Bill on right to info up for debate

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) will soon deliberate a bill defining the degree to which Indonesians can access information. The move is hoped to enforce the transparency needed to bring a clean and healthy governance.

Legislator Tumbu Saraswati of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) told a House plenary meeting on Monday that the bill would guarantee that citizens have access to information on a variety of subjects -- including debts, poverty, unemployment, and human rights abuses.

When the bill is enacted, "it is hoped the mechanisms of checks and balances will perform effectively," said Tumbu, a member of the House's Legislation Body.

No exact date has been set for the first day of deliberation.

According to Tumbu, the bill consists of 10 chapters, 61 articles, along with some attachments; he added that a team assigned to deliberate the bill had been set up by the House's steering committee on Feb. 23.

The proposal, initiated by 29 inter-faction legislators, won quick support from a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

A coalition of NGOs that support the moves toward freedom of information asked that legislators ensure that any bill make it easier for people obtain information vis-a-vis the state.

Tumbu said that the bill should include the rights to inspect documents, the right to attend all public meetings, the right to obtain photocopies of documents, the right to general information, and the right to disseminate information.

The bill also regulates information that the public at large may not have access to. Such information includes anything that could disrupt law enforcement, disturb protection of property rights, and business competition.

Information that could disturb security, state defense, and privacy would also be off-limits.

The coalition also strongly opposed a government plan to start deliberation of a bill on state secrecy disclosed on Monday during a hearing between House's Commission I for defense affairs with the Institute of State Code.