SHAH ALAM, 27 Jan: The state government must ensure that there is the clause for permission to disseminate information in any memorandum of agreement made with any party in the future.

State government exco member, Elizabeth Wong, said that this is to allow information to be communicated to the public who want an explanation.

“Can it be done? Yes, but I will need to discuss it with fellow exco members,” she said.

She said this when replying to a question from the Chairman of the Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (SELCAT), Hannah Yeoh, in a public hearing on the Selangor Freedom of Information (FOI) Enactment 2011 today.

Elizabeth said that what happened in the signing of the water structuring agreement (MOU) between the state government and the federal government is beyond knowledge and they only received the final decision regarding the agreement.

She said that it is not only being experienced by the state government, but also parties overseas where information received from various parties require permission before being disclosed.

“We agree that the MOU will be made public, but the federal level understands the opposite,” she said.

NS