95% OF BUILDINGS IN BOLGA, BAWKU DISABILITY UNFRIENDLY

A recent report on the assessment of buildings being occupied by public institutions in the Bolgatanga and Bawku Municipalities in the Upper East Region of Ghana revealed that, nearly all of them were disability unfriendly.

Bolga Lorry Station

The assessment which was carried out by a team of ten researchers from both Municipalities comprising of staff of RISE-Ghana, PWD Groups, Department of Social Welfare, Community Development, CHRAJ and the Ghana Police Service, was aimed at determining their compliance to the provisions of the PWDs Act (Act 715).

Passed by the Parliament of Ghana into law in 2006, the PWD Act sought among other things to guarantee PWDs access to public places, free general and specialist medical care, education, employment and transportation. It also sought to ensure that PWDs play an active and central role in all aspects of life, regulate the commitments/responsibilities of state and private duty-bearers and service providers.

Thus, relevant structures of interest to Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the two Municipalities which were assessed included Basic and Senior High Schools, Hospitals, The Courts, Traditional Councils and selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The report disclosed that 95% of public buildings in both Municipalities did not have accessibility provisions and were in serious contravention to Sections 6 and 7 of the PWD Act which called on owners and occupants of public buildings to make their premises disability-friendly.

Notable culprits the report cited, included Basic and Senior High Schools, police stations, the Bawku branch of Agricultural Development Bank and Ghana Commercial Bank, Births and Deaths Registry, Regional Offices of Community Development and Social Welfare Department, Bolgatanga and Bawku Post Offices as well as the Judicial Service.

It also emerged that, the Regional Rehabilitation Centre which was mandated by law to provide skills training to PWDs from the Upper East Region had also been closed down for over two years now.

On the other hand, the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service and the Out-Patients-Department of the Bawku and Bolgatanga Regional Hospitals among other few structures were the only ones found to be accessible.

The assessment was made possible by RISE-Ghana under a project dubbed “Creating an enabling environment and strengthening organizations of people with disability to engage power”, with support from the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ) and Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

The project was among other things expected to strengthen capacities of organisations for PWDs, increase transparency, accountability and responsiveness of duty bearers and a successful implementation of the PWD Act in the Bolgatanga and Bawku Municipalities and Ghana as a whole.

The overall goal of the project was to strengthen the capacities of organizations of PWDs to demand transparency, accountability and responsiveness of duty-bearers and advocate for the implementation of the PWD Act.

Mr. Awal Ahmed, ProJECT Manager, RISE-Ghana

According to the Project Manager of Rural Initiatives for Self Empowerment (RISE-Ghana), Awal Ahmed, the assessment of public buildings in the two Municipalities resulted in increasing awareness, expression of interest to take action and empathy on the part of some duty-bearers.

For instance, he told Savannahnews in an interview on the sidelines of a sensitisation workshop in Bawku, that the Upper East Regional Director of Education, Mr. Apanga Paul had confessed he heard about the PWD Act, but did not know that there was an accessibility provision and a 10-year moratorium. “Your visit is an eye opener and we will work to ensure that we put the necessary structures in place. I will urge you to bring together all Regional Directors and create more awareness since they have the power to ensure the PWD Act is implemented”, Mr. Ahmed quoted the Education Director as saying.

The Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Ayagle Edward and Mr. Dramani Imrana, the Deputy Co-ordinating Director of Bawku Municipal Assembly, he noted also commended RISE-Ghana/GIZ for the initiative and said they looked forward to a report on recommendations regarding the way forward.