KUALA LUMPUR, July 22: The government has been urged to fill the vacancy left by the death of Senator Prof Datuk Dr Ismail Salleh in 2009 with another disabled person to ensure continuity of representation in Dewan Negara.
Malaysian Confederation of the Disabled president Datuk Mah Hassan Omar said having a representative in the Senate will ensure faster delivery of views by disabled people.
"The representative can also give feedback on government handling of problems affecting disabled people," he said in an interview in the programme 'Kerusi Panas' by Bernama Radio24 here Tuesday night. The government was urged to separate Disabled Persons Development Department from Welfare Services Department (JKM) due to the different nature of problems. Mah Hassan said the best option is to create a ministry for disabled people that can coordinate and develop a comprehensive plan to safeguard them. "Issues affecting the disabled like education, economy and sports are different. Only a ministry will bring about significant change to disabled people." He is unhappy with participation of disabled in public sector which has yet to reach one percent quota allocated under a Public Services Department directive in 1989. On the government policy to help disabled people, he said it was very good but weak implementation caused them to lag behind in national development. Source: http://www.bernama.com.my | 
