Ceylon Today Editorial

Will the public put the RTI Act to good use?

24 January 2017

After what seems like ages, Sri Lanka is finally witnessing the arrival of the Right to Information (RTI) Act into action.

Earlier this week, the government issued a Gazette Notification announcing that the RTI Act will be enacted from 3 February, 2017. According to the Gazette issued by the Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Gayantha Karunathileka, the information officers are currently being trained and after they are stationed in government institutions, the general public will be able to access important information that affects their daily lives.

But the question remains whether the general public will put this controversial, yet essentially useful, piece of legislation to good use.

Other than the ministers and the other public representatives of the government using the RTI Act as one of their many buzzwords, they have rarely done anything to inform the public on how to use the RTI in their daily lives. Yes, the current government laid the initial foundation in drafting the Act which was in the end drafted by social activists and a wide variety of journalists, lawyers and other media personnel. Yes, those who drafted the Act had every now and then had organized workshops to inform the public on how the Act could be put to use. Yet, the government itself has not taken any considerable steps in informing the populace of the Information Act.

Furthermore, there are several impending issues regarding the RTI that are yet to be resolved. Government has maintained a rather ominous silence with regard to the type of information that will be available through the Act and what grounds a government institution could refuse to provide requested information.

This is one of the most obvious drawbacks of this wonderful piece of legislation. For example, can the government refuse to provide a request on the basis of risking national security? If so, what kind of information could be defined as national security?

And on what grounds can a request for information be denied? What kind of programme has the government implemented to stop institutions from continuous denial of public information?

These questions will eventually come to light and be answered once the RTI is enacted in the first week of February. However, it is the government's utmost responsibility that these miscarriages be resolved. Once enacted, the RTI will be an unstoppable force that brings together the government and its people. The RTI will force the government to be more transparent and the government's vox populi to be more vigilant and informed.

Freedom of information has paved the way for marvellous development in other countries. From India's water management details being revealed to the public to the United States Central Intelligence Agency releasing over 900,000 documents regarding certain bizarre experiments done in the 1960s, the right to information promises to create news with every single day.

There's only one catch. We, the people should feel the need to be informed.

The RTI would be yet another piece of legislation that exists just because it was drafted, passed in Parliament and came into effect; a meaningless document with no use. The only way to prove this legislative piece is a true power to the people is to use it wisely. Use it wisely and use it often.

Dear citizens, question the authority. It doesn't have to be the 'right' question. It doesn't have to be the 'most obvious' question.

You just have to ask the question. The first time you ask, you might not get the answer. The trick is to keep asking the question.

Keep asking the questions you want and keep asking the questions that matter. Keep on questioning until you get the answers.