FOI Bill for Penang, too

Penang may become the second state after Selangor to guarantee Freedom of Information by law, if the state assembly passes the Bill.

Deputy  Chief Minister II P Ramasamy (right) tabled the Bill today, which generated an hour’s debate.

It was then handed over to a select committee for further study, and may be tabled at the next assembly sitting together with a report on the committee’s recommendations..

The bipartisan committee comprises assemblypersons TThanasekaran Autherapady (DAP-Bagan Lallang), Ong Chin Wen (PKR-Batu Kawan), Salleh Man (PAS-Permatang Pasir), Hilmi Yahaya (BN-Teluk Bahang), Jahara Hamid (BN-Teluk Ayer Tawar) and Arif Shah Omar Shah (BN-Seberang Jaya), with Jagdeep Singh Deo as chairperson.

Selangor tabled its Bill in August and it has been referred to a select committee for further debate and public input.

The Bill in Penang has yet to derive any suggestions from civil society.

Freeing up official information is a priority in states led by Pakatan Rakyat, to give effect to its election manifesto.

Speedy access pledged

When tabling the Bill, Ramasamy said the legislation will ensure that every sector of society and individual will have the opportunity to access information related to state administration.

The enactment will be applicable to information held by all departments and agencies in Penang only.

It will not be applicable to the items and purposes contained in the Official Secrets Act 1972, he said.

“With this enactment, every department and government agency must appoint an information chief who will receive and process the applications for information,” Ramasamy said.

“Giving out information will follow levels of secrecy to ensure that the information is not misunderstood or manipulated for certain purposes.”

Ramasamy, who is also DAP's Prai assemblyperson, assured that obtaining information from the state government would be “non-bureaucratic and speedy”, although a fee will be levied to process the application.