‘People with disabilities in labour market experience an increase in quality of life’ – PM

Prime Minister Robert Abela said that “employment for people with disabilities not only means an improvement in the quality of life, but also means dignity”.

He was speaking during a visit to a MaltaPost branch in Xewkija, where three-quarters of the employees are persons with disabilities.

Accompanying the Prime Minister on his visit were Inclusion, Volunteering and Consumer Rights Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli, and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.

Abela maintained that “the benefits of economic growth must continue to reach everyone by creating more opportunities to further strengthen the workers' situation”.

In particular, the Prime Minister followed the work of these individuals at a branch that offers various services, including printing and scanning of documents for large enterprises and individual clients.

He noted how more people with disabilities are contributing to the economy by participating in the labour market and the latest official statistics for the past month also showed a decrease in the number of people with disabilities registering for work.

Abela remarked on “the government's commitment to continue incentivising employers to not only employ more people with disabilities but also to improve their skills”.

Here he noted the environment provided at this postal branch in Gozo and the close collaboration with JobsPlus and the Lino Spiteri Foundation.

Abela said that “we must continue to believe in everyone's capabilities and strengthen programmes such as Ink, which continues to create a number of training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities”.

"Employment for people with disabilities not only means an improvement in the quality of life, which remains an important point in our social policy, but work also means dignity," said Abela. In this context, he explained that the government will continue to assist and incentivise employers to employ people with disabilities.

On their part, the management of MaltaPost stated that the Xewkija facility meets regulatory and legislative requirements to provide the necessary accessibility facilities at the workplace and is proud of the fact that the team managing the facility is working wholeheartedly to ensure that this project continues to operate efficiently.