- Mahendra Randeniya
Today, the Right to Information Act has become a popular tool among people where they can directly access some hitherto undisclosed information from government and semi-government institutions. It is a victory of the people against fraud, corruption, and social injustice. People can directly question development proposals and various services implemented with people’s tax money and respective institutions are obliged to disclose these information. In case the information provided is unsatisfactory, the Act allows people to complain to the relevant information officer and if that doesn’t work out they can complain to the Information Commission and finally to the Court of Appeal. Hence, the Right to Information Act can be considered the only Act that has the power to legally reprimand the public officials who conceal information.
This article explores how the Right to Information Act has been used by people in Yatinuwara and how it is being implemented by public authorities.
I This writer inquired about how people living in Yatinuwara electoral district have utilized the right to information guaranteed by the Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016 to obtain information from three public authorities of Yatinuwara, namely Yatinuwara Pradeshiya Sabha, Yatinuwara Divisional Secretariat, and Kadugannava Municipal Council. According to the information received, 182 people have obtained information via the Act so far.
Yatinuwara Divisional Secretariat
The Divisional Secretariat of Yatinuvara, which provides services to 122,969 people living in 95 Grama Niladhari Divisions, is the main government institution in the Yatinuwara electorate.
The institution consists of officials from various fields including the Divisional Secretary, Deputy Divisional Secretary and Accountant, Assistant Director, Planning, Additional Registrar, Administrative Officer, Administrative Grama Niladhari, and a total of 365 officers including ninety-five development officers and ninety-two Grama Niladhari who work at the ground level.
The services of the Yatinuwara Divisional Secretariat, that directly interact with people include civil registration, issuance of permits, licenses, and certificates, pension services, social welfare, Samurdi programs, procurement, and implementation of development programs.
The following information was revealed during this writer’s inquiry on how the Right to Information Act has been used so far.
According to the Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016, the Divisional Secretariat has received 72 requests between February 8, 2017 and November 14, 2022. Meanwhile, 11 requests for information that cannot be disclosed under the Right to Information Act were also received. But these were not on information related to the organization. On the other hand, certain information cannot be disclosed due to privacy issues.
Most requests for information received by the Divisional Secretariat were about ownership of lands, residents of lands, people who received government allowances, pension information, etc., and these people were provided with the relevant information.
Among the rejected requests were the salary details of those working in the management service of the institution, business premises registered in the city of Pilimathalawa, registration of electoral lists, the reason why a person left the military service, standardization certificate of a tea factory, construction of a road through private land, and requests for information that are directly not related to the applicant.
In some cases, it was revealed that there were people who were misusing the Act. For example, a certain person asked for a register of the people who had obtained microfinance loans in the area and such information was rejected because it was not available in with the institution. When called the number they had given, it was revealed that the number was not in use. One officer suspects that this information might have been requested with malevolent intent.
Yatinuwara Pradeshiya Sabha
Yatinuwara Pradeshiya Sabha, located in the Kandy District of the Central Province consists of 26 electoral divisions and three sub-divisions namely Ganga Palatha, Mada Palatha, and Kandu Palatha. The Pradeshiya Sabha area has a population of 110,906 and comprise of 152 villages and 34,426 families. The political composition of the Pradeshiya Sabha comprise 45 council members representing SLPP, UPFA, JVP, SLMC, and the National People’s Party, along with 136 staff members.
The Pradeshiya Sabha had received 84 information requests filed under the RTI Act from 2017 to December 23, 2022. Out of them, information has been provided for 72 of these requests. It was further revealed that nine applications were rejected while three applications were referred to the designated officer. During the inquiry about rejected information, there had been a request submitted by a third party about an interview for the recruitment of plumbers, an inquiry about a road without mentioning a specific location, and a request asking for a copy of the approval document of someone else’s construction.
A copy of the approved plan of the Ganga Palatha Multi-purpose Cooperative Society was included in the information that was refused to be given to a third party against the consent of the owner.
Information requested regarding a reserved land, a pedestrian’s hanging bridge, approved house plan copies, information about contracts awarded from 2014 to 2018, information about public wells, Kirimatiya waste yard, how contracts spent 238 lakhs in 2020, and councillors who supervised them, the reasons for not informing the owner of the land during an acquisition (which had actually not happened), about independent members of the council, gazette notices of acquisition of roads, copies of street lines and agreements were provided to the people. One officer stated that information was provided for 81 requests and some requests were withdrawn after informing them that the third parties they mentioned had been contacted and their consent had been obtained to provide information.
Kadugannawa Urban Council
The information related to the urban council was requested via an email and the related information was provided on registered post.
The Kadugannava Urban Council consists of fifteen members,including eight members from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, six members from the United National Party, and one member from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. The municipal council has a total of 80 staff members. The Kadugannawa Urban Council area, has a population of 14,717 people and includes 15 Grama Niladhari divisions. The Urban Council has so far received 24 requests under the Right to Information Act. Requests for information related to the approval of personal foreign travel and obtaining leave during the chairman’s term of office was rejected and the information related to the retirement of an officer was referred to the designated officer.
Among the accepted information requests, the case related to the development of Kadawatgama Viharawatta Road, the construction of a wall blocking the Pandaraldeniya – Pirmathalawa road, the order obtained under the Land Acquisition Act for Viharawatta – Karukutthala road and its number and information if gazetted, the construction of an embankment blocking the public road, were listed under roads. Under development proposals, information requested included the 2018/19 local government budget document, development projects and the money spent on them, the number of projects completed in 2019, and obtaining a certified copy of the building plan. Under lands, information on whether an agricultural service license had been obtained for landfilling for a garage that was built by clearing and filling a paddy land was was requested. In addition, there were 11 other information requests related to retirement, requests for two photocopies of personal files, driving records of all vehicles in the local authority from July to August, details of vehicles obtained on a rental basis, monthly fuel expenses for the years 2018/19, drivers’ overtime allowances and so on.
Although officials are aware of the Right to Information Act, it was observed that there is not much understanding among the public regarding the Act.
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