Seventy-four people with disability have started to receive services within the community in the 35 months that the Service Allocation Committee within Agenzija Sapport has been operating, a national conference on persons with disability heard yesterday.
The conference was hosted by the National Commission for Persons with Disability (KNDP) and the Maltese Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability (FMOPD).
The conference, Hajja Flimkien fis-Socjetà (Life Together in Society), was held to mark International Day for Persons with Disability and highlighted why it was important for persons with disability to continue to live in the community.
Rita Borg, who chairs the Service Allocation Committee, said the 74 persons received an average service of just over one hour a week each. This was considered to be very low and these people undoubtedly needed much more support.
Forty persons with disability were receiving residential services in five residences in communities around the islands, she said, adding that the agency was facing a huge lack of resources.
Apart from the fact that the amount of community support the committee was offering was very low, the agency had a waiting list of 43 persons with disability. Between them, they needed a minimum of 190 hours of service a week.
The agency also had 30 persons with disability on the waiting list for residential services, Ms Borg said.
Unfortunately, although 73 persons with disability and their families were waiting for these important services, the government, in its last Budget, did not increase the funds for the agency, she said.
The authorities needed to further understand the importance of community service for persons with disability, allowing them to continue to live with their families, or helping them to live more independently.
Ms Borg also highlighted the need for more residential homes for people who could not continue to live at home. As for equipment, which was essential but expensive, Ms Borg felt it should be financed by the state.
Accessibility was another issue that hindered people with disability from integrating in society.
The transport situation dictated that if a wheelchair-bound person managed to get to his or her destination on an accessible bus, there was no guarantee that he or she would find another on the way back!
Other issues affecting persons with disability included overprotection and stigma, which was generally in decline, except where those suffering from mental illness were concerned.
Education for persons with disability has taken a positive turn over the last few years, Ms Borg said.
"When I look at the opportunities I had about 20 years ago, I see that there is a big difference."
Ms Borg stopped walking and, consequently, attending school when she was 10 after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. She always wished she had the opportunity to continue her studies in a mainstream school with the necessary support, which is possible today.
However, despite the advances in education, she said more professionally trained teachers of the deaf, who could communicate in Maltese sign language were needed. Furthermore teachers of Braille in Malta were seriously lacking and efforts needed to be made to sort out the problem.
Progress has also been registered in the field of employment of persons with disability, also because they have much higher expectations these days.
"Maybe the biggest problems in this area is attitude and the country's current economic situation," Ms Borg maintained. But it was also still difficult to find employers ready to employ persons with disability.
The conference was also addressed by KNPD chairman Joseph Camilleri and FMOPD president Waldemar Beck, Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina and Labour spokesman for solidarity Marie Louise Coleiro, as well as Mandi Glover from Scope Cymru in Wales.