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The Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD) has threatened a legal action against government over its failure to make all existing public infrastructure disability friendly.

According to the Federation, the transitional period of the Act that makes provision for a 10-year moratorium for compliance on access and mobility has almost elapsed, yet there have been scanty evidence to show for in government’s quest to implement the transition.

The Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) stipulates that the owner or occupier of a place to which the public has access shall provide appropriate facilities that make the place accessible to and available for use by a person with disability.

President of the Federation, Yaw Ofori Debrah in an interview with private radio station, Accra FM, said it is left with no option than to seek legal remedies to the situation.

“We’ve checked with all old public facilities and MDA’s across-board but in our search it’s only the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations that has re-engineered the facility to accommodate the disabled.

“Even with the new Senior High Schools being built by government in the country, the Federation has checked with four of the buildings, and the engineering plan of those facilities had no easy access to the disabled.”

“It will interest you to know that by August the deadline for the transition will expire, and if by then the gap still persist we’ll be forced to liaise with Human Right Lawyers to give us a voice.”