Reference no. 07-00-00512/2018-02   Date: 29 August 2018

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure pertaining to the complaint lodged by B.L. against PE “P.S.”. The complaint states that the facility, in which the post office is located at G. in Z, is not accessible for persons with disabilities, since the entrance to the facility has 7 steps and there is no ramp to overcome the architectural barrier. The statement provided by PE “P.S.”, among other things, states that the post office at G. in Z. is located in a “two hundred year old facility” which is part of the Old Downtown Zemun as well that it is under the protection of the City of Belgrade Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The statement also says that in the previous period PE “P.S.” considered the possibility to construct a ramp or a mobile platform to provide access to the facility but in order to reconstruct the outer staircase (three steps with the combined height of 48 cm),  it would be necessary to set up – on public property – sidewalk – a ramp with the maximum incline of 8%, a manipulation rest which may not be smaller than 150 cm, measured from the open wing of the entrance, and the width of the public space occupied would be 2 m from the facility, i.e. from the regulation line, and such a solution is not in accordance with the applicable regulations. In addition, the explanation emphasised that, technically speaking, it was not possible to provide access inside the facility as well, since the height difference (four steps with the combined height of 60 cm) could not be remediated by setting up a lift ramp with the standard length of 140 cm and width of 90 cm since the dimensions of the lobby and the disposition of the internal staircase are located only a 100 cm from the entrance door. The technical calculations and the determining of the existence of technical possibilities to set up a ramp for persons with disabilities were done by professionals employed in the PE “P.S.”, i.e. an architect who holds a Licence for Authorised Designer for Architectural Design, Landscape Design and Internal Installations of Water Supply Networks and Sewerage issued by the Serbian Chamber of Engineers, for which proof was provided. During the procedure it was determined that PE “P.S.” concluded a Contract on Business Cooperation no. 2015-17862/1 of 5 February 2015, for the purpose of overcoming issues which arose due to the lack of access in the facility at G. in Z. with O.Z. and opened two counters P. 11080 B. 80 on the ground floor of the O.Z. facility, with entrance from P. which are accessible to persons with disabilities and are located 200 m from the facility at G. in Z., and provide same services as in P. 11080 B. 80. Upon the completed procedure, the the Commissioner for Protection of Equality issued the opinion that PE “P.S.” did not breach any provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination.