A total of one hundred and twenty-eight (128) Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) drawn from the six (6) traditional areas of the North Tongu District of the Volta Region have been supported with various relief items at a grand ceremony at Battor Dugame, the district capital.

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The colourful event which was the second of its kind within one year, was organized from the three (3) percent disability component of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).The relief items were selected by the beneficiaries themselves through discussions held between them and the District Assembly through its Social Welfare Department.

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The protocol was employed to avoid the situation where the recipients of the items would reject them on the grounds that they were not consulted and involved in the decision to acquire the items for them.The relief items included food such as sugar, gari, rice, tin tomatoes and cooking oil for about forty-six of the beneficiaries, mostly women, who expressed the desire to go into the food vending venture in their respective communities.

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Between thirty and forty of the PWDs also received 300-litre size deep freezers and 50-litre size of iced chests for use in selling iced water and ice blocks as well as iced cream to earn a decent income.Three of the beneficiaries took home corn mills that would not only turn around their economic fortunes but also help address the huge challenge residents of some remote areas in the district face in grinding corn for their domestic use.

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Six of the PWDs also received laptops and desktop computers and their accessories for their studies while others went home with pumping machines, industrial sewing machines, metallic plastic chairs for hiring as well as roofing sheets and vulcanizing machines. Three PWDs were supported with mobile phones, SIM cards in addition to airtime worth GHS 1,500 each to enable them start a credit transfer business in their various localities.

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The items would not only equip the beneficiaries with the necessary tools and materials to earn a decent living in the society but also enable them generate some income from the start-up items to support their families.Presenting the items to the beneficiaries, District Chief Executive (DCE) for the district, Hon. Richard Collins Arku noted that the role of PWDs in the socio-economic development of the district cannot be over-emphasized.

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According to him, his outfit with the support of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would continue to support the PWDs in order to put smiles on their faces.Hon. Arku emphasized that the days when what he described as peanuts in the form of cash, were given to PWDs in the name of supporting them, are gone, adding that such persons also have a dignified life to live as members of the larger society.

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The DCE cautioned the beneficiary PWDs not to go and sell the items, warning that the Assembly would severely sanction anyone caught in the act.According to some of the beneficiaries, the items signified the fulfilment of a big dream in their lives. They expressed gratitude to the DCE and the government for the support given them.Source: www.ghanaweb.com

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