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Public Service Vehicle operators are leaving disabled people by the roadside, impatient with the time people with physical challenges take to get on the buses, leading disability rights advocate Kerryann Ifill has complained. And Ifill, president of the disabled community’s umbrella organisation, the Barbados Council for the Disabled is pleading with the Ministry of Transport and the Transport Authority to urge PSV operators to curb their insensitivity which often leaves these commuters stranded for hours. “[PSV operators] are leaving them at the bus stops and telling them take another transport because they can’t be bothered to wait a few seconds that it may take for persons to get onboard their vehicles. “This can be very distressing in a situation where you have to wait another two hours before a vehicle can come along, she said.” Sitting next to Minister in the Ministry of Transport Minister Peter Phillips, at the launch of authorised disabled parking IDs for at the BCD’s headquarters, former Senate President Ifill said: “We’re hopeful that the Ministry of Transport and the Transport Authority can encourage members of the public service community to be a little bit more understanding about persons with disabilities because we too are commuters and we too have the right to be part of the process.” Phillips did not respond directly to Ifill’s remarks, but he had earlier given the assurance that his ministry and the Transport Board have disabled people at heart in all transport initiatives. “Travelling by public transportation can be a challenge at times to the general public, more so to the disabled community” Phillips said, as he addressed the BCD members directly. “You, like all of us, have family and personal commitments. “Many of you are fully employed and [/or] attend learning institutions at school or university. “You too attend social events and live a full life. “You also have the right to participate in the community as much as you are able to. “Most persons with disabilities are not holders of valid driver’s licences and therefore rely mainly on public transport.” For this reason, the minister declared, the public transport system takes into consideration the challenges of all. He added: “The ministry will endeavour to provide accessibility wherever possible for this community so that its constituents can conduct their affairs, whether it is shopping in Bridgetown or taking a scenic bus ride.” He pointed out that the Transport Board already has two buses specially designed for the travelling members of the disabled community and said that wide-bodied buses to accommodate wheelchair users will be included in the fleet of electric vehicles the publicly-owned bus company plans to buy shortly. Disability advocates also raised concerns about limited disability parking spaces at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This is made worse for the disabled, they said, when QEH security guards insist that any BCD-issued disabled parking tag must be made out to the vehicle seeking to use the space instead of the disabled passenger. Ifill said: “That has been an ongoing situation with the parking at the hospital [for] almost as long as we’ve been fighting the fight for parking spaces (2002) we’ve had this challenge. “I do not know why it is misconstrued that the driver must be the person with the disability in order to park there. “But the Council for the Disabled will continue to lobby and to work with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to rectify that situation.”

Disability advocates are hailing the introduction of the first legally backed parking identification tags for vehicles with disabled passengers as the law to protect designated spaces is finally enforced. At a ceremony to launch the tags, the president of the Barbados Council for the Disabled Kerryann Ifill joined fellow advocates in looking forward to the end of the indignities of daily navigating hostile conditions while able-bodied individuals occupy designated parking spots. “I am sure that every day in Barbados somebody undertakes the opportunity to violate the disabled parking spaces. “Some people think we don’t have a right to be out there. ‘I only going in for 15 minutes; disabled people don’t drive’.” Ifill’s remarks reflect a daily struggle of the disabled community to integrate into regular life largely without the support of law enforcement. The launch at the BCD’s Harambee House headquarters in the Garrison, signals the end of a nearly two-decade struggle that will see the issuance of special disabled parking identification supported by law, and at the same time make it easier for violators to be prosecuted. Ifill recalled that with the backing of over 12,000 signatures on a petition, the Road Traffic Act was amended in December 2014 to legalise parking spaces for those with disabilities. But the original parking tags had no legal backing of the Licensing Authority, hampering enforcement against violators. “I have encountered no cases,” was how Inspector Lionel Hackett responded to a media query of whether anyone has ever been prosecuted for violating the 2017 parking regulation. Hackett was at the launch along with Minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works Peter Phillips and Chief Licensing Officer Virgil Knight. Ifill pointed out that the absence of official parking tags made many hesitant in reporting the violations. She said: “Since we now are issuing the parking IDs, that would have been part of what people were waiting for. “We did have the old ones. Those were not actionable. “Now people can identify if you are legitimately parking there “So from September 3rd when we start issuing them, then I’m sure that Inspector Hackett’s rank and file members would be busy issuing fines to persons.” Minister Phillips spoke of a feeling a “high level of repugnance when I notice able-bodied persons parking their vehicles in areas earmarked for persons with disabilities”. Declaring that more support is on the way for the disabled community, he said that for those who have no access to private vehicles, the Transport Board is to include a number of buses to accommodate people with disabilities in its soon-to-be-purchased fleet of electric buses. He said it is “paramount that the public transport system be developed taking note of the specific challenges and members and needs of persons with disabilities”. These parking IDs, valued for two years, are to be issued to individuals and not vehicles, making them transferrable to whatever form of transport in which a disabled person may choose to travel. BCD will be issuing these IDs to people who must be certified disabled by a medical doctor, or to the assigned parent, other family member or caretaker of a disabled individual. There will also be temporary IDs for visitors who are similarly registered in their home country, or for Barbadians who may suffer a temporary disability such as a broken leg. Ifill said that there are many misunderstandings about how disabled people go about their daily lives. She said: “Some people believe that the parking space is designated for drivers with disabilities. “They forget passengers with disabilities. “Other people think that persons with disabilities are only wheelchair users. And they’re not. “They are people with a variety of mobility challenges. “People don’t seem to recognise that persons with disabilities have business to conduct and have the right to participate in everyday life like any other person.”

