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new organization focusing on disability issues, the Wheelchair and Friendship Center of Asia Indonesia (WAFCAI), recently held a workshop in Sunter, North Jakarta, to provide custom wheelchairs for low-income disabled persons in Greater Jakarta.

WAFCAI board of trustee member Purwantio Budiraharjdo said the organization would be the first organization in Jakarta to provide custom wheelchairs.

'€œWe want disabled people to be able to keep an active life despite their physical limitations,'€ he said on Thursday, adding that regular wheelchairs sometimes did not accommodate an active life.

He added that the organization would prioritize giving free wheelchairs to people in the productive age bracket, ranging from five to 30 years of age.

Purwantio said technicians would tailor the wheelchair specifications to the needs of each recipient.

'€œWe will design the wheelchair based on the condition and needs of the user,'€ he said, adding that the organization would also handle maintenance

Purwantio said his organization would focus on serving the community in North Jakarta and Bekasi in West Java and would cooperate with the Social Affairs Agency in the two areas to find the right recipients.

Last year, the organization distributed 35 wheelchairs and renovated the bathrooms at five schools for disabled children in Bekasi.

Purwantio said his organization, which is under the Japanese auto supplier, PT Denso Indonesia, aimed to distribute at least 60 custom wheelchairs this year. He also called on private firms to join the program to help expand it.

'€œOur fund, worth around US$92,000, is gathered from Japanese residents through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects of the Japan embassy,'€ he said.

One wheelchair recipient, 30-year-old Udin Tarudin, said the custom wheelchair was really helpful in his daily life.

'€œI used to use a regular wheelchair that made me difficult to move my body [from the wheelchair],'€ he said, adding that his lower body was paralyzed three years ago in an accident.

Heny Prabaningrum, deputy director of United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), a foundation that supervises the WAFCAI, said she called on all organizations and governments who wanted to focus on providing wheelchairs for disabled people to pay more attention to the needs of the recipients.

'€œDistributing non-customized wheelchairs will not only go to waste, but will also endanger the user, as the wrong chair can lead to other problems,'€ she said.