Mr Charles Opoku presenting one of the items to one of the beneficiaries
About 18 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) within the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly (EKMA) of the Western Region have received various items from the assembly.
The items which are to help improve the living standards of the PWDs are worth GH¢ 75,270.49.
They include deep freezers, laptop computers, wheel chairs, an oven and gas cylinder, a Fufu pounding machine, some provisions and prosthetic leg.
The rest are industrial machine, soap and detergent, plastic bowls, some school items worth GH¢2000 and payment of school fees of some of the PWDs amounting to GH¢2,292.
The beneficiaries included 12 physically challenged, four visually impaired persons, a hearing impaired and an intellectually challenged persons.
The initiative is to empower the PWDs economically by investing in their businesses to help reduce poverty among them and also curb the tendency for them to beg on the streets.
Assembly Coordinating Director, Charles Kwabena Opoku, who presented the items on behalf of the Municipal Chief Executive, indicated that the disbursement is the 14th in a series and that about 287 PWDs have benefited in the area.
He added that it was a social intervention programme to alleviate poverty among the PWDs.
He urged the beneficiaries to put the items received to good use to enable them cater for themselves and their respective families.
He also explained that the items were purchased with funds from the 3% District Assemblies Common Fund put into the Disability Common Fund.
Municipal Deputy Director for Social Welfare, Alima sadia Abubakari, advised the PWDs who beg for money on streets to stop and take advantage of the initiative to be able to fend for themselves.
Alimatu Idrisu, a beneficiary, thanked the government and the assembly for coming to their aid and helping them to achieve their dreams and aspirations.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Effia