The Opposition disagreed with the Guardianship Board as the competent body to issue guardianship orders, Opposition spokesperson on people with disability Justyne Caruana told Parliament on Wednesday.
In an 80-minute speech, Dr Caruana said that the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction should have authority over guardianship with respect to people with a disability and that this court should be given all the necessary resources to function.
Having one court presiding over matters related to interdiction, incapacitation and guardianship would ensure a smooth procedure, avoiding a confusion of procedures.
Even the Malta Federation of Organisations of Persons with Disability believed that the board should only retain a consultative role, helping the court to reach its conclusions. She asked whether legal aid would be given to people who could not afford to institute proceedings before the board.
Earlier, Dr Caruana said it would have been better if the Government opted to enact a “Guardianship Act” rather than introducing new provisions in the Civil Code. She could not understand how the Government had taken so long to deposit the documents to ratify the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities if things were going as well as the minister claimed.
The Opposition would vote in favour of the Bill even though it had certain reservations. One had to see how the Convention would be implemented so that the situation of people with disability could improve.
The Bill failed to distinguish between guardianship and trusteeship and there was the need for clarification on the general advocate’s role as a public guardian. The Bill also included insensitive wording.
The Bill provided for persons with a disability to voluntarily ask for guardianship. How did the government plan to manage this?
Although the Bill acknowledged that persons with a disability should have a voice, this was not mandatory. Dr Caruana maintained that all concerned should have the right to be heard and the means to transmit their wishes. More had to be done to facilitate supported decision making.
There needed to be clarification as to whether guardians would be entitled to remuneration since there were ingcontradictory statements in the Bill. The process of appointing a guardian needed to be more rigorous and the fines relating to abuse harsher.
The KMPD needed to be given the necessary resources to operate in order to be able to give its input on accessibility to Mepa before a permit was issued.
There needed to be more employment opportunities for people with a disability and the ETC had much to answer about in this regard. The auditor general had said that the unit which found employment for persons with a disability did not fully embrace the inclusion principle.
Dr Caruana also spoke on the challenges faced by blind and deaf students, more use of guide dogs and the issue of reserved parking.
People with hearing impairments did not have access to the 112 emergency service and were also faced with perplexed nurses at the hospital when needing treatment, due to communication problems.
Referring to the Child Development Assessment Unit, Dr Carauna said the best service was not being given, or no service was given at all in some instances, due to the long waiting lists. Parking at the CDAU premises was a problem, which was made worse by giving away parking spaces to a hot-dog kiosk.
Dr Caruana observed it was not good practice to send inexperienced learning support assistants immediately in special schools for persons with disability. Both such facilitators and parents were uncomfortable with such situations.
Concluding, the Labour MP emphasised that services offered in special schools should not be reduced and the Government had to be aware of the real situation.