Polish gov’t in push for more disabled-friendly infrastructure
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
25.06.2019 16:20
Architectural barriers are expected to disappear in public institutions, schools and healthcare centres across Poland under a plan backed by the country’s government on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (centre) meets with his Cabinet ministers in Warsaw on Monday.Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
A special fund to help finance the construction of disabled- and senior-friendly infrastructure will also be established under the plan, which is part of the government’s multibillion Accessibility Plus programme.
The new legislation is designed to “open the door to public institutions" for people with disabilities, senior citizens and parents with children, the country’s Investment and Development Minister Jerzy Kwieciński said, as quoted in a statement issued after the Cabinet’s meeting in Warsaw on Tuesday.
Under the proposal, which will now go to parliament for debate, public institutions, offices, schools, universities and healthcare facilities will have to ensure accessibility in terms of architecture as well as digital technology and information for people with special needs, including wheelchair-confined citizens and those who are deaf or blind.
Poland’s government last summer approved a multibillion programme to redesign public infrastructure and make it more accessible to senior citizens and people with mobility problems.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at the time that some PLN 23 billion (EUR 5.4 bn, USD 6.2 bn) would be spent by the end of 2025 under the programme, dubbed Accessibility Plus, to improve the living conditions of elderly Poles and citizens with various kinds of mobility impairments.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, IAR