SHAH ALAM, 25 Mar: Former Police Chief of Terengganu, Datuk Kamaruddin Mat Desa was appointed as the Chairman for the State Information Agency to implement the Selangor Freedom of Information Enactment 2011.
The five other members appointed for the body consists of former Commissioner of Terengganu Hisbah, Nordin Saidin; Professor of Law from the UNiversity of Malaya, Prof Abu Bakar Munir and member of the Bar Council, Sonya Liew Yee Aun.
Two other members are Lwayer, R.Kupusamy and Vice-President for the Astro Security Unit, Thomas Navamoney D.E. Solomon.
The Freedom of Information Enactment will allow members of the public to receive information about government administration such as contracts and tenders issued, details of expenditure and the use of public funds.
Such policies translate the transparency of Pakatan Rakyat, where expenditure of public funds by the government can be monitored by the public.
Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment Exco, Elizabeth Wong said that an Appeal Board will also be established for applicants dissatisfied with the decision of the Information Officer.
“Appeals can also be made if an applicant does not receive information within the prescribed period or has been abused in other way related to the application or access of information,” she told reporters at a press conference after the Exco Meeting at the State Secretariat Building.
A total of 35 people from Local Authorities and District Officers have been appointed as information officers.
Among the duties of the officers is to record all information under the control of the department in an orderly manner.
In addition, they will also train the aforementioned department in caring, storage, management and to satisfy information application as well as to serve as an intermediary for the department in receiving applications.
They will also need to establish a tracking system to regulate the processing of each request for information.