A powered chair lift has been installed at the main staircase of the House of Parliament to help people with limited mobility reach the public gallery in the upper section of the building.
The installation forms part of the Parliament Management Commission’s efforts to improve accessibility, according to a press release from the Parliament of the Cayman Islands on 22 September.
The project also supports parliament’s strategic objectives for 2026 and 2027, which include accessibility improvements to the building as part of a planned capital works programme.
“The House of Parliament is the people’s House, and it is important that all members of our community can access it,” speaker Ezzard Miller said in the press release.
“We want everyone who comes to parliament, whether to attend a sitting, participate in an event or to simply visit, to feel that this institution is open and accessible to them.”
Miller, in a July interview with Cayman Independent, highlighted improved access to parliament as a key objective and said he was trying to get more people to come to parliament in person.
“One of the things that amazes me is the number of people that I talk to who have never been to this building,” he said.
With increasing digital access to parliament, Miller lamented the trade-off of fewer personal interactions between the public, the press and lawmakers.
“I’m old school. I like to look a man in the eye,” he said. “I certainly would like to see a lot more [in-person interaction] happening.”
He noted, however, that if people are accessing and watching the livestream, “that is an achievement in itself because the information is getting out to the public”.
