Members of the public are being reminded that disabled parking spots in St John’s are only for persons with disabilities.
In an interview with Observer, traffic cop Brendan Sutherland urged the public to be considerate to the disabled community by not parking in their allocated spaces.
“When you’re going to park around town and you see these disability parking, leave them open in the event someone with a disability wants somewhere to park,” he said.
“They can give you a ticket for failing to comply … which is a $150 ticket. The police has the option to tow away your vehicle,” he warned.
Meanwhile, Bernard Warner, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Association of Persons with Disabilities, told Observer that he is appreciative of the police enforcing the ticketing of persons who are in violation.
“It’s really positive that the police [are] stepping up and doing their job and really ensuring that the enforcement is done,” he said.
Warner also stated his belief that increased public education on the matter is needed.
“We still have a lot of work to do in educating the public about the proper use of disability parking spots. People will have to learn that when they see these signs, that it’s reserved for people with disabilities,” he remarked.
In March, Warner and other members of the association, plus the General Manager of the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board, Hubert Jarvis, and other officials did a walkthrough of St John’s to assess the city’s accessibility for differently abled residents.
After the walkthrough, Jarvis pledged the allocation of parking spots to this purpose. The streets he listed for this venture were Market, Nevis, Redcliffe, High, Long, and St Mary’s.
Those plans came to fruition earlier this month and the designated parking spaces were marked out and labelled ‘disabled’ in white paint.
Warner expressed his pleasure with the action being completed as promised.
“I’m extremely elated to see the parking in town,” he said.