RTI Commission holds sessions in Jaffna

Marking the International Day for Universal Access to Information, September 28, the Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka held a series of discussions in collaboration with the District Secretariat of Jaffna, the Press Clubs of Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi and academics of the Northern Province on Sep 28-29.

At the meeting at the Jaffna District Secretariat presided over by the RTI Commission and District Secretary Mr Kanapathipillai Maheshan together with divisional secretaries, public officials, and communities of the Northern Province, the successes, and challenges of implementation of the RTI Act during the past five years were discussed. Orders delivered by the RTI Commission that resulted in the release of information in a wideranging number of cases, from information in regard to land matters, governance issues related to management of public funds, the proper functioning of state bodies to exposure of corruption were focused on.

Community representatives who spoke at the meeting pointed to the need for public authorities to function more efficiently in processing information requests. They also highlighted instances where they had been discouraged by certain public officials when using the RTI act. The Commission emphasised the importance of public authorities giving information within the time limitations set out in the Act and said that stern action will be taken if the timelines are disregarded or the Commission Order is not obeyed. Many requested the Commission to establish provincial offices in order to take the RTI message effectively to rural areas.

On September 29, extensive discussions took place with editors, editorial heads, and journalists of the Northern Province where journalists pointed to the fact that some government offices do not have properly functioning information officers. They also observed that public authorities take no interest in attending to information requests and asked the Commission to immediately look into the issues.

While appreciating the work of the Commission in releasing information in a large number of cases, they also said that if the trend of ignoring information requests by public authority continue, the RTI Act will become of little use to citizens. The Commission responded by stating that all specific instances of the RTI Act being abused should be brought to the attention of the Commission, stating further that the Commission will inquire with force into the complaints.

It was also observed that, Public Authorities must conform to the provisions of the Constitution in releasing information in the Tamil language in the Northern Province and that the Commission will be inquiring into failure to respond properly in these instances. Despite all the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial crisis, however, the Commission stated that citizens and journalists of the Northern Province are actively using the RTI Act. Though the Commission is not able to establish provincial offices, due to an absence of enabling legal provisions, the Commission has decided to increase holding provincial sittings island-wide. These were the third sessions that the Commission is holding in Jaffna during the past eight months.

The Commission hopes to increase such activities in the future and is also conducting its regular appeal sessions in Colombo through zoom technology while accepting appeals through electronic mail to minimise difficulties faced by citizens in using the RTI Act.