I am writing to share my thoughts about two disability issues that have caused me a great deal of concern.

The first one is the representation of people with disability on the Commission for People with Disability (KNPD) committee. For a long time, as specified by law, the KNPD committee had a majority of members with disability:

"At least one half of the total number of the members of the Commission shall themselves be people with a disability or family members of people with a disability who cannot represent themselves. Such members shall be representative of different types of disability:(Cap 413 Act 2000, as amended by Legal Notice 426 of 2007; and with Act II and XXIV of 2012 - Section V 21 (2))."

Unfortunately, after Mr Joseph Camilleri retired, this was no longer the case.

I myself, as the representative of the University of Malta, was not a member with a disability. Apart from this, the committee did not have a mixture of members with different disabilities. For example, there was no one who was deaf or who was blind. In fact, the committee consisted of several family members of people who could not represent themselves. This was the case in spite of the fact that there are many people with a very severe disability who are very able to represent themselves and others with different disabilities who have shown they are competent at speaking up for the rights of those with disability. This lack of representation of people with disability in the highest forum of its kind in our country was my greatest disappointment as a member of the KNPD - a disappointment I voiced more than once.

I would like to express the wish that people with different disabilities, rather than people without a disability, should make up the absolute majority of the new KNPD committee.

The second issue I would like to raise is the proposed Disability Hub project in the vicinity of Naxxar. I am referring to the statement allegedly made by Mr Oliver Scicluna, as chairman of the KNPD, about this proposal. I would like to clarify that this statement does not represent what was discussed at KNPD meetings up to the last meeting of 5 October, since the subject was never discussed at all during KNPD meetings. It is possibly not what Mr Scicluna actually said.

The statement certainly does not represent what I think as a member of the KNPD until 9 October, when the committee's term of office ended and so it was dissolved, pending the appointment of a new committee.

Naturally, I cannot speak for Mr Scicluna, as he may have felt bound to make a statement in favour of the Hub for various reasons. 

It may well be that some people would like a centre to enable them to find services in one place (as in a hospital) with the added bonus of a swimming pool and a gym. However, a residence was also mentioned and perhaps this was not made altogether clear, since it was somehow linked to the small residence recently opened in the Siggiewi community. 

If, as Mr Camilleri and others concluded, the proposal is for a number of small residences to be centralised within one location, I find it difficult to understand how this could have been suggested by people with disability or those who are their genuine representatives. That is why Mr Camilleri must have spoken up, since he had already fought the idea - which constitutes a nightmare for many people with a severe disability

I am confident that, just as she did in discussions about the Sign Language Bill before its third reading, when she listened to the views of deaf people who use the language, Parliamentary Secretary Dr Justyne Caruana will again listen to the primary stakeholders, that is, people with disability, and we will see a transformation of the idea of the hub into a project that will truly reflect the wishes and aspirations of people with disability and their families.

I hope - and believe - that these two issues can be resolved quickly and fairly for the benefit of all those with disability.

Professor Marie Alexander