PWDs seek sh3b for office construction

People With Disability (PWDs) under their umbrella body the National Council for Disability (NCD), want Parliament to appropriate sh3b in the next financial year 2019/20 for the construction of an office.

NCD is a government institution established by an Act of Parliament in 2003 and inaugurated in August 2004 as the national body charged with monitoring the extent to which PWDs benefit from existing legislation, policies and programs.

Beatrice Guzu the NCD executive secretary said the move is meant to save money that the council pays in rent annually to a tune of sh40m in Ntinda, a Kampala city suburb.

"NCD wants Parliament to appropriate sh3b in the 2019/20 financial year to pave way for the construction of the state of the art office accommodation that suits PWDs," Guzu explained.

She said the proposed site for office is located at Kireka Rehabilitation Centre, commonly known as Kirema in Wakiso district.

Guzu appeared before Parliament's committee on gender alongside NCD vice chairman Yonna Wasswa, head of finance Jackson Masaba, chairperson human resource committee Edgar Bwire and sign language interpreter Rose Bulime to defend the council's budget for the 2019/20 financial year.

According to Guzu, the proposed PWDs accessibility model centre will be built with recreation centres, rehabilitation centre and vocational skills training facilities with appropriate accessibility for PWDs. They also intend to put in place accessible entrances connected to accessible pathways, parking areas, safe and accessible urinals and bathrooms.

"The facility will have safe and well-dimensioned staircases with appropriate railing and well dimensioned and accessible elevators and where necessary providing of ramps," Guzu said.

NCD also called upon Parliament to appropriate sh300m in the 2019/20 financial year to enable them to procure a new vehicle. They told MPs that the only one they have, a Toyota Land Cruiser 2000 model, is in a dilapidated state. 

The committee chaired by Alex Ndeezi, the MP for PWDs in the central region, said that in the last financial year, Parliament appropriated sh200m to NCD for procurement of a new car.

"I am shocked to hear that the money was not given to NCD, by the gender ministry. Sh200m was meant to buy a new vehicle for NCD and that must be investigated," Ndeezi insisted.

Ndeezi said the population of PWDs in Uganda is about four million. Of these, about 1.2m have physical impairments, 800,000 are deaf, 700,000 are blind, over 20,000 are albinos.

According to Ndeezi, PWDs own approximately 130 acres of countrywide.

"Under official government rules, a government vehicle is supposed to be disposed of after five years or when it covers 250,000 kilometres, depending on which of the two comes first. We have one Land Cruiser bought in 2008 is currently in a dangerous mechanical condition and we are worried it will expose us to road accidents during the course of our work," Wasswa explained.

Masaba said there is a scarcity of appropriate educational, scholastic and instructional materials, inadequate training of staff handling concerns of PWDs, outdated and limited skills in vocational rehabilitation centres, inaccessible physical structures at schools, high costs of assistive devices and assistive services such as guides, helpers as well as interpreters, are major factors which hinder PWDs from attaining an education and skills.