Only two ministries have more than one per cent PWD staff - Ras Adiba

KLANG: Only two ministries have employed more than one per cent of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) as stipulated in Service Circular No 16 of 2010, said Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chairman Senator Ras Adiba Radzi.

She said the two ministries are the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (1.8 per cent of PwD) and the Ministry of Defence (1.3 per cent of PwD).

Ras Adiba, who represents PwD in the Senate, said other ministries should provide more opportunities for PwD to work in the public sector as they too are capable of serving the country.

“Only two ministries have more than one per cent of PwD in their workforce as stipulated and I hope the other ministries will at least adhere to the stipulated one per cent objective,” she said.

She told reporters this after handing over contributions from OKU Sentral, in cooperation with Kumpulan Jakel, to about 300 recipients via drive-through in Kampung Sungai Udang here today.

As of June 2019, there were 3,686 PwD, or equivalent to 0.29 per cent, in the civil service.

Ras Adiba, who is also OKU Sentral president, said she and her friends would continue to strive to ensure compliance of the one per cent PwD objective.

Meanwhile, one of the recipients, Nurul Aniza Razali, 33, thanked OKU Sentral for the contribution of daily items for her and her only daughter, Nur Auni Faiqa Mohd Faizal, who has been suffering from Cerebral Palsy since birth.

The single mother said that since her husband was killed in an accident five years ago, she only relied on the survival benefits from the Social Security Organisation (Socso) for their expenses.

Another recipient, Aminah Abdullah, 49, said the contribution from OKU Sentral would be of much help to her family, who have suffered a drop in income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced on March 18, my husband could no longer work overtime at the steel workshop due to a lack of orders. So, our income was reduced by RM1,000 to RM1,500 per month,” said the mother four children aged between six years old and 23 years old.

She added that with their income now affected, it was difficult to meet the higher cost of caring for their youngest child, Muhammad Yunus Mohd Din, who has Down Syndrome.

-- BERNAMA