The main entrance to the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG) does not have access for people in wheelchairs, although there are side entrances. The "Radosav Ljumović" library does not have an entrance at all, and the Montenegrin National Theater (CNP) does, but only to the main hall. If the show is in another hall, we have to take the stairs and we can't get in there, they explain Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) sisters Iva and Jana Vujisić. Both use a wheelchair to get around.
A decade after the deadline passed for all buildings built before 2008 to be accessible to people with disabilities, this is still not the case. Both in Podgorica and in other municipalities. The Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Buildings, which prescribed this obligation, was adopted in 2008, and the deadline for adjusting buildings expired on September 1, 2013.
"The state did not fulfill the obligation that it prescribed itself, to make all buildings built before the entry into force of the law in 2008 accessible within five years. So, more than a decade has passed since the deadline for all buildings built before 2008 to be reconstructed and for them to comply with the mandatory elements of accessibility", says Marina Vujačić, executive director of the Association of Disabled Youth (UMHCG), for CIN-CG.
She points out that even some newly built buildings do not meet the standards in this area.
The inaccessibility of the institution
The Ministry of Justice is not accessible for people with disabilities, nor are most prosecution offices and courts. The High Court in Podgorica, as well as the Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court, do not have a ramp at the entrance, while the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SST) is completely inaccessible for PWDs.
"The adaptation of the Basic Court in Podgorica was done for several years, and after the first ramp, which was not adequate, a completely new one was built, and the project was financed not only from the budget, but also from international donors," said Vujačić.
The building of the Assembly of the capital also, at the main entrance, does not have an access ramp, while the older municipal building has a ramp, but after that you come across stairs, and there is no adapted toilet.
The "Radosav Ljumović" library does not have a ramp, while the Montenegrin National Theater (CNP) provided passage for people using wheelchairs at the side entrance to the main hall. If the performance is in another hall, wheelchair users cannot watch it. The Museum of Contemporary Art, also located in the city center, does not have an access ramp at its main entrance.
In Podgorica, no faculty is fully accessible to PWDs according to the standards of the Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction, although many have provided ramps.
The General Secretary of the Association of Paraplegics of Podgorica, Dejan Bašanović, tells CIN-CG that there is progress compared to the previous period, but that Podgorica is still largely inaccessible to people with disabilities.
"A large number of schools, for example, do not meet the conditions to be able to include PWDs," says Bašanović.
This is why, he explains, they enroll in those schools that are affordable. He points out that this is how you enter the process of segregation.
"This is especially pronounced at the faculty. It happens that people with disabilities graduate from a university that has guaranteed access, even though they didn't intend to," says Bašanović.
In 2019, UMHCG conducted monitoring of the accessibility of secondary schools in Podgorica. According to their findings, "everything ends only with the installation of the most often improvised ramp, or a ramp that is not made according to standards."
"Also, even in those schools that have been renovated, not all elements of accessibility still exist and/or they exist, but most often they are not in use (toilets, elevator). In addition to the above, some of the elements of accessibility are not present in any high school at all, which is maintained by the number of students with disabilities who are included in secondary education and their choice of high school and later their choice of higher education," the document states.
The executive director of the Association of the Blind of Montenegro (SSCG), Goran Macanović, tells CIN-CG that work should also be done on improving the knowledge of contractors who are engaged in providing architectural and any other accessibility for PWDs.
Not only many important facilities in Podgorica are inaccessible to people with disabilities. The obstacles are numerous. Even when something is done in terms of accessibility for PWDs, in practice it happens that it is not enough, because it is half-hearted and does not satisfy all the needs of people with disabilities.
Strollers over obstacles
"If you walk on the sidewalk in Podgorica, pray to God that it is level and that there is no descent," say sisters Iva and Jana Vujisić.
In addition to the fact that the sidewalks are, as they say, unreliable in that sense, there are too many gutters and cracks on the road, so it is difficult to cross them with a stroller.
In many places, they explain, access ramps have been built, but they would not dare to use them because of the steep slope.
Rulebook on closer conditions and method of adapting the facility for access and movement of persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities, in Article 41, stipulates that the public pedestrian area must be connected without obstacles to other pedestrian areas. In Podgorica, however, one can see many obstacles on the surfaces themselves, as well as on the places where they connect to one another.
