PPCI chief hails disability bill

JAKARTA (JP): The President of the Indonesia Disabled Peoples' Association, Koesbiono Sarmanhadi has hailed the recently approved disability bill as a move in the right direction.

But Indonesia's 10 million disabled people still face the daily agony of trying to live with dignity despite public misconceptions, an unsupportive environment and lack of access to public facilities, he said.

Under the bill, passed by the House of Representatives last month, a disabled person is defined as someone with a mental and/or physical affliction that hinders or challenges his or her ability to function in an accustomed fashion.

Koesbiono recently told The Jakarta Post he was especially pleased with the bill's provisions regarding access to education, rehabilitation and setting an employment quota of one percent.

Koesbiono, a paraplegic who undertakes his duties as a public notary in a wheelchair, expressed hope that the bill would help raise awareness about the disabled.

He said that with the passing of the bill his organization would like to campaign for facilities such as ramps, elevators and one public toilet for the disabled in every public building. The facilities would also be suitable for pregnant women and the elderly.

Funds for the campaign could be raised from the profits of companies listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, he suggested.

He cited a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization report that the elderly in Indonesia would require facilities similar to the disabled. The percentage of elderly people is expected to reach 60 percent by 2005; by 2010 the percentage of people aged over 60 is estimated to be the highest in Southeast Asia.

"There is no time like today to offer services and facilities to our country's elderly," he said.

Koesbiono credits his own personal success to a thorough education, strong financial support and family understanding, all of which he sees as the most fundamental steps to empowering the disabled.

The next step is to provide them with employment that is suited to their abilities, he said.

He hailed the efforts of employment agency ProEm Personnel Indonesia to place disabled people in companies like McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

Speaking about sport, he listed the National Disabled Games and Indonesia's participation in the Far Eastern South Pacific Games, the Paralympics for those with physical disabilities and the Special Olympics for the mentally handicapped as signs that the country was making progress in this area.

But he lamented the low participation by his fellow countrymen in recent sporting events, recently numbering 2, in comparison to Malaysia and Singapore's contingent of 20 and 10 players.

Nevertheless, Koesbiono said his organization would also continue efforts to provide proper equipment, through foreign assistance, for the disabled at future sporting events in spite of the high costs.

He said existing wheelchairs for sporting events, weighing 20 kilograms, must be replaced with lighter models. Chairs designed for tennis players weigh nine kilograms and cost a minimum of US$2,000 (Rp 4.8 million).

He said many disabled people still rely on standard hospital wheelchairs instead of wheelchairs tailored to their specific needs like the Merdeka wheelchair.

Established in 1994, the Merdeka wheelchair program is run in cooperation with Great Britain to provide affordable wheelchairs for the disabled in rural areas.

The program provided 1,000 wheelchairs in its first year and each is currently priced at US$200.

His organization is also working together with Rotary International to provide Jaipur prosthetic arms and legs. (01)