Towns in Sarawak on the way to being blind-friendly
SIBU: Local councils in the state are taking steps to make towns and cities friendlier to the visually-impaired and other less fortunate civil societies by improving accessibility.
Assistant Minister of Local Government Datu Dr Penguang Manggil said the needs of this segment of society are incorporated into building designs/ planning of local authorities (PBTs).
“The requirement for the visually-impaired as well as the other less fortunate civil societies are being incorporated into elements of the PBT such as in toilets, fivefoot-way, shopping malls and hospitals.
“This gives better accessibility to this segment of society for them to lead a normal life like other citizens,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Penguang who is Marudi assemblyman was asked if PBTs were making towns and cities in the state more friendly to the visually-impaired and persons with disabilities (OKUs).
Society of the Blind in Malaysia (SBM) hopes Sibu will one day become friendly to the visuallyimpaired.
SBM president Mohammed Nazari Othman noted that presently the town lacked facilities to increase mobility and accessibility for the blind.
“The most basic of such facilities is traffic lights with audible signals and tactile pavement which we still do not have in Sibu,” Mohammed Nazari said at the closing of the ‘White Cane Day’ celebration here last Sunday.
There are several parking bays in the town designated for OKU to facilitate their movement.