Adeiso (E/R), July 27, GNA-The Upper West Akim District Assembly has presented assorted items valued at GH¢180,000 to 103 Persons with Disabilities (PWD) and paid school fees of children with special needs in the district.
They were also given working capital to start up their businesses.
The items distributed included wellington boots, cutlasses, boxes of agro-chemicals, spraying machines, industrial machine, hair dryers, popcorn machines, cylinders and chest freezers.
Mr Eugene Sackey, District Chief Executive for the area who presented the items at a ceremony at Adeiso, the district capital, indicated that the beneficiaries included three hairdressers, 27 petty traders, 30 farmers, three tailors, 23 children with special needs and 20 of them who expressed their wish to go into Ice water and ice cream selling.
Among the personalities who graced the occasion were Traditional Leaders, Assembly Members and civil society organisations and representatives of the education and health directorates.
The DCE, urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the items and money given them to become economically and financially self-sufficient, rather than going round begging for support.
“The current way of disbursement of PWDs’ share of the Common Fund is part of interventions by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led government to ensure that, every individual Ghanaian is self-sufficient,” he stated.
He said government was committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal One
(SDG 1) towards the eradication of poverty through the enhancement of social and economic lives of PWDs.
The DCE encouraged PWDs in the district who have not yet registered with the district assembly to do so for them to benefit from the Common Fund to improve their living standards.
He informed the gathering that the Assembly’s monitoring and evaluation team would be monitoring the usage of the teams to ensure that the items were used for their intended purposes.
Mr Clement Kaaba, President of the district PWDs Association on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the Government, Assembly and the Social Welfare Department for their continuous support to the members of the association to improve their living standards.
“We will properly work with the items as requested to help make us indispensable and also to transform our lives,” he added.
GNA