Gerakan national legal and human rights bureau chief Baljit Singh criticised the state administration for “freezing” information instead of freeing it.
He jested, in words laced with sarcasm, “They have frozen the information, there are more ice particles on Penang’s FOI than the Disney movie Frozen.”
“So like the theme song in Frozen, the state government must let it go, set the information free.”
Baljit said BN and other stakeholders have given their recommendations on the FOI and it should be enforced by now.
“There was a lot of publicity done on the matter before the 13th general election but that, too, has come and gone. They have won but where are their promises?
“Pakatan Rakyat often criticised BN for promises unfulfilled, but what about this?” he queried.
Baljit (left) noted that the enactment has already been enforced in Selangor although there was less “noise” there about it.He concurs that the officials in Komtar, where the state administration offices are housed, are in “total darkness” regarding the issue until today.
“I want to get details on the third link or the undersea bed tunnel that links the island to Butterworth - what is the status now? Is it going on as announced or not?
“I am also dying to know the tendering process, details of project, reports from the Department of Environment and contracts signed between the parties involved in constructing the third link.
“We will be very grateful to the state government if they can release this information to us in the spirit of the FOI.
“The people want to know as the state administration has proclaimed it’s administration is run based on CAT (competency, accountability and transparency principles.”
‘NGOs are in the dark’
Aliran’s Anil Netto also claims that the NGOs are in the dark over the implementation of the FOI.
“Was it just a gimmick or would be it be implemented to benefit the people?” Netto asked.
Aliran is part of the 14-member Penang Forum who sat in meetings with the state government on the issue and provided recommendations to fine tune the Act.
“What is holding them back? I, too, am in the dark about it. If NGOs are in the dark, what about the public?” Netto asked.
“This is the time to fully enforce the enactment, the state has promised transparency, this is one way to show it,” he added.
Netto said the least the state government can do is update the website as it does not need much resources to implement the law.
He said Penang has many development projects which are very controversial and people want to know the background to these projects.
“What are the status of these projects, the parties involved and how they were approved and who will be affected by these controversial projects,” he said.
“For example, there are claims that the density has increased in Batu Ferringhi. We would like to know how that came about, if it were true,” he added.
A check by Malaysiakini on Jan 5 revealed that the offices of the Penang administration is in the dark over Act which was supposed to be implemented in the state on Jan 2 (Jan 1 is a public holiday).
The law, passed
in the Penang legislative assembly in November 2011 and gazetted in
February 2012, was touted as one of the positive developments in the
state, following a similar enactment in Selangor.When contacted, Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said, “Please give us some time” as details about the matter will be provided soon.
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