Rights group writes to govt for budget allocation to make infra disability friendly

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) on Wednesday said it had written to Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera recommending him to make a budgetary allocation to make state buildings and transport accessible to persons with disabilities, keeping in line with the country's laws as well as international obligations.

In its letter, as reported by Xinhua news agency, the HRCSL said that during the past three years the commission had engaged in numerous activities to ensure persons with disabilities had access to public buildings and transport.

It said several training programmes were conducted in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Australia along with audits of public buildings to assess disability accessibility.

The HRCSL said Sri Lanka was a state party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and has undertaken international legal obligations to enable persons with disabilities to access facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.