PETALING JAYA (May 19, 2009) : The government is rushing to table a bill on Freedom of Information (FOI) in the next Selangor State Assembly meeting.

"We hope to complete the draft of the bill by July or latest, November this year," said Selangor exco member Elizabeth Wong in the Selangor Press Freedom Day forum in Dewan Civics here today.

"We want to increase transparency, accountability and good governance with the enactment of the law," said Wong who heads a Freedom of Information Committee to ensure that the law is endorsed by the federal government.

"We feel that it is the right of the people to access information that governs their lives. This proposed law is a check and balance effort which is a part of good governance," said Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The FOI will allow citizens to access declassified state government documents. Wong said the government hoped federal laws would not override the enactment, adding that the main deterrent of the FOI implementation is the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

"We are not sure what records are under the OSA. As far as I know, the state government can contest the decision of the federal government on classified state documents under the OSA," said Khalid.

According to Centre of Independent Journalism (CIJ) head Sevan Doraisamy, the enactment will greatly benefit civil servants from accusations of corruption.

"The benefits of FOI are that civil servants will finally get credit for the good work and the documents that are available to the public will clearly indicate the way in which a governmental plan was carried out," he said.

In the forum, the government also launched a newspaper called Selangor Kini and a TV Selangor website (www.tvselangor.com) aimed at promoting freedom of information among Selangor citizens.

Khalid said Malaysia’s position in the International Freedom of the Press Index deteriorated from 92 in 2006 to 124 in 2007. Last year, Malaysia fell further to 132nd.

"This does not reflect a country that claims to be democratic," he added.