As a DET (Disability Equality Training) trainer, I conduct workshops to facilitate the understanding of disability issues. At the end of these workshops, participants would have sufficient knowledge on the causes of disability and made a commitment to break environmental and attitudinal barriers in their work places or organisations.
Imagine to my horror, and embarrassment as a DET trainer, when a road hump was built across the road right next to the driveway to our house a few days ago. Wuan and I were not aware of it until she told me the next morning when she went out to discard the garbage.
We were neither informed nor asked if we consented to have the hump put up outside our house, as is the usual procedure when such a request is submitted to the municipal council, in this case, the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ).
In the past, I have worked with MPAJ to make the surrounding areas in the housing estate more accessible. I have also given a presentation on the build environment barriers at a dialogue session with disabled people, government agencies and the private sectors organised by the municipal council. In addition to that, I have held meetings with policians (links here and here) and municipal councillors serving this constituency with regards to making Pandan Perdana more accessible to disabled people.
Therefore, imagine how flabbergasted I was when I saw the hump. All the effort in breaking barriers around the place I now call home has come to nought. To add insult to injury, there is now a formidable barrier right at my doorstep. I have filed a complaint with MPAJ and awaiting the response from their engineering department responsible for infrastructure maintenance.
