Outcomes

The following are the outcomes of a capacity building project for people with disabilities sponsored by UN-ESCAP and the ABILIS Foundation from Finland. We thank the sponsors for their invaluable support in our efforts to help disabled people.

The first tasks of SILA were surveying buildings and parks and requesting an
 upgrading of facilities to improve access to several sites around Penang.
 As a result, handrails and crosswalks were upgraded near the Home for the
 Blind, enabling the visually impaired to do their own shopping at an
 adjacent mall. Drain covers in the Botanic Gardens were retrofitted to
 facilitate wheelchair access, and changes were made to improve access to
 the main government building. The President of the Penang Municipal
 Council has pledged improvement of disabled access to priority public areas
 around the city.

� Newspaper report on Walk to One-Stop Midlands Shopping Complex from St. Nicholas Home for the Visually Impaired.
This exercise was done to publise the plight of disabled people to highlight access problems.

� Low-cost Housing at River Road
The President of the Municipal Council has promised that disabled people will be given a certain quota for the new low cost houses being built.

� Bus Stop at KOMTAR
A State Executive Councilor has stated that the bus stop at KOMTAR, the main administrative centre in Georgetown will be made disabled friendly.

� Penang Strategic Plan 2 Support By State Government
The Penang Executive Council (highest level of state Government) in their recent retreat at a 3-day Strategic Planning Workshop on 2-5 April 1999 have stated as part of their 10-year vision to make Penang disabled friendly.

� Indicator Tracking
Indicators have been developed to measure how the number of accessible public and commercial buildings and major roads in Georgetown. These indicators will be monitored from time to time to see if the strategic objectives have been achieved.

� Registration of Disabled Voters
Both the PDA and St. Nicholas Home for the Visually Impaired have written to the Election Commission to request for the a special registration exercise for disabled persons to be held on 9 May 1999 at the Caring Society Complex and the St. Nicholas Home for the Visually Impaired. The Election Commission has agreed.

The Chief Minster�s Office responded to a newspaper article by Mr. Pong of Penang Deaf Association (PDA) highlighting the problem of lack of interpreters during �ceramahs� (political talks) thus making it difficult for the deaf to comprehend fully the economic and political situation facing the country today. The Chief Minister�s Office has directed that SERI looks into this problem and possibly arrange for interpretation for deaf people and visually disabled people in the special �ceramahs�.


� There has been an increased in awareness of the needs of disabled people both locally and nationwide. Some of these are partly due to letters of appeal to the various Government departments and Ministers. The Welfare Minister herself made appeals to housing developers (STAR � 30 April 1999, News Clippings pp F6) and State Governments and local councils regarding the provision of disabled friendly facilities (New Straits Times (NST) � 12 May 1999). She told the relevant authorities only to cooperate and approve only plans which have incorporated disabled-friendly facilities in them. She said that she have received complaints of the lack of disabled-friendly facilities in government departments and buildings such as shopping complexes, hotels and condominiums and flats from disabled people.

� The Penang Municipal Council President, Dr. Teng Hock Nan has also made several press statements regarding the disabled people. He encouraged the private sector to continue donating to organisations serving the disabled especially during these difficult times of the economic downturn. (See STAR � 2 April 1999) He also indicated that the State Government should take into consideration the needs of disabled people when constructing buildings that are frequented by the public. ( STAR- 26 April 1999)

� Workshop for Women with Disabilities (5-6 June 1998)

Participants from the 2 previous workshops held a 2-day workshop in June for disabled women meet together to discuss their needs and also need to promote non-handicapping environments in Penang. They wish to recruit more women to be actively involved in this effort. The workshop was a complete success and was attended by 29 women from the diverse disability groups. This is the first of its kind to be held in the whole of Malaysia. Some outcomes of this workshop are the endorsement of the State Executive Councilor in charge of Women�s affairs and Tourism on the need to help disabled women in the State and the need of Accessible Tourism for disabled people. The participants of the Workshop have also decided to form an organization that will look entirely into the affairs of disabled women and their integration into mainstream women�s movement.


� Feature articles by local newspaper
The SUN local daily did a full feature article on the needs of disabled people.
(SUN � June 15 1999)
 
The Bureau Chief of the New Straits Times has already informed SILA that it will do also a feature article on the activities of SILA.

� Council promises Parking Bays and disabled friendly features in KOMTAR.
The Penang Island Municipal Council�s president made an announcement on the 26 June 1999 that parking bays will be provided for people with disabilities and a directive has been issued to KOMTAR Management, Pen-URUS Harta Sdn. Bhd. To install ramps and disabled friendly toilets.




Last modified on Friday, February 28, 2003