Access to government buildings remains the biggest problem people with a disability face and in fact was at the centre of 55 per cent of complaints filed last year with the National Commission For Persons With A Disability.

Complaints over lack of accessibility in government departments filed with the commission in 2009 increased by 20 per cent over the previous year, according to the commission's annual report on the implementation of the Equal Opportunities Act that was released yesterday.

There were 55 per cent of the complaints filed with regard to government buildings, while another 44 per cent were filed against buildings owned by the private sector, commission chairman Joseph Camilleri said.

Although accessibility to parish churches improved, Mr Camilleri said more work had to be done on Gozitan churches, which were still inaccessible. In fact, 13 per cent of the complaints filed last year involved the Church.

In dealing with complaints, the commission used legal procedures as a last resort, preferring to discuss the problems around a table, Mr Camilleri said.

For example, last year, the commission reached an agreement with the Education Division over the administration of medicines to schoolchildren with a disability. A complaint was filed by parents who had to take leave from work because teachers refused to give children the treatment.

Through the agreement, the children were given the medicines by a nursing organisation, MMDNA, which meant parents did not have to leave work, Mr Camilleri explained.

Between 2008 and 2009, the commission worked on 285 complaints - 113 were pending from 2008 and 172 were new. There was an increase of 75 per cent of complaints over the previous year, amounting to 74 complaints.

Mr Camilleri said the commission received an average of 97 complaints a year. The huge increase was probably because people with a disability were becoming more aware of their rights.

He called for more enforcement when new buildings were being constructed.

"Although the plans submitted by the planning authority would be approved by the commission, these were not always followed during construction and the building would then become inaccessible," he said.