Enable greater economic access for the blind

ON May 1 we commemorated Workers’ Day, a day that is testimony to the hard battles that workers in this country have fought to rise above the injustices of the working class. While there is much to celebrate about the liberation of workers, the League of Friends of the Blind (Lofob) is gravely concerned about the minimal improvement in employment opportunities for blind and visually-impaired people.

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel visited Lofob on April17 and afforded us the opportunity to share our experiences on blind youth’s ability to access economic opportunities. Amid the country’s economic crisis and lack of job opportunities, the experiences of blind youth painted a bleak picture.

While the rehabilitation of blind people is not seen as an economic problem, without it, blind and visually-impaired people would not have the needed skills and training to enter the work force.

How much thought has been given to the fact that even if a possibility of employment existed, how would the blind person be able to travel independently if they did not receive the needed orientation and mobility training?

Second, without skills such as computer literacy and braille, blind and visually-impaired people would have great difficulty completing critical work tasks.

Another pressing issue raised was the fact that while government enforces regulations to ensure that disabled people have the opportunity to secure jobs, what have they done to ensure that the percentage of employed disabled people is equally represented amid the various categories of disabilities?

It’s been the experience of our youth that when potential employers have to consider the cost of reasonably accommodating a blind person, we are often overlooked.

We believe the government should do more to ensure equitable representation of the various categories of disabilities in the work force.

While there were no solid answers on the issues raised, we are grateful to the minister for affording us this opportunity and look forward to further engagements to ensure blind people’s access to the economy.

Lofob would like to invite the government, corporates and the NGO sector to call on us for the needed disability sensitisation to ensure an economy inclusive of all its citizens.

HEIDI VOLKWIJN | LOFOB’s Manager: Services to Youth and Adults