Morris blames long-delayed census for inadequate data on people with disabilities

 

Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of West Indies, Mona, Senator Professor Floyd Morris, is asserting that the failed national census is the reason the government is experiencing a challenge with data to determine whether it is compliant with the five per cent disability quota.

 

The government is mandated to meet a five per cent quota for employment of people with disabilities in the public sector.

 

Professor Morris was reacting to a comment from Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. who said his Ministry is in discussions with the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) to gather and utilise data on people with disabilities.

 

The 2022 Population and Housing Census has been beset by several challenges including COVID-19, staffing, privacy and security concerns and respondent cooperation.

 

Speaking Sunday on Radio Jamaica's weekly news review programme, That's a Rap, Professor Morris noted that the national census, which began in 2022, is yet to be completed. 

 

"The fact of the matter is that the national census would collect the baseline data on different populations, including persons with disabilities. But I have also said to STATIN that there needs to be a specific census of the population of persons with disabilities so that we can know exactly how many persons with disabilities are in the country, what are the different types of disabilities, and what are their economic status, you know? But that, again, is lacking, and you can't plan effectively if you don't have credible data," he asserted. 

 

The matter was being discussed within the context of the country this week marking three years since the Disabilities Act came into effect on February 14, 2022.

 

Last November, STATIN said it is making efforts to complete the census and ensure the quality and reliability of the results.

 

Professor Morris, in the meantime, has accused the government of running the risk of breaching a section of the Disabilities Act, which requires that a Joint Select Committee be established to conduct a review of the law after it has been in effect for three years. 

 

"Section 48 requires that the Act be reviewed within three years of the legislation coming into effect. Now, the legislation was brought into effect on the 14th of February 2022, and this February, this Friday, it will be three years. So we have not seen that Joint Select Committee that the Act requires to be established to review the legislation being established," he pointed out.