MINSK, 20 December (BelTA) - Minsk should be a standard of barrier-free environment at all facilities, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the meeting with Minsk authorities on 20 December, BelTA informs.
“Minsk should become a standard of barrier-free environment at all facilities. At present only 36% of buildings, even those of municipal ownership, are accessible for disabled people,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
He emphasized that a modern city is not only a place with developed infrastructure and beautiful buildings. It is a place with people-friendly environment. “The ability to see the problems of others and solve them is an attribute of the modern and developed society. First of all, the state should take care of people with special needs,” the president said.
There are more than 125,000 disabled people, or almost one fourth of the country's number, in Minsk. The head of state demands to step up efforts to create barrier-free environment. First of all, this pertains to the transport infrastructure and places of mass gathering. “However, the best way is to plan the city environment in a way to avoid artificial barriers,” he said.
Alexander Lukashenko added that almost 160,000 people in Minsk are older 70, 13% of them are lonely people without close relatives. He stressed that the state should take care of them.
According to the president, special attention should be given to Great Patriotic War veterans. There are 7,500 veterans in Belarus, more than 2,000 veterans live in Minsk, and a half of them live alone.
