Letters | Why don’t Hong Kong buildings have barrier-free access as required?

Readers discuss the slow pace of change to cater to wheelchair users, tackling hospitals’ operational issues, elderly people who live alone and the call for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine

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Two elderly women rest in a park next to a wheelchair, in Hong Kong’s Cheung Sha Wan district on May 29. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 11:30am, 30 Nov 2024

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I could not agree more with Linda Lam, the chairperson of Equal Opportunities Commission, that Hong Kong must improve barrier-free access for the elderly and those with disabilities (“Hong Kong should be a city where wheelchair users are welcome”, November 23). We pride ourselves as an international city, yet Hong Kong is moving at a snail’s pace in this regard, with hardly any improvements made in the past 30 years.

It is disheartening to frequently see people on wheelchairs having to pass through the garbage area to take the freight lift just to visit their doctor in Central or have a meal in a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. Some of the so-called “medical buildings” do not even provide adequate restrooms and toilet space for wheelchair users, and some of these restrooms are located by emergency staircases behind heavy fire doors and hard to get to.

The statutory requirements for disabled access have been in force since 1984. They were revised in 1997, becoming a set of design requirements for providing barrier-free access. Even so, it would appear that they have not been strictly enforced.

The Buildings Department has updated the barrier-free access code for new buildings several times since then, the most recent in May this year. I hope these codes are strictly enforced by the relevant department when approving architectural design drawings, regardless of the size and the type of development. It should be a non-negotiable item, with strict penalties imposed if violated.

Property developers in some developed societies embrace the social responsibility to create a pleasant environment for residents, workers, shoppers and visitors. Buildings are designed with nice landscaping space on the street level, cleverly incorporating barrier-free access in the design. Developers are willing to give up some valuable saleable areas to provide barrier-free access to the disabled and elderly.