Elderly, wheelchair bound check out barrier-free facilities
By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 01 July 2007 1800 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Working towards the goal of having barrier-free access throughout the island within the next five years, barrier-free facilities were unveiled in Jurong East on Sunday, where residents from 14 blocks will get to enjoy the new amenities.

Costing around S$84,000, the initiative is a testbed before the government launches more of such projects in other parts of Singapore.

On Sunday morning, some elderly and wheelchair-bound residents of Yuhua, Jurong East, got a special tour of these latest facilities.

For many of them, it was the first time they were able to move around their own neighbourhood with ease, entering areas where it was previously impossible.

To work out the kinks in this project, feedback from the public is encouraged.

Grace Fu, Minister of State, National Development, said: "If you look at the crowd today, many of the caregivers themselves are elderly. So I think we have to take that into consideration. Not all of them are able-bodied enough to push another elderly up a slope. I think these are areas that we can review."


- CNA/so