Discrimination among persons with disability (1)

I refer to the reply by Karin Grech on behalf of the Housing Authority (Scheme 7 Not Closed, December 6) to my letter regarding Assistance On Lifts. I would like to state that my letter was specifically focused on assistance for the purchasing and installation of lifts and vertical lifting platforms for disabled persons in private homes and not other Scheme 7 items. Ms Grech replied in relation to other Scheme 7 items that cater for disability-related alterations and repair works and avoided replying to my request for capital works related to vertical lifts.

According to feedback I received from the customer care unit of the Housing Authority several months ago, assistance for the construction of a shaft including finishing works and procurement and installation of vertical lift equipment for private residences with a disabled person is not included in Scheme 7. It is these items that form the major bulk of the cost, in the region of Lm10,000.

Scheme 7 items include assistance for chairlift installations but not vertical lift/vertical lifting platform installations. Chairlifts are useful for mobility-impaired persons that can shift themselves independently but are not suitable for persons with disabilities that do not allow them to shift independently. Thus, those most in need, including families with young children who have to use the lift for a considerable number of years, have been left out!

Also, why is it that assistance is provided for the installation of lifts in government-owned property and but not for owners of private residences such as terraced houses? Do not these have similar needs and difficulties? If these have paid for their property through sacrifices over the years, why should they be penalised by not being entitled to grants? Assistance should be based on the extent ofd needs due to the nature of the disability.

Specific assistance for shaft construction and the procurement of lifts in private residences with a disabled person used to be given through Scheme 7 prior to 2005. The discontinuation has resulted in discrimination against other families in similar circumstances who had to install this equipment in the current year.

Unless these matters are taken into consideration in budget's proposed scheme, the discrimination will remain.