Cotelodge is an Estate home to over 1000 families in the Nuwaraeliya District. Located about 5 kilometres away from the Nuwaraeliya town in an area known as Udupussellawa, Cotelodge is pretty rural and is away from the urban setting.
The lack of public transport service is one of the most pressing needs of the community that hinders their day-to-day activities to a great extent. Residents who travel to Nuwara Eliya and other towns in the area including school children find the lack of a proper transport service extremely difficult and frustrating. The public transport service that had been in place for Cotelodge has been suspended with no explanation two years ago(2016).
A group of young individuals learnt of RTI through a workshop conducted by SLPI with the support of USAID-SDGAP and filed an RTI application to the Road Development Authority requesting information about the reason for public transport suspension in November 2018.
This application received no response. As there was no response, the youth decided to contact officials from the Road Development Authority (RDA) over the phone to inquire about this issue. They were told that the service will be restored very soon. However, the applicants did not receive a formal reply from the information officer as is prescribed in the RTI Act. The youth feel that the officials at the Authority have no knowledge of the RTI Act.
After a few months, an official from the RDA has contacted them over the phone and informed that the RTI application had not been properly compiled.
Months have elapsed and the issue remains the same irrespective of the number of applications and appeals that have been filed on this issue..
The youth stated that their parents were afraid of questioning the government bodies. But unlike their parents’ generation the Right to Information Act has empowered them to question the difficulties that they face. The youth said they will educate their parents’ generation and elders in the village so that they can collectively apply an RTI for common issues of the community.
This update was prepared by participants of the Information and Communication Training Workshop conducted by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) through a grant funded by the United States Agency for International Development through the Strengthening Democratic Governance and Accountability Project Activity.
“The contents of this post are the sole responsibility of SLPI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.”
Recent Comments