By Maia Chung
“…Every citizen has a role to play in making sure that the targets we set for our country are met” – that statement was taken from information issued by the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), in its pamphlet used to synopsize the ideas and objectives of the Vision 2030 plan – a plan that is highly touted as the way forward for a better Jamaica.
And being an optimist I would imagine that indeed Vision 2030 will make us all happy and more fulfilled by that year. Write it into life I say!
Personally I hope we can get there earlier, but hey if we get there on schedule I’m good.
That plan ladies and gentlemen has four major goals: one is that Jamaicans are empowered to achieve their fullest potential, also that the Jamaican society is secure cohesive and just, another is that Jamaica’s economy is prosperous and also that Jamaica has a healthy natural environment.
The disabled populace is cited at approximately some ten percent of the Jamaican population – so it is roughly numbered at 270-thousand people; to include both physically and intellectually challenged.
Right now, based on information available from the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) ISO 23599: for the year 2012 is finally here!
And what is that?
Well simply… those letters and numbers reference assistive products for blind and vision-Impaired persons, that are employed in several developed nations already; and that represent the way forward for any country desiring to have all their citizenry “empowered to achieve their fullest potential”.
Broken down these “Assistives” are called Tactile Walking Surface Indicators (TWSIs) and any nation, with a VISION should be looking into ways to implement these Indicators – to achieve the full development and correct inclusion of their visually challenged persons.
According to the ISO 23599, using TWSIs “will make urban streets safer for people with visual impairments”.
Current figures on the globe’s visually challenged population say that 39 million of the world’s residents are totally blind, and 246 million have low vision.
Jamaica is undeniably not a safe or easily navigable place for persons with physical challenges. I know many of these individuals and the tales are sad and heart rending.
One I can cite, though not referencing ocular challenges: is one man who was rendered wheel chair bound by a gunman’s bullet, having his hands scraped bloody raw from wheeling around the Capital’s streets as he could not afford a motorized wheel chair. Yes people he used gloves and this still occurred.
The JCPD recently disseminated information to the effect that, “the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the world now has 285 million TWSIs making streets safer for visually impaired pedestrians”.
I think that as we move forward as a nation with Vision 2030- the GOJ and its partners must incorporate TWSIs as a part of any type of accommodatory equipment, for the disabled to ensure that we meet goal number one that of empowering all Jamaicans to achieve their full potential.
The ISO 23599 states that, “although many people who are visually impaired travel independently, wayfinding can be difficult in congested areas and where there are no features that can be used for guidance, for example walls, kerbs and changes in texture such as between pavement (sidewalk) and grass”.
Imagine the streets you walk on, here in our island home - as you read this and how hard they are to navigate with 20/20 vision.
The role of TWSIs ISO 23599 indicates: “TWSIs are widely used in many developed and some developing countries to provide wayfinding information to pedestrians who are visually impaired.
TWSIs are also used to alert people with visual impairments when they are approaching a hazard such as the edge of a platform, a flight of stairs or the end of the pavement and the beginning of the street. They are used in indoor as well as outdoor locations”.
Currently in my role as an advocate in the disabilities sector, I am on the ‘lookout’ for employment, several persons who are blind, who have masters degrees earned here at the UWI – but who allege that they remain unemployed they feel because of their disability.
Provisions for Jamaica’s blind and deaf residents I can testify to are much higher than those for persons affected by other challenges, so with a fairly string infrastructure this would be a wise place to ramp up the facilitatory access. It should be more doable than starting from scratch.
If we as a nation have a VISION – it must if it does not (and I ain’t saying it doesn’t) incorporate the investment in TWSIs, as an initial investment – a part of meeting goal number three, of Vision 2030 - that Jamaica’s economy is prosperous.
As to me it should be obvious to the blind that by including persons who have the talent to earn their Masters degrees… into the national work pool, should within reason yield positive developments for the this nation.
If we reference the ISO 23599 again as it relates to these infrastructural aids, “the TWSI’s by providing information for safety and wayfinding…improve the confidence, independence and quality of life of people who are visually impaired. This is achieved by enabling them to participate in employment, social, recreational, educational, cultural and religious activities”.
And, “there are other systems and devices for providing wayfinding and safety information to people who are visually impaired. These include accessible signals that use sound and/or vibration to provide information for crossing at pedestrian traffic lights (standardized as ISO 23600:2007, assistive products for persons with vision impairments and persons with vision and hearing impairments - acoustic and tactile signals for pedestrian traffic lights)”.
So as we look at providing for our own Jamaicans, what about those 246 million low vision global citizens who want to experience the Jamaican tourism experience? If we get 2 million a dem a year we shell weh!
With the JCPD spearheading the nation’s Inaugural Disabilities Friendly Awards Gala; with that event’s partial aim being encouraging the globe’s disabled tourists to come here, a serious look must be taken at all methods and equipment needed to make our various residents as well as visitors safe and desirous of spending their money here. Let the record show that visually challenged people - which yes I am one of – have money to spend on traveling around the world too.
“ISO 23599 will enable the safe and secure travel of people with visual impairments around the world. It is now possible for people who are visually impaired to use both GPS-based, real-time wayfinding information and some electronic information systems for public buildings. Such electronic systems can complement, but do not replace, the requirement for tactual information. Among their advantages, TWSIs can lead users precisely to a destination, can be used to provide information both indoors and outdoors, do not require electric power and do not require users to purchase or maintain any special equipment”.
So as by the GOJ’s instructions on the role each Jamaican has to play in the realization of Vision 2030, I am seizing mine of, “learn everything you can about Vision 2030 Jamaica and help educate others”.
And in addition I am calling out to the following who have been cited as Vision 2030 plan implementers
1. Ministries, departments and agencies of government
2. The Private Sector
3. Civil society including NGO’s, faith based organizations, CBO’s and International Development partners
I say to you all aforementioned, research into costs and implementation systems for TWSIs must be a combined effort, as TWSIs with smart planning will not just benefit the blind. Falling in the realm of global best practices as they do these TWSIs must must must be a part of our 2030 execution schedule.
These are the ideas that bind and that stand to help growth and progress both economically as well as socially.
Now we know and knowing is half the battle…
Maia Chung is the Chairman of the Public Education Sub-Committee of the Jamaican National Advisory Board for Persons with Disabilities she can be contacted at maiachungjcrc@gmail.com
