A renewed call is being made for owners of multi-storied buildings, especially apartments that have three floors and above to fit them with elevators so that they can be easily accessed by different users. At the moment, many of these apartments do not have such amenities, which make the premises inaccessible by different people with special needs like people with disabilities, pregnant women and those of advanced age among others. According to article 28 of the law governing urban planning and buildings in Rwanda, buildings intended for public use shall be built in a manner that allows access and use by persons with disabilities. As such, on top of having ramps for use by people with disabilities, all buildings under the category G+3 and above (meaning that with a ground floor and at least three stories and above) must be fitted with elevators. However, much as this regulation has relatively been respected in other commercial complexes, compliance has been lukewarm in buildings dedicated for residential use – or apartments – both within Kigali and the country at large. Over the years, there has been a lot of effort put in enforcing different measures to ensure we have planned settlement in the country if you look at the different amenities that public buildings that are coming up must have, when you compare to the situation just a few years ago. However, it is clear that authorities have not made priority the inclusivity and accessibility of these buildings. The owners must not just ensure the elevators are fitted in their buildings, they should as well be fully functional at all times. Some of the building owners are now making an excuse that their buildings were built before the law was passed and hence cannot be bound by it. This should not be acceptable, as long as these buildings are still in service. The authorities should give such buildings a grace period to install these important amenities and failure to comply, the owners be held accountable. Technology has greatly evolved in that installing elevators is no long the cumbersome and costly endeavor that it was a few decades back. Besides, developers should look at this as an investment that they can pass onto the tenants because that facility is value added to the property.
