A special committee working on draft legislation to protect the basic rights of the disabled community in The Bahamas has been given until the end of April to submit its final recommendations before the document is put before the Cabinet.
While it was still not clear when the long-awaited draft Bill will be completed, Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin said the sub-committee met last month and decided it needed more time to deal with the specifics of the draft.
“I gave then an additional period of time, until the end of April, to get the final recommendations in,” Mrs. Griffin told The Bahama Journal yesterday.
Mrs. Griffin said it was extremely important that the disabled community be included in the development of the much-needed legislation.
“One of the themes that they have had over the years is, ‘Nothing for Us without Us.’ It is important for them to know that as a government we have to look at the total picture to ensure that we create legislation that does what it set out to do, but also that it doesn’t immediately place undue hardship on the wider community,” said the minister.
While concerned about the length of time it is taking to enact the legislation, some disabled persons lobbying for improved conditions are more concerned that the legislation levels the “playing field” among the disabled and non-disabled communities.
William Lightbourne, who has been a teacher of the Salvation Army’s Erin H. Gilmour School for the Blind for 22 years, said that while he is optimistic, he hopes that the legitimate concerns of persons with disabilities are fully addressed in the working draft.
“We find that there is a difficulty in ensuring that all of our concerns and aspirations are met in the document,” Mr. Lightbourne explained.
“But in the meantime we will continue to advocate, agitate and lobby for changes for our system here in The Bahamas,” he said. ” In fact, we will lobby to ensure that persons with disabilities are given equal opportunity and access to basic and quality services, labour and credit, physical conditions and infrastructure, as well as access to our justice system.”
Mr. Lightbourne feels that the disabled community in The Bahamas has been denied their rights for too long. “We shall no longer settle for scraps of what just fall from the table, but we must be able to participate in society just like all citizens.”
Salvano Forbes, who lost his sight during an accident in 1998, feels that progress is being made for the disabled.
“I really feel like some goodness is happening right now for disabled persons and not just now [but] in the past governments and persons who were leading this drive before,” Mr. Forbes said.
“There is still some ways to go but a lot has been done. Some disabled person may say that they don’t see that happening but there are a few of us who believe that God has been good to us,” he said. “I would not say that nothing is happening for us.”
Last year, Minister Griffin appointed a multi-task force, which is now responsible for recommending and initiating changes to the disability Draft Legislation 2006 and advising the ministry on the legislation.
Director of Social Services, Mellany Zonicle said that during a recent town meeting a number of pertinent issues relating to the draft legislation were discussed.
“The basic rights of disabled persons are being reviewed, housing, transportation and also health care were some of the provisions that were overlooked,” Ms. Zonicle said.
“The multi-task committee has made adjustments and – different entities would have given their input to the minister via this committee and all those concerns will be taken into account when the final draft is presented.”
By: Royanne Forbes-Darville, The Bahama Journal
