Govt will address challenges of PWDs — Amoako-Atta
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Kwesi Amoako-Atta, has given an assurance that the government will adopt an inter-ministerial approach to address issues affecting persons with disability (PWDs).
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He said that would require effective collaboration among his ministry and the ministries of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (MWRWH).
“The MGCSP will have direct oversight responsibility over issues of persons with disability while the WRWH ministry would ensure that they have access to all public buildings, with the Ministry of Roads and Highways ensuring accessible mobility for PWDs on the roads,”’ the minister explained.
Mr Amoako-Atta made the observation when he paid a courtesy call on the management of the Ghana Federation of Disabilty Organisations (GFD) on the premises of the Accra Rehabilitation Centre (ARC) yesterday.
He was accompanied by some management members of the ministry, as well as the manager of tollbooths, Mr Samuel Torgbor.
Commitment
He said the government was committed to its promise of rolling out policies that would empower PWDs, adding that “we are ready to undertake needed programmes to improve the lives of all vulnerable persons.”
Mr Amoako-Atta assured the leadership of PWDs that the government would do its best to include them in various aspects of governance, stressing that there would be deliberate policy interventions at the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to improve on the conditions of the vulnerable.
Act
The PWDs Acts of 2006 (Act 715) enjoins the government, through the appropriate ministries, to make roads, public places of gathering, and buildings of state institutions accessible to PWDs. Sections 6, 25, 26, and 27 of the Act make specific references to the need for PWDs to have access to public places, pedestrian safety and parking places, respectively.
However, the GFD and other human rights activists have often expressed concern about the disregard for those provisions by both public and private institutions. Most public buildings and places such as offices, roads, footbridges and gutters are not accessible to PWDs.
Appeal
In the light of the above, the President of the GFID, Mr Yaw Ofori Debra, appealed to the government to ensure that roadside gutters were covered to guarantee the safety of PWDs.
He bemoaned the encroachment on pavements by traders, saying such practice was denying PWDs free access to roads.
Mr Ofori Debra further entreated the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to include PWDs in the government’s agenda.