Senator laments neglect of differently-abled

“We all frequent the chamber in the service of the people. From the looks of things to me and for those who have unfettered eyes to see, it would seem to be in the service of some people and not all,” Roach said in his contribution to the Budget debate. “After three-odd years of being an Independent Senator, one would have thought that some proper physical arrangement would have been made by now for the differently-abled member or staff or visitors to be able to have unrestricted access to all areas in this chamber. But this is not so.” Roach stressed that after three years as an Independent Senator, no amenities have been provided for him to access the area in which the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President sit in the Chamber, if the need arose.

“Mr Vice-President (Nigel De Freitas), if for one reason you were to be absent and the Leaders of Government Business absent and I am the coordinator (of the Independents), who will take your place, how will I get there?” he asked. “If you were to, for some reason, tomorrow, God forbid, be forced to be in a wheelchair, how will you get to that stand. You can’t.” Roach, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past five years, said the absence of amenities for the differently-abled in the Parliament Chamber also restricted his access to simply venture across the room to members of opposing benches. He said: “If I want to have a conversation with any member of Parliament on the other side, unless they indulge me in coming to me, I cannot go to them. Same thing to the Opposition. This is totally unsatisfactory in 2016. I am here three years and nothing has been done.” Roach recalled that within the last year, he had invited members of the Senate to pretend as though they were wheelchair-bound.

“It has been a full year since the last budget when I invited members of the last Parliament to come to work in a wheelchair and experience for themselves how challenging it is to go about their daily activities while being in such circumstances,” he said. “To date, I am yet to see anyone in such circumstances take up the challenge. It has not been done because it will be an inconvenience to all. If right here in this Parliament, this attitude of utter in difference is shown to the public, what can one expect to go on outside these sectors.” In his contribution, Roach extended kudos to part-time grocery attendant Lillyan Williams, who made national headlines recently when she was photographed feeding a wheelchair-bound man in San Fernando. The man had been waiting to be picked up by the Elderly and Differently-abled Mobile (ELDAMO) bus service.

“Who knows how long he was waiting for the bus service to go home after grocery shopping. The situation should not be satisfactory with any authority charged with making persons with disabilities more mobile and to have a higher quality of life,” Roach said.

The Independent Senator said politicians should be “hanging their heads in shame” over the development.

“The Government will have to make it a national policy, that all public modes of transportation be outfitted to accommodate the differently-abled members of the public,” Roach said.