Executive director of the public association “Motivatie” Igor Meriacre said the accessibility for the persons with disabilities is a very important issue because the lack of access means first of all impossibility to lead a normal life and to take an active part in social activities. At the end of the workshop, there will be formulated a series of recommendations that will be afterward transmitted to the authorities.
The participants in the workshop presented the situation of the persons with disabilities in Edinet town, saying that the findings actually apply to the whole country. Ludmila Golteanova, a member of the Association “Vivera”, said that being confined to a wheelchair, she and some of her colleagues decided to assess the social facilities. They determined that most of the institutions do not have ramps for wheelchair users, while the existing ramps are of a very poor quality. These are usually narrower and their inclination angle makes access difficult. Many of the institutions do not have a balustrade.
Ludmila Golteanova said the persons with disabilities do not have access or have poor access to institutions that are very important to them, such as drugstores and clinics, as well as in public transport. The persons in wheelchair cannot travel freely. A social taxi service was instituted in Chisinau, but the car that provides free rides wasn’t adjusted to the needs of persons in wheelchair.
Workshop participant Andrei Zorea, who is from Chisinau, said he made huge effort to find a modern electric wheelchair to move easier, but when he acquired one he met with other problems. He cannot enter the elevator because the doors are too narrow. He welcomed the modern aspect of the trolleybuses running in Chisinau, but noted that the aspect does not help him as there are only unadjusted trolleybuses running in the area where he lives. Travelling by interurban transport is as difficult.
According to a report by the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction of 2014, almost 70% of the public institutions and social facilities of the country do not have wheelchair access. Data collected by civil society show that 99% of the institutions do not ensure access for persons with locomotor disabilities.
