STMA disburses funds to the physically challenged

The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) on Tuesday disbursed an amount of GHȼ51,906 to  physically challenged persons in the Metropolis from its share of the District Assembly Common Fund.

The 68 beneficiaries included people with visual, hearing and speech impairment as well as the physically challenged.

Mr John Davis, Chairman of the Social Services Sub-Committee of the Assembly, presented the funds to the beneficiaries at a ceremony at Sekondi.

He said Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) are expected to set aside two per cent of their share of the Common Fund to support physically challenged persons in their areas.

Mr Davis said the funds are to be used by the beneficiaries to undertake income generating projects and appealed to the beneficiaries to use the funds for the stated purposes.

He said the STMA would support only physically challenged persons resident in the Metropolis because all MMDAs have similar programmes in place.

Mrs Deborah Daisy-Kwabia, Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Director of the Department of Social Welfare, used the occasion to appeal to the MMDAs to help train people who deal with the physically challenged in the sign language.

She said repeated calls to the public to make buildings friendly for the physically challenged and urged the beneficiaries of the disbursement to join associations for the physically challenged to enable them benefit from other packages.

Source: GNA