©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Elly Fazaniza
PETALING JAYA: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry may revise the Persons with Disabilities Act to include penalty provisions for those who use facilities meant for the phyically challenged.
Its deputy minister, Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun, said they were considering doing so but had no fixed period when a decision would be made.
She was speaking to reporters after the launch of the first World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Entrepreneurship Challenge here today.
On Sunday, disabled activist Anthony Siva Bala Thanasayan told theSun that the Act should be amended to include penalties for those who use the facilities meant for the phyically challenged, otherwise the law would not serve its purpose.
He said the Act's emphasis was on educating the public and not punishing those who misuse the facilities.
Gazetted on Jan 24, 2008, the Act provides the disabled with rights in terms of registration, protection, rehabilitation and development, thus ensuring them equal legal rights as others.
Meanwhile, the ministry's deputy secretary–general (strategic) Datuk Harjeet Singh, when contacted recently, said the disabled were protected under different provisions in other laws as well.
"Any acts of discrimination against people with disabilities would be addressed under the relevant laws that are being enforced in Malaysia.
"This includes penalties under the Uniform Building by–laws 1984 and the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 that are enforced by all local authorities in all states, acts of violence and victimisation of a person which comes under the Penal Code's and the Domestic Violence Act 1994," he said.
He said the main challenge facing the ministry was to get all the bodies and agencies involved in implementing the laws to protect the disabled, to understand the rights and needs of this physically challenged group.
"We hope that under the 11th Malaysia Plan, there will be growing awareness on issues facing the disabled by everyone including the general public," he added.