– at Social Protection Ministry

By Shauna Jemmott

THE Ministry of Social Protection has big plans afoot for making access to its services easier for everyone, particularly the differently-abled, by installing ramps and stair lifts at its various facilities countrywide.

According to Minister of Labour, Simona Broomes, the new building, which is currently under construction, has already been outfitted with two ramps so as to accommodate persons in wheelchairs.
She said a ‘lift’ will be installed shortly so that those with different kinds of disabilities can access all parts of the building.
A stair-lift is a mechanical device used to take people and wheelchairs up and down stairs. A wheelchair lift, on the other hand, is specifically designed to carry both user and wheelchair wherever they wish with the aid of a staircase.
The minister was at the time speaking at a simple ceremony yesterday to launch a project with a big purpose, titled ‘Ramps and Yellow Border’, at the Department of Labour.
The Ministry has installed two ramps giving access by wheelchair to its boardroom and another room located at its bottom flat where services will be provided specially for those with walking disabilities.
Minister Broomes said it was just a few weeks ago that she had talks with Executive Secretary of the National Commission on Disability (NCD), Beverly Pile, about installing the ramps and yellow borders to make access easy for persons with disabilities at the Ministry of Social Protection, Department of Labour, located on Brickdam.

FUNDING
With funding from Mr. Komal Singh and the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the project has been successful.
“Just a few weeks ago, we had talks with the National Commission on Disability… And this shows that we can achieve great things with commitment,” Minister Broomes said.
“We are a government that will deliver, and today we have delivered at this Department for the people of Guyana and persons with disabilities. This is just a baby step to what you will see happening throughout the country and throughout the ministries.”
She said just a few days ago, she was approached by a woman who was obviously in distress. The woman, according to the minister, “was hopping and in beads of perspiration. She just needed information; she was abused in her home, and to access or to contact someone for that information, she struggled.”
The minister pointed out that very often, wheelchair-bound persons would visit the ministry in the hot sun, and officers would meet them at the bottom of the stairs, standing in the sun to deal with those persons.
But now all that is in the past. “Now there is access here that they could enter; and there is a small room that the officer would then come downstairs (and) we could deal with them,” Minister Broomes said, adding: “If there’s a conference or a workshop, they can access that too.”

YELLOW BORDERS
Yellow borders have also been painted on the stairs leading to the upper flat so as to guide those who are visually impaired.
The Guyana Chronicle was told that yellow is the only colour that can be recognised by the visually impaired.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Health, Dr. Karen Cummings congratulated Minister Broomes for the wise initiative, and has invited all government ministries and agencies to adopt similar strategies in serving its differently-abled community.
Lydia Green, a senior employee within the Ministry of Labour said the project was executed in keeping with aspects of the theme for National Disability Week, “Inclusion matters: Access and empowerment of people of all abilities”.
She said such special provision for the differently-abled gives them a feeling of inclusion in the world of work, and assures them that they, too, can access all services though they are faced with challenges.

It was certainly a woman’s afternoon out for government ministers, as the event was attended by Minister within the Ministry of Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson; Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn Hastings; Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe; and Dr. Karen Cummings, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health.