My wife and I recently went to two cinemas, one in St Julian’s and the other in Qawra, and I was very disappointed at the lack of facilities for the disabled. At the St Julian’s cinema, at the box office side, there is no way a disabled person can watch a film, unless at ground level. Furthermore, when we went to the other side of the complex the lift was not working.

This also happened at the Qawra complex. There is no way to access the cinema without climbing two or three flights of stairs. I feel for those who have to use crutches or wheelchairs. People who are mobile but have aches and pains in their knee joints and other ailments can somehow climb the stairs, albeit in pain, which is not right either.

During one instance at the St Julian’s complex a person told the girls at the box office to ignore me after I went to complain about the fact that they do not take the disabled seriously enough, not to mention the high parking fee.

We call ourselves Christians. I say we should call ourselves shameless and selfish. This is not just one incident, it happens every time we go out. Very often, parking spaces reserved for the disabled are occupied by motorists without a necessary permit.

I even saw a car being parked on a disabled spot by two youngsters who were clearly not disabled but had disabled permit, which means they were using somebody else’s.

I urge the authorities to do something about these big establishments who defy the disabled.

Why shouldn’t a disabled person watch a film of his or her choice at a cinema whenever they decide to do so without being shamed in front of many others?

After contacting the management at the St Julian’s facility to discuss the issue, I was told to send an e-mail. I didn’t even receive an acknowledgement let alone an apology.