Two winners of the Mons. Mikiel Azzopardi Award 2019

Mr Oliver Scicluna, Chairperson of the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabillity and the company Camilleri & Cuschieri Consulting Engineers, represented by Mr Charles Cuschieri, co-founder of the of the company, are the winners of this years’ Mons. Mikiel Azzopardi Award.

This was announced by Fr Martin Micallef, Director of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, during the annual concert by the band of the Armed Forces of Malta that took place on Friday (6th December) at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Paul in Mdina in aid of the Siġġiewi Home on the occasion of the International Day for Persons with Disability.

This Award, that was launched in 1955, is given every year in recognition of the voluntary contribution by persons in the disability sector in Malta and Gozo as well as persons and entities that help Id-Dar tal-Providenza in its work.

Oliver Scicluna was appointed Chairperson of the National Commisskion for Persons with Disability in March 2014. Presently he is serving on various councils and boards on the national level. He is also Vice Chairperson of the Foundation for the Accessibility of Information Technology. He served as Chairperson of the Action Committee for a Just Society, which was set up to give advice at the preparation stage of the National Policy about Disability.

In June 2016, Oliver was appointed as the first Commissioner for the Rights of Persons with Disability.

Camilleri & Cuschieri Consulting Engineers, a company gthat provide consultancy services in the engineering sectir, was established in 1979 by the late Eng. Albert G. Camilleri and Eng. Charles Cuschieri and this year it is commemorating its 40th Anniversary.

The association of Camilleri & Cuschieri with Id-Dar tal-Providenza took off when Mgr. Lawrence Gatt was appointed Director of the Home in 1987. Since then, the company chose to support the Home with professional help as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

In 2012, Eng. Cuschieri was also given the “Excellence for Leadership Award” by the Malta Chamber of Engineers. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology of the United Kingdom.

The concert by the band of the Armed Forces of Malta was under the distinguished patronage of the President of Malta, H.E. Dr George Vella who was accompanied by Mrs. Vella. In a short concluding speech, Dr Vella said we talk a lot about dignity but persons with disabilities always had dignity it was the population in general that deprived them of their dignity because of its attitudes towards them. Thank God this attitude has changed through legislation and education so that persons with disability can now truly have their respect, dignity and rights.

The special address of the evening on the occasion of the International Day for Persons with Disability was by Mr Michael Debattista, himself a blind person since his early twenties.

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