Wednesday, February 10, 2010

November 19, 2009 13:01 PM

Najib Hails Contribution Of The Disabled

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today hailed the sacrifice and contribution of the disabled to the nation and reiterated the government's support for paralympic development.

To underline Malaysia's commitment, he announced that the government had approved a piece of land for the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) headquarters and the construction of special sports complex for disabled athletes.

"These are evidence of Malaysia's strong commitment towards providing athletes with equal opportunities to excel in their respective sports," he said when opening the 14th International Paralympic Committee (IPC) general assembly and conference here.

The four-day conference is held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre until Sunday.

He said that under the 1Malaysia concept, justice and quality applied not only to the abled and those with means.

"The 1Malaysia concept also includes the sacrifice and strong cooperation from every segment of the society, including the unfortunate and the disabled who makes tremendous contribution to the nation," he said.

The Prime Minister believed that people, no matter what their condition or situation, must be equally protected and offered opportunities to contribute to the nation-building process.

"The fact that the MPC has successfully staged various multi-sport competitions, multi-disability championships, seminars, and congress, is proof of Malaysian government pledge to the development of the paralympic sports and movements," he said.

Najib was the Youth and Sports Minister between 1986 and 1990.

He called on all parties including voluntary organisations, corporate sector and the athletes themselves to work hard hand-in-hand in promoting the paralympic movement.

Meanwhile, MPC president Datuk Zainal Abu Zarin said the country's disabled athletes were able to make distinct achievments due to the strong support of the government.

"Today, Malaysia's paralympians walk tall as the government recognises them as being equal to their able-bodied counterparts," said Zainal, who is also the Asian and Asean Paralympic committees president.

This is the second time that Malaysia is hosting the event after the first one in 2001.

-- BERNAMA

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