VP Jewel Taylor renews govt’s commitment to people with disabilities

The office of Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has pledged a monthly contribution to the Mission of Hope for the Disable in Johnsonville, Montserrado County.

This followed a position statement presented to her over the weekend by the institution, outlining its challenges. The Mission of Hope for the Disable in its position statement among other things, called on the Liberian government to consider providing subsidies to the institution through the national budget.

Vice President Taylor says besides her office providing monthly support to one group of disable institutions, she would shortly gather leaders of different physically challenged groupings for detail discussions in determining a way forward to meeting the welfare of people with disabilities in the country.

She says her office is currently on an assessment tour of some of the institutions with people of disabilities across the country, to see how the need of these groups of people could be factored in the national budget as being proposed.

In a press release from the Office of the Vice President, Madam Taylor renews the commitment of the George Weah -led government to addressing the needs of every Liberian, including members of the Disabled Community.

Under pillar two of the CDC’s development agenda, the government is committed to ensuring that the nation’s growth and prosperity does not benefit only a select group, but all Liberians.

She says key measures including strengthening the National Commission on Disability to enable it provide efficient services to people with disabilities will be prioritized to capacitate and integrate the physically challenged and senior citizens.

At the same time, VP Taylor has made an official visit to her home Bong County, the first since her inauguration, making several interventions in critical areas of interest.

Prior to her election as Liberia’s first female Vice President, she served as Senator for Bong County.She thanks the people of the county for the trust reposed in her and assures that the CDC-led government will do everything possible to perform its role. 

“It is now time for the Coalition of Democratic Change to perform its part of the agreement reached between it and citizens, and that this government remains fully commitment to said agreement”, says the Vice President.

As part of her initial contributions to addressing some challenges in the county she presented one hundred thousand Liberian dollars (100,000 LRD) to a group of high school students’ project and two hundred and fifty thousand Liberian dollars (250,000 LRD) as scholarship fund for underprivileged students in Bong county.

A press release quotes the Vice President as further committing to the construction of a modern library in the county, which is her first project as Vice President of Liberia.

She also presented a Toyota pick-up for use by the traditional council of Bong County in appreciation for their support to the Coalition for Democratic Change during the 2017 elections.

Vice President Taylor calls on Bong County Superintendent-designate, Esther Walker, to do an assessment of the payroll of local county officials and see how others could be factored into the process, if the need arises.

However, she stresses the need for the county to go back to the soil, as this was the surest means of being self-reliant.She believes that if everyone in the county got actively involved with farming activities, unemployment will not be a challenge as majority of the young people would be employed.

Meanwhile, high schools in the county have presented a joint resolution to Madam Taylor, thanking and appreciating President George Weah for underwriting the cost of their WASSCE Fees for academic 2017/2018.

President George Weah in his first Annual Message said, “I made a promise that my Government will absorb the WAEC fees for all 12th graders, and I remain committed to that promise. My government has already started to disburse these fees by committing an initial amount of two hundred thousand US dollars (US$200,000).” Press Release