The landmark bill was brought before the National Assembly with leaders of associations of persons with disabilities present. The unexpected happened when the National Assembly member for Serrekunda implied that it is society that is blind, crippled and hard of hearing despite the wailing of those persons with disability to be included. He allude that discrimination is a stone- age culture that does not befit a civilised society.
He claimed that law aims to protect, promote, prevent or prohibit certain behaviour. He said the Bill is designed to put an end to the exclusion of the most marginalized of the marginalized groups which would marked the beginning of a new Gambia where each would enjoy equal sovereignty . When he asked the members to go and walk on water few people understood the message until he asked why people wait for the ferry at the terminal instead of trying to walk on water to Barra . He said the person on wheelchair is no different from a person on a ferry to Barra. In the same vein, he conveyed that in the complete darkness of a room, the person without eyesight will reach the door faster than the person with eyesight. He drove the nail on the head when he said that despite our ears if a person speaks in a language that is foreign to us, we will not hear just as we cannot hear the voice of the deaf and they cannot hear us due to language and communication problem. He said society is deaf because it does not know the language of those with ear impairment or disabilities. He said society is the uncivilized and uncouth culprit that excludes others because of its own ignorance .The time is now to put an end to that ignorance and build a culture of inclusiveness.
