People with disabilities in Masvingo are calling on authorities to come up with a survey for their total population so that they will be able to be adequately included in national income generating projects, Hevoi FM News has learnt.
Disability Amalgamated Community Trust (DACT) executive director, Henry Chivhanga told Hevoi FM News that up to now, the total population of people with disabilities in the country is not known and called for a formulation of a ‘proper’ database.
“We are calling on the government to come up with the actual number of people with disabilities in the country in form of a database so that it will assist in planning,”said Chivhanga.
“As it is now, there is not a clear database of the people with disabilities and this makes it difficult to assess their needs,”said Chivhanga.
Turning to the people with disabilities’ expectations on Masvingo city council budget for 2022, Chivhanga called on the local authority to come up with a budget that is friendly to their needs.
“We are expecting council to come up with a budget that addresses economic, social and political rights of people with disabilities,”he said.
“On the economic issues we are expecting council to uplift our members by allocating them market stalls so that they will be able to fend for their families.On the social aspect we are expecting the local authority to address issues such as water shortages as people with disabilities are affected more than the residents of Masvingo as cannot go and fetch water at the boreholes as they are physically challenged. On political issues we are expecting that we are given the chance to participate in decision making processes that affect the city as we have noticed that over the years we have been left out,”said Chivhanga.
335