The Member of Parliament for Adaklu Constituency, Governs Kwame Agbodza has called on Parliament to ensure that the Disability Act is enforced.
The MP, who is also the Ranking Member on Roads and Transport, said that, if Parliament doesn’t act, no seriousness will be attached to the Act.
“When you put them in law, you have to make them enforceable, otherwise, we will read this statement every year and nothing will be done about it. When you go to primary schools today, you see a six-unit classroom block and someone will just put up a ramp. Ramps are supposed to be built with a certain standard, the gradient must conform to a standard so that someone using a wheelchair can go along it. It is only when we update our building regulations, make them fit for purpose and ensure that there are laws to enforce them that we can overcome all this.”
The Persons with Disability act, 2006 (Act 715) seeks to promote and protect the rights of persons living with disabilities in Ghana to ensure their equitable and effective participation and inclusion in the Ghanaian society at all levels.
Though it has been 13 years since the passage of the act, it is said to have had little impact on the lives of persons living with disabilities.
Many public spaces largely remain inaccessible to these people.