The Ayawaso East Municipal Assembly (AEMA) yesterday presented a cash of GH¢30,200 to 20 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the municipality, as part of their three per cent share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
The gesture, which was the 9th edition, aimed to support the PWDs to venture into entrepreneurial skills and boost their businesses, in order to get them off the streets.
The exercise was also the second batch of disbursement made to support Persons with Disability in the Ayawaso East Municipality.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of AEMA, Hajia Salma Adam-Kuta, at a short ceremony to present the cash donation said the disbursement formed part of government’s policy backed by law which set aside three per cent of the DACF to be used for economic empowerment of PWDs.
She said the cash donation was presented based on request by the beneficiaries in which they were carefully selected through the help of assembly members in various electoral areas and the social welfare unit.
“The objectives of the funds is to empower PWDs in the area of education, health and socio-economic activities to ensure that no one is left behind in the development of the community and bring about inclusiveness at all levels,” she added.
Hajia Adam-Kuta said the assembly was trying to put in place measures to further assist the PWDs to reap the best from the donation received, while encouraging those who were interested in skills training to avail themselves.
She charged the beneficiaries to make good use of the money to improve their living conditions, since a team would monitor to ensure they used the money for its intended purpose.
The Director of Social Welfare and Community Development, AEMA, Mrs Lydia Winifred Mensah-Bonsu, said the core mandate of the assembly was to take PWDs within the municipality off the street and ensure that they engaged in viable businesses.
She said since the inception of the programme, some beneficiaries who hitherto solicited for alms on the streets now own businesses.
She, therefore, appealed to the government to increase the DACF to meet the demands of beneficiaries within the municipality, since the numbers of the PWDs kept increasing.
Some of the beneficiaries in an interview with the Ghanaian Times expressed gratitude to the government for the support and pledged to make good use of the money to boost their businesses.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
