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{
    "id": 656177,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/656177/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 174,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "May 3rd, 2016 SENATE DEBATES 18 Sen. M. Kajwang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I wish to support this amendment to the Persons with Disabilities Act. This amendment is fairly straight forward. We are trying to make it mandatory that any institution that offers services to citizens shall make sure that those services are offered in a manner that makes it friendly and accessible to persons with disabilities. We are going further to define the official language for the deaf in Kenya as Kenyan Sign Language. Article 7 of our Constitution talks about national, official and other languages. In as much as it defines English and Kiswahili, it goes ahead and states that the state shall promote the development and use of indigenous languages, Kenya Sign Language, braille and other communication formats and technologies accessible to persons with disabilities. This amendment, therefore, gives life to that particular provision under Article 7 of the Constitution. This amendment came through a Committee that I sit in, that is, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity. When we were considering this Bill, we took the opportunity to have a meeting with some public officers, whose job is to ensure that buildings that are put up in this country adhere to certain standards. Sometimes we like to put a lot of legislation even when there are already sufficient standards and guidelines that are capable of taking care of some of these situations. When we interrogated what the building code contains, we realized that this nation has got planning and building regulations, last done in 2009. These are planning and building regulations that are in force. There are almost eleven regulations - from Regulation BB87 all the way to Regulation BB98 – that are already in force and talk about access to public facilities by persons with disabilities, yet they are not being enforced. Regulation BB87 indicates that buildings must be planned for use by persons with disabilities; Regulation BB88 talks about initial access for persons with disabilities; Regulation BB89 talks about ramps for persons with disabilities; Regulation BB90 talks about dropped kerbs for persons with disabilities; Regulations BB91 talks about lifts for persons with disabilities; Regulations BB92 talks about corridors and lobbies for persons with disabilities and Regulation BB94 talks about water closet cubicles for persons with disabilities. This amendment does not just say that persons with disabilities should be able to access these buildings; it must go further. Something as important as a water closet cubicle for persons with disabilities--- You could have created a ramp to allow persons with physical disabilities and persons on wheelchairs to get into the building, but they might not be able to access a water closet cubicle and some of the facilities that give them dignity. We already have regulations that talk about rooms for persons with disabilities. In fact, it is interesting to note that a hotel with 100 or more guestrooms shall provide not less than two guest rooms with full facilities for persons with disabilities and a further room for every complete 100 guestrooms in excess of 200. These regulations are there. We went beyond the Planning and Buildings Regulations 2009. We met officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards, which has come up with certain accessibility standards known as ISO21542. These standards talk about accessibility and usability of the built environment. The electronic version of theSenate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}