Fatima Muhammad

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – Representatives of up to nine government bodies did not show up at a meeting discussing issues related to differently abled people here Sunday.



Dr. Nasser Al-Ebrahim, the head of the event’s organizing committee and also the director of the medical rehabilitation administration at the Ministry of Health, said: “The general attendance of the government bodies is promising and all major government bodies actually showed up.”



However, he criticized the absence of the Jeddah municipality for the second time running from such meetings.



“We have arranged two meetings so far and in both the meetings municipality did not show up and they haven’t provided an excuse,” Al-Ebrahim told Saudi Gazette.



Al-Ebrahim described the municipality non-attendance as a “setback.”



He added that it would be meaningless to discuss ways of how to make life better for the disabled without the presence of a body that could ensure that the environment is better equipped for them.



This is the municipality’s responsibility, he said.



All these meetings, he said, are documented and will be addressed by a committee that has members from the Health Ministry, police and other concerned bodies.



He said: “We are here to admit that there are problems and if we do not admit them then we simply cannot solve our issues.”



He added that they want to establish a National Center for Disability that can provide information, services and consultations to disabled people.



The center, he said, can be an umbrella for all government bodies to serve disabled people in one place.



Abrar Abu Zaid from the Prince Sultan Society said they treated last year 2,629 disabled people.



However, she highlighted a number of problems that disabled people complain about.



She called on airports to have separate check-in areas for disabled people so officials could inspect them away from the sight of the public.



“Just like women who are inspected in separate room, these disabled people need a private area where they can freely remove their prosthetics without other passengers staring,” said Abu Zaid.



She also called for proving more services to disabled people at public places including airports, schools and mosques.



The number of disabled people in the Kingdom adds up to 730,000, said officials.



In Jeddah there are only 569 disabled people who are being treated at rehabilitation centers and there are 100 people on the waiting list for disabled benefits.



According to Zaid Al-Hamzi, spokesman for Jeddah traffic police, it is difficult to compile records on disabled people in Jeddah.



The traffic police, he said, is working on setting up a database for people with disabilities with their names, phone numbers and locations to be able to provide them with services instantly.



So far, he said, they have collected the data of over 2,000 people.



When asked about the punishments of parking in disabled spaces, Al-Hamzi said the offending person would be fined SR100 to SR150.



Ahmad Al-Sulami from the labor office said they have issued 41,000 visas for disabled people to hire maids, drivers and nurses.



The meeting invited 60 government bodies and was attended by Sami Badawood, head of Jeddah health affairs.



Badawood said that they have developed a plan to equip hospitals in Jeddah to welcome disabled people.



This, he said, will be effective after two weeks.



He added that serving disabled people “indicates the level of civilization of a nation.”



He also called on government bodies to serve disabled people as best as possible.