AT least one sign language interpreter is speaking out on behalf of the deaf community, calling for greater inclusion and access to information.

Antoinette Aiken’s appeal comes after the recent Grand Gala at National Stadium, which was part of the activities associated with the country’s 56th anniversary of Independence.

According to the interpreter, no provisions were put in place for the deaf community.

“At the Grand Gala everybody was included except the deaf community,” Aiken said while speaking to the Jamaica Observer at the official launch of the Deaf Can! E3 Café last week in Kingston. “I don’t know if that was noticed, but most of the times the disabled community says that the deaf is catered to when the reality is that they are not.

“Most of the times they don’t have access to simple information,” she added.

A day after the August 6 celebration, Aiken took to social media website Twitter to highlight the disparity.

“The Grand Gala was an amazing show yesterday (August 6); we spoke about #OneLove and #OneFamily.Sadly the only community that wasn’t apart of the entire experience yesterday was the deaf community. I always say they are the forgotten community [and] Grand Gala yesterday proved it! #Access,” Aiken said in one of her tweets.

She also pleaded for the deaf community to be included, because, according to her, it would make Jamaica the place of choice.

“If we want Jamaica to be the place of choice, we have to be inclusive. My parents suffered and the deaf community still suffers in regards to information. We must put information in an accessible format, and we must make the necessary provisions to keep all our citizens included,” she tweeted.

Also, while acknowledging the work of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) — the agency responsible for organising independence anniversary celebrations and other events marking occasions of national interest — the interpreter called for the issue to be addressed.

“I deliberately waited before I tweeted this out; I wanted Jamaicans to enjoy #Jamaica56. I also delayed this tweet not to take away from the amazing work @JCDCJamaica did, but a whole community in Jamaica was denied access. We have to fix this!”

The cultural agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport later apologised in a tweet.

“The JCDC endeavours to be as inclusive as possible with our events. Please accept our apologies for the oversight re: Grand Gala. All our other #jamaica56 events did cater for the said community. Looking forward to serving you even better in 2019. #OneLoveOneFamily.”

This year’s Independence Festival was held under the theme ‘One Love, One Family’. Besides the Independence Gala, other events which marked the festival included Jamaica Gospel Song Competition, Jamaica Festival Song Competition, Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition, Mello-Go-Roun’, and World Reggae Dance Championship.