The Sri Lankan Parliament in session Sept. 1, 2015. The Right to Information bill was unanimously passed by Sri Lanka's Parliament on June 24. (Photo by AFP)
Human rights activists and clergy have welcomed the signing into law of the Right to Information (RTI) bill, which was unanimously passed by Sri Lanka's Parliament on June 24.
The new law will allow citizens to access certain types of public information, excluding personal data, national security documents, sensitive trade information, intellectual property and medical documents.
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the RTI bill would eliminate corruption. His government has planned for 4,000 state institutions to be covered by the law and 12,000 officials will be trained to handle information requests.
Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, Convener of the Christian Solidarity Movement in Colombo Archdiocese, believes the bill will help citizens to actively participate in the democratic process.
"It will reduce instances of corruption and promote good governance. People will be really empowered," Father Iddamalgoda said.
"For example, in a particular village the authorities might decide to develop a system of canals. The villagers know nothing about the proposed plan, how much it will cost, what the technical specifications are; therefore this bill is very important at the local level as well as at the national level," he said.
Human Rights activist Father Reid Shelton Fernando said under the new law people can ask questions and authorities wont be able to "hide anything under the carpet." He believes if people make use of the law it will prevent corruption in financial transactions and create greater transparency.
"What is important is not only that this act has passed in Parliament but that people know what its implications are and what their rights are under it," he said.
Jagath Liyanaarachchi, attorney-at-law at Transparency International Sri Lanka and a public advocate of the bill, said the new law will allow access to government information that wasn't previously available.
"Many experts and civil society leaders were involved in the amendment process. Views from the general public were collected. A panel of 40 experts was established to look at RTI bills in other countries," Liyanaarachchi said.
"The tabled bill was drafted with the help of all these groups and I think it will be a good act in the future," he said.
The law has been a long time coming. Sri Lanka's Parliament has previously struggled to pass the legislation due to security concerns during the Sri Lankan civil war. "We've been talking about these issues since 1994," Liyanaarachchi said.
Amirthanayagam Nixon, President of the Tamil Media Alliance, believes the bill will be a boon for investigative journalists.
"Because of this law, journalists can now get credible information from public authorities. Earlier some bureaucracies weren't willing to give information or only provided the information off the record," Nixon said.