By Samuel Ofori Boateng
Manso-Nkwanta (Ash), Aug. 20, GNA – The Amansie West District Assembly in the Ashanti Region has supported 75 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) with cash and livelihood equipment to enable them to establish or expand income-generating activities and improve their living conditions.
The intervention, provided under the Persons With Disabilities component of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), forms part of the Assembly’s efforts to promote social inclusion, economic empowerment and self-reliance among persons with disabilities in the district.
The support, comprising livelihood equipment and cash worth thousands of Ghana Cedis, is intended to create sustainable economic opportunities for the beneficiaries and enable them to contribute meaningfully to the development of their families and communities.
Mr Prince Manu Morris, District Chief Executive (DCE), presenting the items, reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to improving the welfare of persons with disabilities and ensuring that they were not left behind in the development process.
He said the Government had increased the allocation from the District Assemblies Common Fund for programmes supporting PWDs from three per cent to five per cent.
Mr Morris said the increase demonstrated the Government’s commitment to creating better opportunities for persons with disabilities and improving their economic well-being.
He urged the beneficiaries to make prudent use of the support and regard the items as investments that could help them build sustainable livelihoods.
The DCE cautioned the beneficiaries against selling or misusing the items, stressing that the support was provided for specific purposes and that anyone found to have diverted the items from their intended use could face appropriate sanctions.
The items presented included deep freezers, fufu-pounding machines and popcorn-making machines, among other livelihood support equipment.
Mr Morris encouraged the beneficiaries to manage the equipment responsibly, expand their businesses where possible and reinvest their profits to ensure the sustainability of their ventures.
Mr Francis Mensah, Social Welfare Officer of the Amansie West District Assembly, urged the beneficiaries to make effective use of the support and ensure that the items and cash were used strictly for their intended purposes.
Mr Mensah said the intervention was designed to provide beneficiaries with sustainable livelihood opportunities and improve their economic independence.
He advised the beneficiaries to take proper care of the equipment, manage their businesses prudently, and reinvest part of their earnings to expand their activities.
He further encouraged them to seek guidance from the appropriate officers whenever they encountered challenges in managing their businesses.
Mr Mensah stressed that the success of the intervention would depend largely on the commitment of the beneficiaries to using the support productively.
He said the Assembly would continue to monitor the beneficiaries to ensure that the assistance was being utilised effectively and that the intended objectives of the programme were achieved.
Mr Isaac Agyeman, Chairman of the Federation of Persons With Disabilities in the Amansie West District, expressed appreciation to the Government and the Assembly for the continued support to persons with disabilities.
He urged the beneficiaries to put the items to productive use and take advantage of the opportunity to improve their livelihoods and become self-reliant.
Mr Agyemang, however, appealed to the authorities to ensure that newly constructed public facilities were disability-friendly and accessible to persons with disabilities.
He said accessible infrastructure was essential to enabling PWDs to use public facilities conveniently and participate fully in social and economic activities.
He therefore called on the Assembly and other stakeholders to incorporate the needs of persons with disabilities into the planning and construction of public infrastructure in the district.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Audrey Dekalu