Past and present govts neglected disabled

The Editor: The handicapped persons currently protesting outside the National Flour Mills compound because of the lack of jobs and resources for the disabled community must be congratulated.

While thanks must be given to the various media houses that saw it fit to give the persons involved in the protests coverage, past and present Governments have neglected the disabled community for too long, and it was time that somebody stood up and demanded betterment for the “differently- abled” members of our society. Funds from the state purse are allocated for many different and sometimes even unnecessary projects, but nothing ever goes towards improving the lives of the disabled. Is it because they are not recognised as a large sized voting community and so there’s no pressing need to please them? 

Physically as well as mentally challenged persons should be treated as precious gems as many of them lack the ability to even take care of themselves. Available jobs for the handicapped are scarcer than gold, partly due to the fact that many business places were not designed to accommodate such persons, while some employers assume they are unable to work because of their disability and therefore, don’t employ them. That’s why the Government must intervene and enforce measures and create programmes which would make the lives of the disabled more comfortable. As a means of providing employment, the state should consider passing legislation, which makes it compulsory for all state owned companies to have a certain number of disabled persons on staff. Employment could even be done on a casual basis so as to ensure that everyone gets a chance to work in times when there genuinely may not be many spaces available.

The state also has a duty to provide more training programmes for handicapped persons, where they’ll be taught skills, which would enable them to get jobs in the public and private sector. Persons confined to wheelchairs for example, could possibly handle tasks as drafting, architectural design, small appliance repair, switchboard operating and emergency dispatching, to name a few. One suggestion is that the Government’s programmes should deal specifically with training persons in the above areas, and after which they would be automatically hired in the public sector to perform the same tasks. Luckily, Minister of Social Services Delivery in the Office of the Prime Minister, Christine Kangaloo assured the protesters, led by the Chairman of Disabled People’s International (DPI), that something would be done. However, the lack of jobs is just tip of the iceberg.

Transport for disabled persons, especially those attending school, still remains a major problem. Many a child misses classes because parents cannot afford to hire private transport to take them to school, while in some instances, locating a driver to take the child may be difficult. On the other hand, there exists no specialised transport system for adult handicapped persons, which could possibly accommodate someone using a wheel chair or a walker. I would have liked to suggest that a Government funded maxi taxi be stationed at all maxi taxi stands, but then I can’t, because City Gate in Port-of-Spain, the country’s major maxi taxi hub, cannot facilitate persons on wheel chairs. Finding a solution for the problem of transport, as it relates to adult handicapped persons, would take a lot of thought — however the state could at least provide transportation to and from school for mentally and physically challenged students.

There are many other problems facing our disabled community — such as the high cost of diapers and medicine, the lack of trained personnel to treat persons with cerebral palsy, as well as the issue of housing, among others. The onus is on the Government to do whatever they can to improve the standard of living for disabled persons in this country. Continuing to neglect them could be looked upon as discrimination, in which no Government should engage. Likewise, it is up to us able-bodied citizens to assist our “differently abled” brothers and sisters in their struggle to get their rightfully deserved share of the state’s resources. As citizens we must support DPI and the other organisations in their cause, by also pressing on the Government to move speedily towards making the society one where every creed and race, truly has an equal place.

Rian Williams
San Fernando