?Rivers Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mr Joe Poroma, has pledged to support the bill before the state House of Assembly?on the physically challenged persons.
Poroma made the pledge while declaring open a one day public hearing by the?Assembly on the bill on Friday in Port Harcourt.
“Today is a great day in the lives of the physically challenged in the State because the bill is drafted to make a difference in their lives.’’
He commended Gov. Rotimi Amaechi for his passion for the less privileged in the society.
He said?the bill was the beginning of a new dawn for the physically challenged persons in the State.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mr Legborsi Nwidadah called for positive contributions from participants towards the passage of the bill.
He advised the people not to regard?the bill exclusively for the physically challenged persons, adding that anybody could suffer from the same fate.
The Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disabilities, Mr Frederick Amachree, said?its members?should no longer be addressed as?physically challenged.
He urged the organisers of the programme and the public to address the members?as?people living with disabilities.
“The use of the term physically challenged is no longer acceptable internationally, everybody is a physically challenged person, we should rather prefer to be addressed as persons living with disabilities.”
He called for the?social integration of persons living with disabilities by the government.
NAN reports that Non-Governmental Organisations, groups and individuals who testified?at the public hearing, emphasised on the need for?the appointment of persons living with disabilities?to public offices. ( NAN)