KOWANI regrets public ignorance of disabled people

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of an organization for handicapped people deplores the ignorant and discriminative attitudes of most Indonesians towards their plight.

Koesbiono Sarmanhadi, who heads the Indonesian Association of Disabled People (PPCI), criticized the Indonesian society for being unfriendly to disabled people during a seminar on Saturday.

"Their attitude tends to increase the disability of the already disabled," Koesbiono, who has used a wheelchair following a car accident several years ago, said.

The one-day seminar on "Social awareness towards handicapped people" was organized by the Indonesian Women's Congress (Kowani), PPCI, the University of Indonesia's School of Law and Intisari magazine.

According to Koesbiono, the greatest difficulties faced by handicapped people include the incorrect but popular cultural values which believe that a person's physical or mental handicap is caused by the "sins" of previous generations.

As a result, society tends to shun them.

Disabled people in Indonesia also have to face physical, obstructions, especially when encountering architectural designs of buildings, public transportation and social facilities which, he said, "are obviously inaccessible and unfriendly to disabled people".

"Even this building, I'm sorry to say, is unfriendly to us," he said of the Bentara Budaya building where the seminar was held.

He pointed out that misconceptions in society also hamper handicapped people from progressing and socializing.

"Many people think that just because we are disabled, we don't like to travel outdoors, or they think all the traveling we do is going to the doctor, and that we don't have any intention to work and are socially and economically poor," he said.

Koesbiono, who is a public notary and professor at the University of Indonesia, regretted the unequal employment and education opportunities available to handicapped people, despite articles in the 1945 Constitution which guarantee otherwise.

An awareness campaign, he said, is therefore still needed to change people's attitudes and encourage them to recognize the equal rights of the disabled.

Campaigns

Although the United Nations' Economic and Social Commission for Asia- Pacific (ESCAP) has designated 1993 to 2002 as the "Decade of the Disabled" with an emphasis on action instead of mere "awareness campaigns", Koesbiono considers that, judging from their attitude, Indonesians are still in need of the campaigns.

"Unlike the struggle several decades ago which emphasized increasing the welfare of handicapped people, this decade actually highlights the struggle to be recognized as equals, with equal rights, equal treatment and equal involvement in all aspects of social life," he pointed out.

Minister of Social Services Endang Kusuma Inten Suweno said the government is currently compiling a draft of regulations on the welfare of handicapped people.

The draft, which is expected to be ratified this fiscal year, will guarantee humanity values of disabled people regardless of their handicaps, including the equal rights to education, vocational training and employment according to his or her intellectual capacity, and equal individual rights.

It will also secure medical and social rehabilitation, as well as technical and financial assistance to a certain extent.

She admitted Indonesia lacked sufficient reliable information on handicapped people in the country.

According to a random survey by her office, Inten said, 3.11 percent of the country's total population is physically disabled, with 52 percent of these being young people.

"These figures are actually lower than many countries in the world, but hypothetically, this is likely to be caused by the low life expectancy of Indonesia's handicapped population," she pointed out.(pwn)