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.
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