-In Mexico City there are around 493 thousand people with one or more disabilities.
Because the guides for the blind installed in the corridors of the Collective Transportation System (Metro) are invaded by street vendors, Morena’s caucus urged the agency’s management to guarantee the mobility of people with disabilities.
The deputy Janecarlo Lozano presented before the plenary session of the Congress of Mexico City a point of agreement where he asked the director of the Metro, Guillermo Calderón, to release the podotactile guides used by the blind to move inside the Metro.
Inside the SCT there are two types of podotactile guides, the first is a rail that marks the limit between the platform and the tracks; the second ones are yellow micas that lead the corridors to the platforms, however, they are unused by the irregular street stalls.
At the point of agreement, the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion, headed by José Luis Rodríguez Díaz de León, was asked to formalize a work table with the Mexican Association for Human, Social, Material and Cultural Treatment of the blind and weak AC visuals with the aim of creating actions to dignify the working conditions of people with visual disabilities who work legally inside the Metro in the premises known as “platforms”.
According to deputy Janecarlo Lozano, going down and up stairs; carry out a transshipment; not tripping or falling over objects that hinder the tactile guides, are some of the difficulties that blind people face when using the Metro.
“During recent years, various associations and organizations of people with disabilities have raised their voices to request the release of the tactile guides of the subway, since they state that many of them are hindered by street stalls.”
“These associations are demanding their right to accessibility and free movement, they have even stated that the problem has triggered attacks by street vendors towards disabled people,” said Janecarlo Lozano.
The legislator explained that the point of agreement is a response to the demonstrations carried out by people with visual and physical disabilities, which took place on July 22 in front of the National Palace and on August 26 in the City Hall, where they demanded “unhindered mobility”.
Part of its petition is to open more work spaces for blind and disabled people in public squares and city hall heads in the City.
