V. MURUGESWARAN has to dodge motor vehicles every time he wheels his wheelchair past the North Court entrance of Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, to get to the KTM station.
Two groups of wheelchair-bound people going along the main road, through dangerous traffic, to cross from the KTM station to Mid Valley Megamall and vice versa.
The Damai Disabled Persons Association Malaysia (Damai) president was one of more than 30 disabled people in wheelchairs who demonstrated on what they face when going to the KTM station from Mid Valley and vice versa.
“Cars pass by very fast and it is a struggle every time we attempt to cross the entrance and the street to the station,” he said recently.
He said they had to rely on other people to help them cross.
“Mid Valley management had offered to help us cross but that would require us to call them first and wait for them to help us.
“We want a solution whereby we can go back and forth between these two locations easily, freely and independently,” he said.
During the quick demonstration between the two locations, four auxiliary police officers from the mall assisted the group to cross the road to the station and the disabled had to rely on them to lift their wheelchairs at the high kerb to enable them to enter the station.
The officers were struggling to lift them one by one and this slowed down traffic.
The auxiliary police said at least two officers were on standby to help an average of five to six disabled people daily.
Murugeswaran said they faced the same lack of accessibility in many other places in public areas.
“Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and other local authorities need to address this seriously.
“We also hope KTMB, DBKL and the Mid Valley management will meet with us to resolve our problem of accessibility between Mid Valley and the KTM station quickly,” he added.
Murugeswaran said the best solution was to build an elevator at the station for the wheelchair-bound to access the link bridge to the mall.
Damai vice-president Manokaran Munusamy noted there was a ramp at the platform of the station to go to the mall.
“But it is too steep and it is difficult for someone like me who do not have strong arms to control the wheelchair.
“It is often closed off and again, we have to find someone to open the gate for us,” said Manokaran.
The group also highlighted the gap of five to eight inches between the train and the platform.
“The small wheels of wheelchairs may get lodged in the gap and this makes it dangerous for us,” he said.
Damai received a show of support from Dual Blessing Bhd executive director Danny Tan, who is also in a wheelchair.
“We want to be able to move about on our own and be independent,” he said.
He said the Government was duty-bound to look into the difficulties faced by the disabled community.
The Mid Valley Megamall management said in a statement thatMid Valley Megamall had additional plans to cater to the disabled community.
“At the moment, there are hazard lights installed on both sides of the road at the zebra crossing.
“With particular focus on the accessibility from the train station to the mall, we will raise the road at the crossing to reduce the height between the kerb and the road,” the statement read.
The management said the initiatives would further enhance the safety standard for pedestrians travelling from the train station to the mall.
“We will also add signs to urge road users to be mindful of them, abled and disabled alike.
“Simultaneously, more work will be put into the railings along the pavement as well.”
The management also said it was working with the relevant authorities to improve accessibility from the train station into the shopping centre.
“We have disabled-friendly infrastructures installed, in both Mid Valley Megamall and The Gardens Mall including wheelchairs, power shoppers, disabled-friendly parking bays, conveniently located disabled-friendly toilets, ramps and lifts with disabled-friendly buttons,” the mall management said.
A KTMB spokesman said it did not have any plans yet to build an elevator at the station.
“However, we will take their suggestion into consideration,” she said.