A representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro attended a round table on the rights and obligations of the axis as a participant in traffic PUTokaz for PWD, organized by the Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro (UMHCG), and financially supported by the Ministry of Capital Investments through a public tender for project financing. programs of non-governmental organizations in the field of protection of persons with disabilities in 2020.
The round table on the topic of safety and accessibility of public transport was opened by Iva Mijović, project coordinator.
Today’s round table was also the final part of the PUTokaz project for PWD, which the association of young people with disabilities in Montenegro is implementing with the financial support of the Ministry of Capital Investments. Project activities included monitoring and mapping of parking spaces for people with disabilities in the three selected municipalities of Budva, Bar and Niksic. The monitoring aimed to map all public parking lots and perform an assessment in the segment of accessible parking spaces for people with disabilities, and to determine whether these parking spaces are marked in accordance with the standards, but also whether there are in the number prescribed by applicable regulations .
“Something that Milenko lived for and fought for is not for silence, I will say it publicly because he actually taught us how to shout, not to be silent,” said Marina Vujacic, the executive director of UMHCG.
Vujacic said that their intention is for the brochure they made to be used in the future as material during the activities of institutions, not only by the Ministry of Capital Investments, but also by many numerous institutions, but also services at the state and local level. The goal of accessibility is to enable people with disabilities to live independently and fully participate in all aspects of life on the basis of equality with others. In the last few years, there has been progress in Montenegrin traffic, but that is not enough, because most people with disabilities enter, and do not enter public transport. Persons with disabilities must be guaranteed access to public transport, which should be provided by the competent authorities, which would provide door-to-door transport.
“Out of the 48th column on one side, plus the 48th column on the other in the legislation, we have only five greens with a grade in practice, and when it comes to only the legislation, there are six greens in the air, one is yellow, one is red. There are five green and one yellow in the railway, five green and five yellow in the maritime, fifteen green, four yellow and four red in the road. ”
“My participation in this project is to do everything, to make these 48 columns, not just five green traffic lights, after a few years, but at least to be, if not all 48, then to strive to be very close to that and to fulfill something that should be a natural right of all persons with disabilities “, said Mladen Bojanić, Minister of Capital Investments.
Minister Bojović said that persons with disabilities should be allowed to move freely, to have access to all means of public transport, all facilities that serve that purpose. But to do it all out of feeling, not to get some extra clues in the EU.
The Ministry of Capital Investments will treat the received analyzes with full attention, and to improve it, as well as to continue the cooperation with the Association of Youth with Disabilities, because only they can say what problems everyone is facing.
Attendees had the opportunity for discussion and their recommendations, as well as participants through the Zoom platform.
