BCD gets new school bus to help children with disabilities reach school

Children with disabilities will soon have improved access to school after the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) received a new accessible school bus at Harambee House, Garrison, on Monday.

The vehicle, funded through a partnership involving the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, the Maria Holder Memorial Trust, Consumers Guarantee Insurance, CIBC Caribbean and NASCO Limited, is expected to ease transport challenges for children and other people with disabilities while improving access to education, medical appointments and community activities.

Reverend Canon Noel Burke blesses the new bus as stakeholders look on. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla)

BCD President Patricia Padmore-Blackman described the bus as “far more than transportation”. 

She said: “It is an opportunity for persons with disabilities, especially children with disabilities, to be able to access education, fellowship, and the opportunity for community life.”

She thanked the organisations whose support made the purchase possible, adding that they had recognised “the understanding for persons with disabilities to have accessible transport” and the importance of allowing them to move about “with dignity, empowerment, and support”. 

Promising that the vehicle would be properly cared for, Padmore-Blackman said: “We assure you that this bus would be maintained with the utmost care throughout its use. It will remain a reliable and safe resource for our children and families, a testament to the trust you have placed in us.”

Padmore-Blackman added: “Together we celebrate not only the gift of a vehicle but also the right to empowerment and inclusion…. Together, we honour the struggle, ignite the future, and move beyond barriers.”

Barbados High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Edmund Hinkson, a disability rights advocate, said the handover marked the replacement of the first of the council’s two specialised buses.

Thanking the organisations that financed the project, Hinkson said affordable transport remained one of the biggest obstacles facing many people with disabilities.

“A person with disabilities could go even for medical care… could cost you more than $200 for that trip alone,” he said. “Having it is so important… we’re talking about accessibility for persons with disabilities to even seek medical care, not even talking about to go to work or to go to school, to go to training, to educate themselves.”

He also urged businesses to create more employment opportunities for people with disabilities, arguing that many employers would be “pleasantly surprised” by the commitment of disabled workers if given the chance.

While celebrating the arrival of the new bus, Hinkson revealed that fundraising efforts were already underway to replace the council’s second vehicle.

He announced that a fundraiser, under the patronage of human rights commissioner Kerryann Ifill, will be held on November 7 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, with tickets costing $300. Tickets are available at the BCD.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Adrian Forde described the accessible bus as a symbol of equality rather than simply another vehicle.

“An accessible bus is more than just a means of transportation. It is an important tool for equality, independence, and inclusion,” he said.

Forde said the government was moving ahead with broader accessibility initiatives, including the Access for All project, which will begin with improvements to Parliament following accessibility audits carried out by the BCD.

“We can’t have legislation being done at that level and persons who we are doing the legislation to improve their lives… that Parliament is not accessible to them,” he said.

He then announced that the audit for Parliament was completed and workmen are scoping out Parliament as work, according to the minister, will launch next month.

The minister also announced another commitment from the government towards the council’s transportation needs.

“Whatever His Excellency [High Commissioner Hinkson] raised at the organisation in terms of funds to buy the second bus, the ministry will top up,” he said.

He added: “Inclusivity… must be a word that associates itself in the vernacular of every single Barbadian.”

“We are serious about improving the lives of persons with disabilities.”

The ceremony concluded with Canon Noel Burke blessing the new bus.