Increasing Parking Duration for Class 2 Label Scheme Vehicles in Lots for Handicapped

14 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Social and Family Development whether the Ministry can consider increasing the parking duration for Class 2 Label Scheme drivers on parking lots for the handicapped, from 60 minutes to two hours.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Madam, the Carpark Label Scheme was introduced to assist persons with physical disabilities to board and alight from a vehicle. Class 1 labels allow drivers with physical disabilities who drive to park in accessible parking lots. Class 2 labels allow caregivers to park temporarily at the accessible lots for 60 minutes so that they can assist passengers with physical disabilities to board and alight. Once their passengers alight and are in a safe place, the caregivers are to vacate the accessible parking lots and move their vehicles to standard lots.

There have been some suggestions to lengthen the 60-minute duration for Class 2 label holders. We have considered these suggestions. In deciding on the allowable duration for Class 2 label holders, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of National Development (MND) have to take into account the needs of all Class 1 and Class 2 label holders for accessible parking lots. With our ageing population, the number of Class 2 labels issued has also been increasing significantly. We believe that 60 minutes provide a reasonable amount of time for caregivers to ensure that passengers with physical disabilities alight and are in a safe place. Lengthening the time would make it more challenging for other label holders to seek accessible parking lots.

Mdm Speaker: Ms Joan Pereira.

Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Madam, I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his detailed reply. I have one supplementary question. Would the Ministry consider granting a separate licence, maybe Class 2A, that will allow the holder a longer parking duration time? This could be given on a case-by-case basis, with emphasis on elderly caregivers looking after persons with multiple disabilities.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Madam, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. As I mentioned in my answer earlier, Class 2 labels cater to the caregivers of the disabled person, where it allows caregivers to park at an accessible parking lot for up to 60 minutes. We have received several suggestions from members of the public as well, and we would just like to share that in deciding whether to extend or not, we have to look at the needs and demand of all label holders because they are all sharing this shared space.

We believe that the 60 minutes given is a reasonable time for the caregivers to board and alight the persons with disabilities, bring that person to a safe place and, following that, go back to the vehicle to park it at the standard lots. We feel that extending the time will create a challenging process and increase the time taken for label holders to find accessible lots.