Author: Aurora Shpataj
The life of Flamur Bala, one of those citizens with disabilities, is not easy at all. Born with a different ability, Flamur's life is closely connected with the city of Durrës, where he confesses how difficult it is to use the road not only for him, but also for others who are reported as differently abled people in the same city 3290 citizens.
" In my city, they are lacking, but mainly for people with disabilities, accessibility is lacking, mobility, the suitability of sidewalks is poor. This is one of the biggest problems we encounter. For people who move in wheelchairs, mothers who move children in wheelchairs, for the elderly, for the blind. Because the sidewalks do not have the right slope for vehicles to pass, but they also do not have the markings that are needed for blind people. There are some plates that are placed from the beginning to the end of the sidewalk with some marked engravings that measure the sensation of the stick, so it shows the creak of the stick that blind people use to move ."
This has directly impacted his daily routine, which starts with the adaptation of vehicles for people with different abilities and continues as the building administrator.
" I see that many people with disabilities do not go out because of this problem, which is very big, that Durrës does not have sidewalks that are suitable. Durrës is not just 2-3 streets that are very wide, there is the hospital street which is a scandal, the market street, neighborhoods 17, 15, 16, the entire suburb is unsuitable."
But are there no ramps in the city of Durrës? The 33-year-old has provided information and is convinced that the entire city has almost 50 to 60 of these. But they do not meet the criteria
" They come up in my dreams because I've seen them so many times, I've stepped on them so many times. I don't want to be exaggerating, nor do I want to be fake, I want to be original. Not all of them are unsuitable, but most of them are unsuitable, " confesses Flamur, who suggests not building them with a pronounced slope.
" The Volga area from Veliera to the end is adapted, then the Currila section is not adapted, the "Egnatia" road is also adapted. There I am pleased that the markings for the blind have been respected, despite the fact that they have not been maintained. There is also the square and the Dyrrah Boulevard, while the "Aleksandër Goga" road is adapted up to Pranvera, but not completely because it has some defects . "
According to the young man, the problems encountered on the streets of Durrës arise from indifference.
" If you built the ramp as a municipality, as an institution or as a company that won the tender, you should have done it at the beginning and at the end of the sidewalk, because you get on the ramp and go to the end of the sidewalk and see the height at the end. They forgot to do it in 3 or 4 places, but they made it too high. On "Aleksandër Goga" street, the ramps were made with the most defects. Some ramps were made partially on Pranvera, but they were made with many defects, so you can't call it an area that is okay ."
Clearly listing the responsibilities, the 33-year-old does not leave behind the institutions in which there is also a lack of passage for wheelchairs.
" They are a real scandal, totally unsuited, they do not offer us any kind of accessibility. First of all, the municipality of Durrës, ALUIZNI, Perfektura, UKD, OSHEE now have a new office with ramps, but the peripheral offices are all without ramps, and ISSH is unsuited only on the ground floor, there is none on the other floors, there is no ramp at the taxes office."
Durrës without ramps makes it difficult to get around even during public transport. The comparison made by Flamur has Italy as a model, where urban dwellers are adapted to ramps.
" While here the same buses, the same urban buses have been taken and used for citizens, while people with disabilities are a forbidden apple. After the ramps are screwed with screws by the companies that took them, they are too lazy to get down to open the ramp, and this is discriminatory, it is a shame, the worst thing a company can do. So the municipality of Durrës should not close its eyes and once again review the permit given to these companies, because it is a shame that in 2023, when we want to go towards Europe, we will have buses without ramps, " Flamur concludes.
In an effort to turn this whole impasse into a case, Flamur has started contacts with the city hall. He says that even though he has contacted the Durrës municipality, the response leaves much to be desired. He mentions a more official conversation of the local government where he volunteered to supervise the vehicles, how long the young man has been a mechanic and he can adapt the vehicles for people with different abilities. Sinjalizo contacted the Durrës Municipality through an official request for information on the situation of the ramps, which are reported to be 85 ramps on the requalified roads and 23 ramps on the unqualified roads.
" The number of disabled people by category is: 3290 people with disabilities, 796 people with Blind Status, 420 people with First and Tetraplegic Status and 5329 Work Invalids." - it is written in the official response of the Municipality of Durres.
But, in terms of the monetary value, the municipality has not agreed to give a figure, but gives the answer as below.
" Regarding the estimated value for the construction of ramps, as we explained to you, a road reconstruction project in the project and estimate also foresees the construction of the ramp, which is part of the sidewalk and cannot be treated separately. They are part of the road investment, they are in a estimate with the road reconstruction ."
But Flag turned expert calculates how much a ramp costs.
" I have said hundreds of times that it is something that is solved if a ramp is built, it is not a waste, it is not a cost, it is a saving. Every sidewalk that is built is paved with tiles, and the final curbs that serve to finalize the sidewalk are also laid. A curb costs at least 20-30 thousand old lek. With that lek, you don't need to spend money to buy a curb, but you save a curb and build a ramp. So the tiles are simply made with zero level and you don't need to buy a curb, so we make minus hundreds of curbs and build hundreds of ramps ."
