The proposed disability hub would not be promoting “segregation” but offer a wide range of services to different sectors of society, including the elderly, Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana said yesterday.
She was reacting to concerns raised by a number of stakeholders and parents who asked for more clarity on the €12 million project unveiled in the 2016 Budget.
“This will not be a place in the middle of nowhere but at the heart of the community and will not go against the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability,” she insisted. The residential aspect constituted a small part of the complex, which would provide much-needed facilities for severely disabled people, Dr Caruana added.
There are still about 200 individuals living in homes for the elderly or at Mount Carmel Hospital, which could not cater adequately for their needs, she noted
Dr Caruana was addressing a half-day conference organised by the National Commission for People with Disability (KNPD) at the Dolmen Hotel in Qawra, which focused on article 19 of the UN convention dealing with independent living.
In an opinion piece, penned for this newspaper a fortnight ago, former KNPD head Joe Camilleri lashed out at the proposed project, saying it was tantamount to “segregation by stealth”. He described the project as “an ill-conceived and potentially very dangerous, retroactive step” that must be resisted strongly.
In sharp contrast, his successor at the KNPD, Oliver Scicluna, has welcomed the project, earmarked to be built on a site at San Pawl tat-Tarġa, Naxxar.
Both the Nationalist Party and the Alternattiva Demokratika spokesmen sitting on the conference panel echoed the concerns raised by Mr Camilleri.
PN spokesman Robert Cutajar criticised the government’s “lack of consultation” over the project, saying most of those directly involved had been kept in the dark. Mr Cutajar questioned the government’s priorities in this sector, pointing out that a private member’s bill filed by an Opposition MP to fight discrimination and beef up safeguards against any form of disability had been left gathering dust since May last year.
AD chairman Arnold Cassola deemed the disability hub a step backwards in inclusive policies. He said the money allocated for the project should have gone to open more residential homes in the community for people with disability.