The Department of Social and Community Development Welfare (DSW) has disbursed GHC 16,537.50 to 19 people to undertake income earning activities in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region in the last month.
The beneficiaries are People with Disabilities (PWDs), students in tertiary and vocational schools and business persons.

Of the 19 beneficiaries who have so far benefitted this year, 14 are physically challenged, three visually impaired and two hearing impaired, were taken through sensitization and training to enable them manage their businesses well.

Mrs Mercy Pwavra, the Municipal Director of DSW, gave the updates in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga noted that since 2012, over 500 beneficiaries both students in vocational and tertiary institutions and traders with various forms of disabilities have been supported.

She said continuous monitoring of business performance of the beneficiaries was key and her outfit did not renege on ensuring that beneficiaries lived up to expectation.

Mrs Pwavra who was responding to why there were still many disabled people on the streets begging, said it took commitment and initiative for the vulnerable to decide their future.

“People with disabilities should take strong decisions about their life and commit themselves to dignified lives since begging was only a temporal solution to their problems,” She said.

She urged PWDs to engage in useful income earning ventures to support themselves and their families, saying begging was a crime and a nuisance to the public.

She said government was committed to providing the needed social interventions to support People with Disabilities (PWDs) to live decent lives and therefore there was no need for them to take solace in being on the streets.

Mr Abdul Munin, an Islamic Scholarly books and articles dealer, who received GHC 1,140 to invest in the business in June this year, acknowledged that the business was going on well and indicated that the amount had helped him to increase stock and sales.