BMA cleared of negligence in BTS dispute

       The Administrative Court has cleared the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and three other defendants of any responsibility in not providing suitable facilities for disabled people at skytrain stations.
       The case went to court in September 2007 when Suporntham Mongkolsawat,the secretary-general of the Council of Disabled People of Thailand, and two others filed a lawsuit naming the BMA,the Bangkok governor, the chief of the Civil Service Commission which comes under the BMA and Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc as defendants.
       The four were accused of neglecting their duty by not setting up proper facilities for disabled people, such as lifts and ramps, and providing other facilities.
       The BMA granted the concession to run the skytrain to BTS.
       Hundreds of disabled people attended the court yesterday to hear the verdict.
       The court ruled that although the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act was enacted in 1991, a year before construction work began on the skytrain, there was no regulation at the time demanding that special facilities be installed for disabled people in buildings, public places and the transport sector.
       The Interior Ministry issued the appropriate regulation after the con-struction of the skytrain had begun.
       The court said the BMA fulfilled its duty later by installing elevators for disabled people at five of the most crowded stations -Asok, Onnuj,Chong Nonsi, Mor Chit and Siam Square - in 1999.
       This showed the BMA was not neglecting its duty, the court said.
       Mr Suporntham said he would lodge an appeal against the Administrative Court ruling with the Supreme Administrative Court on behalf of all networks for disabled people.
       The fight was to ensure equality for disabled people and to encourage government agencies and the private sector to pay more attention to the problems of the underprivileged, the elderly,children and pregnant women, he said.
       Mr Suporntham said even though there were many programmes to help disabled people, they were of no use if disabled people were unable to venture out of their homes because of poor facilities.
       All networks of disabled people would be asked to conduct a survey and circulate pictures of public places lacking in suitable facilities, he said.
       "All humans are born free but the disabled are being deprived of their freedom by a disabled-unfriendly environment," he said."To use the BTS is more difficult than taking a plane and flying overseas these days."
       Udomchok Churut, president of the Independent Living Pilot Project in Thailand, a non-governmental organisation supporting disabled people, said five disabled-friendly stations were not enough to help disabled people use the entire skytrain network.