Help for the disabled — from cradle to the grave

From cradle to grave, disabled people can now access financial assistance from the Government.

And, said Minister in the office of the Prime Minister Christine Kangaloo, this is nothing to scoff at, particularly when one compares this with what obtained before. Speaking in the Budget debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, Kangaloo explained that a disabled child between the age of 0 to 8 years had access to the monthly Special Child Grant and disabled persons between the age of 40 - 65 years received the Disability Grant. Those who were over 65 years received the Old Age Pension. But there was a huge gap, between the age of 18 and 40 years, when no grant was provided by the State. The Minister of Finance has now filled this hole, she noted, with the reduction in the qualifying age of the disability grant to 18 years. Furthermore, she said, disabled children also got the benefit of programmes such as the free school books and school feeding programme.

Kangaloo also announced the introduction of a “dial-a-ride” for differently-abled children. Noting that Government had provided $150,000 for the purchase of a bus for wheelchair users, the Minister said this bus would  operate on the “dial-a-ride” system within Port-of-Spain and its environs. She added that Government hoped to enter into other similar ventures with “any interested NGOs” to service other parts of the country. She said one of PTSC’s three new purpose-built buses (catering to wheelchair users) would also be used in the transport of disabled children. PTSC was in the process of identifying certain areas along these routes to pick up people with disabilities. Kangaloo said legislation would be coming to Parliament to make it mandatory for all new public buildings to be constructed with full facilities and accessibility to persons with disabilities. She also announced that the Ministry was successful in getting the Transport Division to give three year driving permits to hearing-impaired persons.

She said  the Ministry of Education had built “disabled-friendly” schools and that there were currently 31 accessible primary schools and seven accessible secondary schools, with an additional 12 schools expected to be completed by the end of 2003. She said that all road works undertaken by the Highways Dvision of the Ministry of Works and Transport would now be user-friendly for the disabled. She cited in particular the “re-designing” of Wrightson Road (the site where the disabled protested for 160 days), to accommodate the disabled. Turning to the plight of “disturbed” children and adolescents, Kangaloo stated that the Ministry proposed to establish a facility to cater to the special behavioural needs of disturbed children. It would first target girls with “severe behavioural problems,” establishing in partnership with the Petherton Trust a special home.