Colombo Gazette: Colombo: Tuesday,
February 07, 2017.
An
application has been filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking
information on the assets of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The
application was filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka.
Information
has also been sought from the Customs Department and Bribery Commission.
The RTI Act
came into effect on 3rd February, 2017 bringing with it a promise of open
Government, of citizens’ active participation in governance, and of
accountability to the sovereign people of the country.
Sankhitha
Gunaratne, RTI Manager at Transparency International Sri Lanka had said earlier
that the RTI law is unique in several ways as it overrides all other written
law, where there may be contradiction.
Furthermore,
she said all information can be revealed if the greater public interest is
served by disclosing the information. This applies even where the information
sought could potentially fall within the exceptions in the law.