.jpg)
Held under the theme “Overcoming Challenges”, the forum brought together representatives of the Network from across the spectrum.
Mrs. Ramotar congratulated the Disabled Persons’ Network on the occasion of their holding their General Assembly, and said how delighted she was to have been invited to attend the forum. She also pledged her support for persons with disabilities, and called on the wider society to develop the right attitude to such persons — being careful at all times to refrain from being unkind and prejudiced towards them in any way.
In keeping with the theme, “Overcoming Challenges; Moving on”, the forum identified some of the major challenges experienced over the last biennium, as well as some of the breakthroughs made.
Some of the challenges, as identified by Mr. Lloyd Griffith, President of the Disabled Persons Network; and Mr. Hilton Morris, an Executive Member, include:
* Difficulties experienced by disabled persons seeking to access public transportation while on the roads. Rejection by minibus operatives, for example, was cited. The case of threat to the lives and limbs of the blind and otherwise disabled persons, or those in wheel chairs, by speeding motorists was also identified.
* The rude and embarrassing attitude of an usher at the National Cultural Centre, who was reluctant to comfortably accommodate the woman in her chair, even though she had purchased a ticket like any other person at the show
* The case of a management official of a Regent Street store, who practically ordered a customer out of the store, repeatedly telling her, “I don’t want you in my store, the place is small and you are taking up my space. Go! Go away!” What he did not know was that the woman in the wheelchair was an executive member of a disabled people’s organisation.
* The difficulty persons in wheel chairs experience in accessing buildings that do not have ramps, or those not having proper walkway for persons who are visually impaired.
* Inadequate space in washrooms for persons using wheel chairs.
* Road surfaces that are uneven (high and low) and pose a problem for the visually impaired. There is also a problem of manholes being left open and threatening the lives and limbs of those visually impaired and blind persons, who can unsuspectingly walk into them; and even cause destruction to wheel chairs – the wheels of which can get trapped over them.
Hilton Morris said the network body had, over the last biennium, been working to overcome some of the barriers identified. Namely, they had invited members of the business sector to meetings and workshops, had identified the challenges they faced, and had sensitized the business sector on how they could change certain attitudes and behavioural patterns, in the best interest of mutual relationships and respect for each other.
“While I must say that there has been an improvement in some quarters, there is still some work to be done,” Morris said. He was very concerned about access to stores by persons using wheel chairs, affirming, “We need to remember that persons with wheel chairs would need space to move around, and that is something I find is not happening. Just remember that we are your customers too… we are your valued customers, and we need to be treated as such.”
The programme was spiced with poems by volunteers, as well as lusty singing by a group from the Theatre Guild.
