Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ13: Provision of barrier-free access and facilities to people with disabilities

Following is a question by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 28):

Question:

Regarding the provision of facilities, such as tactile guide paths, Braille signs, entrances/exits and accesses allowing the passage of wheelchairs, ramps, toilets for the disabled and lifts serving all floors ("facilities for the disabled"), at various government buildings and cultural and recreational facilities managed by the Government ("government venues") in order to facilitate the access to such venues and use of the services therein by the elderly with mobility problems and the disabled, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it has assessed if the design and facilities of various government venues are in compliance with the various design requirements set out in the Design Manual Barrier Free Access 1997; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) of the respective numbers of government venues in various districts in which certain facilities for the disabled are still lacking; and the name and address of each of these venues, as well as the facilities that are lacking;

(c) whether it has plans to undertake works to retrofit facilities for the disabled at the government venues referred to in item (b) above; if it has, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d) whether it has plans to conduct consultation forums in various districts throughout the territory in order to gauge the public's views on which government venues are in need of facilities for the disabled; if it has, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?


Reply:

Madam President,

Regarding the four parts of the question, my reply is hereafter:

(a) The Government's policy is to provide people with disabilities with barrier-free access and facilities, to enable their full integration into society. At present, all government buildings as well as cultural and recreational facilities (hereafter government venues) constructed after 1997 are in compliance with the requirements of the Design Manual: Barrier Free Access 1997 (DM97).

For government venues constructed before 1997, renovation or repair works are normally carried out every 10 years. In each renovation or repair exercise, access and facilities will definitely be examined and where technically feasible, improvement will be made in compliance with the requirements of DM 97.

(b) Since the implementation of DM97, on top of regular renovation or repair works, the Administration has also initiated a number of measures to improve the access to and facilities of pre-1997 government venues in compliance with the new standards of DM97 as far as possible.

These measures include an improvement project implemented in collaboration with the Sub-committee on Access of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee, under which assessment on and reviews of access to and facilities of government venues are conducted in conjunction with various government departments on a regular basis in light of the views of people with disabilities, and funding will be sought annually to make improvement to prioritised government venues frequented by people with disabilities. As at the end of 2006, the Administration has earmarked some $68 million for the project to improve the access to and facilities of 130 government venues.

All government departments and public organisations will also, on their own initiative, carry out access and facility modification works in their service venues to facilitate the use of public services by people in need. Recent examples include:

(i) Post Office's modification project for its 36 post offices in 2001-04;

(ii) Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's modification project for 9 markets cum cooked food centres in 2002-04;

(iii) Hong Kong Police Force's modification project for 34 police stations in 2000-02;

(iv) 40 hospitals and medical institutions under the purview of Hospital Authority already being provided with suitable access and facilities for people with disabilities;

(v) 79 public clinics of the Department of Health already being provided with suitable access and facilities for people with disabilities; and

(vi) 90% of the some 1,600 cultural and recreational venues of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department already being provided with suitable access and facilities for people with disabilities.

(c) All post-1997 government venues are constructed in compliance with the requirements of DM97. For pre-1997 government venues, access and facilities will be improved in compliance with the requirements of DM 97 where technically feasible during renovation or repair works. In addition, the Administration will continue to initiate improvement work to enhance the access to and facilities of pre-1997 government venues in compliance with the requirements of DM97, including the provision of funding for individual government departments to conduct modification works for their venues, and collaborating with the Sub-committee on Access of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee on the project to make improvement to prioritised government venues frequented by people with disabilities.

(d) The Sub-committee on Access set up under the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee is a key government advisory machinery on access and facilities for people with disabilities. Its membership comprises people with disabilities, experts from the construction industry, academics and representatives of relevant government departments. The Sub-committee has been maintaining close ties with people with disabilities and local organisations to listen to their views on access and facilities of government venues in the community, before providing the Administration with recommendations for improvement. In fact, the Sub-committee has been collaborating with the Administration to make improvement to the access and facilities of government venues since 1985.


Ends/Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:16

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