Provide more convenience for the disabled
Accelerate the construction of barrier-free facilities (letters and interviews)
Our reporter Huang Chaoyi Shuran
"People's Daily" (07th edition on April 12, 2021)
Ms. Wang is a disabled person, and she usually relies on a wheelchair to travel.
Not long ago, she wrote to reflect that the construction of barrier-free facilities in her city is still very backward. Some have no barrier-free passages, and some have built ramps but have steep slopes and no handrails, making them unsuitable for disabled people. It is hoped that relevant departments can improve barrier-free facilities in public service places to facilitate the life and work of persons with disabilities."
Statistics show that the total number of disabled people in my country exceeds 85 million, and barrier-free facilities are the basic guarantee for their normal work and life.
However, in some cities, imperfect functions, incomplete coverage, and inadequate management of barrier-free facilities have occurred from time to time, which has caused great inconvenience to the disabled.
All parties called for speeding up the construction of barrier-free facilities.
Problems such as incomplete coverage of barrier-free facilities, imperfect functions, unreasonable layout, inadequate maintenance, and man-made damage or occupancy are more prominent
"I try not to go out now. There are many people in the community, and you will bump into it if you don't pay attention." Li Yin (pseudonym), a reader from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, suffered a sharp decline in binocular vision due to illness many years ago. At present, there is only a little light perception.
She lives on the 6th floor, the first difficulty she got out of the house was to take the elevator. “There is no voice prompt in the elevator in the residential area. If there are more floors in the middle, it is easy to go wrong. For the blind, we use elevators, access control, express cabinets and other facilities. The provision of voice prompts is a real need."
Wei Penggang, a reader from Xi'an, Shaanxi, has been in a wheelchair for more than 20 years because of a high paraplegia caused by a car accident.
"In the past few years, many public places have built barrier-free toilets for disabled people. This is good news for us. But once, when I was using the toilet, I reached out to support the safety handrail and just tried hard on the handrail. I almost fell. I hope that the relevant departments can strengthen management and maintenance." Wei Penggang said that some facilities are frequently used and need to be overhauled in time to ensure the safety of the disabled. Be careful".
Reporters surveyed in some cities and found that in addition to the unsystematic and non-standard barrier-free facilities that have been built, there are also problems such as slow renovation of the existing environment and poor maintenance.
Mr. Zhou, a reader from Tianshui City, Gansu, said in his letter: “There are few barrier-free facilities near my home, and the renovation is not timely. Like supermarkets and shopping malls, there are steps at the entrances. If you want to get in, you have to rely on people to lift them. In order not to trouble others, I had to Staying at home feels out of touch with social life."
When visiting some communities, the reporter found that although there is a ramp in front of the unit of each building, the surface of the ramp has large undulating grooves. The wheels of the wheelchair can easily get stuck in the grooves, and even cause it to roll over. Not a small safety hazard.
Reader Li Hongsen from Quanzhou City, Fujian believes that there are still shortcomings in urbanization and urban development in some places, such as incomplete coverage of barrier-free facilities, imperfect functions, unreasonable layout, inadequate maintenance, and man-made damage or occupancy.
Liu Ming, a reader from Jiangsu who has been working in the front line of the transportation department for a long time, said that the existing public transportation in some places cannot meet the needs of barrier-free travel, and it is urgent to increase the transformation efforts, especially the construction, application and management of barrier-free facilities in the field of railway transportation. Both need to continue to be strengthened.
The construction of barrier-free facilities should start from the details, be accurate and in place, and gradually realize the improvement from "is there" to "good or not"
In recent years, all sectors of society have continued to create conditions for people with disabilities to go out of their homes and fully participate in social life.
According to the "Statistical Bulletin on the Development of the Work for the Disabled in 2019", 1,737 cities and counties have implemented barrier-free construction, 537 provincial, city, and county-level related administrative regulations and other documents have been promulgated, and 49,000 barrier-free trainings have been made.
In addition, barrier-free passenger vehicles have been promoted nationwide. More than 3,400 EMUs have been equipped with special seats for the disabled. Urban buses are equipped with on-board screens and voice announcement systems.
However, the reporter learned during the interview that some related facilities are still "not useful", and the phenomenon of emphasizing construction and neglecting management still exists.
"Promoting the construction of barrier-free facilities especially requires a change in concept." Li Nan, chairman of the Beijing Association of Handicapped People, said that some places believe that barrier-free facilities are for the disabled, and the overall demand is small, so the human, material and financial resources invested are limited. "In fact, As a basic public service of the society, the construction of barrier-free facilities should be universal. In addition to the disabled, the elderly, pregnant women, and children with limited mobility have certain usage needs."
She suggested that the construction of barrier-free facilities should start from the details, be precise and in place, and gradually realize the improvement from "is there" to "good or bad". Some areas with better basic conditions can also use technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence. Barrier-free facilities better meet the needs of diversified use.
