The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability presented the 2017-18 Equal Opportunities for All report to Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing and Persons with Disability Silvio Parnis.
This report provides an overview of all the complaints received by the Commission for the Rights of Persons with a Disability between October 2017 and October 2018. It shows that during this period there were 205 complaints by persons with a disability or their family members filed with the Commission. Together with 300 previously pending cases, these 505 complaints formed the case load of the Commission’s Investigations Team during the period under review.
These ranged from education to employment, from housing to accessibility, from goods and services to insurance and from rights to health.
The majority of complaints received at the Investigations Team of the Commission for the Rights of Persons with a Disability (CRPD) relate to accessibility. In fact, during this period a total of 100 complaints were related to accessibility. To this end, the Commission’s technical officers carried out 80 on-site inspections to determine the level of accessibility.
During 2018, the Commission received 104 reports of Blue Badge abuse, abuse of reserved parking or allegations that a Blue Badge user did not seem entitled to it. Of these, 80 cases were referred to Police or Transport Malta for further investigation.
Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing and Persons with Disability Silvio Parnis said that in conformity with the Commission, the aim of this government is to continue ensuring a better quality of life for persons with disability, to continue improving community services and to eliminate barriers to access that people with disability are facing.
The Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability Oliver Scicluna said that the role of the Commission for the Rights of Persons with a Disability is to ensure that Maltese society is an inclusive one, in a manner that persons with disability can, through equal opportunities in all aspects of life, fulfil their potential as persons who enjoy a higher quality of life. The Commissioner said that honouring this commitment, CRPD works in order that society may eliminate any form of direct or indirect discrimination against persons with disability or their families while providing the necessary help and support. The Commissioner also said that apart from investigating complaints, the Commission also provides guidance and advice to persons who request it. In fact, during the period under review, the Commission also worked on 44 requests for consultancy or advice from the general public.
