Grozny remains inaccessible for disabled people, city residents assert

The Ministry of Transport of the Chechen Republic has concluded a contract for purchasing five special low-floor buses for transportation of wheelchair users. Officials expect that the new vehicles are to make the urban environment more accessible to persons with disabilities. However, residents of the Chechen capital believe that until present, the republic has hardly created any facilities for persons with disabilities, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondents report.

"In the streets of major regional centres or small towns of Chechnya, you can hardly meet people in wheelchairs. This can be primarily explained by the fact that persons with disabilities are not provided with conditions for more or less free movement," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Makka E., a resident of Grozny.

"In our republic, even the city of Grozny has no facilities for people with disabilities. Only several places, including hospitals and some ministries, are equipped with special ramps for wheelchair users to ensure they can enter the building. And that is all. Moreover, in Grozny, persons with disabilities cannot move freely along the streets because of the high curbs. The decision to purchase several special buses for persons with disabilities is clearly a big advantage; however, the problem is still not solved," believes one of the members of the regional branch of the All-Russian Society of Disabled People, who introduced himself as Ramzan.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.