Disabled yet to be accommodate

JAKARTA: The number of disabled people in Greater Jakarta has reached over 9,000 in the past two years, an official says.

Head of the social rehabilitation division of the City Mental and Spiritual Development, Social Welfare Agency Jadium Sebayang, said his office recorded 9,607 disabled people in 2004, not including 3,482 people with mental health problems.

He said the administration was aiming to collect more accurate data on the number of disabled people who needed support to participate more fully in the community.

"The public are yet to accept that people with disabilities are as capable of working as others. This is our main obstacle in trying to empower them as members of the workforce," he said.

Law No. 4/1987 on people with disabilities stipulates that disabled people must make up at least one percent of a company's total employees. -- JP