The Tribune

THE proposed construction of a therapeutic swimming pool for persons with disabilities by the Pilot Club of Nassau and a facility for post school-aged persons with special needs by the government on nearby sites on Gladstone Road should provide opportunities for mutual activities, Social Services and Community Affairs Minister Melanie Griffin said last week.

Officials from the ministry have been working with a Task Force for a year on the establishment of a facility for post school-aged persons with special needs. The Task Force comprises representatives from the Bahamas National Council for Disability, Bahamas Down Syndrome Association, Eyes Wide Open, Hopedale Centre, Life Options and REACH.

Task Force members have travelled home and abroad to review facilities and determine best practices in assessing needs. The facility will provide training and development of social and work related skills and respite care for those with disabilities.

Speaking at the Pilot Club’s 40th anniversary celebration Mrs Griffin said: “For some time now, it has been the desire of the Pilot Club of Nassau to construct a pool for persons with disabilities and I attended the ground-breaking for this facility some years ago. This initiative is a laudable one (and) given the proximity of this facility to the pool you are proposing to construct, I fully expect that there will be opportunities for mutual activities.”

Mrs Griffin said the government has already provided a grant of Crown Land for the construction of the pool to the Pilot Club and a site on Gladstone Road has been identified. She said the first draft of the architectural drawings should be available for her to review soon.

The Social Services Minister paid tribute to the Pilot Club for its contributions to the development of the Bahamas, adding that the organisation has spent most of the past 40 years assisting the needy through the sponsorship of seminars on health, safety and women’s issues, volunteering for soup kitchens, providing services to persons living with disabilities, providing scholarships to deserving students and assisting residential care facilities that cater to children and the elderly.

“There can be few rewards greater than reminding the elderly or someone with a disability that someone cares for them and that they are worthy of love and attention, or assisting that bright, young person from an impoverished home to attain a good education so that they can achieve their full potential. The fact is that the Pilot Club of Nassau has been instrumental in spreading hope and happiness to the underprivileged for the past 40 years and for this you are to be commended (because) by doing so, you have brought happiness to many,” Mrs Griffin added.