KUALA NERUS, April 14 — Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) has provided a buggy car for its Persons with Disabilities (PwD) students on its main campus here.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student and Alumni Affairs) Professor Mohd Afandi Salleh said the car would facilitate their movements such as attending classes and going to the library and mosque.
“UniSZA wants to become a PwD-friendly university and as of now, various facilities have been provided for the group such as wheelchairs, a refrigerator to keep medicines, an electric scooter, eye-controllers for PwD with visual impairments to use computers, and companions who are also students,” he told reporters after handing over the vehicle to a student representative here, today.
He said the allocation to buy the RM29,340 car was disbursed by the university’s Waqf and Endowment Office through the Deputy Vice Chancellor’s office, adding that the university would hire companions among the students to drive the buggy car.
To date there are 40 PwD students in UniSZA consisting of 22 with physical disabilities, visual impairments (12), hearing impairments (4) and speech impairments (2).
Mohd Afandi said UniSZA would also produce its own buggy car prototype soon through its Design and Technology Industry Faculty to serve the same purpose.
“We already have the design but it still needs detailing in terms of measurement, weight and energy needed to move the car, more importantly, it must be safe and durable,” he said, adding that when the buggy car is ready, other universities can also use the vehicle to serve their PwD students. — Bernama
