Int'l community will never support a separate state in Lanka - US envoy

Rashomi SILVA

COLOMBO: United States' top envoy Robert O. Blake yesterday said the international community will never support a separate state within Sri Lanka referring to the Prabhakaran's speech he said, a solution to the ethic problem should be found within in a united country based on a North and South consensus.

Blake said the importance of ensuring accessibility to public places for all Sri Lankans, despite their physical disabilities.

Ambassador Blake was speaking to reporters on USAID funded project to upgrade nine public service facilities in tsunami affected districts to make them accessible to all Sri Lankans, including the disabled.

The project was completed in conjunction with the international Day of the Disabled.

"Providing an accessible environment is about supporting the independence, safety and dignity of every person," the Ambassador said.

"It is about providing an opportunity to preform the necessary activities of daily life, a fundamental human right."

The buildings renovated under the US funded project have been modified to include new ramps, accessible toilets, tactile signs, accessible stairways and even playgrounds for children in nine hospitals, homes for the blind and intellectually impaired and tsunami centres along the tsunami affected South coast, he said.

He said in the US a very comprehensive law was passed during President George Bush Sr. administration to eliminate barriers for the disabled people to participate in all aspects of life.

He said it was also important to ensure that equal access in employment are secured for disabled people.

"If the barriers are removed, disabled people can enter into and contribute to the economy and society," Blake said.

"Accessibility is a basic right," said the project accessibility advisor M.C. Mendis, a trained engineer who has lived his life with polio.