site.btaRival Organizations of Disabled People, Government Come Closer to Ironing Out Differences about Disability Policies

Sofia, July 31 (BTA) - After a meeting in the building of the Council of Ministers in Sofia with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov which went on for more than five hours on Tuesday, representatives of organizations of disabled people, protesting parents of disabled children and government officials are reported to have come closer to ironing out differences they have about how the system for people with disabilities should be reformed.

Mothers of disabled children have been protesting in tent camps for four weeks now demanding reforms in the disability system but threatening not to take part in the working meetings suggested by the government. Organizations of people with disabilities, which have stood against the mothers on some issues, have staged protests of their own demanding adequate care for adults with disabilities.

Emerging from the Tuesday meeting, Borissov said that nearly 500 million leva now go in the system for disability care and that the budget for next year can provide an additional 150 million leva.

He noted, however, that even the additional outlays seem insufficient to the protesting camps.

He also said that the talks continue - but now within the framework of what the State can afford.

In the words of the Prime Minister, the different groups of people with disabilities have "diametrically opposite positions" on key issues. One protesting group represents 88,000 people with disabilities who needing carers and another group represents more than 700,000 disabled people who need allowances, he added.

Borissov said it was "substantial progress" that the two sides sat at the same table with representatives of the government.

One of the outcomes of the meeting is that the information system concerning people with disabilities will be improved by the end of the year. The register will show the number of people with disabilities, the needs everyone has, meaning that all legislative amendments will rest on true facts, in the words of Borissov, Maya Stoitseva, a representative of the protesting mothers, and Adriana Stoimenova, deputy head of the National Council for Integration of People with Disabilities.

Borissov said that the available platform now, which cost 2.5 million leva, is not working. The cabinet has provided an additional 500,000 leva for the information system, but it still does not work. Borissov said that the control is insufficient and that "there are many agencies, NGOs, ministries, financing, but the end result is that people are protesting".

The participants in the meeting also agreed that three bills concerning people with disabilities will be ready by the autumn.

The creation of a special body in charge of people with disabilities was discussed too.

The nationally representative organizations for people with disabilities continue to insist on keeping the financial allowances to people with disabilities "as many of them live on a social pension of 200 leva per month," said Stoimenova. The organizations will also continue to insist on adequate policies for people with disabilities, accessible environment, and other demands so as to improve the life of the disabled, she said.

The Tuesday meeting was also attended by Labour and Social Policy Minister Bisser Petkov, Health Minister Kiril Ananiev, Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, national Ombudsman Maya Manolova and experts.

The working meetings continue, with the next due next Tuesday.

The protesting mothers of disabled children said that their tent camps remain until the reform is voted in a law.