Igor Meriacre, the president of disability rights NGO Motivatie, says that the government is currently raising a generation dependent on social benefits. He likened it to a company that wants to expand its business, but doesn’t want to invest.
He stressed that investments in accessibility conditions for people with disabilities are low compared to the potential benefits. Thanks to civil society efforts, more and more businesses understand that not creating such conditions has negative economic consequences.
“Accessibility can be created by applying the reasonable adaptation concept. It implies proper adjustment works that don’t involve disproportionately high costs of efforts. Reasonable adaptation in the case of a polyclinic, for example, which is usually an older building with several floors and no elevator, would mean creating an access ramp at the entrance and opening on the first floor a large and common room where all the disabled persons could get their consultation. Also, the restroom should be adapted accordingly”, explained the expert.
Igor Meriacre says that the government has a major role in the field of accessibility, but minor contributions. The authorities should take note from the practice of European countries. There, if a business or institution lacks accessibility conditions, it isn’t fined instantly, but issued a list of recommendations and a deadline for applying them. A welcome step would be the creation of a list of public services that can’t obtain an authorization for work without meeting accessibility criteria.
