North fights shy of RTI

by Manjula Fernando

The North has still not consented to the Right to Information Bill.Transparency International of Sri Lanka (TISL) Senior Manager Shan Wijethunge said. Except for the Northern Province, seven Provinces had endorsed the Bill. At present they are awaiting a decision from Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran for his consent.

The much- awaited Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the last week of this month, making it the second major Bill seeking approval from the legislature.

The RTI Bill, mooted in 2004, provided for the right to access information and setting up a Right to Information Commission among other measures to uphold the people's right to know the dealings of public offices including Ministries.

This was a pledge by the good governance government during its 100-day program. Cabinet approval for the Bill was granted in early December. Wijethunge said the Northern Chief Minister would hand over his observations to the Secretary to the President P.B.Abeykoon tomorrow(15) and the Chief Minister may travel to Colombo over the weekend for the purpose. Under the proposed law citizens can have access to information on even NGOs, substantially funded by the state, private companies with government holdings over 25 percent of shares, or private companies carrying out state projects.

The law will, however, restrict access to information if it invades the privacy of a person, undermines Sri Lanka's relations with another state, the defence of the state, its territorial integrity, national security or the economy among other things.The TISL has been working closely with the Ministry of Mass Media to ensure that the Bill will see the light of day. Many earlier attempts failed.

A similar Bill presented by former Minister Milinda Morgoda received Cabinet approval. However, due to the sudden dissolution of Parliament by the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga it was not taken up.The committee that drafted the Bill was chaired by constitutional law expert Dr.Jayampathy Wickremaratne.