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Govt lauded for helping people with
disabilities
By ALISON ANIS
THE PNG Government gave K1.2 million under its supplementary budget last
year to support the work of people living with disabilities.
The monetary support, according to Community Development Minister Dame
Carol Kidu, is the highest spending so far by any government on people
with disabilities in the country.
Speaking at the opening of the Asia Pacific regional seminar on capacity
building for self-help organisations of people with disabilities, Dame
Carol said: “I would like to thank the Government for their support and
commitment towards people with disabilities.
“This Government has committed more to support the work of those who are
less fortunate.
“This year, the Government has made the highest spending ever to support
people with disabilities and this is now in the recumbent budget for
2007. It is an enormous achievement.”
She said traditionally, PNG was a caring and inclusive society but as
“we have moved forward, the policy and plans for persons with
disabilities were often overlooked or left behind”.
“Issues of disabilities are human rights issues. Often we look at our
people with disabilities and we sympathise with them or look with pity
upon them. These are people like you and me – they have the right to
participate on equal basis as able persons in decision making and own
the right to self-determination just like the saying they adopted –
nothing for us without us.”
She also commended the Government for setting the framework for policy
development for people with disabilities.
The NEC is now finalising the policy but Dame Carol said the work plan
should not be written and should wait until the end of the seminar.
“The outcome of the policy depends a lot on the current training seminar
and we will have to wait until we have finished so we can decide the
outcome,” she said.
Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare said his Government had done a lot to
support and create awareness of the needs of persons with disabilities.
He said apart from making the highest level of spending on persons with
disabilities and the framing of the national disability policy, the
Government was also committed to the establishment of the National
Assembly for Disabled Persons in PNG.
 
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