FG to shut down public buildings without facilities for PWDs

The federal government says it will shut down public buildings without minimum standards of accessibility for People living With Disabilities (PWDs).

It also said it will deal with organisations who fail to comply with the 5 percent employment provision for PWDs as enshrined in the Disability Act.

This was disclosed by James Lalu, executive secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), during a briefing with journalists on Thursday in Abuja.

NAN reports that the briefing was part of activities to mark the 2023 International Day of PWDs.

Lalu said the commission will start taking action as soon as the ultimatum given to organisations by the federal government, elapses on January 16, 2024.

“This commission was established with the full responsibility for the enforcement of its laws and it has been stated in the commission’s establishment laws,” he said.

“Five years was given to organisations to comply with accessibility laws.

“We are now transiting from the era of advocacy to enforcement. By January, we would go out in full force to make sure that the provisions of the law is properly enforced.”

Lalu added that the commission will engage relevant stakeholders to constitute a special task force to implement the accessibility law.

“We would start meeting with partners to constitute a task force immediately before this Christmas. Everything will be on ground before the end of this year,” he said.

“The commission’s task force will move out in full force and will start visiting key offices for physical assessment of facilities in the key offices.”

He also said NCPWD will ensure that organisations comply with the 5 percent employment provision for PWDs.

“Our assessment may not only end on the physical facilities, but the composition of the staff in these institutions,” he said.

“We want to know how many they have as persons with disabilities, the total number of the staffing decisions and then the maintenance of the five persons in these institutions.”

Betta Edu, minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, said the commission has the full backing of President Bola Tinubu.