Visually impaired persons slam Govt over ‘peasant’ treatment

DOES Government’s policy regarding the disabled include “overt” discrimination against persons with certain types of disabilities? This question was posed by several members of the South Chapter of the Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association after claiming they were treated like “peasants” by members of the Disabilities Affairs Unit (DAU) of the Office of the Prime Minister, (Social Services Delivery Department) during an “Employment Exposition,” at the Ambassador Hotel, St James, on Wednesday.

Association member Lakhan Seepersad Thursday told Newsday he participated in this Exposition which was held as part of celebrations of International Day of Disabled Persons. He said 12 members of the association were forced to wait in the driveway of the Ambassador Hotel because of overcrowding at the venue. “We were told that there was no room to accommodate us and we had to wait in the driveway of the hotel, not even in the lobby, but in the driveway for over 20 minutes before we were allowed inside,” a bitter Seepersad said, adding that while the blind persons were waiting, persons in wheelchairs were allowed into the supposedly overcrowded hotel. He added that members of the association’s North branch left the Exposition out of frustration after they were not allowed into the hotel.

Seepersad, a visually-impaired person with less than ten percent eyesight, said the “horrors” did not end there, as once inside the venue, two members of the group — Michael Durham and Dennis Seebaran — after visiting a booth, were taken to a room and left there by their guide. “We were taken into the lobby and informed that we would be escorted in pairs to the booths, but two of our members, Durham and Seebaran, were left by themselves and it was only after someone saw them sitting by themselves in a room that we were told about their whereabouts,” Seepersad said. Durham, who is completely blind, said they were later told they were taken to the main conference room, but he noted that no one there had spoken to the pair. “We heard voices all around us but no one asked us what we were doing there or if we were lost,” Durham said. “I personally felt that we were not welcome at this function, which we were invited to attend,” he added.

Seepersad agreed with Durham saying, with few exceptions, most of the persons manning the various booths seemed uninformed about their own respective company’s policies regarding visually-impaired persons. “Apart from the NFM and NGC booths, everyone else said that we would have to call their company and find out if they hired visually-impaired persons or that the person to answer our questions was not there,” Seepersad said. “We were even told that we were not allowed into the main conference room since it was reserved for the minister and other dignitaries and that is when we realised that this whole exposition was a ‘pappy show’ to fool people into thinking that the Government was doing things for us,” Seepersad fumed.

He also observed that while having lunch, members of the Disabilities Unit kept asking whether they (the delegation of visually impaired persons) were ready to leave the Exposition or whether their transportation had arrived to pick them up. “All I have to say is that if Government is really serious about helping persons with disabilities then something must be done the ensure that educational opportunities are available to everyone, and not only to people who could see,” he concluded. Efforts to reach Social  Services Delivery Minister Christine Kangaloo for a comment proved futile.