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The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD) in the Central Region has called on government to implement all laws and policies on accessibility of public structures for Persons with Disability (PWDs).

It also warned that it will not hesitate to evoke the powers of the court against government and contractors who failed to comply with the directive enshrined in the Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715).

The act directs that all public offices must be disability friendly after 10 years.

But, Nana George Frimpong, the Central Regional President of GFD, observed that due to the “lack of visionary leaders” and their “negative discriminatory attitudes”, the act had not been fully implemented.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency ahead of the May Day celebration Sunday, he insisted that they had moved from the stage of reasonable accommodation to an era of enforcement.

“So, if there is a new public structure that is coming up and that structure is not disability friendly, it is up to us to draw the attention of those putting up building to make it accessible.

“If after dialoguing with them and they don’t do so, we have every right to take them to the law court to be prosecuted,” he said.

He questioned how physically disabled persons were expected to function effectively without a friendly environment at their workplaces.

He recounted that the Federation had confronted some authorities and contractors on several projects and their demands were eventually heeded to.

“Most of the contractors said they did not factor that into the original designs of the buildings. But after dialoguing and threatening to take them to court, most of them have modified their designs,” he said.

He was, however, quick to acknowledge that many buildings springing up were disability friendly, especially to wheelchair users.

“For example, the new administration block of the University of Cape Coast is just two storeys, but they have lifts which are working effectively and efficiently and this is what we are all praying for as Persons with Disability in this Country,” he stressed.

May Day, International Workers Day or Labour Day is an annual holiday observed on May 1 of every year in over 80 countries to commemorate the achievements of the labour movement.

This year’s Workers Day falls today, Sunday and in Ghana, various labour groups across all regions are observing the day with march-pasts and durbars celebrate their efforts.

Nana Frimpong in an interview, called for a major policy to institute sign language interpretation in all public offices.

That, he argued, would enable employees who were deaf to communicate effectively and function efficiently at the highest level.

In view of that, he said efforts must be made to train more people sign language as there were not enough people proficient in the language.

“If they are not there, that means the deaf person will always have to be writing on paper to communicate with employers and colleagues. If they are not literate enough, naturally, there will be negative discrimination against them because of the communication barrier,” he said.

The Central Regional GFD President also made a strong case for employers to install digital and assistive devices at the office to make PWDs work effectively and efficiently.

He intimated that many employers were unwilling to introduce such devices because of the high cost involved, adding that, “the absence of these is militating against our upward growth and development.”

Nana Frimpong indicated the Federation had established an IT training centre to train more PWDs to become IT proficient to enable them fit into the job market.