I had visited Peter Siow's condominium with the MBPJ team and found that there was no reason at all as to why a ramp can not be build for this elderly disabled gentlemen for his convenience.
Using "aesthetics" as an reason for not providing the ramp is discriminatory and unacceptable.
The good news is that the latest I've heard is that a green light has finally been given to the developer to build the ramp. Peter is expected to have his ramp by Hari Raya.
aNt
The issue of building aesthetics versus the needs of a physically challenged person came to the fore when a wheelchair user’s request for a ramp at the front lobby of the condominium he lives in was rejected by the Joint Management Body (JMB) committee.
"The JMB committee has spent lots of money repairing the swimming pool but does not want a ramp to be installed, apparently because it will ruin the aesthetics of the building," said Peter Siow, 72, who needs a wheelchair for mobility.
There is a ramp located at the basement car park of the building. However, it is too steep for Siow to use and has no railings.
Siow, who lives with his wife on the second floor of the condominium, can only use his right hand to manoeuvre his wheelchair on the steep ramp as his left hand is paralysed.
"When I call for a taxi and they go to the basement, they don’t know where to wait. Some of them drive off and I am left in the lurch. So now I use the front lobby, but with great difficulty."
Siow can drag himself down the stairs of the front lobby to get into a cab but can only manage to walk a few metres before requiring his wheelchair.
His request for a ramp to be built at the building’s front lobby has gone unheeded for a year.
But the good news now, following a call from Malay Mail, is that the property developer and the JMB of the condominium have agreed to consider his request.
Senior property manager Zainuddin Aziz of Glomac, the building developer, said they would be happy to install the ramp with the approval of the JMB of Prima Condominium Chapter Two.
"MBPJ officials have inspected the site and I believe they have specifications of the portable ramp they want to install. It’s now up to the MBPJ and Zainuddin," said JMB chairman, Dr Wu Chin Fong.
Zainuddin said yesterday that the developer has been told that it can proceed with the installation with a mandate from the JMB committee.
He added that if the management committee agrees to the installation of the ramp, Glomac will make a cost comparison between the quotation by the JMB and MBPJ’s specifications and decide on the kind of ramp to install.
The funding of the ramp will come from the maintenance fund managed by Glomac.
Meanwhile, until the JMB committee decides that it can sacrifice building aesthetics for the needs of a disabled person, Siow’s request remains in the balance. However, he has not given up hope.
"I hope the construction of this ramp will start soon and hopefully I will get to use the ramp by Hari Raya," Siow said.
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