Colombo Gazette: Sri Lanka: Friday,
February 03, 2017.
The Right to
Information (RTI) Act comes 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.
The
Government last week gazetted the categories of public authorities that fall
within the purview of the Right to Information Act. In a positive move, the
government has gazetted all the Public Authorities prescribed in the law. This
is a historic moment in Sri Lanka’s RTI story; one that marks the culmination
of a movement of over 20 years.
However, it
remains to be seen whether both the state and citizens will operationalize the
right to its true potential. The Ministry of Mass Media and Parliamentary
Reform states that it has been laying the groundwork on the supply side of RTI,
with trainings for public officials and appointments of the key public facing
information officers and designated officers. The Ministry has also been
working closely with the RTI Commission, which is vested with wide powers under
the Act, such as to hear appeals, institute action against alleged offenders, and
prescribe guidelines on record management and proactive disclosure, among other
powers and functions.
In spite of
these developments, the people of Sri Lanka remain largely uninformed of the
right they now enjoy, and of how it may be used. The responsibility cast on the
people with this right to truly take ownership of it and use it as a tool in
their day-to-day lives is also overlooked. The role of the Government in
demystifying RTI for the people is of paramount importance for its success.
TISL has
already begun reaching out to citizens in various districts including Colombo,
Matara, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Ampara, Rathnapura, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee,
forming civil society coalitions with the intention of mainstreaming the use of
RTI. TISL and its partners will also take RTI to the public through a RTI bus
which will act as a mobile awareness-raising RTI request facilitation centre.
TISL has also launched a trilingual website www.rtiwatch.lk that disseminates
RTI related information.
Sankhitha
Gunaratne, RTI Manager, TISL reemphasised that “The RTI law is unique in
several ways it overrides all other written law, where there may be
contradiction. Furthermore, 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.”
On 3rd
February, TISL will be filing several public interest RTI requests at the
relevant public authorities, seeking information pertinent to open government
including the assets and liabilities declarations of the President and the
Prime Minister and a request for the financial reports of political parties
from the Election Commission. The public authorities then become liable to
respond to these requests within the specified timelines, subject to a maximum
of 28 days.
Like many
government initiatives there will be inevitable disappointment. However, it is
essential that citizens apply themselves diligently in order to make this
system work.
RTI now is
the people’s. Whether at the level of the officers in charge of giving
information or the citizen, political will no longer needs to be a factor. It
is now a legal obligation. (Colombo Gazette)