"In some places, barrier-free facilities are better than nothing, and they are often neglected in management and maintenance, which often cause man-made obstacles. For example, some barrier-free toilets have stairs at the entrance; parking spaces for the disabled in the parking lot are too small for the disabled to use, etc. The main reason for this situation is that the main responsibilities of management and maintenance have not been effectively implemented, and the supervision mechanism has not really formed." Wu Ling, a reader from Hefei City, Anhui, suggested that a normalized social supervision mechanism should be explored and the relevant departments should take the lead. , Invite NPC deputies, CPPCC members, experts and scholars, disabled persons, etc., to inspect the construction, renovation, maintenance, and use of barrier-free facilities, to understand the actual needs of disabled persons in a timely manner, and to report to relevant departments when problems are discovered, and to supervise relevant The unit has been rectified and improved.
The reporter learned that since the "Regulations on the Construction of Barrier-free Environments" were implemented in 2012, various localities have successively issued regulations and regulations on barrier-free construction and management, but a considerable part of the provisions are encouraging and advocating, and there is a lack of mandatory construction standards. , There is no corresponding punishment measures, the actual effect is discounted.
Many people in the legal profession suggested that relevant current regulations should be "embedded" revisions, the norms and requirements for barrier-free construction should be clarified, and the punishment mechanism for violations of the norms should be established to ensure that barrier-free construction is planned, designed, and constructed simultaneously with urban and rural construction ,management.
Reader Li in Shangqiu, Henan suggested that the design, construction, supervision, and acceptance of newly-built barrier-free facilities should be strictly controlled, and mandatory barrier-free design standards should be formulated. “Designers and builders may wish to blindfold and plug their ears before starting construction. Or sit in a wheelchair and experience the feelings of the disabled for yourself, so that we can better build suitable barrier-free facilities for them from the perspective of the disabled."
Build in accordance with local conditions, form a supervisory mechanism, and increase investment in the environment of families, rural areas, and old communities
In recent years, government departments have continuously promoted the improvement of barrier-free facilities to create barrier-free environments for the disabled to participate in social life on an equal footing.
The "14th Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 long-term goal outline clearly propose to improve the policy system for the construction and maintenance of barrier-free facilities, strengthen the construction of supporting facilities and barrier-free facilities, and implement more preferential policies.
The "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline" also clarifies that the construction of barrier-free facilities should be strengthened and barrier-free equipment and equipment should be improved.
How can we make the home and community life of the disabled more convenient?
How can we improve their travel convenience and service level for them?
"The construction of barrier-free facilities is a necessary condition for ensuring the equal participation of the disabled in social life, and it is also one of the important signs of social civilization." Sun Yiping, deputy dean of the Institute of Barrier-Free Development of Tsinghua University, said that relevant departments should increase barrier-free design Standardized publicity and training, to achieve synchronous design, synchronous acceptance, synchronous use, and synchronous management of barrier-free facilities projects and main projects to ensure that barrier-free facilities are in place according to standards; different areas such as plains and mountains should be constructed in accordance with actual conditions and applications according to local conditions Situational barrier-free facilities; for public service facilities that have been built but imperfect barrier-free facilities, we must coordinate all parties in a timely manner, formulate a renovation plan, invite people with disabilities to experience, discuss, and improve unreasonable designs; barrier-free construction needs related Government department management, but the later maintenance and function improvement can adopt the method of combining the government and civil organizations.
"Compared to cities, the construction of barrier-free facilities in rural areas is even more inadequate and needs to be improved." Kang Yu, a reader from Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, suggested that the needs of rural persons with disabilities should also attract the attention of relevant departments. The construction and transformation of barrier-free facilities in rural areas It should be promoted in tandem with cities, and the construction needs of barrier-free environments in urban residential areas and rural areas should be considered as a whole.
As an important part of the construction of barrier-free facilities, family barrier-free renovation is related to the daily life of the disabled and affects their most basic quality of life.
During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, a total of 650,000 poor and severely disabled families have been barrier-free.
Shanghai reader Lei Zhang said that the barrier-free renovation of families with disabilities should shift from simplification to individualized customization for individual needs, so as to better meet the differentiated needs of persons with disabilities. "We must further play the leading role of standards and comprehensively review existing standards. , To organize efforts to compile technical guidelines for barrier-free renovation of residential buildings".
"For the barrier-free facilities in communities and other public places, relevant departments should conduct regular and comprehensive investigations, form a list of problems, and include them in the annual construction and rectification plan, and formulate a personalized transformation plan." Wang Guobiao, a reader from Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, recommends long-term effectiveness To ensure the maintenance of facilities, relevant functional departments and the Disabled Persons’ Federation organizations shall supervise the construction, maintenance, and use of barrier-free facilities in accordance with the law, and strengthen professional vocational training for planning, design, construction, and supervision personnel.