MBPJ BUDGET DIALOGUE
15 September 2008
Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya held its Budget 2009 discussion this afternoon. Together with Residents’ Associations, and other NGOs, several disabled persons’ organisations from PJ were also invited to a dialogue session to give their suggestions on how the RM 250 million or so collected from assessment, quit rent and other rentals is to be spent in the following year to develop PJ into a truly livable city.
I attended the meeting representing the Malaysian Confederation of the Disabled.
In the morning I called our State Assemblyman for Bukit Gasing and Residents’ Association President YB Edward Lee to ask if he was going. He said he was, and so kindly offered to give me a lift. No he was not my driver, the son drove us.
At MBPJ I met some familiar faces - Anthony Arokia, President of Persatuan Mobiliti (that provides transport service for PWDs for a nominal fee), Manogaran, Vice-President of Damai Disabled Persons’ Association, Thomas Yeoh from Beautiful Gate Foundation and Mary Chen from Dignity & Services, who is also the editor of Malaysia’s first cross-disability magazine Challenges.
However, conspicuously absent at that very important dialogue session was Anthony Thanasayan, a disabled person who was recently appointed as MBPJ Councillor.
I was pleasantly surprised that the Mayor, Dato Mohd. Roslan Sakiman himself chaired the session. He was very approachable, listened intently to our suggestions, personally took down notes, and did not hesitate to give clarifications where it was necessary.
Our suggestions:
(1) to strictly and speedily enforce the Uniform Building By-Laws (Sect. 34A of the Street & Drainage Act)
(2) to re-activate the ‘Technical Committee on Buildings’ that was set up about three years ago comprising PWDs
(3) to have more than one Transit OKU special bus service for PWDs, as the demand for it is overwhelming. To have a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the service, to have sufficient staff to take calls, arrange the schedules etc.
(4) to ensure that the built environment, particularly walkways are barrier-free, and to have ramps and curb cuts adhere to recommended specifications
(5) to make bus stops accessible – in view of low floor wheelchair accessible RapidKL buses being introduced, and the PJ community buses (picking up and dropping off elderly passengers who have mobility problems)
(6) to have accessibility for PWDs at places of recreation and sports and also at community halls ( covered car parks, ramps, lifts, toilets)
(7) to have railings along roads that are close to monsoon drains ( for safety of blind persons)
(8) to have bleeping signals together with an activation button at pedestrian crossings and traffic lights (for blind persons and wheelchair users)
(9) to have tactile surfaces near buildings and entrances to serve as a guide for blind persons.
(10) to also extend free medical services to PWDs (currently offered to only elderly and low income groups)
At the end of the meeting which lasted about 3 hours, the Mayor summed up the suggestions from the floor and gave us the assurance that they would be incorporated into the budget.
