Four years after a ministerial order that all public buildings should install facilities that are user-friendly to persons living with disability (PLWDs), only 4.44 per cent of buildings in Kigali can be easily accessed by disabled persons. 

This presents a challenge to people like Jean-Marie Nuwamanya, who are yet to see the barriers that hold them back from inclusion into society broken, as the International Day of Persons Living with Disabilities approaches.

The Day will be marked on December 3 under the theme, "Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive society and development for all.”

In Rwanda, the national celebrations will take place in Huye District.

Thirty-year-old Nuwamanya, an accountant, still has challenges accessing public buildings.

"The city is full of places that I can’t go to due to lack of facilities to aid my access. There are many places where I can’t work due to lack of disabled persons’ user-friendly facilities,” said Nuwamanya, who gets around on a wheelchair and occasionally crutches.

"The challenge is not only staircases but also access to facilities such as washrooms and cash points. As the city develops, it looks like some of us will have to be left ‘behind.’”

The airport

Among the places Nuwamanya would experience hardship accessing is the country’s biggest airport.

On-the-spot checks by this paper revealed the airport lacks basic facilities such as ramps that ease movement for PLWDs, who have to use a different access route while checking in or out.

Tony Barigye, the spokesperson of Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority, the body in charge of airport infrastructure, said they have made considerations in the ongoing upgrade, which is due to be completed in May 2014.

"We hope to finish the upgrade by May 2014 and facilities that are friendly to persons with disabilities will be in place. Currently we have an alternative route for them as a temporary measure,” Barigye said.

A research by Rwanda Housing Authorities in 2012, revealed that out of 45 public buildings in the city, only two were fully compliant with the ministerial order to ensure access for PLWDs.

Harouna Nshimiyimana, the acting director of Housing Inspection Unit, said compliance percentage in the country is still low. 

Most of the multi-storeyed buildings in the country belong to government, according last year’s inspection by Rwanda Housing Authority. 

The findings showed that only 4.44 per cent of public buildings in the City of Kigali were compliant. 

The issue, though, is not only about having access ramps; it also involves having facilities that ease access to important places within buildings such as washrooms, counters around the building. 

"You may find many buildings with access ramps but the slope is not right. We also recently conducted another research with the City of Kigali, One-Stop-Centre and Rwanda Bureau of Standards and the results were almost the same,” Nshimiyimana said.

According to Nshimiyimana, most recent buildings in the city are compliant with the orders due to the regulations put in place.

"Previously most of the investors and real estate developers complained that the regulations were not clear, but we have booklets with elaborated requirements before construction permits applications are approved,” he added.

Among the requirements, Nshimiyimana noted, are elaborate architectural designs showing facilities for persons living with disabilities. 

"There is also an inspection carried before the finishing phase to ensure that facilities for PLWDs are in place,” Nshimiyimana added.

Awareness

Considering that most buildings were already up before the ministerial orders, Nshimiyimana said they work with buildings management to see what upgrades can be made to provide access for PLWDS.

"You can’t go around asking people to pull down buildings, what we do is see how they can upgrade to ease access for people living with disabilities. We see to it that they are able to provide at least basic features. There are facilities other than ramps that can be provided, like alarms, washroom facilities.”

Although the housing authority does not have time deadlines that landlords are expected to comply with, Nshimiyimana said they are involving various stakeholders such as One-Stop Centre, Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS) and private sector developers.

As the standards regulation body, RBS is not content with the percentage of compliant buildings in the country. 

"We give a list of requirements we expect public buildings to have and like other standards in the construction industry compliance to the ministerial order is still low,” Samuel Mporanzi, RBS standards lead officer, said.

Mporanzi said the regulatory body is conducting awareness campaigns in partnership with Rwanda Housing Authority and Kigali City Authorities to see to it that the percentage of compliance goes up.

He said the best way to increase compliance is not by strict regulation, but by increasingly creating awareness programmes on the expected standards. 

The Director of Social Economic Empowerment at National Council for Persons Living with Disabilities, Oswald Tuyizere, said they have been having roundtable talks with engineers and architects to stress the importance of access facilities for PLWDs.

"Last year, we conducted visits to public buildings around the country and it came to our attention that most buildings are not accessible. It is probably time to review the ministerial order and building control regulations to put in place provisions for penalising non-compliance,” Tuyizere said.

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WHAT TO DO TO OBSERVE IDPD2013

Include: Observance of the Day provides opportunities for participation by all stakeholders – governments, the UN system, civil society and organisations of persons with disabilities – to focus on issues related to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in development, both as beneficiaries and agents.

Organise: Hold forums, public discussions and information campaigns to help find innovative ways and means by which persons with disabilities and their families can be further integrated into their societies and development plans.

Celebrate: Plan and organise performances everywhere to showcase–and celebrate–the contributions made by persons with disabilities as agents of change and development in the communities in which they live.

Take Action: A major focus of the Day is practical and concrete action to include disability in all aspects of development, as well as to further the participation of persons with disabilities in social life and development on the basis of equality. Highlight progress and obstacles in implementing disability-sensitive policies, as well as promote public awareness to break barriers and open doors: for an inclusive society for all.