Adaklu: Forty-five People with Disabilities (PWDs) made up of 29 males and 16 females in the Adaklu district were on Wednesday presented with startup items. The items worth about GH146,014.10 include cassava graters, industrial sewing machines, knapsack spraying machines, cutlasses, weedicides, and provisions. The beneficiaries were into projects such as farming, trading, health, education, artisans, and activities of the PWD Association.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Jerry Ameko, Adaklu District Chief Executive (DCE), speaking at the ceremony, stated that the district has 702 PWDs made up of 352 males and 350 females. He said the items were social intervention packages meant to assist the PWDs to implement their projects and programs, adding that it was also meant to equip them with skills and build their capabilities to become independent and self-reliant.
He appealed for an increment in the percentage share of the Disability Common Fund from three to five percent and ensure its timely release for many PWDs to benefit from it. The Disability Fund is the three percent of the District Assemblies Common Fund allocated to all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the country.
Mr. Ameko, who is also the Dean of DCEs in the Volta Region, urged the participants to take good care of the items and use them for their intended purposes. “Use the items you received today well to maximize profits and reinvest them for the sustainability of your projects,” he advised.
The DCE called on the Disability Fund Management Committee members to be vigilant and not relent on their efforts in conducting monitoring visits to the various projects of all the beneficiaries to ensure the effective utilization of the items. He stated that by so doing, more PWDs would also benefit from the Fund. Mr. Ameko entreated families of the beneficiaries to also support them for the sustainability of their projects.
Mrs. Susan Akortia, Adaklu District Director of the Department of Social Welfare, told the recipients that the items, if used well, would have a positive impact on their lives to integrate well into society. She said the registered PWDs in the district were grouped into batches and that another set of beneficiaries would be attended to when the next Fund was released. Mrs. Akortia said the selection of the beneficiaries was not done on any political considerations.