Disability Technology & News

Singapore Barrier-free Masterplan

Concrete steps towards mobility
$32-million masterplan for barrier-free accessibility in over 8,000 HDB blocks

Thursday • February 15, 2007

Jasmine Yin
jasmine@mediacorp.com.sg

BY 2011, battling steps and kerbs may become a thing of the past for the elderly and the disabled in constituencies run by 14 town councils when a $32.4-million, five-year barrier-free accessibility (BFA) masterplan gets underway in April.
And the people heading each of these 14 People’s Action Party (PAP) town councils will consult grassroots organisations and residents on their living and travel patterns before drawing up their programmes, co-ordinating chairman Teo Ho Pin told the media yesterday.

Some 8,279 public housing blocks – — about 3.08 million residents — will be affected by the masterplan, which includes levelling steps as well as building ramps and railings. About 7 per cent of Singapore’s population today is 65 years old and above, a statistic expected to more than double by 2030.

Exactly what share of the budget each town council is getting will depend on the town’s size and population profile and needs, explained Dr Teo, who is also the North West District mayor. Priority will be given to those who are elderly or have mobility difficulties.

The Government’s Community Improvement Projects Committee will fund 95 per cent of the cost, while the town councils cough up the rest.

Dr Teo said that there are economies of scale when the 14 town councils carry out simultaneous BFA works. Also, they can shorten their learning curves by updating one another on their mistakes and sharing tips, such as building a ramp of concrete because the material — despite its unsightliness — will not become slippery from wear and tear.

The authorities are mindful of how well-utilised the BFA features built would be, Dr Teo said. Some residents have preferred to find their own shortcuts — such as a dirt track across a plot of empty State land — because they find them the most efficient way to get about, which “may not always be desirable”.

A 76-year-old retiree fell and died after taking a shortcut across a one-metre-wide drain at Toh Tuck Road on Jan 30, The New Paper reported yesterday.

How to balance convenience with safety? There must be clear concrete links from one building or amenity to the next, and “the parameters must be well thought out and implemented, not left to chance”, said Dr Teo.

Ms Judy Wee, vice-president of the Handicaps Welfare Association, hopes that more consultation would lead to better implementation of the Government’s BFA plans. “If they want to do it, they need to do it right,” she told Today.

Examples of poorly built BFA features that she has seen in public housing estates include ramps that are too steep, concave or convex for the wheelchair-bound to use easily and safely.

Prior to the masterplan, 87 pilot projects involving over 1,300 blocks have already been identified, with BFA works — along with lift upgrading — due to be completed in the next three months.

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