TWO PARA-ATHLETES are hoping to make themselves and Barbados proud by copping spots at the para Pan American Games to be staged later this year. Sean Cooke and Christopher Gilkes, wheelchair athletes representing the Paralympic Association of Barbados, are at the Pan American Open Championships in Lima, Peru, competing in qualifier events for that chance. On Friday the pair took to the track and competed in the 800, 200 and 100 metres. Cooke placed first in both the 800 and 200, while Gilkes came third in the 100. “It was a great feeling especially to represent Barbados and I’m hoping we can do it again,” Gilkes told NATION SPORT after the event. (SDB Media)

An increase in bus fare, coupled with ongoing economic hardship, has put a huge dent in the operations of a charity that helps develop disabled young people’s skills to boost their job-seeking chances. The situation is so dire for the First Barbados Association for Supported Employment (First BASE) that the charity may soon close, said its supervisor, Joy-Ann Grazette-Corbin. “We do have financial challenges because our subvention doesn’t cover the cost of everything that we do and we do not have enough persons buying our products in order to support us or keep us going. “So we are looking forward to our fundraiser to keep us at least for a certain amount of time that we are able to give these young people their stipend and keep the place functioning,” She told Barbados TODAY. First BASE has been hosting an annual 5K Walk/Run in an effort to raise the much-needed funds. This year, the event, which attracts a $25 donation, will take place on June 8, starting at 4 p.m. at the Queens Park. The event will afford participants an opportunity to see the work of the students and support them, Grazette-Corbin said. But the registration has been very slow, though she expressed hope things would pick up in the coming weeks. Since bus fare went up by 75 per cent to $3.50 from mid-April, she noted that disabled students were finding it increasingly difficult to get to the Greenwich Village, St James charity each day. In a plea for help from Government and corporate Barbados, Grazette-Corbin said that  while the organisation did not make contact with Member of Parliament for the area, Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson, letters were submitted to Government explaining the situation and seeking help.  The organisation currently receives a small subvention from the Government’s Disabilities Unit.  She said:  “[The increase in bus fare] has put a great strain on us and what we are trying to do. Even up to the fact that right now we are not sure how we are getting paid this month. “They are still able to come, but like I said, right now our stipends are less than bus fare. So we are trying to figure out [to whom] do we speak. “We sent out some letters to Government to see what can be done, if they can travel free or what can happen for them to be able to get here.”  With some of the young adults coming from St Philip and Christ Church and needing to take two buses each way, even as they try often to take the cross-country ABC Highway bus, a new challenge of security for her students was being presented, she said. Grazette-Corbin told Barbados TODAY: “We had an incident…. This road is very lonely and two of our young ladies were walking and a gentleman in a truck started to harass them and he wouldn’t leave them alone. “When I contacted the police, the number of the truck was not registered to the person that was driving. It was actually registered to another car. So even in those circumstances we are really concerned. “We would love more government support, more government funding. But I also know that places that deal with people with disabilities would like an opportunity also because most of us have limited space.”  First BASE currently has Grazette-Corbin as the lone supervisor along with an acting supervisor catering to ten people. There is a waiting list of more than 200 trainees. “To be able to pay the persons that we need to take care of these young people is more than we can handle on our own. That is one thing we would like the Government to get involved in. If not being able to pay them, being able to provide a facility where I can have more than just ten people. We have a long waiting list,” she said. At least twice a week, the organisation sells a range of natural juices, baked products and crafts at the St James Parish Church. While most of their support comes from taxi operators and tourists, Grazette-Corbin said sales have been down. “Persons support children with disabilities, but then they seem to forget that these children become adults and they can’t just sit at home and do nothing,” she said. “They need to be productive and they can do stuff. When they are doing things, their parents are free to also be productive citizens in society.”  The charity provides training and social support for people with developmental disabilities, ages 18 and older, who are expected to leave with skills and get at least part-time work after a year, but they are forced to stay “as long as they like” because job opportunities have dwindled, she added. Article Compliments Barbados Today