BY JOY OFASIA
A two-day training on access auditing that looks at accessibility with persons with disabilities started yesterday at the People with Disability Solomon Islands (PWDSI) Conference Center in Honiara.
Speaking to SUNDAY ISLES in an interview, Telesia Kobiti, Program Officer at the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF), said the training aims to look at accessibility for persons with disabilities.
“We will look at accessibility in terms of public buildings, physical infrastructure, information and communication, and public services that are available to everyone and how this is accessible to persons with disabilities, as well as public transportation accessibility for persons with disabilities,” Telesia said.
“In this training, we will use our pdf access audit tool kit to identify standards and requirements that need to be fulfilled in order for buildings to be accessible for persons with disabilities,” she adds.
The PDF Program Officer said this training has also been carried out in other Pacific countries and is the second time it has been carried out here in the country, but with new audit members.
She said the training is important to be carried out here in the Solomon Islands.
“This training is important to be carried out here in the Solomon Islands; this will help them become advocates for accessibility. It will also help them to provide evidence, written reports, and recommendations on what can be done to ensure services, information, communications, and public facilities are accessible to them as well,” Telesia said.
Casper Fa’asala, Chief Executive Officer of the People with Disabilities Solomon Islands, said this is another parallel training under the four-day training and awareness for psychosocial disabilities training workshop.
Mr. Fa’asala said PWDSI is looking at the access audit section so that we can support the government with the construction and make sure the construction is accessible to people with disabilities.
“This is a priority because the government already committed in the new building code bill that people with disabilities would take a proactive part in the access to the new buildings that are coming,” he said.
One of the participants, Ellington Kabui, expressed his concern about the people living with disabilities around the Solomon Islands who face the challenge of accessibility.
