After Legal Letters and Public Protest: National Insurance Institute Announces Plan to Open New Branch Office in Shafa'amr which is Accessible and Suitable for Persons with Disabilities
In response to a letter sent by Adalah in November 2009, the National Insurance Institute (NII) announced that the tender for leasing a new building in Shafa'amr, an Arab town in the north of Israel, has been completed and that they are currently in the process of renovating and refurbishing the new building. According to the NII, the new facilities will open in the coming months. The new building is located on the ground floor, making access easier for all persons, including persons with disabilities, and will answer the needs of the residents of Shafa'amr and the nearby towns and villages, in terms of providing better services to the residents.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher sent an urgent letter to the General Director of the NII and the Minister for Social Welfare in November 2009 complaining about the conditions of the existing NII building in Shafa'amr. Adalah emphasized that these conditions prevented persons with disabilities from accessing the institute in order to obtain the services which they are entitled to receive by law.
In the letter, Adalah noted that the NII branch in Shafa'amr was opened fifteen years ago and it serves tens of thousands of persons from the town and neighboring Arab towns and villages, including 3,000 disabled persons with various forms and degrees of disability. However, the office does not have the capacity to provide services to such a large number of people, especially persons with disabilities. Moreover, the institute is located on multiple floors, there is no elevator and the entrance door is similar to a regular house-door. As a result disabled persons, especially those in wheelchairs, are prevented from entering the NII building.
Persons with disabilities and their families held several demonstrations protesting against the poor conditions of the building. In addition, the mayor of Shafa'amr, members of Knesset, and other organizations that defend the rights of the disabled in Shafa'amr and Nazareth sent letters to the Minister of Social Welfare demanding a solution, which provides the disabled the right to access the institute and obtain their entitlements as stipulated in the law. Initially, the NII responded that they had to issue a tender and choose a location but none of the proposals met the needs of the institute; therefore they decided to issue a new tender. Adalah replied in response that according to the law, where they fail to choose new location, the institute must seek a new building without publishing a new tender.