"Still in the capital, but also in other municipalities, there are sidewalks that have a lowered curb on one part of the street, and then on the other part or at the intersection, it does not exist. We constantly point out such practices, as well as the installation of physical obstacles on the lines of movement, such as bollards or traffic signs," UMHCG told CIN-CG.
In addition to the fact that there are no necessary curbs on the sidewalks everywhere, where they exist, they are not usable for people with disabilities, because citizens, without control or sanction, block them with their cars.
"Vehicles are parked and wheelchair users cannot use the ramp. Aware that there are not many people in the municipal inspection and the service that controls the parking lot, we proposed to take pictures of those vehicles, but that could not be a basis for their removal. It is necessary for the person in charge of that part of the work to come out, to ascertain the correctness of parking and react accordingly", explains the general secretary of the Association of Paraplegics of Podgorica, Dejan Bašanović.
The problem is not only sidewalks. The solution that was supposed to facilitate the movement of people with visual impairments, and which in practice has shown its many shortcomings, are also tactile strips. Apart from the fact that Podgorica is not completely covered with tactile strips, those who use them point to numerous problems.
Unreliable guides
"The lanes were placed only in certain parts of the city. Does this mean that visually impaired people should not go to other parts of the city", asks Miloš Spaić, who himself is a user of a white cane.
Spaić, otherwise a member of the Democratic People's Party (DNP), claims that he is the only one politically involved in the issue of PWD rights. He indicates that the guide strips are too high, and that he is getting stuck on them.
"Accessibility may or may not be complete," he says.
Macanović points out that the existing strips, specifically the yellow ones, are intended more for indoor spaces, because, as he says, when it rains, they are very slippery and disturb citizens.
"Their color, of course, helps those with partial vision impairment and such a contrast of the tactile strips in relation to the surface on which they are placed is desirable, because it facilitates their recognition and therefore movement", he adds.
Macanović notes that the Rulebook on closer conditions and methods of adapting the facility for the access and movement of persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities stipulates that the tactile strips must be non-slip.
"The accessible tactile surface is made in such a way that it does not retain water, snow and dirt, and is easy to maintain," the Rulebook states.
In the tender for the procurement and construction of tactile tapes in Podgorica, it was stated that the tapes are "resistant to wear, tear, stretching and atmospheric influences..."
However, the yellow tapes installed are quite slippery and retain water during rainy days, and are worn and torn in many places.
"The question is whether there is a person in Montenegro who could check their quality," says Macanović.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property (MPPU) claims for CIN-CG that in accordance with the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Buildings, they carry out inspection supervision over the construction of buildings through urban-building and communal inspectors.
Macanović, however, points out that the main drawback of the Rulebook is that it is not harmonized with domestic conditions.
"If it was copied from a more organized country, it doesn't necessarily mean that it suits our area," he says.
Foreign solutions for domestic conditions
The MPPU told CIN-CG that the experience of Croatia was used when drafting the current Rulebook, "which was of great help in laying the foundations for the adaptation of PWD facilities in Montenegro."
CIN-CG also asked the Institute for Standardization of Montenegro whether it was involved in comparing domestic standards with regard to solutions for accessibility for PWDs, to which they replied that that institution does not deal with special analyzes of the content of European standards, but rather adopts them in an integral form - as identical standard.
"Montenegro standards are equivalent to European standards and absolutely do not contradict them," said the Institute.
Macanović, however, believes that the tactile strip should have been narrower.
"The standard for tactile strips prescribed by our Ordinance is 40 centimeters. I still haven't, and I've been trying, to come up with an answer as to who set such a standard. I assume that the logic behind that is that you walk on the strip with both feet and that the average gap is 40 centimeters. From the point of view of a visually impaired person, I have to say that I am not comfortable walking on an uneven surface, such as the guide strips. That person did not think that those women with visual impairment who want to wear shoes with heels and heels should also walk on them," says Macanović.
His suggestion was to make the strip narrower, because its function should be such that it can be detected with a stick and used in such a way that it will be followed and walked by.
"Public areas should be wide enough, leaving 40 centimeters wide so that people can move from one side and the other and that no one disturbs anyone. However, this is not happening. For example, in the part of Njegoševa Street, from Hercegovačka Street towards the Bulevar, café terraces have been placed on tactile strips or right next to the cafe, so there is a high probability that you will hit one of the tables or chairs," Macanović warns.
In the part of Njegoševa Street, you can often see people sitting on chairs that cross the concrete tactile strips, which are almost imperceptible.
