KUALA LUMPUR: Local councils are slow in providing disabled-friendly facilities and infrastructure, says Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

“I am not happy about it at all.
“The Government has done its best by providing laws, action plans, policies and guidelines in assisting the disabled.

“But the implementation (by the councils) is not enough and the progress is too slow and too little,” she said.

Singling out Kuala Lumpur City Hall, she said it should set the pace by being the first local council to provide a comprehensive array of facilities for the disabled.

She stressed that even some developing countries, such as Kazakhstan, could provide first-class infrastructure for the disabled but this was not the case in Malaysia.

“If we do not care about providing good infrastructure for all, including the disabled, it will be challenging to achieve and be a great nation by 2020,” she told reporters after launching a range of sports and travel luggage under the brand name Sporting RAS at the Mara building here yesterday.

The products were named after disabled TV celebrity-turned-entrepreneur Ras Adiba Radzi, who heads Pro Trading and Production, which deals in travel products and film production for television.

Shahrizat commended financial institutions that give skilled and talented entrepreneurs loans to kickstart their businesses, adding that her ministry put disabled development as its first priority.

“We need more financial institutions and banks that do not discriminate against the disabled in giving loans,” she said.