The disabled lament limited employment

JAKARTA (JP): Government and society have a long way to go toward constructively employing the disabled, an association of the disabled said yesterday.

Otje Soedioto, secretary-general of Persatuan Penyandang Cacat Indonesia (the Indonesia Disabled Peoples' Association), lamented that although the government says it wants to empower the disabled, regulations stand in the way of actually doing so.

Most employers, for example, require that prospective workers be able to read and write "normally" -- but this conception of "normal" excludes Braille reading and writing skills. Other stipulations require that job seekers be "physically and mentally healthy".

"We (disabled people) have to contend with these unfair regulations," said Otje, who has been blind since infancy.

Otje is also a manager of the newly opened ProEm-Personnel Indonesia, the local representative of PE Personnel, an Australian non-governmental organization which trains and supports the disabled in the workplace.

"We have a long way to go before disabled people are not discriminated against," he said at ProEm's roll-out press conference.

Otje acknowledged President Soeharto's appeal to the government and community Monday to empower deaf people by assisting them in finding gainful employment and becoming more productive citizens as a tentative first step.

"Unfortunately, the appeal is not yet well-understood by officials at lower levels," he said.

According to 1995 government statistics, Indonesia has 5.9 million disabled people, or 3.1 percent of the population.

Indonesia seeks to provide 60 percent of its disabled citizens with equal opportunity employment by 2002.

Otje criticized companies that refuse to employ disabled people. "How can disabled people work? It's already difficult to enter anyway," Otje said.

However, he commended companies which employ disabled people, including Indosiar television station and McDonald's.

But it is not only business that needs to work harder to employ the disabled. Otje said the field of politics needs to fight discrimination and open its doors to the disabled.

"I'm the victim myself, I failed to become a legislator because of my handicap. It's not fair, we vote and we don't have our representatives," Otje said.

PE Personnel chief executive Greg Lewis said that employing a person with disability is a good business decision, not an act of charity.

Disabled people that have been placed by his organization in various industries, Lewis said, take less time off, are more reliable, work longer and are every bit as productive as normal people.

"What we're offering to employers makes good business sense. It just so happens the person has disabilities," said Lewis, who added that companies can improve their image by employing the disabled.

PE Personnel has placed more than 750 people with various disabilities in jobs. (ste)