Ho, March 26, GNA-Mr Larry Bisaba, Volta Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare on Saturday challenged corporate organizations to establish business partnerships with the disabled as a means of weaning them out of the dependency mentality in order to restore their dignity in society.

Mr Bissaba made the call at a ceremony in Ho at which Scancom Ghana, Limited, operators of Areeba presented 15 tricycles in Areeba colours and logo fitted with cellular phones to the Volta regional branch of Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled (GSPD). He said the initiative of Scancom was a vote of confidence in the physically disabled, that, given the right form of assistance, but not alms, they could prove their worth in society and hoped other corporate bodies would follow the example of Scancom (Areeba). Mr Bissaba therefore, urged the recipients to manage the business well in order to justify the investment and confidence reposed in them by Scancom.

Mr Benson Nutsukpui, Legal Consultant to Scancom Ltd. on behalf of the Company said the gesture was a demonstration of the company's social responsibility as a corporate body. He said each tricycle together with the cellular phone cost 800 dollars, about 7.2 million cedis in addition to 600,000 cedis worth of units for each of the 15 tricycles. Mr Nutsukpui said Scancom would not interfere with the management of the package and that the initiative was meant to prove the entrepreneural capabilities of the beneficiaries. Mr Mawutor Goh, the Ho Municipal Chief Executive said Scancom's initiative demonstrated the partnership between government and corporate entities in addressing the concerns of the disabled in the society. He said the Ho Municipal Assembly would assume responsibility for the repair and maintenance of the tricycles.

Mr Goh said five percent of the Assembly's Common Fund was available in support of the activities of the disabled in the municipal area on the submission of programmes that would enhance the socio-economic conditions of the disabled. Mr Carl Tetteh, Volta Regional Chairman of GSPD, thanked Scancom for the assistance and promised that the package would be well managed towards the establishment of a strong working partnership between the two organizations. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Tetteh said the Society would constitute a management committee to manage the efficient operation of the mobile phones business. He said the committee would set up criteria for selecting members who would operate the mobile phones.