Close to 110 Acts identified thus far have clauses that are contrary to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Director General (DG) of the Department of Government Information Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya said yesterday.
“All these acts will need to be amended as the RTI supersedes all such acts,” he added.
The Act which came into effect on 4 February 2017, has had certain issues in its implementation.
The DG addressing the weekly Cabinet press at the Parliamentary Complex explained that a special team at the Ministry of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs was looking into the issues.
One such issue highlighted was the payment for certain information. Certain government agencies specify that a sum of up to Rs.2,000
needs to be paid for information.
“People brought this to our notice and complained that this was an obstacle when speaking of freedom of information,” he said.
The Act at present also states that no changes would be made to the price structure for information in government agencies.
“This is a new process for the people and our officials, but we do see a surge in interest among the people with the Act,” Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gayantha Karunathilake said.