El Salvador Presents Legislation to Improve Urban Accessibility in the Municipalities
By Yolani Romero, Solidaridad Digital
The National Family Secretariat (Secretaría Nacional de la Familia, SNF) of El Salvador, headed by the First Lady, Lourdes de Flores, presented an accessibility project for urban areas which, if approved by the legislature, it will benefit thousands of persons with disabilities living in this Central American country.
The International Cooperation of Germany (Agencia de Cooperación Alemana, GTZ), estimates that before the year 2001, the year on which the Law of Equal Opportunities of El Salvador entered into force, there were about 800,000 persons with disabilities, that is, 10% of the population of the country.
The new Technical Norms for Urban Accessibility, Architecture, Transportation, and Communications (Normativa Técnica de Accesibilidad Urbanística, Arquitectónica, Transporte y Comunicaciones), contains dispositions to facilitate accessibility in public transportation vehicles, moving around commerce centers, parks, buildings and sidewalks.
Enforcement of the law
"This is an important achievement and great advancement for our country. The purpose of this instrument is to facilitate the operational aspects of the Law of Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and its by-laws," said the First Lady of El Salvador.
The document is organized into areas of action: transportation, urbanism, and communication. The Government requested urban developers and the authorities in charge of approving construction blueprints and inspection of works at buildings, parks, sidewalks, gardens and bathrooms, to include accessibility for persons with disabilities.
In the same manner, the representatives of the sector of transportation were requested to provide access ramps for users with physical disabilities.
Other measures included in the proposed legislation are access ramps in buildings, visible identification signs at doors, which must be wide enough for access of persons using wheelchairs or walkers, and a 3% of parking spaces reserve for cars used by persons with disabilities or senior citizens.
It should be noted that, though the proposal contains valuable and concrete measures in the areas mentioned above, it does not contain sanctions for non -compliance.
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