By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced a five-year master plan to help the physically and mentally challenged. Under the name ``Happy City Project for the Disabled,'' it plans to make the city a more convenient place for the disabled by 2012 at a cost of 802 billion won.
``A convenient city for the disabled will mean it is convenient for everyone,'' Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said. ``We will develop Seoul into a city without disability.''
The disabled welcomed the move but suggested more practical and realistic support was also needed.
Jung Gyung-jo, 44, has a visual impairment. He said consideration was necessary to make the lives of people with disabilities like his much easier.
``It's always hard for me to find the location of a public toilet at a subway station. But what's more disturbing for me is the fact that I also have to ask which one is the men's. Simple standardization like the men's room being on the right and women's room on the left would be very helpful. Such a small consideration would be of great convenience for people like me,'' Jung said.
He believed that the government has made efforts to create a better environment for the disabled but complained that improvement plans have often failed to reflect practical demands.
``I don't normally use Braille pedestrian blocks as they make me walk more and sometimes lead me in the wrong direction. Such facilities for the disabled were created by people without disabilities and they often miss what we actually need,'' he said.
Insufficient welfare programs and convenient facilities for the disabled have long been issues the city government has failed to tackle.
According to the city, 3.3 percent of the total population of Seoul or 358,000, are registered as ``disabled,'' 89 percent of whom were afflicted later in life.
The objective of the plan is to offer practical and active support to help them become more independent, and not just offer temporary and passive support, the city government said.
As one of its key projects, the city will create more than 6,000 jobs for the disabled over the next five years, as well as running a job center and offering training programs.
``Getting a job would be the most important step,'' said Kim Jung-sook, 43, whose right leg is impaired due to poliomyelitis. ``Welfare programs and financial support are very important for the handicapped, but at the same time, those with milder disabilities must be given the opportunity to work.''
She hoped the plan does not end up as an empty promise like previous plans.
The program includes the construction of rental houses for the disabled and also the forming of a committee in which the disabled can voice their ideas regarding how the welfare programs and policies are run, and what they should include.