Informed officers and RTI

Wednesday, 8 February 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The interest generated by the Right to Information Act (RTI) is unprecedented as a piece of legislation that gives the public the right to receive information and demand responsibility from the Government. This is precisely why more resources are needed to educate public servants to open up State information and also use it as a means to protect themselves from politicised decisions.

Corruption watchdog Transparency International Sri Lanka filed public interest RTI applications at six public authorities as the Act came into force last week, including one application at the Presidential Secretariat requesting information about the President’s asset declaration.

TISL also made applications at the Employees’ Provident Fund, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Land Reform Commission, the Elections Commission, the Ministry of Health and the Department of Customs. At the Elections Commission, TISL requested financial reports of registered political parties.

As the Act takes force, one of the main issues will be the fact that while the concept of open government is enshrined in the right to information principle, the entire state machinery is still anchored in an establishment of closed mindset and continues to see itself as the gatekeeper of information that the public now has a right to know.

But people are already finding unique ways to use the legislation. Twelve women filed applications at government offices in Batticaloa last week seeking information about family members who went missing during the war. It was a remarkable effort to use RTI to push for answers about the disappeared.

Assisted by a community worker in the area, the women attempted to file applications under the RTI Act as it came into effect last Friday (3) at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the Prisons Department, the Kachcheri or District Secretariat and the office of the Eastern Province DIG and the office of the Batticaloa DIG, all situated in the eastern town of Batticaloa.

Public authorities across which RTI became operational include Government ministries; a body or office created by the Constitution (including the offices of the President and Prime Minister) or any written law or statute of a provincial council; a local authority; a Government department; a public corporation; any department, authority or institution established or created by a provincial council; and all courts, tribunals and institutions that administer justice.

This appeal by the relatives of the disappeared shows how deeply mechanisms are needed to hold State bodies accountable and how useful RTI could be to all citizens. TISL and other organisations are working to train information officers around the country and empower citizens to seek information on Government decisions and policy. RTI, with its power to fight corruption, could ultimately accomplish what election pledges have failed to do.

The reason RTI has been lauded as the 9th best information law in the world is because it covers more departments and places fewer restrictions on the type of information that can be requested from institutions. But its implementation is heavily dependent on the effectiveness of RTI Commissions and information officers. The public should be given the opportunity to decide the full value of RTI in Sri Lanka.