CONTROVERSIAL WHEELCHAIR RAMP AT EDSA TEMPORARILY CLOSED

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced that the wheelchair ramp at the EDSA Busway Philam Station in Quezon City  has been temporarily shut down for improvements.

The wheelchair ramp gained notoriety for being not accessible to persons with disabilities (PWDs).

According to MMDA chairman Don Artes, the contractor of the ramp has pledged to install either a wheelchair platform or a vertical lift to move PWD passengers from the footbridge to the busway platform.

The improvements will take one to two months.

“We will improve the wheelchair ramp by pouring cement to reduce the slope. From the 13 millimeters slope, it would go down to 11 mm, which is very near to the recommended 10 mm,” Artes said during a news forum on Saturday.

According to him, the private contractor will  shoulder the improvements.

Recently, the MMDA was criticized for building the ramp for PWDs that was too steep.

The controversial ramp went viral on social media.

One video showed a wheelchair user and his companion facing difficulty using the ramp. 

Artes defended the ramp.

“The angle that went viral on Facebook looks like a slide. However, if you look at it from another angle, it’s not that steep,” the MMDA chair said.

However, he admitted that the wheelchair ramp at the Philam busway station was not ideal for PWDs.