SHAH ALAM, 27 Jan: Dissatisfaction of the public in obtaining information related to a particular issue is said to be caused by third parties being late or not channelling it.
The Chairman of the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (SELCAT), Hannah Yeoh, said that the state government’s sincerity is being questioned on the matter following delays or failures to do so.
“The public is disappointed because the information sought for failed to be obtained.
“Indeed, the public has asked whether the state government is sincere in implementing the freedom of information enactment because major issues such as the water memorandum of agreement (MoU), the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) and the Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH) were not answered,” she said during a media conference today.
Hannah said that based on public hearings regarding the freedom of information (FOI) enactment, it was admitted by the State Government Secretary, Datuk Muhammed Khusrin Munawi, that there were limitations and weaknesses in the implementation.
She said, as informed, the application of all three issues went over the period of 30 days and took months before they received feedback.
“For the water MoU, the state government wrote to the federal government to seek permission.
“Verbally, the minister said no and the letter has yet to be answered. Without the permission of the third party, it indeed cannot happen,” she said.
She said that public should understand this.
She said that the SELCAT will also conduct an investigation on the expenditure of RM246,000 which was used for courses and training information officers.
“The report on this hearing session will be presented at the state assembly session in March,” she said.
NS
