First Lady Arya Ali yesterday turned the sod signalling the commencement of construction of a Business Centre For Persons with Disabilities.
The centre is expected to offer manufacturing of products, a retail space, technical training, and therapy – a first of its kind in the county of Berbice – and is expected to drastically improve the lives of persons living with disabilities.
Mrs Ali, delivering remarks at the sod-turning ceremony, explained that construction of the state-of-the-art business centre will commence this month. After the construction phase, the Office of the First Lady will furnish the modern structure and provide the “startup capital necessary to operationalize it.”
The centre will be located in Palmyra Village, East Berbice/Corentyne opposite the Berbice Bridge entrance. However, according to Mrs Ali, the business centre will support entrepreneurs and creators from other regions as well.
She said the centre will comprise five workstations allowing beneficiaries to manufacture products “ranging from crafts to snacks.” Additionally, the centre will also comprise a retail space for the created products to be sold, a boardroom for meetings and training, a therapy room, a cafeteria, and washrooms. “The plan is to have those persons with disabilities who already make products manufacture them here and then supply to the local and even regional markets”, the First Lady said
She said that a few months ago her office engaged the Guyana National Bureau of Standards “to monitor and regulate the production of some of the products with the intention of issuing the Made in Guyana certification.” With that, the medium to long-term plan is to then have those products sold online to regional and international customers.
Additionally, the beneficiaries will also receive business development training “and can themselves train other persons with disabilities which would allow them the increased production and increase their market share”, she said.
Mrs Ali stressed that apart from the manufacturing and selling of products, one of their main focuses would also be to ensure that persons benefit from technical training and social support so that they can be “empowered to lead their own lives.”
She noted that disabilities often increase the risk of poverty through lack of employment and educational opportunities, “lower wages, and increased cost of living because of that disability.” And it is because of that, that the empowerment of disabled persons is extremely important to “redefine their possibilities”, she stressed.
“Persons with disabilities must be empowered through effective engagement in economic, social and political life”, she said while pointing out that next week every child with a disability in Guyana will be receiving a $100,000 cash grant from the government – another targeted intervention which seeks to improve the lives of one of the most vulnerable groups in society.
With over 30,000 persons living with a disability in Guyana, “these gestures are only the beginning of what is a monumental task of ensuring we advance and protect the rights of persons with disabilities”, Mrs Ali said.
She added that investment in this vulnerable group must not come from the government alone, further stressing that “there is a role for each and every one of us including NGOs, the private sector, and even our international partners.”
She then thanked China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan for the “sizeable donation” towards the project.
The centre will be constructed through the Ministry of Housing and Water. Susan, Rodrigues, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, who was present at yesterday’s ceremony noted that it was the young engineers within her ministry that came up with the modern design for the centre.
Meanwhile, Ganesh Singh, Coordinator – Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities, stated that the construction of the centre is a significant one with the proposal first coming about in 2020. He said the centre is a transformative and visionary project – something they have “never seen before.”
According to him, visionary in the sense that it is the first of its kind, and transformative that it will improve the lives of persons living with a disability.
Singh said that when the First Lady told him of the vision to have such a centre he never thought that it would have become a reality so quickly.