January 23, 2018 By Ishmael Sallieu Koroma
Chief Executive Officer of the Dorothy Springer Trust and Chairman of the Freetown Cheshire home has observed that Family Kingdom was fulfilling the Disability Act of 2011.
Dr. Abdulai Dumbuya was speaking Wednesday 17th January at the Family Kingdom resort, during the unveiling of a ramp for the disabled at the facility.
“We are now seeing the full implementation of the Disability Act of 2011 at Family Kingdom through this accessible ramp they have created for us,” he said.
The Dorothy Springer Trust boss said the resort has been doing a lot for disabled people across the country, stating that even the Cheshire home has received help from them.
“In fact, recently they gave us some twenty million Leones towards the construction of an apartment of the Cheshire home. Family Kingdom has manifested their commitment to ensure that no disabled person is left out in addressing issues of accessibility of inclusion, amongst others,” he said.
Deputy Manager at Family Kingdom, Mohamed El Makkaoui, whilst unveiling the ramp, said the complex has been supportive and advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, adding “We realised even though we are providing donations, support to different disabled groups and organisations, there is need for us to make our facility accessible to all including the disabled people. We decided to make this initiative on our own to make our compound accessible to disables.”
He revealed: “In fact, we will try more to ensure that all our ground floors be more accessible for persons with disabilities so that they could even lodge here. This is part of a big project for Family Kingdom to be disable friendly all over,” he said.
The family Kingdom Deputy Manager said it’s their duty to make sure that they set up a place to facilitate and support the disabled to have active role in the community.
Santigie Kargbo, President Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI), praised the management of Family Kingdom, stating that they were implementing what is in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was domesticated into the Disability Act of 2011.
He called on other organisations and institutions to respect the convention and the domesticated law and make each and every place in the country disable friendly.