Accessibility in Malta

In this blog I’m going to discuss briefly some issues of the lack of accessibility in Malta.

Accessibility is not only for mobility impaired people who use wheel chairs, but also for people who use pushchairs/prams, elderly people who make use of walking strollers, etc. But the most people who really need accessibility are wheelchair users, people who needs their independency when using public pavements.

Most pavements in Malta, especially in central areas are typically inaccessible. Mostly because roads are so narrow that there isn’t space for pavement. For example the town where I live (Rabat), the pavements are really narrow that wheel chair users couldn’t pass and alternatively they pass from roads which might be dangerous for them. 

I frequently notice a lady who uses an electric wheel chair nearby my house, who uses the road on daily basis independently and I notice some of the struggles she meets along the way. Form one point of view it is a positive thing to see a physically impaired person being independent, but on another point of view most of the pavements aren’t accessible for her, so she has to use the road which is really dangerous for her and car users, which are at risk of causing an unfortunate accident.

Simple ramps are surely necessary for wheelchair users, there should be multiple of them along a pavement for an easy access. Some pavements that can be accessible and wide enough for wheelchair users, will also have obstacles such as having poles installed at the middle of the pavements (especially during the feasts lots of decoration poles). Other common obstacles in Malta are holes, trees, garage slopes, damaged pavements (which are made of cheap materials and sometimes take weeks or months to get fixed), etc. Traveling around Malta, one will find lots of these obstacles. Another thing that we might also take for granted is how car users tent to park randomly on the pavements causing a temporary obstacle. So, I think educating the citizens is also necessary to respect these people accordingly.   

For me as a person who do not need any of these aids such as a wheelchair, I don’t really understand the difficulty a wheel chair user might encounter along his/her way. I believe that if the authorities put themselves in the shoe of these people by testing out the Maltese roads by literally get on a wheelchair themselves, I think there might be solutions to more improvement in our roads when possible. However, I don’t really know if they already are conducting similar tests to understand their needs. Although, sometimes I can see that when a new project is being done, they are now taking into consideration accessibility, which I believe that it’s a step forward in improving physically impaired people’s lives, who needs to be independent as everyone else.

In addition, hotels and restaurants in Malta are improving and adapting for everyone’s needs, by designing accordingly to accessibility, which is another way for them to be competitive and user friendly. 

Reference:

Cutajar, K., 2014. A walk on the pavement. Times of Malta. [online] Available at: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141128/opinion/A-walk-on-the-pavement.545941 [Accessed 25 November 2016].