The local administration of Nikšić finances two support services for people with disabilities (PWD), and they are thinking about forming a council, even a secretariat that would deal exclusively with issues of the mentioned category in order to improve their status in society.
This was announced at a press conference organized by the non-governmental organization (NGO) "Mozaik".
"The municipality of Nikšić is budgeting for free accessible transportation for people with disabilities, i.e. a social door-to-door transportation service, which the NGO 'Mozaik' has been implementing for a year. Through the new budget for 2024, that service will be budgeted for this year as well. is very significant because it provides the opportunity for people with disabilities to participate in all aspects of social life and socialization", said Blagoje Šturanović, executive director of NGO "Mozaik".
According to him, about twenty users constantly use transportation services, while the number of those who occasionally use the service is much higher.
Another service funded by the local government is the sighted companion support service. That service in Nikšić is used by 10-15 people with visual impairment, and one sighted attendant is employed. The service also exists in Pljevlja, where one works, and in Podgorica, where two sighted companions are employed.
"It was a project that turned out to be very important for visually impaired people in our city. I am sure that this service will come to life not only in 2024, when it comes to support from the Municipality of Nikšić, but also in the following years, because this service is necessary and very important for people with impaired vision," said Marko Nikolić, president of the organization of the blind. for Nikšić, Savnik and Plužine.
According to Goran Macanović, executive director of the Association of the Blind of Montenegro, the Municipality of Nikšić provides continuous support to PWDs and visually impaired people.
"The current structure in the municipality has done more in terms of accessibility for visually impaired people in the last 2-3 years than the previous structure in the period of more than a decade of their work. In the last 2-3 years, we have received a significant number of sound traffic lights in Nikšić, and I believe that this will continue. The first tactile strips were placed on the ground floor of the Municipality, and I believe that this is only the beginning of work on accessibility, because accessibility is a process that implies continuous work. This is something that cannot be achieved all at once, but must be worked on continuously over a long period of time in order to reach the inclusion of the community", said Macanović.
Blagoje Šturanović pointed out that personal assistance and (in)accessibility of public areas and objects in the city are the biggest problems they face.
"A personal assistance service is necessary for many people with disabilities in Nikšić. As for the accessibility of public areas and facilities in Nikšić, it is at a bad level, as shown by our analysis that we did last year. We have a nice example that with a little money and good will, the building can be made more accessible. "A few days ago, in cooperation with the 'Propaganda' bar, we set up an access ramp that has been in use for several days," pointed out Šturanović.
The President of the Municipality, Marko Kovačević, promised that they will continuously continue to improve the position of people with disabilities.
"We wouldn't be able to do all that without a real initiative on their part. They knew very well what their needs were, they knew how to present it, and the easier part of the job remained for us, to help. What is important is that we talk, that we listen to each other, that we know what our possibilities are and what their needs are. Not all needs can be met right away, we can't do everything right away, but we can continuously improve living conditions for people with disabilities. We do it continuously, and when you start on such a path, you get concrete results," said Kovačević.
According to him, they are planning to establish a council for PWDs in the coming period, a local action plan for people with disabilities is also being prepared, and Kovačević hopes that next year he will be able to implement the idea of having a Secretariat for PWDs in the Municipality of Nikšić. , the first of its kind in Montenegro.
"My idea is that through systematization changes in the Municipality, we might introduce a secretariat that would deal strictly with these issues and where the secretary would have a person from the ranks of PWDs, someone who would take care of the needs of the community and whether the local self-government services everything as it should should. Nikšić is really going in the right direction, I think we are a good example and I think it belongs to us somewhere to introduce something like that in a popular period, when it comes to the municipality of Nikšić. This would be a perhaps revolutionary step when it comes to local self-governments, and this is what I will insist on and advocate for. This will be part of a broader systematization and story about the change in the organization of work in the local self-government in Nikšić for the year of the people," said Kovačević.
He called on socially responsible companies to strengthen PWD support services, either through the donation of another vehicle or by providing funds to hire a larger number of attendants because, as he said, not everything depends on NGOs or the Municipality.
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