Tag: Undang-Undang Kecil 34A Undang-Undang Kecil Bangunan Seragam

Access Audit Training For PERKESO – Day 2

The second day of the training for the Return To Work Section staff of PERKESO entailed actual site audit. Participants were divided into five groups accompanied by a facilitator each. I was assigned to Group 4 that was to audit Menara PERKESO, the organisation’s headquarters at Jalan Ampang. Incidentally, several participants of the group worked there, which made the exercise easier as they were familiar with the premises.

Menara PERKESO at Jalan Ampang - Headquarters of Social Security Organisation Malaysia.
Menara PERKESO at Jalan Ampang – Headquarters of the Social Security Organisation Malaysia

Making photographic record for access audit of an accessible parking at Menara PERKESO
Making photographic record for access audit of an accessible parking at Menara PERKESO.

Members of the group that I facilitated displayed great enthusiasm and initiative during the site audit. Although time allocated for this practice was limited, they tried to cover as much ground as possible. If only the officers of local governments showed half as much spirit in ensuring that the built environment is accessible, the infrastructure would not be in the situation it is now where disabled people face great difficulties with barriers all over the place.

Measuring public telephone and toilet seat height at Menara PERKESO
Measuring public telephone and toilet seat height at Menara PERKESO.

Group presentation on findings and recommendations at Audit Access Training for PERKESO's Return To Work Section
Group presentation on findings and recommendations at Audit Access Training for PERKESO’s Return To Work Section.

Participants were required to make a presentation of their findings and make recommendations according to the Malaysian Standard MS 1184: Code of Practice on Access for Disabled Persons to Public Buildings. Generally, all of them have a good grasp of various barriers in the buildings that they audited. In fact, I was surprised at how detailed their findings were. What they need now is more practice in producing an audit report with precise recommendations that is useful to building owners and contractors rectifying the problems. In summing it up, I would say the participants did well and PERKESO is doing the right things where disability issues are concerned.

Group photo at conclusion of Audit Access Training for PERKESO's Return To Work Section
Group photo at conclusion of Audit Access Training for PERKESO’s Return To Work Section.

Access Audit Training For PERKESO – Day 1

The Return to Work Department of PERKESO (Social Security Organisation Malaysia) is running a 2-day Access Audit Training for 36 case managers and placement officers starting today. Dr. Naziaty Yaacob is the chief facilitator, assisted by four co-facilitators, for this workshop held at the Kuala Lumpur PERKESO office.

Simulation exercise of person with low vision outside the Kuala Lumpur Perkeso Office
Simulation exercise of person with low vision outside the Kuala Lumpur Perkeso Office.

The purpose of this workshop is to familiarise participants with barriers in the built-environment, conduct access audits and furnish recommendations for workplaces of disabled members of the organisation under the Return to Work Programme.

We will be conducting access audits of five buildings and their surroundings tomorrow morning, namely the Intercontinental Hotel, Boulevard Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel, Wisma PERKESO at Jalan Tun Razak and Menara PERKESO Jalan Ampang which is the headquarters of the organisation. I will be facilitating the team auditing Menara PERKESO headed by Tuan Roshaimi bin Mat Rosely, Manager of Return to Work Section.

#tanyanajib

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak invited Malaysians on Facebook and Twitter to ask him questions from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm today. The Twitter hashtag is #tanyanajib while questions through Facebook can be submitted at www.facebook.com/najibrazak. I have never seen a Twitter timeline scroll down so fast. Due to the overwhelming response, the time to pose questions was extended to 6.00 pm.

I thought that this would be a good opportunity to pose the questions on longstanding disability issues to him and see if he responds. These issues are, after all, not new but ones that have gone unresolved for the longest time. Will Najib address any of them? Time will tell. By the way, at this moment, #tanyanajib is trending in ninth position worldwide. We sure have a lot of questions for the Prime Minister!

#tanyanajib Why are roads in KL full of potholes? Dangerous to motorcyclists. DBKL not doing a good job.

#tanyanajib Why is Prasarana/RapidKL so reluctant in using non-step buses? We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Look at Japan and Australia.

#tanyanajib Why is full relief on income tax not given to purchase of rehabilitative and support equipment for disabled people?

#tanyanajib Will you amend UBBL 34A to make it COMPULSORY for all buildings and street environment to have access for disabled people?

#tanyanajib Will the MRT be barrier-free?

#tanyanajib What is the govt doing to prevent abuse of parking and toilet for disabled people?

#tanyanajib Public transport is not accessible. Disabled people stuck at home. What is the govt doing to resolve this?

#tanyanajib Will Malaysia enact punitive anti-discrimination law to protect the rights of disabled people?

#tanyanajib Join OKUs on a wheelchair ride around KL to experience the mega-problems we face everyday. Not much has changed since Akta OKU.

#tanyanajib Is the govt changing “orang kurang upaya” to something more empowering? We certainly are not people of lesser abilities.

What is the govt’s plan in making Malaysia barrier free? If yes, is there a time frame to it? #tanyanajib @ShahrizatJalil