PPCI chief hails disability bill

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)