SANA’A, March 14 — Following demonstrations by disabled care receivers and employees to demand the dismissal of manager Abdullah Al-Hamdani, administration figures at the Disabled People’s Fund have threatened to halt services within a month's time.

Sources at the Fund said the main reason behind the potential stoppage of the Fund's services is an excessive waste of resources by Fund management. Meanwhile, Fund staff and disabled people continued their protests in front of the cabinet building on Sunday.

According to the Fund, around 52,000 people nationwide benefit from the Fund's medication service, payment for medical operations and, in some cases, financial aid.

Najeeb Al-Gadasi, a social researcher for the Fund and also one of the protesters, told the Yemen Times that the Fund's services for disabled people will be halted after one month due to budget looting and excessive expenditures.

Such mismanagement has created an evident imbalance between revenues and expenditures at the Disabled People's Fund. Al-Gadasi also pointed out that they had already organized continuing protests in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and in front of the cabinet.

He emphasized that a significant amount of financial corruption accounts for the demands by the staff and disabled people that the manager be dismissed.

Weeks ago, a large number of disabled people threw shoes against the Fund's medical committee to protest of the committee's poor performance.

The protesters said they were concerned about the reduced number of services being provided for disabled people due to corruption and that services had been suspended for the same reason in July of 2011.

A number of disabled people were injured last month because of assaults by persons belonging to the Fund's manager, Al-Hamdani, during the demonstration in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

In terms of the amount of disabled people in the country, that Yemen – according to statistics released by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in February of this year – has about two million disabled citizens places it high among nations of the world in this regard.

Raja'a Al-Musabi, Head of the Arab Association for Human Rights, says that it is possible to trace why disabilities in Yemen are so widespread.

A lack of health education, proper health care during pregnancy, marriage between close relatives, a lack of road safety, and in-home accidents are the main reasons for  widespread disabilities in Yemen.

Al-Musabi added that early marriage and delivery are also factors, as they can hinder delivery and lead to a disability of the fetus.

It can also be more difficult for the 150 thousand or so of Yemen's citizens who live in the mountains to receive adequate care, where there often exists an absence of adequate facilities and care.