'Wish list' for persons with disability

The blind and people suffering from paralysis in their hands should not be lumped with the illiterate when they cast their votes in local and general elections, the chairman of the National Commission Persons with Disability, Joe Camilleri said yesterday.

Nor should people who were once diagnosed as suffering from mental illness be barred from voting once they regain their health, he said.

Speaking at the launch of a "wish list" the commission will be passing on to the political parties, Mr Camilleri said no public building should be approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority unless it is accessible to persons with disability.

The detailed 19-page document points out that the Child Development Assessment Unit should be led by a multi-disciplinary team. Each child should have a tailor-made programme and the families of these children ought to be directly involved in the setting up of the programme.

"In most cases, the CDAU is the first step for every person with disability, where parents are either presented with a ray of hope or else are asked to lose all hope," Mr Camilleri said.

Most people with a disability, he said, could do with personal assistance and equipment to help them live a more independent life as well as to alleviate the family's burdens.

The commission said that disabled people who followed courses run by the Employment and Training Corporation should be offered job placements without delay because they usually forgot what they learnt in a short time.

Fred Bezzina, executive director of the commission, said: "The electoral commission should set up a task force with representatives from the NCPD to look into ways of how to make voting for disabled persons much less cumbersome than it is now".