The forlorn fate of the disabled
Protections only on paper but no empathy or will to help
Buses rarely stop for 27-year-old Colombo University graduate Nuwantha Gunasekara, who is visually impaired.
“I take the bus from Balapitiya. There are dozens of times when I have heard conductors inviting others to get into the bus but they rarely direct me to the footboard. Sometimes they tell me to take another bus,” Mr. Gunasekera said.
Godage Chandradasa, 65, from Panadura, an amputee, said he had stopped travelling in trains because he finds it difficult to board them.
“It is not easy to climb train steps, which are like a ladder. A person with crutches or an artificial leg must struggle to get in. A person who in a wheelchair would need the help of another person to get into a train,” he said.
These are problems faced every day by members of Sri Lanka’s disabled population despite an Act protecting the rights of the disabled, regulations related to access for the disabled, and ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
There is even a National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Services and a National Council for the Disabled, a steering committee on disability issues.
The problem, activists say, is mainly due to a lack of will to enforce the laws and regulations already in place.
The rights of the disabled in the country are protected by the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act No: 28 of 1996. Yet, little has been done to implement the regulations in the Act at public institutions, public transport centres and in public spaces, disability activist Ishan Jali noted.
Some measures such as the audible timer for pedestrian crossings have only been implemented in a few places, and overhead or underground crossings such as the crossing at Borella have no provisions for disabled access.
“There is not enough political will to see the regulations implemented,” Mr. Jalil stated. There was much consultation with the disabled community when authorities prepared policies but the same enthusiasm was not carried over when implementing those same policies, he argued.
Mr. Jalil said the subject was not viewed seriously at higher levels of government and claimed some in policy-making see the exercise as merely “ticking boxes” to show the international community.
“They don’t get in the shoes of persons with disability to understand the issues faced on a daily basis. There is no empa- thy,” he said.
He acknowledged that the inclusion of disabled persons in the electoral system had gradually improved. From 2012, measures have been put in place to provide better physical access to voting centres for the disabled community.
In certain situations the ballot box was taken to the individual by officials of transport provided for disabled persons to exercise their franchise. Voters who are blind can now ask a family member to accompany them to vote on their behalf or ask an elections official to cast a ballot for them. Mr. Jalil urged the adoption of ballots printed in braille, which are in use in other countries and would offer privacy and dignity to blind voters.
“Accessibility is the life-force of day-to- day life. Everything revolves around the right to access, be it at hospitals, schools or recreational areas. Without accessibility, all other rights become theoretical,” said Dr Ajith C.S. Perera, who has fought for decades for accessibility rights for the disabled community.
He noted that accessibility did not merely mean putting a ramp in place. The ramps only serve wheelchair users and there were many more areas such as parking, toilets, corridors, and even tables that needed to be specifically designed for those with disabilities. “There is a false belief that such measures will require a lot of expenditure, but in truth many of the measures are quite low-cost,” Mr. Perera insisted.
At government level, there is a comprehensive National Policy on Disability, adopted in 2003 as well as a National Action Plan for Disability, which was drafted in 2013. Nevertheless, there has been very little progress on physical access to public services and spaces for the disabled amid official apathy at the highest levels.
An official at the National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities (NSPD), who wished to remain anonymous, told the Sunday Times the National Council for the Disabled had only met once this year after new members were appointed in May.
Members to the council are nominated by the Minister of Social Services and appointed by the President. Due to the current political turmoil, a new council has not been appointed. This has confounded the everyday operations of the NSPD.
Unable to authorise funding, the NSPD has even been unable to organise a national event on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls tomorrow, on December 3.
NSPD acting director P. Pathmakumara insists, however, that several regional events have been organised to commemorate the day.
Mr. Pathmakumara acknowledged the implantation of regulations on providing physical access for persons with disabilities is slow. He claimed the NSPD lacked the ability to enforce the regulations but said a survey of all public institutions was in hand to map compliance with the regulations. The report is to be prepared by the end of the first quarter of 2019.
There are 32,000 persons with disabilities currently registered with the NSPD. Mr. Pathmakumara claimed there were many more in waiting list to be registered and undergoing evaluation.
At present, a Rs. 3,000 allowance is paid monthly to the 32,000 registered persons. The secretariat also offers grants of Rs. 150,000-250,000 to disabled individuals to construct or install disabled access facilities in their homes.