The ramp that was recently set up at the entrance to the underground passage situated near the trolleybus station of Municipal Clinical Hospital No. 1 is impassable for persons in wheelchairs and for parents with children in baby carriages, said representatives of the Center for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and of the member organizations of the Civic Platform “Chisinau Accessible to EVERYONE”, IPN reports.
Ludmila Iachim, executive director of the Association “Motivaţie” of Moldova, has been in a wheelchair for 30 years. “This ramp cannot be used. I always move alone, without accompanying persons, and for me it is important to reach all the places. This ramp is dangerous. One or two persons should help you to get down, but I would not risk. We welcome the initiative of the City Hall’s representatives to make those changes, but it is important to discuss the solutions they propose with civil society,” stated Ludmila Iachim.
Vitalie Meşter, executive director of the Center for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, said they will assess the underground passages in Chisinau that were repaired or are being repaired. “The persons with reduced mobility should be engaged directly in the process of finding solutions to ensure their independent and safe movement,” stated Vitalie Meşter.
The organizers noted the initiative to assess the accessibility of underground passages in Chisinau appeared out of the need to establish the practice of consulting the final beneficiaries of the works to build and renovate urban infrastructure. “Given that the municipal areas and buildings are public property, which is repaired with municipal budget funds, all the citizens of the capital city, including the persons with disabilities, the elderly people, the parents with small children, should enjoy equal access to this property,” they said.
Representatives of the Center for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and of the member organizations of the Civic Platform “Chisinau Accessible to EVERYONE” made a public call to the mayor of Chisinau, asking that the organizations that represent the persons with disabilities should be invited to consultations to discuss the solutions that are to be implemented.
