The lead candidate of the left-wing coalition PS/Livre/BE/PAN for Lisbon City Hall met today with disability associations at the headquarters of the Socialist Party’s Lisbon Urban Area Federation. The meeting was described as “very useful,” with a unanimous opinion that the city “needs to be more accessible.”
“There are numerous accessibility barriers, whether on sidewalks, bus access, broken elevators, in the subway, and escalators, or the fact that there are no audible signals at most traffic lights for visually impaired people to cross,” she outlined.
The socialist candidate emphasized that Lisbon “is not a comfortable city for pedestrians” and is even “less friendly” for children, seniors, and pedestrians with disabilities. “If it’s not easy without those limitations, imagine when we have them,” she added.
The associations conveyed to Alexandra Leitão the importance of having “a program for adapting homes,” particularly concerning “accessibility within homes,” whether in municipal neighborhoods or outside them.
“What we were told here, by more than one person, is that Lisbon used to be better. Lisbon was a more model city, whether for pedestrians or, for example, in terms of independent living centers. There are excellent pilot projects for independent living centers that allow people with disabilities to become autonomous, also freeing informal caregivers, but these pilots were never generalized,” she noted.
According to the lead candidate of the “Viver Lisboa” coalition, disability associations believe that the capital “used to be an ideal model in this matter, which it is no longer today.”
“I would very much like it to return to that under my city council presidency,” she expressed, estimating that having “an awareness campaign” would be important to “change mentalities.”
The meeting included associations such as ACAPO – Associação dos Cegos e Amblíopes de Portugal, CERCI Lisboa, Federação Nacional de Cooperativas de Solidariedade Social, Mecanismo Nacional de Monitorização da Implementação da Convenção sobre os Direitos das Pessoas com Deficiência, Pais em Rede, Associação dos Deficientes das Forças Armadas, Associação Salvador, or NED — Núcleo de Estudos da Deficiência.
“In the coalition program, in the city’s government program, we have planned the creation of specific support programs for rents in families with special needs, as well as a program for adapting homes,” along with a review of the pedestrian accessibility plan, detailed the socialist candidate, who reiterated these commitments to the associations.
In addition to Alexandra Leitão, candidates running for Lisbon City Hall in the municipal elections on October 12 include the current president Carlos Moedas (PSD/CDS-PP/IL), João Ferreira (CDU-PCP/PEV), Bruno Mascarenhas (Chega), Ossanda Líber (Nova Direita), José Almeida (Volt), Adelaide Ferreira (ADN), Tomaz Ponce Dentinho (PPM/PTP), and Luís Mendes (RIR).
