In brief
- On 18 April 2022 the United Nations in Somalia reported that the proposed replacement Waheen market would be designed to be accessible to people with disabilities.
- The same source lists disabled people among the groups most affected by the fire and says recovery planning should address their needs.
- The source records proposals and offers of technical assistance, not construction that was finished to those requirements.
Contents
United Nations in Somalia reported on 18 April 2022 that its proposals for rebuilding the Waheen marketplace in Hargeisa included access for people with disabilities. The Resident Coordinator, Adam Abdelmoula, gave the commitment while visiting the ruins, after a week-long technical mission by staff from nine UN agencies, funds and programmes.
What the source records
In its short to longer term section, the account says the new market would be designed to be environmentally friendly, accessible to people with disabilities and provided with facilities especially for women, while blending with local culture and traditions. Disabled people appear again in the list of groups the same report calls most affected by the blaze, alongside daily wage-earners, small business owners, female-headed households, displaced people, refugees and minority groups. The source states that technical assistance was offered for the design.
What it means on site
Access for disabled users is a design output, so it has to be drawn and built, not announced. In general practice that can mean an entrance route with a firm, level surface, a clear width that lets a wheelchair or a person with a walking aid pass, handrails where there are steps, and doors and counters at a height a seated user can reach. Those dimensions are general practice only; confirm them against the project's specification or engineer. A client or contractor working to this brief can ask the designer to mark the accessible route on the layout and the details on the drawing set, so a supervisor can check the built work against a line on paper.
What the source does not establish
What exists here is a documented recovery proposal from 18 April 2022, with an offer of UN technical assistance, and nothing more. Recommendations and offers of assistance are not evidence that the replacement market met these requirements, and the source does not report a finished design, an approval, a construction contract, an inspection or the condition of any accessible route today. It also does not set out any dimension. The record that would confirm the present state is the approved drawing set and any inspection or handover record held by the municipality or the market's developer.
What to do next
Ask the Hargeisa municipality, or whoever holds the market's design record, for the approved layout and the accessible route marked on it, then ask whether an inspection or handover record covers those elements. If payment depends on it, check what the contract allows before releasing anything.
Frequently asked questions
Did the replacement Waheen market get built with disability access?
The available source does not say. United Nations in Somalia reported on 18 April 2022 that access for people with disabilities was part of the proposed design approach; recommendations and offers of assistance are not evidence that the built market met them.
What should a designer provide so an accessible route can be checked on site?
The accessible route marked on the approved layout, with the relevant details drawn and dimensions stated in the project specification. Confirm those dimensions with the project engineer, since the source does not give any.
Sources
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Somaliland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.