OKU Sentral submits recommendations to Melaka govt to empower PwD - Ras Adiba

OKU Sentral president Senator Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi, in a statement today said all the recommendations were submitted during her meeting with Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali recently.

"In the meeting, I have touched on the issue of development and empowerment of the OKU community in Melaka. The Chief Minister has expressed support and given assurance that the welfare and well-being of the PwD community will be protected," she said.

According to Ras Adiba, the recommendations include appointing an assemblyman among the disabled to represent the group in the State Legislative Assembly.

"This has been stated in the Barisan Nasional manifesto for the last state election that it would appoint five non-elected assemblymen. If the state Government agrees to appoint an assemblyman from the PwD group, Melaka will be the first state in Malaysia to have a PwD representative in the state assembly," she said.

Ras Adiba said it would also be a benchmark for other states to empower the group as many issues faced by the PwD community could be highlighted and discussed in the state legislative assembly.

She said another issue raised was the provision of aid or special vouchers for the PwD community affected by the floods to buy hearing aids, wheelchairs and medicines.

Ras Adiba also recommended that a business start-up assistance be provided to the PwD group to help them venture into the field.

The senator noted that a Mental Health Intervention programme which focuses on teenagers should be implemented as the COVID19 pandemic has not only caused many to lose their source of income but also affected the mental health of young people.

OKU Sentral also touched on the provision of financial assistance to patients with rare diseases to help them to obtain treatment and buy medicines, she said.

Ras Adiba said another recommendation was for local authorities (PBTs) in the state to take stern action including by imposing a maximum fine against those who misused public facilities provided for the disabled such as parking bays and toilets.

She also suggested that PBTs in the state have representatives from the PwD community to ensure that local issues involving the group could be resolve immediately.

According to her, the Action Plan for PwD at the state level should also be formulated by taking into account welfare, education, infrastructure aspects to ensure that group was not sidelined.