A RECENT exchange between a government organisation and a member of the community has left both sides short- changed.
Page four of this week’s edition details the plight of Megan Roberts, who is no longer legally allowed to drive due to a medical condition.
Ms Roberts relies on public transport, namely the Gawler train line which she accesses at the Elizabeth Railway Station, to get to work and any number of social outings.
Over the past couple of years, she has expressed her disappointment in the lack of functionality of the Elizabeth station lift which, as a wheelchair user, she needs to use to access the train.
Resolution of this issue is the responsibility of the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, better known as DIT.
When concerns were raised last year, DIT acted accordingly and attempted to fix the issue.
Now, Ms Roberts has raised concerns regarding that same issue again, but the response from DIT has fallen short.
As seen in the page four story, it has turned into a he said, she said hearsay debate, when the appropriate action needs to be anything but that.
When The Bunyip reached out for comment from DIT regarding the issues raised by Ms Roberts, the organisation’s response was to confirm the lifts are functioning currently.
While that may well be the case, the crux of the issue for Ms Roberts is that functionality of the lifts is a case-by-case basis and not something that can currently be relied on.
To dismiss this opinion without further investigation falls short of DIT’s vision statement which reads: Every South Australian can easily access the services they want, the transport they rely on and the infrastructure they need.
A lift that functions on an on-again, off-again basis does not uphold DIT’s vision and more pertinently is of no help to Ms Roberts.
Whether the claims from Ms Roberts turn out to be accurate or otherwise, to not investigate them further after multiple reports would be astonishing from a government organisation.
