Members of the Disabled People’s Network (DPN) in Region Five met with President Donald Ramotar yesterday seeking a subvention for its programmes as well as support for skills training.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, the group, led by President Mark Archibald and Voluntary Service Overseas Organisational Development Advisor Halina Pasiecznik said its main objective is to create opportunities for persons with disabilities to live comfortable lives and attract more persons to the Region Five organisation. They also need funds to construct a fence around the building, to boost security.
Currently, the DPN has a membership of 45 and, according to Archibald that number is increasing. Pasiecznik who has been working with the DPN and other differently-abled organisations in Region Five for over one year, said the leadership shown by the DPN is commendable.
“They want to stand on their own feet… They got a flag project and they want to build their concrete blocks and sell them so they are a very good group and without a group like this a lot of people with disabilities would not even leave their own homes in the day,” Pasiecznik said.
Last year, government pledged $20M towards initiatives that would ensure that persons with disabilities are a productive part of the country’s work force. The pledge was made when commissioners from the National Commission on Disability, members of organizations representing the blind, the hearing impaired and physically disabled and the newly established group for persons with autism met with officials.
The commitment was made with the understanding that the differently-abled have complete autonomy in deciding which initiatives the funds would be used to establish and that the sum would be recurrent in the National Budget annually but separate from initiatives that the government will fund through the various ministries and agencies for the differently-abled.
GINA noted that on November 2, 2010, the Persons with Disabilities Act was signed into law enshrining specific rights such as the promotion, protection and equal enjoyment of their rights, eliminating discrimination on the basis of disability, welfare and rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities. Pasiecznik described the Act as landmark legislation for persons with disabilities.
