Health Minister appoints new safety consultant

by Omar RAJARATHNAM

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena appointed Disability activist and Chief Executive of IDIRIYA, Ajith C.S. Perera as the Safety Consultant to the Ministry of Health on May 11.

The appointment was made by the Minister at an awareness program held at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo in the wake of the Supreme Court order which enforced new laws to promote accesibility for everyone in new public buildings as a response to a motion filed by Perera. He consulted the Deputy Health Minister Lalith Dissanayake who was also present prior to making the announcement.

The court order instructs that ' All parts of new public buildings and places, especially toilet and wash facilities, as defined in the accessibility regulations, hereafter shall be designed and constructed in accordance with design requirements specified in these regulations'.

A similar court order was made on October 14, 2009 but that had been ignored and sometimes misinterpreted. Hence I decided to file a motion through IDIRIYA, the non profit organisation which voices out the needs of people with diverse ability.

I am glad that the court had passed this judgement and that even the Health Minister has acknowledged the need for accessibility for everyone by appointing me as I experience the challenges of inaccessibility in many places frequently, said Perera.