Slovakia - not an easy place to live for the physically disabled

Picture this situation. You are in a hurry to leave town for a business trip. You arrive at the train station just in time to buy a ticket. You could still make it if ... if you were not in a wheelchair and didn't have to book a ticket three weeks ahead, as is still the case in Slovakia.

And that is just one of the numerous problems that Zuzana Recskova from the Association of the Physically Disabled Youth faces every day - just because she is in a wheelchair:

"I travel to work everyday by train, from Sala to Bratislava. First I have to get on the train, then in Bratislava someone has to help me off the train, then on the way to my office I have to cross tram rails and for that I need assistance too. So I always have to rely on other people. I am very grateful for their help."

But Andrea Madunova from the Muscular Dystrophy Association points out the problem is not only with train travel:

"Train travel is fraught with problems but bus travel is 100% inaccessible to people with physical disabilities."

And long distance travel does not begin to compare with the reality of public transport in towns.

"In Bratislava, unless you have very dependable friends there is no way to travel around town on public transport. So a car, if you can afford traveling by this means, is the only way out."

...says Zuzana Recskova. We asked the Press Secretary of the Mayor of Bratislava, Milan Vajda, why Bratislava's public transport system has yet to adapt to the needs of people with disabilities:

"There are 4 vehicles of the public transport authority in Bratislava currently operating on 4 different routes between primarily the railway station and the down town area with the lower floor that is accessible for the wheelchair persons."

Peter Zika, from the Bratislava Public Transport Authority says it is a complicated process, in which a lack of finances plays the main role:

"Such a bus can cost twice as much as a normal bus, because of its specifications. We would need 25 new barrier-free buses to provide regular transport for people with disabilities. And for that we don't have the finances right now."

This kind of discrimination of the physically disabled will be banned by a new law, which should come into effect in January next year. It would require all trains to enable people with physical disabilities to board 30 minutes before departure.

But there are many other places where a physically disabled person meets obstacles. Zuzka Recskova says it comes down to the very basic things like a high curb on a sidewalk or a few steps leading to your local grocery store, library, or going to schools. Milan Vajda from the office of the mayor of Bratislava briefed us on the current legislation:

"There is a law that basically says that every new building has to be designed and built with the access for disabled people and also the other facilities for the disabled people must be present and included in the project and the actual state of the building."

Andrea Madunova comments on the law.

"The legislation is not strict enough to force property developers build truly accessible buildings. There are many new buildings without barrier-free access. And then, of course, there are those that were built during the socialist era."

Under the communist regime, people with disabilities were isolated and considered to scar the face of society. Although steps are gradually taken to help the disabled integrate, there are still few people in wheelchairs to be seen in Slovak towns and villages. Maria Duracinska:

"In Slovakia, in the collective mentality, the needs of the disabled are not taken for granted. It still feels like someone must point to the problems faced by people with physical disabilities. They have their rights too... There is still room for improvement."

In 2001, down town Bratislava as well as the old town area was made accessible to disabled people. City authorities hope to have all of Bratislava barrier-free in ten to fifteen years.

By that time, a carriage adjusted to the needs of the physically and mentally disabled will also have to be part of every train passing through Slovakia, according to EU requirements. And what will this bring? Zuzka Recskova concludes:

"When one day curbs become accessible I will be independent and that will make me feel good. Sometimes it is very hard to accept help, and it is even harder to ask for it. I will be very happy one day to not have to ask for help."