THE $130 million state-of-the-art Call and Business Centre for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in Palmyra, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), is nearing completion, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has disclosed.

President Ali, in making the announcement on his official Facebook page, also shared snapshots of the ongoing works.

The initiative for the business centre came from First Lady Arya Ali, and upon completion, it will facilitate the manufacturing of products, and offer retail space, technical training, and therapy for persons living with disabilities.

The centre will have five workstations for production, a boardroom, a therapy room, a cafeteria, and washroom facilities. The commercial space’s goal is to provide PWDs with a platform to market the goods they produce.

The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) was approached to regulate and monitor the facility’s production, which will allow for the “Made in Guyana” certification to be applied to the products.

This certification will open up opportunities for the products to be marketed locally, regionally, and internationally.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government has implemented several measures to assist persons with disabilities, including a $25,000 cash grant for training, equipment, hearing aid and other medical supplies, and entrepreneurial development.

The government has also provided public assistance to approximately 8,000 Guyanese living with disabilities, and every child living with a permanent disability will receive a one-time cash grant of $100,000.

The government is projecting that an additional 7,700 persons with disabilities will benefit from public assistance, which will provide them with a combined disposable income of approximately $646 million to improve their livelihoods.