JEDDAH, 10 April 2008 — Crown Prince Sultan has approved several recommendations made by the Committee for the Service of the Disabled Aged Above 15 to help alleviate the sufferings of the physically challenged members of society. However, disabled people complain that many of these recommendations have not been implemented yet.

Disabled children are provided support at education centers until their mid-teens. After that they are given no official help. The committee aims to see a change to this. “We need these decisions to be implemented and not only talked about,” said Turki Halabi, who is disabled and a computer data analyzer at Bin Zagr Company.

“A lot of recommendations were made, but not all of them have been implemented. I do not expect this decision to be implemented within three months,” he added.

Halabi said that although he has adapted well to being wheelchair-bound, there is a need to make cities and streets friendly for the disabled. “We need to speak about this matter and ask for our rights... changes are slow in coming,” he added.

The more important recommendations include exempting the disabled from paying fees for recruiting drivers, maids and nurses; having governmental health insurance programs offering the disabled special services; training Red Crescent and hospital workers on how to deal with the disabled; providing social welfare to families of the disabled; providing 1,000 study-abroad scholarships in five years for special needs education; having special education departments for the disabled at local universities; creating awareness about the disabled in the Kingdom’s education curricula; and having a special unit to deal with the disabled at the Human Rights Commission.

Samir Abdrabb, a wheelchair user who is a member of Willpower Makers Society, which was established by the physically disabled, said disabled people find it difficult to purchase equipment to help them with their disabilities.

“I hope equipment such as wheelchairs are made available free or at least at a cheap price. We could pay 25 percent of their price and 75 percent could be subsidized,” said Abdrabbu, who works for the Saudi Electricity Company.

Speaking about the recommendations, Abdrabbu said, “We are now heading in the right direction. We need to support the disabled.” He added that disabled people are excited by the proposals.

Speaking about welfare benefits for the disabled, Abdrabb said, “Some disabled people earn SR1,500 and have families. This is not enough for them to survive. How far can that amount of cash last when prices are so high nowadays?”

Faiza Natto, president of the committee’s women’s department, said that deaf people across the world are provided with a lot of free services, including free water and electricity, and that in the Kingdom the disabled are only provided with free telephone services. “I think they should be supported to meet costs for hearing aids, which are very expensive. Some families don’t buy hearing aids for their children, which results in their condition getting worse,” she added.

A previous decision to establish a higher council for the handicapped in 1992, under the late King Fahd, has still not been implemented.