According to Macanović, the restaurateurs explained to the Association that they received the permit for the terrace before the strips were installed.
The fact that awareness of the needs of visually impaired people has not been developed to a sufficient extent is also demonstrated by the bench installed at the beginning of August in Balšićeva Street across the tactile strip.
After citizens reacted and shared the photo on social media, the bench was removed from the strip. However, it is worrisome how it happened in the first place, which brings back the question of who controls the works.
"Tactile strips must also be such that they do not disturb wheelchair users. This requires wider sidewalks, but also corridors in closed spaces", notes Macanović, and indicates that it is necessary to change the Rulebook.
Waiting for the new regulation
The MPPU announced in June 2022 that it had been agreed to form a Working Group, which would include representatives of the Ministry and the NGO sector in the field of PWD protection, in order to approach the improvement of the mentioned Rulebook as thoroughly as possible. After that, says Macanović, that group never held a meeting.
"The Ministry is actively working on the drafting of a new Law on Building Construction, which will also include by-laws aimed at adapting buildings to persons with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities. Although there were initiatives to draft a Rulebook on Amendments to the Rulebook on Closer Conditions and Ways of Adjusting the Facility for Access and Movement of Persons with Disabilities, in 2022 the Ministry considered the possibility of making those changes. However, considering that in the meantime, activities on the drafting of the new Law on the Construction of Buildings have been started, the drafting of amendments to the aforementioned rulebook has been postponed until the adoption of the law", the MPPU explained to CIN-CG.
They add that the Ministry recognizes the need to amend the Rulebook after the adoption of the new Law on Building Construction, which, according to their announcements, will provide a comprehensive framework for further improvement in this area.
Sound signaling exists, but is not functional
One of the accessibility standards for people with visual impairments in buses is sound signaling, which is often not functional.
"We still don't have access to sound signaling in buses, because that is the responsibility of the company Ben-kov, which is an authorized repairer and has permission and access to the program that controls, among other things, sound signaling," the head of traffic in the city company told CIN-CG "Roads" doo. Ljubomir Radinović.
As he said, they are working on taking over the responsibilities because, despite the sound signaling, they do not have control over many services that are currently managed by the aforementioned company from Danilovgrad.
While all this is going on, there is no voice support on the buses, so PWDs are forced to turn to unknown people nearby for help.
"The vast majority wants to help, but that's not the point, it's that I can do my daily duties myself, without having to ask, or be seen as someone who needs help," Spaić emphasized.
Every building and public area should be accessible, Marina Vujacic agrees.
"It is a legal obligation, not someone's humanity, charity or nice gesture".
There are numerous reasons for PWDs to submit applications to the competent institutions, which they did in the previous period.
Bašanović says that these applications are always answered positively.
However, as stated in the Sectoral Analysis, authored by the Construction Directorate of the MPPU, the authorities are obliged to ensure accessibility as an ex ante duty, which means even before receiving an individual request from a PWD to access and use a space or service.
The UMHCG states that the prescribed sanctions for non-compliance with the defined standards were not applied either.
"The only examples we know of are those when we ourselves reported irregularities to the inspection during design or construction, after which the inspection would note these irregularities and request their elimination. We have no information about the actions of state and other institutions and services, nor has the initiative that we once proposed to create a list of so-called positive and negative objects", said the organization.
According to them, in practice, accessibility is often reduced to only a few elements of accessibility, and not to all the elements prescribed by law, so in that sense there are numerous obstacles.
"Nobody's" ramp on the promenade
A stair lift was installed on the promenade next to Morača in 2022. However, since it was not in operation, the Association of Disabled Youth initiated a lawsuit against the Capital City for protection against discrimination.
UMHCG, explains Vujačić, pointed out that inclined lifting platforms are inadequate solutions, that they are non-functional, difficult to maintain and that they break down quickly.
"There is ongoing litigation against the Capital City of Podgorica due to the malfunctioning of the ramp. The procedure was launched in June 2023", he explains.
The Capital City did not respond to CIN-CG's question regarding the mentioned ramp.
"When it comes to the stair lift on the promenade along Morača, we pointed out that it is a bad solution and that it is a waste of money, but for some reason the Capital City decided that it should be installed anyway", says Goran Macanović.
"I'm afraid that what has been done so far is not from a true awareness that it is useful for society, but rather to fulfill some requirement from the regulation and to do something for the PWD," he concludes.
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