Government will soon implement a policy that entitles any organisation which employs a person with a disability to a tax rebate of 2.5 per cent.
The move is to encourage more organisations to employ the disabled who have employable skills.
This was announced by the Director of the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment, Mr Ben Clement Eghan, at a one-day workshop organised by the ministry to review the draft National Disability Bill.
Participants at the workshop were drawn from the Auditor-General’s Department, the Department of Social Welfare, and institutions that are committed to the welfare of disabled persons.
Mr Eghan said the necessary recommendations for amendment of the draft National Disability Bill will be made by the representatives and presented to Cabinet and Parliament for approval.
In her address, the Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, Mrs Cecilia Bannerman, said although aspects of the bill have been implemented, it lacks the enabling legislation for enforcement.
She stated that the government has plans to enforce the bill after it has been scrutinised by Parliament, Cabinet, and other stakeholders.
She expressed the hope that the bill, if adequately enforced, will create an enabling environment for the total integration of disabled persons into the mainstream of society in order to enhance their development.
The minister also said that no nation can achieve meaningful and sustainable development without harnessing all its human resources.
She, therefore, called for equal opportunities for the disabled, since they also have a right to participate in national developmental efforts.
She said the policy is aimed at educating the general public on disability, and improving the confidence and respect for disabled persons by the year 2010.
According to her, the policy contains plans to enable disabled persons to have full and unhindered access to social infrastructure, quality education, employment, as well as equal opportunities in all sectors of development by the year 2020.
