Persons with disability need more than just tollbooth jobs – Federation

A total of 200 persons with disability are expected to be employed to man tollbooths in Ghana[/caption] The Ghana Federation of Disability Organization (GFD) says persons living with disability are qualified to take up jobs in the various sectors of the economy other than tollbooth jobs. While commending the government for employing persons with disability to man tollbooths in the country, Coordinator of the organisation, Mrs Beatrice Akua Mahmoog, said ” manning toll booth is not the only thing we can do” The Ministry of Roads and Highways on Tuesday launched the Persons With Disability Road Toll initiative to ensure that 50 per cent of those manning tollbooths across the country are persons with disability. Per the 2010 Housing Population Census, persons with disability in the country represent three per cent of the country ’s population The initiative has started with 74 persons with disability and a lot more are expected to be employed in the coming days. Commenting on the initiative on Onua FM’s Yen Nsem Pa on Wednesday, Mrs Mahmoog said there are persons with disability with various professional background and qualifications who capable of taking positions in state institutions. “Person living with disability in Ghana are many, with different kinds of academic and professional qualifications who are capable of doing other things, and so manning toll booth is not the only thing we can do”, she told host of the show, Bright Kwesi Asempa. For her, persons with disability need more than just tollbooth job quota. Meanwhile, she has explained that they could not fill the available 200 slots for the tollbooth job because they lacked data on persons with disability. She said they have been given a month grace period to gather their members who qualify to apply to be considered for the job. She explained that persons were selected taking into account the physical demand of job, and assured that they will go round the country to sensitize their members on the criteria to avoid misunderstanding. By Bright Dzakah|Onua FM|3news.com]]>