Persons in wheelchairs, persons with visual impairments, mothers with babies in carriages and bicyclists on August 5 tested the accessibility of a number of public institutions and streets, especially of pedestrian crossings, in the districts of Chisinau. The marathon entitled “Accessible Chisinau for everyone” was staged by a number of NGOs and online platforms that plead for an accessible city and demand that the authorities should efficiently spend public money intended for this area, IPN reports.
The organizers of the event formed four teams that travelled along particular routes, assessing the accessibility level based on such parameters as ramps for wheelchair users, special parking lots, width of the entrance doors and elevator doors, etc. After each assessment, the participants put stickers with symbols showing the accessibility degree of the institutions on the buildings.
Director of the Youth Media Center Veronica Boboc said there are a number of architectural barriers in Chisinau that make the movement of persons in wheelchairs and of mothers with babies in carriages difficult. The public money is uselessly spent on impracticable pavements and ramps because particular standards that would ensure accessibility are not taken into account.
Xenia Siminciuc, of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who has visual impairments, said it is hard for her to enter, for example, a bank in central Chisinau because the stair and the door are of the same color and the visually-impaired persons often hit themselves against the door. In other states, where the rights of the persons with disabilities are respected, the edge of each stair is of a pronounced color so as to be visible. The door handle must also be of a contrasting color and a tactile carpet should be placed before the entrance so as to suggest that there is a door in front.
Tudor Onofrei, of the Association “Motivatie”, said that as he is in a wheelchair, he often meets with movement difficulties, starting with the crossing of the street because there are not many ramps for descending the sidewalk to the crosswalk. Also, not all the institutions have ramps or, if they have, these are not of the necessary width, while the slope makes the access difficult because it is too steep. Many of the ramps do not have a balustrade.
According to the organizers, the data collected as a result of the assessments will be included in a report that will also contain recommendations. The report will be made public and discussed with the local authorities. In this regard, an application asking convening a joint meeting was submitted to the Chisinau City Hall.
