Techiman North District Assembly Supports Persons With Disabilities

Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)in the Techiman North District have received various categories of support from the 3% of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) allocated to them.

In all, eighty-eight (88) beneficiaries, selected across the District, received services/items ranging from support for economic ventures, training and school fees, medical attention and device support.

Beneficiaries from the economic ventures category received refrigerators and deep freezers, fertilizers, weedicide spray machines, bags of rice, sugar, sewing machines and grinding machines.

The Assembly presented the equipment to the beneficiaries, based on their own request, taking into consideration the type of business each beneficiary selected.

Under the Training and School Fees category, twenty-two (22) beneficiaries were supported, with thirteen (13) receiving cheques of various sums to support their education, while five (5) others received sewing machines and sewing kits, and the remaining four (4)sponsored to receive training in soap making.

Under the medical attention category, fourteen disabled persons are being supported for medical assistance, surgery and the purchase of various devices.

In his remarks at the presentation, Mr Peter Mensah, District Chief Executive, noted that this year's support for PWDs was different from that of previous years where beneficiaries received petty cash, which most of them did not use for the purpose for which it was intended.

Furthermore, Mr Mensah said, this year's support spelt out the criteria for disbursement, in line with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) agenda of job creation, poverty alleviation and the economic empowerment for PWDs.

He said the beneficiaries of this year's disbursement were those that had never received any benefits before and used the opportunity to thank His Excellency President Akufu Addo for releasing all the arrears of the DACF allocation from last quarter of 2016 to third quarter 2017.

He urged all beneficiaries to be serious in their chosen carriers and put whatever they had received to good use.

Mr Martin Obeng, District Chief Executive for Sunyani West and Chairman for the occasion, expressed gratitude to the Assembly for its commitment in supporting PWDs and urged the beneficiaries to manage their businesses effectively.

For his part, Mr K. B Tang, District Co-ordinating Director, explained that the President's assurance of job creation was not to employ people in the formal sector as accountants, engineers and co-ordinating directors, but to empower people in the private sector.

Mr Tang said support for PWDs was another demonstration of the President's focus on his promise of job creation, adding, however, that the beneficiaries were not only NPP members but that the items were allocated without political considerations.

He urged beneficiaries to put the items to good use and explained to them that they would not be part of the next disbursement in order to make way for others to also benefit.

Source: ISD (Aziz Abubakar)

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