Disabilities Act Takes Effect February 14; Jamaicans Urged To Wear Royal Blue

As the Disabilities Act comes into effect on Monday (February 14), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is encouraging Jamaicans to wear royal blue to celebrate the milestone.

Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, Dione Jennings, said that the ground-breaking legislation will “promote and protect as well as enhance the full and equal enjoyment of persons with disabilities (PWDs), in terms of privileges and benefits that they can attain, on an equal basis, with other persons in the society.”

“The Disabilities Act highlights that we as Jamaicans should ensure and accept, as well as reinforce, that persons with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as any other person in the society,” she said, while addressing the launch of the Special Groups Programme by the Universal Service Fund (USF), at the Portmore Self-Help Disability Organisation in Portmore on Friday (February 11).

“It will ensure that their rights are protected, that there is respect for their dignity, and prohibits and prevents discrimination against persons with disabilities,” she added.

The Chief Technical Director said that the Ministry welcomes the Act, which was passed in Parliament in October 2014, and the Regulations affirmed by the House of Representatives in October 2021.

She noted that it will give more authority to the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), which will no longer be a department of the Ministry, but a body corporate, functioning under the Public Bodies Management Accountability Act.

Meanwhile, State Minister in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, is encouraging more PWDs to register with the JCPD to access certain benefits.

Mr. Terrelonge, who is Member of Parliament for East Central St. Catherine, noted that there are some 500,000 Jamaicans living with disabilities, but less than 40,000 are registered with the JCPD.

He noted that registered persons can access up to $150,000 for start-up projects, while groups of persons, working together, can receive up to $400,000.

The Disabilities Act aims to ensure the full and effective participation of and inclusion of PWDs in the society, and it is in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, to which Jamaica is party.