Information Act Seen Full Of Loopholes

[george]

Information Act seen full of loopholes

Law researchers call for major changes

BANGKOK: -- The Official Information Act contains many loopholes that allow government agencies to cover up damaging information on environmental and health hazards to avoid responsibility and protect businesses, environmental and law researchers said yesterday.

When it came to serious incidents, such as the bird flu outbreak and toxic chemical leakages, relevant agencies often bypassed the law and concealed information that should have been disseminated to the public for safety reasons, Pantyp Ramasoota, a professor at Mahidol University's Asean Institute for Health Development, told a seminar on environmental governance and public participation organised by the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) yesterday.

``State agencies often obscure information they believe could hurt the prestige and image of influential and prominent people within the government and business groups and to avoid responsibility,'' said Mrs Pantyp, who reached the conclusion after looking into three major case studies: the bird flu outbreak, an accident in which a truck carrying toxic chemicals overturned on an expressway in Bangkok, and the illegal dumping of hazardous waste in Kanchanaburi province.

Such malpractice will not end as long as the information act remains weak, which allowed relevant state officials to decide subjectively whether the information should be publicised. The officials always cited ``national security'' and ``trade secrets'' as excuses for the concealment.

Mrs Pantyp is among the16 researchers who have joined the TEI's research on the extent of progress the country had made on environmental governance and public participation in environmental protection in Thailand. The project is funded by the British and Canadian governments.

The researchers are looking into four areas that provide as key indicators of environmental governance. They include legal framework, access to information, public participation in the government's decision-making process, and the government's role in capacity-building for local people in environmental management. The researchers' findings would be forwarded to the government and state agencies in charge of natural resources management, environmental protection, and public health.

Somrudee Nicro, director of TEI's environment programme and the project supervisor, said the information act should be amended to ensure the public's right to know, which was crucial for the development of good governance and encourage public participation in state projects.

``The scope of information that state agencies must let the public know should be redefined. A timeframe should also be specified to ensure that state agencies hand over the requested information in time,'' she said.

Buntoon Srethasiroj, a researcher on public participation in the government's decision-making process, said Thai people should not be stopped from expressing their opinions on government policies which endanger their livelihoods.

``Their opinions have always been excluded from the government's decision-making process. Villagers' recommendations have rarely influenced government decisions,'' said Mr Buntoon. ``That's why the government always goes ahead with destructive projects when public hearings say they should not.''

--Bangkok Post 2005-07-27

[Jai Dee]

Update:

Official Information Act guarantees civil right to access information of Govt.

Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, Thirapat Serirangsan (ธีรภัทร์ เสรีรังสรรค์), says the Official Information Act helps people access useful information of government units.

However, the minister says the Act prohibits people to acquire confidential official information, especially information that concerns national security. Mr Thirapat affirms he has instructed all government units to facilitate people requesting to have information which can be revealed as they have the legitimate right to do so.

The minister adds that the Act is considered as an indicator of success of each government unit and can improve its performance. The Act also guarantees that people have the right to access official information via every legal channel available.

The minister expects that some government units will be able to deploy the Act next year.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 24 August 2007

[Gravelrash]

Information Act seen full of loopholes

Law researchers call for major changes

``State agencies often obscure information they believe could hurt the prestige and image of influential and prominent people within the government and business groups and to avoid responsibility,'' said Mrs Pantyp, who reached the conclusion after looking into three major case studies: the bird flu outbreak, an accident in which a truck carrying toxic chemicals overturned on an expressway in Bangkok, and the illegal dumping of hazardous waste in Kanchanaburi province.

Such malpractice will not end as long as the information act remains weak, which allowed relevant state officials to decide subjectively whether the information should be publicised. The officials always cited ``national security'' and ``trade secrets'' as excuses for the concealment.

``Their opinions have always been excluded from the government's decision-making process. Villagers' recommendations have rarely influenced government decisions,'' said Mr Buntoon. ``That's why the government always goes ahead with destructive projects when public hearings say they should not.''

--Bangkok Post 2005-07-27

And there I was worrying about government tranparency...this certainly cleared up a lot of things.

[astral]

Is this what they mean by "transparency"?

[pukkagent]

Erin Brockovich would have a field day...