PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES have always been campaigning for their right to be included in matters involving them.
Last Thursday, seven representatives from two well-known societies for the disabled (and the elderly) met up with the newly appointed Selangor welfare, women’s affairs, science, technology and innovation committee chairman Rodziah Ismail to highlight their concerns.
The one-hour meeting held in Shah Alam was initiated by Petpositive and coordinated by the Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Rawang, Selangor.
Raising the awareness of the disabled and elderly among local councils is one of the objectives of Petpositive. We also highlighted the usefulness of animal-assisted therapy for handicapped and elderly people to YB Rodziah Ismail.
She was very receptive to the idea and pointed out to us that she had several cats of her own which play a therapeutic role in her life.
Petpositive was represented by Anthony Thanasayan and Captain Abdul Karim Stuart Russell. From the ILTC were Francis Siva (president), Gurdip Kaur (secretary), and three other members.
Immediately after our meeting, Star reporter Jade Chan conducted her interview with the YB.
Here is her report that came out on StarMetro on Saturday:
aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT
Saturday May 17, 2008
Disabled rep in councillor line-up proposed
By JADE CHAN
SELANGOR welfare, women’s affairs, science, technology and innovation committee chairman Rodziah Ismail is proposing to include a representative from the disabled group (orang kurang upaya or OKU) in the councillor line-up for Selangor.
In fact, she has already come up with 15 names.
»We want to educate the local governments to not only have disabled-friendly facilities, but to make sure these infrastructure can be used effectively and benefits the OKU« RODZIAH ISMAIL “Ideally, there should be an OKU representative in each councillor line-up.
“If there aren't enough qualified candidates, the next best would be a representative from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that represents the OKU group.
“My focus right now is to start with the local governments in urban areas like Petaling Jaya City Council, Shah Alam City Council, Subang Jaya Municipal Council, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council and Klang Municipal Council, followed by those in rural areas,” she said.
Rodziah said a trip to a fast food chain sparked the idea for her proposal.
Though the outlet provided a ramp and parking space for the disabled, she said that the ramp was steep and slippery, and the parking space was too far from the outlet's entrance.
“We want to educate the local governments to not only have disabled-friendly facilities, but to make sure these infrastructure can be used effectively and benefits the OKU,” said Rodziah.
“What the people must understand is that the OKU is not asking for sympathy. They want to be independent and most prefer to function unaided.”
Among the requirements Rodziah said she looked into are the candidates' background, resume and ability to speak up on behalf of the OKU.
According to her, the representative's role in the council includes:
> acting as a pressure group for new project developments to meet certain code of ethics and OKU specifications
> finding out the places that are the focus of OKUs (buildings, recreational places, markets, medical centres, banks) and evaluating its facilities
> reviewing all existing facilities for the OKU and restructuring them if necessary, while making sure they're properly utilised
> looking into setting a community centre that caters to the OKU's needs, including an IT centre and library
“There is a lot of infrastructure to look into, including roads, ramps, lifts, public transport and guide blocks for the blind.
“Besides catering for the disabled, having such facilities would also benefit senior citizens and people with temporary injuries that limit their mobility.
“I have personally interviewed the potential candidates to evaluate their capabilities, but I would've preferred a longer time frame to select the best among the best,” said Rodziah, adding that the candidates were sourced from submitted applications and recommendations.
She said both the Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and Selangor local government, research and study committee chairman Ronnie Liu are supportive of the idea.
“I've already submitted the 15 names to Ronnie's office, and we'll be having our final discussion next week.
“Once they're selected for the local councils, we'll have ongoing discussions and work with engineers to develop the best facilities for them.
“I'll also review their performance from time to time.“
Also see ILTC
1 comment:
the councilor for the respitive council should be from the area the represent and be willing to work with fear and favor cause they will know the problems of the area and should work closely with the Adun of the area and have close repo with the local council
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