After over a year and a half since the local authorities of Chisinau started to set up tactile paving that helps persons with visual impairments to orient on the street, this type of pavement has been placed only on the section of Ștefan cel Mare Blvd between the streets Izmail and Ciuflea, but this does not meet the standards.
Executive director of the Center for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Vitalie Meșter has told IPN that the works were stopped at the request of the organization for the reason that the first section of pavement didn’t meet the ISO international standards on accessibility. “I ascertained together with other persons with disabilities that tactile paving that enables the person with visual impairments to identify the walking direction does not meet the requirements as it is too narrow and the protrusions weren’t easily noticed,” stated Vitalie Meșter.
In Moldova, there is no enterprise that would produce tactile paving. The contractor that was chosen initially didn’t have a matrix that would meet the standards. Vitalie Meșter said irregularities were also identified in the installation. On some of the segments, tactical paving was placed near obstacles and there were risks that the visually-impaired persons will hit these.
Contacted by IPN, Adrian Boldurescu, director of the municipal company “Exdrupo”, said that two tender contests to choose a company that would produce this type of paving were held this year, but no company submitted a bid. If no bids are presented at the next tender contest, a contractor can be selected without such a contest.
Roman Guţu is visually impaired. He daily walks to work without an accompanying person. The man said tactile paving would help him a lot. “When I walk through the city, I often risk suffering injuries as there are all kinds of obstacles on sidewalks, such as trees, parked cars and other things that should not be on a sidewalk normally. Tactile paving allows visually-impaired persons to walk on sections where there are no obstacles,” he stated. The man also said the authorities should be more responsible and should take into account the needs of the persons with disabilities when they repair a street or a sidewalk. Accessibility offers not only independence, but also security to a person with disabilities.
