Advocates press for overdue review of Jamaica's Disabilities Act

Jamaica's Disabilities Act needs an urgent review, more investment in accessibility and quicker disability assessments for children, according to calls made after Opposition spokesperson Denise Daley spoke in the sectoral debate. Daley said the law was an important step forward, but warned that implementation had stalled, with some children losing years of educational opportunity while waiting for assessments.

During a discussion on the issue, Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities legal officer Travis Ebanks said the council has been carrying out accessibility audits at public facilities. He listed Parliament, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's offices at Heroes Circle and North Street, the University of the West Indies main library, the Tax Administration building at Cross Roads and the Ministry of Education among the locations reviewed. Ebanks said some institutions, including the Ministry of Education, had already moved to apply recommendations from those reports. He also said the council has received complaints from parents and caregivers about access to schools and has intervened to help secure places for some students in public institutions.

Opposition Senator and Centre for Disability Studies director Dr Floyd Morris said section 48 of the Act required a review within three years of the law taking effect and argued that process should have been triggered last year. He said a joint select committee should already have been established and added that he could not explain the delay, even though the matter had been raised with the labour ministry. Morris said the JCPD's audits were a useful start, but the sample was too limited and should be expanded across all parishes and a wider cross-section of public and private entities. He maintained that accessibility is a fundamental right and said any facility offering services to the public should be usable by persons with disabilities.

Morris also said Jamaica needed more trained specialists, but low pay was pushing qualified workers overseas. Looking ahead to any review of the law, Ebanks said stakeholders wanted stronger enforcement powers and incentives for organisations that employ persons with disabilities. Morris said the legislation should also be aligned with recommendations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, provide clearer support for assistive technology and build wider awareness that complaints can be taken through the JCPD and, if necessary, referred to the Disability Rights Tribunal, whose rulings are binding in law.