IN a landmark move, the Selangor government yesterday tabled the Freedom of Information Enactment (FOI) Bill, which guarantees public access to state government information.
The FOI legislation sets the rules on access to information or records held by government bodies, defining a legal process by which government information is required to be made available to the public.
The enactment acts to facilitate access to documents held by state departments and its subsidiaries, excluding Federal Government- controlled departments in Selangor and those under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.
Also proposed was the appointment of information officers who would act as intermediaries between state departments and the public, or as gatekeepers in the dissemination of information.
The tabling of the bill was met with strong resistance from the opposition who said it was against the Federal Constitution.
Elizabeth Wong (PKR-Bukit Lanjan), in tabling the Girard Perragaux Seahawk II Stainless Steel Black Rubber Mens Watch 49900-0-11-6146 bill for the first reading, said it was a historic step taken by the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government to provide every individual an opportunity to access information made by all state government departments, provided it did not jeopardise the operations of the state or its departments.
"We don't deny this is a heavy responsibility for the government and its administration, but this is what having people's supremacy (ketuanan rakyat) and reform mean."
Ismail Sani (BN-Dusun Tua) said the bill should not have been tabled as it was irrelevant, apart from violating the Federal Constitution.
This, he said, was because it could not be enforced even if it was passed as there were restrictions on certain information under the OSA that was subject to Parliament's approval before it could be made public.
At the same time, he pointed out the redundancy of the proposed enactment, as the menteri besar, under Section 2C of the OSA, had the power to declassify documents which were deemed secret.
"This means, even without this enactment, the people can have access to information classified as secret.
Replica Prada handbags "This is a popular approach which is clearly unnecessary and irrelevant to be seen pro-people, free and transparent to the people while fooling them into thinking the bill would mean all information would be accessible."
wholesale lingerie Ismail said the proposed enactment might have a negative implication as it could be manipulated to gain political advantage, adding that there was information that should be kept secret in the interests of both the people and the state.
Sulaiman Abdul Razak (BN-Permatang) also questioned the relevance of the enactment.
"This is a waste of time and not practical. We are not objecting because we are afraid, but we want an enactment that could really be used by everyone and not one that is subject to Parliament's approval."
Datuk Subahan Kamal (BN-Taman Templer) raised the issue that the information officers appointed by the state would have the power to decide whether the information requested could be released.
"This means certain quarters might n
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