Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana said that the disability hub will not be a 'gilded cage', and gave assurances that it will not result in any segregation of the people with disability who will be living there.

She was speaking with The Malta Independent on Sunday following a conference on certain Articles within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The phrase 'a gilded cage' was used by Vice-President of the European Disability Forum Gunta Anca, who was at the event. She used it as a general term to describe certain homes, in which large groups of disabled people live together within a community, during comments to this newsroom, explaining that such things could limit the development of disabled people.

"Some people would think it better for them to live there, but looking at it from the other side, you cannot put someone in a gilded cage. In order for people to overcome the difficulties in their lives, you cannot place them in a gilded cage and expect them to feel good about themselves and feel happy, as they would not form part of society. Everyone should form part of society and everyone feels better when they are part of society, learning the skills needed to communicate," Mrs Anca said.

The Parliamentary Secretary explained that the complex would be open to everyone, and would not lead to segregation.

Parliamentary Secretary Justyne Caruana explained that the hub will have places of residence for people with disability, a pool, a gym, a rehabilitation centre, as well as shops, among other things. She explained that the hub will be of a universal design and, strictly speaking, will be open to everyone. She mentioned that Malta has a shortage of residential facilities. "The focus will be more on the service side rather than the residential side, that is, on a number of services, all available in one place for a person to easily access. The Convention mentions the right for respite services, access to services, and so on. These will be part of the project. There would also be employment, where there will be the possibility of disabled people being employed. More than that, there is the social enterprise concept. With Economy Minister Cardona, we have worked on a social enterprise bill that would allow people with disability to create and manage businesses. It's not only working there, but even managing a business. This is an example of empowerment."

Asked how confident she is that people will actually make use of the hub, given such doubts about whether the project will ultimately promote exclusion rather than inclusion, she said: "People already do. People frequent restaurants and there are people with disability working there. If one brings you a plate of food, would you refuse? No."

Asked whether the hub might be viewed differently as place specifically intended for people with disability to reside, she said: "It's not something associated with disability. Take the Inspire pool, for example. Do only people with disability frequent it? No. Many people utilise it. This is the same concept. Since we mentioned the locality, and mentioned there would be a pool, people have contacted me and told me that they are happy about it and would utilise it. There would be open spaces for families as well."

Turning to Professor Cassola's comments, which questioned why funds were being used for a single hub when they could be used to construct multiple homes, she said: "We will be applying for EU funds for this hub, and one cannot apply for residential homes through EU funds. The Community homes will be funded through national funds. When looking at the total number of homes we could build in a legislature, we decided on ten. It was a realistic number to give at this time."

PN Spokesman Robert Cutajar criticised the government for its lack of consultation on the project.

Mrs Gunta Anca also described the real situation of disabled people moving away from institutions and into community life.

She described the current focus in the EU on de-institutionalisation, and the problems faced by people who have lived in institutions for most of their lives when moving out into the community.

The situation in Europe for people with disability is not as good as people might think, she said. "More than one million people with disability are still living in institutions." She mentioned that institutionalisation is still widespread, and alternative services are not sufficiently developed."

"The economic crisis is also taking its toll on the situation, with a reduction in social spending and the postponement of reforms."

The UNCRPD, she said, focuses on the freedom to make choices and the ability for disabled people to take decisions on organising their lives, "as well as participating in society as equals."

She defined Institutions as any residential care facility where residents are isolated from the broader community and/or compelled to live together, "where residents do not have sufficient control over their lives and the decisions that affect them."

Some of the main problems people who live within institutions for lengthy periods of time face are inactivity, singleness and uncertainty. She explained that such people would have trouble making the most simple of decisions as they have always been told what to do and when. As such, if they are abruptly sent into community homes without any form of support or training, they could just sit there not knowing what to do.