People will have access to information

With the enactment of RTI Bill

With the enactment of the Right To Information (RTI) Bill, the government, politicians and public officials will have to live in a glass house as the public and the media will have full access to information on all functions, activities and management in governance, Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gayantha Karunatilaka said.

Addressing a seminar for media personnel on the RTI under the theme ‘From the House to Public Domain’ Minister Karunatilaka said there will be nothing that could be held back on public affairs from the public or the media now that the RTI Act has been passed in Parliament.

“The RTI is for the benefit of the public. It is a misconception to believe that this is for the media alone. The public now has the right to question officials, the contractor or the engineer who approved a new road construction or refurbishment of the public dispensary in their village if and when the job is found to be shoddy and deteriorated in a few months. The same questions could be raised on a mega project

o r

The RTI is for the benefit of the public. It is a misconception to believe that this is for the media alone

contract that involves billions of rupees or dollars,” Minister Karunatilaka stressed and added this was the true meaning of transparency and good governance of the highest calibre.

He said the enactment of the RTI however was not an easy task as the government will have to train public officials including Ministry Secretaries and heads of Departments and most importantly the public on the RTI. In addition, nearly 10,000 officials have to be trained as Information Officers to be appointed to all state establishments to impart information on any issue of the respective institution when required by a member of the public or the media. If he fails to provide the required information in 14 days, the officer must give the reason and if it was a deliberate act of suppression of information, the official will be dealt with legally. However, no one has the right to demand information on personal matters of an individual, issues pertaining to national security, agreements of Sri Lanka with foreign countries etc. With the enactment of the 7th best RTI Bill in the world, Sri Lanka will become one of the top rung democracies and a country with good governance, he emphasized.

“The Speaker Karu Jayasuriya will sign the RTI Bill in a few days and the Act will be operative from then. The RTI’S objective was ‘keeping the Public Authority Under Public Scrutiny’ a prerequisite for a robust democracy and good governance,” Deputy Minister Karunaratne said.