Non-disabled persons cannot work for us

PRESIDENT OF THE TT chapter of Disabled People International (TTDPI), George Daniel, will not allow non-disabled persons to wholly run organisations for the differently-abled in TT. Speaking at a news conference yesterday at the TT chapter of Disabled People International on Wrightson Road, Daniel said disabled persons had now become empowered and did not need the non-disabled community to run and dictate their lives. “This is the 21st century. We have become empowered and it is time for us to take charge of our own community,” Daniel said. Daniel said no other organisation was allowed to speak on behalf of the disabled community, as all the affairs of the disabled fall under the TTDPI.

Daniel complained that organisations who claimed to be assisting the disabled were actually only providing a service, and locked them away in institutions to be cared for. “We will be monitoring any organisation which claims to be assisting disabled persons. We do not need permission to enter these premises, as long as we believe a disabled-person is being mistreated,” said Daniel. Daniel said the TTDPI was the official umbrella organisation for other organisations assisting the differently abled. However, Daniel said only organisations managed by disabled persons will be allowed to join the TTDPI. “We are saying that able-bodied people cannot be involved, we want them to work with us, not for us,” said Daniel.